Moose Jaw Warriors

The Moose Jaw Canucks were a founding franchise of the then-Western Canada Hockey League in 1966, and were the new league's first champion.[1] However, after just two seasons and with the WCHL barred by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from competing for the Memorial Cup, the Canucks opted to return to the revived Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 1968.[2] When the WCHL became recognized by CAHA in 1970, Moose Jaw was left without top-level junior hockey.[3]

The Warriors franchise was established as the Winnipeg Warriors prior to the start of the 1980–81 WHL season, and played out of Winnipeg Arena, which they shared with the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets.[4] In 1984, the franchise relocated to Moose Jaw, bringing major junior hockey back to the city for the first time since 1970.[2][3]

The Warriors played in the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, also known as "The Crushed Can", for 26 seasons, before moving to Mosaic Place, now the Moose Jaw Events Centre, in the city centre in 2011.[5][6]

The team's first few seasons in Moose Jaw saw Theoren Fleury emerge as the team's primary star—Fleury finished among the top five scorers in the WHL during his tenure with the team. Led by Fleury, Kelly Buchberger, Mike Keane, and Lyle Odelein, the Warriors made the franchise's first playoff appearance after the relocation during the 1985–86 season.[3] The team captured its first regular season division title in 2003–04.[7] In 2005–06, led by Troy Brouwer and Dustin Boyd, the Warriors followed their best regular season with their first ever trip to the championship series, in which they were swept by the Vancouver Giants.[8] In 2017–18, the Warriors captured their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions with their first 50-win and 100-point season, before bowing out in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual champion Swift Current Broncos.[9][10]

In the 2023–24 season—the Warriors' 40th in Moose Jaw—the Warriors won their first Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. Led by Jagger Firkus, Denton Mateychuk, and Brayden Yager, the Warriors advanced to their second league final by defeating the regular-season champion Saskatoon Blades in a seven game series that featured a WHL-record six overtime games, including the seventh and deciding game.[11] In the final, they won four straight games versus the Portland Winterhawks to secure the championship and a berth in the 2024 Memorial Cup tournament.[12][13] At their first Memorial Cup, the Warriors advanced to the semi-final, where they were eliminated by the host and eventual champion Saginaw Spirit.[14]

The Warriors' original branding, based on the founding franchise in Winnipeg, featured Indigenous imagery, including a long-used logo featuring a silhouetted side-profile of a head wearing an Indigenous headdress. In 2020, in light of the Native American mascot controversy, the Warriors announced that they were reviewing their branding.[15] In 2022, the team unveiled a new brand and logo based on the city's aviation history and connection with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Snowbirds—the logo features a CT-114 Tutor jet emblazoned with the Snowbirds logo.[16] The team retained its original colour scheme featuring red, black, and white.[17]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

• Ed Chynoweth Cup (1): 2023–24
• Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (1): 2017–18
• Regular Season Division titles (4): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2011–12, 2017–18
• Conference Championships (2): 2005–06, 2023–24

• List of ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan
• CILG (broadcasts Moose Jaw Warriors games)
• Ice hockey in Saskatchewan

• Moose Jaw Warriors website