By TERRY PUGH
With their playoff berths already guaranteed, both the Warman Wildcats and Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors U18AAA squads had little at stake in a weekend double-header February 21 and 22 in Warman.
And it showed.
The sixth-place Wildcats and second-place Warriors each recorded a victory; the Warriors earning a 6-4 win on Saturday and the Wildcats returning the favour by spanking the visitors 4-1 on Sunday.
But both teams will have to elevate their efforts and show more consistency in the post-season if they’re looking to raise a championship banner.
The Warriors were the stronger team in Saturday’s game, racking up three first period goals thanks to defensemen Maxon Johnston, Wade Franks and Marek McIvor. In the second frame, Moose Jaw’s captain Ryan Gibbs added to the visitors’ lead, while Warman recorded two goals by Dade Wotherspoon and one by Nixxon Arcand Vandale. At the end of 40 minutes, Moose Jaw held a 4-3 lead on the scoreboard and a thin 27-24 edge in shots on goal.
Moose Jaw’s Chase Peterson and Deklin Larmer scored in the third, while Warman’s Weston Kostiuk replied for the home team.
Warman goaltender Seth Gutenberg faced 39 shots, while Steven Wawryk contended with 38.
Sunday’s game was a different story, thanks in large part to a superb performance between the pipes by Gutenberg. Despite outshooting the Wildcats 42-25 and peppering the veteran netminder on several successive power plays, the luckless Warriors were shut out until the dying minutes of the game.
Warman’s Dawson Baht got his team up 1-0 midway through the first period, scoring a pretty goal on an end-to-end individual effort. It was one of only six shots on net for the Wildcats compared to 19 for the Warriors at that point in the game.
Warman’s second goal came in the middle frame when Cash Arcand Vandale capitalized on another rare scoring opportunity, putting one past Moose Jaw goaltender Kaleb Page.
Warman’s Dade Wotherspoon and Weston Kostiuk added a goal each in the third period, while Moose Jaw’s Ryan Gibbs responded for the visitors.
The two-game set marked the end of the regular season for both clubs, with playoffs set for this coming weekend. The Wildcats will face off against the high-flying third place Saskatoon Blazers, while the Warriors take on seventh-place Battlefords North Stars.
In other playoff match-ups, the first-place Regina Pat Canadians will take on either the Saskatoon Contacts or the Tisdale Trojans. The Contacts and Trojans are battling for the final playoff spot, and the decision comes down to a final game on Monday, February 23 between Tisdale and the Prince Albert Mintos. If Tisdale wins that game, they’ll be tied with the Contacts in points, and a tie-breaker formula would be used to settle the question.
The fourth-place Swift Current Broncos will play the fifth-place Estevan Bears.
The opening round of the playoff begins Saturday, February 28 and must be completed by Sunday, March 8.
The full playoff schedule will be posted on the Sask Male U18AAA website.