Newly acquired forward, Matthew Savoie, made quite an impact in his first game as a Moose Jaw Warrior recording five points on Saturday night.
Savoie had two goals and three assists in his debut on Jan. 13 against the Vancouver Giants and was happy to begin his time as a Warrior on the right track.
“I was a little snake bitten for Team Canada in Sweden. So it was good to get scoring again and good to get on the board and create offensively. I think that’s a big part of my game,” said Savoie who was referring to this year’s World Junior Hockey Championships.
Savoie was a member of Team Canada and so were three of his now teammates: Brayden Yager, Denton Mateychuk, and Jagger Firkus who received the call up late in the tournament.
“After World Juniors, I think after spending a month with guys, with them every day, all day, hanging out in hotel rooms, I think you learn a lot about guys. I thought Yags, Dents, and Firk, I got really close to all three of them. They’ve really helped the transition be really easy coming to this team,” Savoie shared.
He was even with the trio when he got the news he had been traded from the Wenatchee Wild to Moose Jaw.
“I was actually with Yags, Dents, and Firk in the airport when my agent called me the morning before the trade and let me know what was going on. The four of us were getting dinner. I think they kind of already knew but I was super excited and they were super excited,” he said.
“We kind of [knew] he was on the [trading] block while we were at World Juniors. So we had an idea. We wanted him to come here and once we found out he was going to be a Warrior, we were pretty pumped,” said Yager.
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Savoie’s performance in his first game as a Warrior is nothing short of expectations, according to his coach.
“He came as advertised for sure. We’ve been talking about him for awhile. We know the offence that he brings, and we certainly saw that last game. But if you watch his game and how hard he plays without the puck, it’s everything he does leading up to the offence, hounding pucks, being in good places. He just plays an honest, hard game. He’s going to be a great player for us,” said head coach, Mark O’Leary.
Before the Wild moved to Wenatchee, they were the Winnipeg Ice and that is where Savoie spent his first few years of junior hockey. It happens to be the team that knocked the Warriors out of the playoffs the last two seasons.
“He was one of the guys that was so hard to defend. Especially they were such a loaded team and he was kind of the headliner of that group. So to have him now, it’s nice,” said Yager.
“I’ve always liked playing in this rink. I’ve had some success here I guess in the past. So now just trying to have some more here with a new team,” said Savoie.
The Moose Jaw Warriors take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday night at home.
