Travis Brown chases down a Brandon forward during WHL preseason action.

There was a change of plans for Moose Jaw Warrior defencemen Morgan Rielly, Travis Brown and Joel Edmundson on the weekend as they felt the immediate affects of the National Hockey League lockout.  All three were expected to leave this week for the start of their respective NHL training camps, but that all changed two days ago.

"Throughout the summer I was hearing the lockout rumours, so it was in the back of my head," said Edmundson, a 2011 second round pick of the St. Louis Blues.  "I was expecting to go on the 20th, but now they told me it's cancelled, so I'm just here with the Warriors and that's my team, so I'm focused on the Warriors."

"I've been trying not to pay too much attention to it, we're just going to keep on playing hockey here and keep carrying on with business as usual," added Rielly, who was taken fifth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in June's NHL Draft.

This would have been Edmundson's second training camp with the Blues, but it was the first kick at the can for Rielly and Brown after being selected in this year's draft.

Brown, who was taken in the fifth round by the Chicago Blackhawks, says he's disappointed about not being able to go, "Missing your first NHL camp is pretty big.  I was pretty excited for it, trained all summer for it.  I got a pretty good taste at a development camp (in the summer), but it would have been good playing against the top end players for Chicago."

Edmundson says he was looking forward to giving the Blues a better look at what he can offer after getting injured on the first day of their training camp last year, "They only saw me in one practice, so it would have been nice to get some game time down there, but they have lots of scouts out in the West Coast, so they'll be through Moose Jaw quite a bit."

During the last lockout in 2004-05, Brown and Rielly would have been 12 years old, and just fans of the NHL, but now the lockout hits a little closer to home for the two veteran

Warrior defencemen.

"It's a little weird this year with it personally effecting me," explained Brown. "As a kid it was still pretty devastating not being able to watch hockey for a full year though."

"It's been a bit of a new experience being drafted and all, but I'm not trying to pay too much attention to it and just prepare for the home opener," added Rielly.

That's the bonus for the Tribe, with the NHL camps put on hold, their three star defencemen will be on the ice when they take on the Swift Current Broncos on Friday at Mosaic Place.

Edmundson says he's looking forward to playing in the home opener this year, "I definitely thought about missing it because I would have been down at camp and that would have been upsetting, but it's going to be awesome to be back here for the home opener.  I know the boys are pumped up for it.

Brown adds that he's really excited to get the regular season underway, "The team's looking good and we're ready to go here."'

The Warriors and Broncos hit the ice at 7:00pm on Friday, but make sure to get to your seats early due to the pre-game ceremonies, which will include the raising of the WHL East Division Championship banner.