There were so many talking points this weekend it’s hard to know where to start.
It’s hard to remember a better recent goaltending duel than the battle between Seattle’s Calvin Pickard and Moose Jaw’s Thomas Heemskerk. Both goalies were sensational.
Heemskerk said it was tough watching Pickard “almost shut the door” on the Warriors
When asked about their streak, Heemskerk said:
“As a team we’ve come together. As simple as it sounds, but the defencemen are playing defence and are forwards are finding the net on a regular basis so it’s making for a great overall team effort.”
Pickard had lots of praise for Heemskerk: “We’re good pals. He’s one of the best goalies in the league for sure. I can see him in the NHL one day and he’s a great guy as well,” said Pickard.
Not only did Heemskerk win the game, but he’s winning the mustache battle. While all of the T-birds appear to be growing Movember mustaches, Heemskerk’s duster is definitely better than most.
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Sunday the Warriors announced that they had signed Tanner Eberle to a WHL standard player agreement. Eberle was a seventh-round pick of Warriors in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft. Eberle has six goals and eight assists and 30 penalty minutes in 11 games with the midget AAA Tisdale Trojans this season.
Heading into the weekend those numbers put him in the top-20 in points and PIMs. Eberle’s training camp was cut short when he had a knee-on-knee collision.
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Dylan McIlrath isn’t fighting a lot this season, but that’s partly by choice.
After McIlrath flattened Chance Lund and Mitch Elliott on the same shift, he appeared to pass up a fight offer from young Seattle tough guy Jake Doty. Doty is 16 and has already had 10 fights this season.
While McIlrath isn’t above dropping his gloves, he seems to be picking his spots better. There certainly didn’t seem to be much to gain by fighting a 16-year-old and spending five minutes off the ice in a one-goal game.
Dallas Ehrhardt was happy to oblige Doty and won a convincing decision. Hunchak felt that fight was a turning point as it helped energize the building and gave the Warriors a little more life.
