Warriors head coach Mike Stothers and assistant coach Mike Vandenberghe last season.

The final dress rehearsal for the Moose Jaw Warriors is here as they finish off the WHL preseason this weekend with a home-and-home series against the Brandon Wheat Kings.  The tribe will travel to Brandon on Friday and then the two teams will meet up again on Saturday night at Mosaic Place.

Head coach Mike Stothers explains what the players will need to do to crack that final roster, "Being be prepared to play each and every day, to give it your up most effort and get better every day.  We don't want to waste an opportunity, whether it's off the ice or on the ice.  That's an opportunity to get better as an individual and as a team.

"Quite frankly if we had to start the year with every single individual that's here, I would have no problem with that because they're all good kids.

"It doesn't matter what we're doing, we expect full effort, we expect our compete level and our desire to be there each and every night."

The big turnover on the Warriors roster from the team that went to the Eastern Conference Final last year has been talked about all summer, and throughout training camp.  Stothers says he knows they won't have the size and toughness that were key parts of the team last season, but adding that's doesn't mean they have to change their style.

"Classic example is Brayden Point, he's still one of the smallest guys on the ice, but this kid battles and he competes and he wants the puck and quite often he comes up with it," stated Stothers.  "It's not all about size, it's about the desire that you have and the heart that you have and how badly you want it."

The Warriors have went 1-1-1 so far in the preseason with all three games against the Swift Current Broncos.

Stothers says he's happy with the progress made so far by the players, "I thought the guys have worked hard, both on and off the ice, I thought they've competed hard against each other, but there's been some times where I thought we haven't competed as hard against the opponent, and that's part of the learning curve when you're young."

These final two games will be a good testing ground for players on the bubble to make the roster and for other to get ready for the season opener coming up next Friday at Mosaic Place against Swift Current.

Warriors Hockey is back on the air this weekend on Country 100 (100.7 FM) with the pre-game show getting things started on Friday at 6:25pm and on Saturday at 6:55pm.  Click here to listen live.