By Matthew Gourlie
The new-look Moose Jaw Warriors achieved a very familiar result Tuesday night.
The Warriors top-line spurred a five-goal third period rally, but it was new Warrior Vince Loschiavo who scored the game-winner in the Tribe’s 6-3 win over the Kelowna Rockets.
“It felt awesome,” said Loschiavo. “It was a bit of a whirlwind the last two days getting here, but it’s a great place to come to and I’m excited about the season.”
Loschiavo arrived in Moose Jaw following a trade with Kootenay on Monday. Ryan Peckford also made his Warriors (26-5-1-1) debut after he was acquired from Victoria in a blockbuster that saw Noah Gregor head to the island.
Loschiavo made use of a little Kootenay Ice chemistry on the game-winner as Barrett Sheen won the puck in the corner and set up Loschiavo in the slot. The pair were teammates on the Ice for the past two seasons.
Wins have been hard to come by in Kootenay during Loschiavo’s WHL career. The 19-year-old was used to winning. He went to the Western Canadian bantam championships with the Winnipeg Hawks and then played midget AAA with a Winnipeg Thrashers team that was 34-7-3.
“I couldn’t be happier to be here,” Loschiavo said. “It’s been a tough couple of years and I’m just really excited to join a team that is looking to make a long playoff run.”
Loschiavo scored 29 goals a year ago on a team that won 14 games, but his goal Tuesday was only his eighth of the season.
“I was definitely struggling a bit offensively this year, but coming here, I think it’s great to have a fresh start and I’m really excited to be a part of the Warriors,” he said.
Peckford arrived from Prince George at 3 a.m., but slotted in alongside Jayden Halbgewachs and Tristin Langan.
“It was a quick turn-around. One minute I was going out to practice and the next minute I’m getting on a plane,” Peckford said. “When I found out I was coming to Moose Jaw and to a really good team, I was happy. You can’t complain about coming to a winning team.”
Peckford is six-foot-one and nearly 200 lbs., but played with Victoria’s cadre of small, highly-skilled players. He is expected to do the same with Halbgewachs going forward.
“I really enjoy playing with those kind of players. You give them the puck, they’re going to put it in the net,” he said. “I can play the skill game with those guys, but if there comes a time in a game where there needs to be a little grit, I think I can provide that as well.
“(Moose Jaw) plays a hard, fast-paced game, so I think I’ll fit in here well.”
Gregor has scored at a point-per-game clip since entering the league and was expected to be an offensive force in this season. Peckford has 13 goals so far and is just trying to contribute and not worry too much about filling Gregor’s skates.
“Noah Gregor is a great player and a good guy. He was the only guy I knew coming here, so it kind of sucks that we switched,” Peckford said. “It’s going to be tough to come in here and try to fill a spot like that, but I just have to work hard and do my best.”
Both teams were short-staffed. The Warriors were without head coach Tim Hunter and captain Brett Howden who are attending Canada’s world junior camp, while defenceman Jett Woo remains injured.
Kelowna (18-10-2-1) was missing a trio of Canadian world junior hopefuls in Kole Lind, Cal Foote and Dillon Dube. Even without that trio, the young Rockets had a strong opening two periods and took a 3-1 lead into the third.
“We’re happy with the effort. We’re missing three of our big, top players, but we had some young guys step up in the lineup. (Wil Kushniryk) scored his first goal, which was good for him. We played a simple game and got shots to the net,” said Rockets 16-year-old goalie Roman Basran.
The Rockets had eight 2000-born players in their lineup to go along with a pair of 2001s.
Basran was a third round pick of Kelowna’s in 2016 and he felt confident that he was going to be a part of the Rockets’ bright future. He was hoping that future would start this season and when veteran goalie Brodan Salmond was injured, he was called up and has run with his opportunity.
“An injury happened, I got my opportunity and I’m pouncing on it right now,” Basran said. “I never get nervous before a game. I go into every game the same way whether it’s midget or here. I am feeling comfortable, but you can never be too comfortable, honestly, because there is always someone trying to steal your spot.”
Basran made 34 saves and was strong in a second period while the game was tied at 1-1. Kushniryk and Kyle Topping scored 16 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Rockets’ a 3-1 lead.
“We played a great third period and got the win,” Loschiavo said. “We were definitely getting chances in the first two periods, but we were able to bear down on our chances and we limited their odd-man rushes and I think that was the difference-maker.”
Halbgewachs and Justin Almeida scored 44 seconds apart to tie the game before Loschiavo put the Warriors’ ahead for good.
Tanner Jeannot’s second of the game, gave the Warriors some insurance and Peckford fed Almeida for a tap-in into the empty net.
Brayden Burke had three assists for the Warriors and Jeannot also had three points. Josh Brook had a pair of assists.
