MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- Before the Moose Jaw Warriors even began their run in the 2024 Playoffs, forward Atley Calvert had reached legendary status with the team.
After putting up 47 goals and 95 points in 68 games during the Western Hockey League regular season, Calvert set the single-season record as the highest-scoring Moose Jaw-born Warriors player in addition to setting the career mark earlier in the campaign.
And while all those accolades are fine and good, finding a way to win four more games over the next week of action would put Calvert and his teammates on a mythical pantheon that no Warrior team has ever achieved.
It all starts Friday night in Portland in Game 1 against the Winterhawks, and it promises to be as exciting a battle as they come -- especially given the stakes.
“This was our goal from the start of training camp, we had a really hard-fought series and it hasn’t been easy to get here, but we’re really happy with how we’ve played,” Calvert said shortly after the Warriors arrived home from Saskatoon Wednesday morning. “We’ve put our best foot forward here and obviously getting to the Finals, it’s going to be a good one.”
While Calvert is far too young to remember the 2006 Finals run that captivated the city -- the Warriors overager was all of three years old at the time -- he’s been in the stands and most recently on the ice for all the near misses since.
Just getting to the Final is an incredible accomplishment on its own, but to win it all?
“You don’t want to look to far ahead, but growing up, the Warriors have never won and being from here, it would be really special,” Calvert said. “You see the city and the fans coming out to support the team, it’s awesome. The city loves the Warriors and we want to win it for them.”
One thing that’s for certain is the Warriors are battle-tested. That’s the only way to describe their success through the 2024 postseason, including their incredible seven-game win over the Saskatoon Blades in the Conference Final.
“I think the last series was a great test for us, we embraced every moment of it, the highs and the lows,” Calvert said. “We have to do a bit of homework on Portland but it’s going to be a fun series.”
The teams met once in the regular season when the Warriors were playing some of their best hockey of the campaign, leading to a 4-3 Moose Jaw victory in a back-and-forth battle in late February.
Calvert had three assists in that outing, in the midst of what would turn into a WHL Player of the Month Award for February a few days later.
Since then, Moose Jaw and Portland have been on a collision course, and it all begins with Game 1 Friday night.
“It’s a hard building to play in, we’ve played there once this season so we know a little bit about it,” Calvert said. “We’ll watch some video, see what adjustments we have to make, and at the end of the day if we play our game we’ll definitely get some good results.”
Games 1 and 2 are in Portland Friday and Saturday, with both contests being broadcast on TSN. The series reverts to the Moose Jaw Events Centre for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday, with tickets in the bowl selling out in six minutes after going on sale Friday morning. Standing room only remains, check www.sasktix.ca for availability.
