The Moose Jaw Warriors are finally getting back to full health. It’s too early in the week to be sure, defenceman Dylan McIlrath seems likely to return Friday. McIlrath said he will see how he feels in the next two days, but if his knee keeps progressing as it has been, he could be in the line-up Friday.
It looks like Slovak rookie Michal Hlinka is getting close to being ready to return. After three games in four nights, the Warriors were pretty banged up and Mackenzie Royer and Cody Beach both sat out Monday’s practice, but were back Tuesday.
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When the Warriors meet the Regina Pats Friday, it will be the Pats first home game since Nov. 15. The Pats were 1-2-2-0 on their B.C. Division road trip and are 2-8-3-0 since they won three straight game at the end of October.
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It’s still a month away, but the Warriors are already looking at a very challenging B.C. road trip. The swing will cover seven games — they face Calgary and the way out and Kootenay on the way home — in 11 days. They will definitely be without D Morgan Rielly and C Brayden Cuthbert who are at the World Under-17 Challenge.
The Warriors could also be missing left wingers Quinton Howden and Antonin Honejsek. Howden leaves for the Canadian world junior camp Dec. 15 in Toronto and has a decent shot at making the team though the race for the forward spots are pretty wide open.
Speaking to Honejsek Tuesday, he expects the Czech Ice Hockey Association to announce their camp roster by the end of the week. Their camp would open on Dec. 15 as well.
While losing four regulars would be difficult, many of the teams the Warriors are facing are in the same boat. The complication for the Warriors is that they may not have a lot of players available to call in. The Mac’s Midget Tournament field hasn’t been set yet, but it looks like many of the Warriors signed young players from midget AAA will be spending their holidays in Calgary at the Mac’s.
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Annie Fowler from the Tri-City Herald has a nice story on former Warrior Neal Prokop and his return from a broken femur last season during the playoffs. Prokop is back in the Tri-City Americans line-up, though they are facing the same 20-year-old situation the Warriors had when Brendan Rowinski came back from his knee injury.
You can read the story here: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/news?slug=capress-hko_whl_prokop_comeback-5283008#WHL2010-11-30%2016:52:00
