By Times Herald Sports Staff
More weekend home dates but a few busier weekends - all part of the Moose Jaw Warriors' schedule for the upcoming Western Hockey League season.
The Warriors will play 25 of their 36 home games at some point during a weekend this season but on six occasions the Warriors will be face with three-game, three-night weekends.
None of those six weekends will feature three straight home games.
"I guess that's the trade-off," Warrior coach Len Nielsen said after the Warriors released their schedule Friday morning. "We wanted more home weekend games, though and that's what we got.
"I'm not concerned with the three games in three nights," he added. "That's all part of the way things are these days and I think we're going to have a fair amount of depth so I'm not worried about it."
The Warriors will again play six pre-season battles, facing the same three teams they faced last year - Swift Current, Brandon and Regina - opening at home to the Broncos Aug. 28 (Saturday).
The similarities to last year's schedule don't stop there - the Warriors will again open the regular season with a home-and-home battle against the Broncos, opening up Sept 24 (Friday) in Swift Current before meeting again Sept 25 in Moose Jaw.
And, they'll once again close out the season with a back-to-back, home-and-home series against the Regina Pats, March 24 (Friday) in Moose Jaw and March 25 in Regina.
"We've been opening up against Swift Current ever since I've been here," said Nielsen who spent five years as an assistant coach before making his head coaching debut last year. "And we consciously work at closing against Regina. It helps get the guys ready for playoffs."
The Warriors are once again breaking their West Division road swings into two trips with almost the same dates as last year. They'll play Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna Nov. 24, 26 and 27, respectively, and will play the American-based teams Dec. 28 through Jan. 2. The exact schedule of that stretch has yet to be determined.
"There had been some talk about making it one trip but it's a pretty long stretch when you're out there," Nielsen said. "We've been doing it like this for six years now and I like the idea of road trips and I think breaking it into two trips is good."
While the Warrior pocket schedules have yet to be printed, fans thinking about purchasing season tickets can get a look at the schedule at the Warrior office. The Warrior office is open next week but will be closed for the summer after the club's annual Celebrity Golf Tournament Friday.
- July 3, 1999
