The Warriors decision to dress Spencer Morse for Game 1 was an in interesting one. The Warriors were happy with how the six-foot-five defenceman played in his lone game against Prince Albert this season, but it was only one game.
Ultimately Morse didn't even get a shift, but dressing him meant only having 11 forwards. That left forwards Carter Hansen and Brett Brooks — both presumably healthy — in the stands.
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The flip side to that was that Eric Arnold and Andrew Johnson played sparingly in the second half of the game. The amount of time spent on special teams played a role, but players are capable of scoring. While Johnson and Arnold both failed to make the most of chances, both were skating well and Johnson in particular seemed to be buzzing.
The Warriors should be the deeper team — particularly up front — which is why their decision to shorten their bench was surprising.
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The Warriors did a decent job of getting the Eberle-Miller-Beach line against Jordan Weal's top line. McFaull and McIlrath were on the ice for nearly every even-strength shift against Weal.
The Pats countered by getting Fenske-Marantz-Rieder out against James Henry's line the majority of the time.
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There isn't much space left on the Warriors bus, but it's possible Miles Warkentine could get a call-up. Warkentine was the Warriors other first round pick from the last Bantam draft along with Brayden Point. His Prince Albert Mintos lost to the Saskatoon Contacts 3-1 in the Sask. Midget AAA Hockey League championship series that concluded Friday.
Warkentine had 39 points in 31 games in the regular season and nine points in 10 playoff games.
