The Warriors defeated St. Paul 19-10 in Junior B action as the Canadiens traveled to Saddle Lake for its first exhibition game of the season on Saturday.
Warriors veteran Jared Cunningham scored six goals and Cody Linklater, a new recruit from Sudbury, scored five and had three assists. “He really helped our side to come out on top," praised team manager Winston Lapatak. Darian Cardinal scored a hat trick and Cole Steinhauer and Miles Baptist a pair a piece.
Skylar Giroux and Douglas Morin scored three goals apiece for the Canadiens, Justin Dubeau two and Jared Vallee one.
Lapatak credited conditioning for the win. Several odd man rushes and breakaways helped created scoring opportunities for the team.
“Their passing seems to be improving, their ability to break out of their end as a group," he said after the game. “We've been doing a lot of practices on top of a busy exhibition season. It's a really good chance for them to come together as a team. They responded well."
A short bench of eleven players for the Canadiens along with being the first game of the season affected the outcome of the game, according to coaching staff. The Canadiens did well offensively with 10 goals but broke down in its own end, said head coach Tony Meger after the game.
Saturday's game was the fifth exhibition of the season for the Warriors. The team has a core of a dozen local players and a few imported players and is still working out its roster.
“We're hoping by playoffs we're going to be a team to take very seriously," Lapatak said.
The Canadiens took three penalties and a game misconduct while the Warriors took seven penalties and a game misconduct.
The Warriors win came after a loss to the Cold Lake Ice 14-8 on Friday. The Warriors were up 6-3 before the Warriors' new goalie received a concussion, said Lapatak. Warriors took 15 penalties while the Ice took 18.
The Warriors traveled to Thorhild on Sunday where they lost 6-5. Cunningham scored four of the goals while Linklater scored one. Ten skaters attended the match while others were injured or could not attend.
“Thorhild showed vast improvements in their team and coaching abilitites. They will not be taken lightly this year," said Lapatak.
The Warriors start its regular season in Thorhild on Friday and will play the Wainwright Bisons on Saturday in Saddle Lake, which will start with a barbecue and a chance to meet the team at the arena at 4 p.m.
“We want to expose our hockey team to our fans and the community," said Lapatak, noting that new recruits hail from Vancouver, Toronto and Saskatchewan.
The Canadiens continue to struggle to fill its roster and is considering offering an incentive to players who play this year with a team trip to Sweden and Finland after the season.
“We're trying to build up some excitement about why should you come to St. Paul," said Meger. “We could easily put together a nice little tour (to Sweden)."
Coaching staff is looking at the trip possibility to try and find a few more recruits. The trip would be an opportunity to put St. Paul players on the ice with Swedish and Finnish players.
“We're going to need a commitment from the players to make this work," said assistant coach Pierre deMoissac, a former Canadiens coach. Meger hopes to fill the team locally but may look for recruits from further away if necessary. Recruiting has been a challenge in part because several St. Paul player have chosen to play Junior B elsewhere, he added.
