After heading into the WHL Playoffs as the favourite over the past two seasons, the Moose Jaw Warriors are looking forward to the underdog role this time around.

The Warriors will face-off with the Saskatoon in Game 1 of their first-round series on Friday night at SaskTel Centre.

Saskatoon will be the favourite in the series after finishing ten points ahead of Moose Jaw and spending at the deadline to improve their team. That doesn't seem to bother the Warriors.

"Nobody picked us to even make the playoffs and they've come together as a great group of guys, they play for each other, they play our system, they've executed and we're comfortable going into Saskatoon," said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter.

"It's playoffs, everyone gets excited for that and the room has a good buzz in it," added Captain Josh Brook.

The Warriors went 1-5 against the Blades during their season series, but Moose Jaw is confident that Saskatoon hasn't seen the best of the Warriors yet this season.

"We match up good against anyone in the league, when we're put on the ice, we play hard, so that's what we're going to do," said Justin Almeida, who led the WHL with 78 assists in the regular season.

Warriors defenceman Jett Woo battles against Saskatoon forward Kirby Dach during the regular season. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Slowing Down Blades Offence

The Warriors feature the best line in junior hockey this season with Almeida and Tristin Langan finishing with 111 and 113 points, respectively, and Brayden Tracey not far behind with 81 points.

However, Saskatoon has the edge offensively thanks to their depth up front, led by NHL top prospect Kirby Dach. Finding a way to limit the Blades' offence attack, which scored 259 goals in the regular season, will be a big key in the series for Moose Jaw.

"We've got to have good sticks and know when their better players are on the ice and we just can't take them lightly," said Defenceman Jett Woo.

Woo along with Brook, 20-year-old Dalton Hamailuk and 16-year-old Daemon Hunt will be leaned on for some big minutes in the series to matchup against the Blades' top-two lines.

"We can't let them get behind us, we know that they like to cheat [coming out of the zone] and we've got to move pucks quick," said Brook.

"They've got two really good lines that can score, we've just got to play hard against all their players and not give them any chances."

Hunter added that the Warriors' defensive play is the biggest key heading into the series.

"It's puck management, turnovers, playing disciplined, not allowing them to do the embellishment that they do when we put a stick on them, so we have to eliminate those type of situations and make them play in their end as well," he said.

Secondary Scoring Needed for Warriors

The Warriors' top line has done a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the regular season with 122 of the team's 234 goals coming from Langan, Almeida and Tracey.

In order for Moose Jaw to find success against Saskatoon, the top line will need some support throughout the forward group.

"Hopefully I can bring some that," said Tate Popple, who will be returning to the Warriors' lineup after missing the final seven games of the regular season.

In a good sign for the playoffs, the Warriors saw that secondary scoring come through over the final few games of the regular season with Carson Denomie, Danill Stepanov, Keenan Taphorn, Kjell Kjehmus, Yegor Buyalski and Cameron Sterling all scoring last week.

"We're close, we haven't played them as a healthy Moose Jaw Warriors team so we're looking forward to that," said Hunter. "If we play as well as we can, everyone plays their best, we get good goaltending and scoring, we'll be right there."

Warriors' leading scorer Tristin Langan is stopped in close by Saskatoon goalie Nolan Maier during a regular season meeting at Mosaic Place. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Warriors Using Playoff Experience as Motivation

The Warriors last two trips to the post-season have ended in heartbreak with a Game 7 loss on home ice against the Swift Current Broncos. The returning players have learned from those defeats and are focused on making sure that it doesn’t happen again.

"The playoffs are totally different, everyone is working much harder, pucks are harder to get, pucks are harder to put in, so we've got to be ready for that," said Langan.

The Warriors have an edge in playoff experience overall with 173 playoff games played compared to 134 for Saskatoon.

"It's playoffs, every inch counts, so we've got to work a lot harder than the regular season, these games are a lot harder and tighter, but we're ready for it," said Almeida.

Game Notes

Brayden Tracey heads into Game 1 as a game-time decision. The 17-year-old Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year missed the Warriors' games last weekend and is day-to-day.

The Warriors also haven't named a starting goaltender for Game 1. When asked on Thursday about who would get the call, Hunter responded, "We're going to have a goalie start Game 1."

The Warriors and Blades hit the ice at 7 p.m. from Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon for Games 1 and 2. You can catch all the action live on Country 100, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 p.m.

The series shifts to Moose Jaw for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. If necessary, Game 5 goes next Friday in Saskatoon, Game 6 will be back in Moose Jaw next Saturday and the deciding Game 7 would be played in Saskatoon on Apr. 1.