After a long day of traveling from Portland, Oregon, to Saginaw, Michigan, I arrived at the Dow Event Center in time for the Meet the Coaches press conference the day before the 2024 Memorial Cup officially gets underway.
I first asked Moose Jaw Warriors’ head coach Mark O’Leaary about his team’s veterans presence and how they’ve been able to demonstrate their leadership throughout the playoff run.
“I think it’s their relentlessness with their mindset. We’ve talked all playoffs long about things not going according to plan and what your response is. I think they lead by example there. Whether it’s small things, tough call, bad ice, bad bounce, whatever. They’re just really good at resetting, refocusing, and getting back to doing what we do. That starts from the top, and they’re pretty good at that,” O’Leary said.
In Moose Jaw’s last eleven games, seven have required overtime to find a winner. That level of adversity can bond a team together. I asked O’Leary how his team may benefit from being battle-tested. “Experience is good if you have it. There’s just big moments. I think we talk all the time about being ready. Whether you play six minutes a night or 26 minutes a night, your shift could be the most important one of the night, and that’s certainly the case in overtime. If you can go through those hard times, and you know, just make sure that your game is where it needs to be at any moment, I think that helps in a tournament like this. But really, it’s up to you to perform on demand here,” he said.
After the press conference with the four coaches concluded, I spoke with Matthew Savoie and Jagger Firkus in advance of their first game of the Memorial Cup.
Savoie shared more about how the overtime experience may pay dividends, saying, “It just adds comfortability in all situations. I think we are a group that can play in all situations, up a goal, down a goal late in games. We have confidence in our group’s ability to get it done, and we’ve showed it in the playoffs.”
The big guns for the Warriors have stepped up throughout their journey to being WHL Champions, but depth scoring has been a key factor as well.
“Our depth has been huge,” Savoie said. “When you don’t have the depth scoring in the playoffs, you really struggle and it really shows. Right from the get-go, right from Round 1, our depth scoring was really key. Even on the backend, our backend provided a lot of offense for us as well. We just need more of that in this tournament.”
Firkus added how playing this deep into the season benefits his teammates, “It is massive for the younger guys to understand what it takes to win in those games. For the older guys as well, the Saskatoon series that not a lot of people get to experience. That was a special series and the finals too. The feeling of winning is unbelievable. That is why everyone comes here on such a high emotion because you want that feeling again.”
The Warriors open the tournament against the host Saginaw Spirt in what is expected to be a capacity crowd.
“I think that just brings excitement towards us. That is an opportunity that is going to be electric in the building, and we understand that,” Firkus said about opening the Memorial Cup in a hostile environment. “I don’t think there is any worry; you’ll get some nerves, but that is part of the playoffs when you get that before the game. I think the Saskatoon series was much similar to this. It was a big building full of their fans, but we had a lot more support there.”
Savoie is savoring every moment of being at the Memorial Cup and being called a WHL Champion, but his focus is on winning.
“It is really special,” he said. “Coming so close last year and not getting it done, and then getting another opportunity at the deadline going to such a good organization and team, just how we gelled right away, and how good we were right from the get-go, that’s what stuck out to me. It was a lot of fun in the playoff run. For our group, the main priority, and the only focus is winning. We are a really driven group that wants to play for each other. No one wants to let each other down. I think every single game we will have our best effort and really go for it.”
The puck drops on Friday shortly after 7:30 Eastern and 4:30 Pacific in what should be a thrilling Memorial Cup.
I’ve included a few other photos I snapped along the way for those interested.
