Warriors and Hurricanes to meet in First Round of 2023 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien

The Moose Jaw Warriors and Lethbridge Hurricanes will meet in the WHL Playoffs for the first time in 26 years when the post-season begins Friday, March 31.

The first-round series was confirmed Friday after the Saskatoon Blades defeated the Regina Pats 3-2, confirming the Hurricanes’ standing as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Moose Jaw had previously been confirmed as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The last post-season meeting between Moose Jaw and Lethbridge took place in the Second Round of the 1997 WHL Playoffs, a series the Hurricanes won in six games en route to the WHL Championship. Lethbridge holds a 2-0 all-time series edge against the Warriors and reached the Championship series in both years in which they faced Moose Jaw.

The Warriors enter the 2023 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien with a third-place standing in the East Division confirmed. Moose Jaw secured their 40th victory of the regular season earlier this week, having reached the Second Round of the post-season one year ago.

The Hurricanes will finish second in the Central Division, with Friday’s victory standing as the Club’s 36th of the 2022-23 Regular Season.

Moose Jaw won three of the four meetings during the 2022-23 WHL Regular Season, most recently an 8-4 triumph on home ice February 21. In fact, the home team ran out winners in all but one of the four regular season encounters, that being a 5-3 Warriors win in Lethbridge January 4.

Local product Atley Calvert led the way for Moose Jaw in the season series, scoring six times and totalling nine points in his four games against the Hurricanes.

Forward Blake Swetlikoff and defenceman Joe Arntsen, both of whom hail from the province of Saskatchewan, shared the team lead for Lethbridge in the season series with five points apiece.

Veteran netminder Connor Ungar posted two victories from his three outings for the Warriors in the season series, while the lone Hurricanes victory in the season set was helped out by the goaltending of Moose Jaw product Bryan Thomson.

Moose Jaw will close out its regular season campaign on home ice Saturday, March 25 versus the Saskatoon Blades (7:00 p.m. MT, Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Lethbridge has one game remaining on its regular season schedule, a visit to the Red Deer Rebels Saturday, March 25 (7:00 p.m. MT, Peavey Mart Centrium).

Game 1 of the first-round series between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Lethbridge Hurricanes is scheduled for Friday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. MT in Moose Jaw (Moose Jaw Events Centre). The series will shift to Lethbridge for Game 3 on Tuesday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. MT (Enmax Centre).

2023 WHL PLAYOFFS PRESENTED BY NUTRIEN – SERIES D SCHEDULE

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