Dustin Perillat in action with the Warriors during their preseason opener on Tuesday against the Swift Current Broncos at Mosaic Place.

Dustin Perillat's first stint in Moose Jaw didn't last long last year.

The Moose Jaw Warriors prospect started the season on the Moose Jaw Generals roster last year, but after an early season injury and a roster move, he was released. That left Perillat without a place to play for much of the season before he eventually found his way to the Flin Flon Bombers in the SJHL.

It was a tough experience for the young defenceman, but one that he feels only made him stronger as a player and person.

“It was definitely tough emotionally,” said Perillat. “I had my ups and downs, but I'm just happy to be back here in Moose Jaw again.”

There was no doubt a maturing process that Perillat was forced to go through by changing cities multiple times and finding a way to stay sharp on the ice at the same time. He eventually found that in Flin Flon.

“Playing some junior hockey in Flin Flon helped me a lot with my skating, my passing, my shooting and made me a little bit better,” said Perillat, who finished the year with two goals in 11 games for the Bombers.

“I definitely got emotionally stronger as a player. All the adversity I had to come through, it helped me a lot.

“I just want to be a Warrior so bad right now and I'm just going to keep working my butt off for however long I'm here.”

Perillat has been strong during training camp, showing the offensive abilities that he has from the back end while also playing solid defensively. He also played well in the Warriors' preseason opener on Tuesday, a 4-3 overtime loss to Swift Current.

“I feel like I'm playing pretty good right now, but I feel like I can play a lot better and that will come with some time,” said Perillat. “It's good to be back here in Moose Jaw and I'm loving every minute of it right now.”

As a player on the ice, there's more confidence in Perillat's game right now as he battles for a spot among the Warriors' defensive group this season. While he is playing well, he knows that there's still areas to work on, especially to fit into new head coach Tim Hunter's scheme.

“I like to pick my spots to rush the puck, but the way Tim is running things, I've got to be passing the puck a lot more to my forwards and using my teammates a lot more,” Perillat said. “It's more of a team game for me now.

“That first pass is huge, especially coming out of the defensive zone as a defenceman, so my passing needs to be a lot better than it was last year.”

Perillat and the Warriors will head into the Queen City on Thursday night for more WHL preseason action against the Regina Pats at the Cooperators Centre. Puck drops at 7:00pm.