Tonight one of the Western Hockey League’s biggest rivalries will be renewed as the Moose Jaw Warriors head east into Regina to take on the Pats.  This marks the first game of their 2012-2013 regular season series, they’re last meeting was Game 5 of their 2012 WHL first round playoff series, that night the Warriors eliminated Regina from the post season.

The two clubs had an entertaining regular season series last season, they finished with identical 4-2-2 records but the Pats won the series due to goals for/against (MJ 20, RG 23).  Cody Beach led the Warriors with two goals and eight points against Regina; Kenton Miller had four goals and seven points; Quinton Howden had three goals and four points; Justin Kirsch had two goals and four points; Tanner Eberle, Travis Brown, Joel Kendall McFaull, Joel Edmundson, and Andrew Johnson had three points each; Sam Fioretti, Torrin White, Carter Hansen, and Morgan Rielly had two points each.

Jordan Weal led the Pats with five goals and 15 points against the Warriors; Chandler Stephenson had five goals and six points; Lane Scheidl and Dyson Stevenson had four points each; Morgan Klimchuk and Trent Ouellette had three points each; Kyle Burroughs, Colton Jobke, Dryden Hunt, and Jack Rodewald had two points each; Matt Hewitt was 4-1-1 with a 2.62gaa and .917sv%.

There have been plenty of changes to both teams since that series with Moose Jaw losing the likes of Howden, McIlrath, Beach, Henry, Braes, Miller, while Weal and Davidson have graduated from Regina.

Andrew Johnson, who's in his third year with the tribe, says the bitterness between the two teams won't go away, "For the guys that have seen the rivalry before, it's no different and I'm sure they're feeling the same way over there too. It's a big two points for us and that's what we're focused on right now."

The Warriors come into the game with a 2-2-0-0 record after splitting their games last weekend against Prince Albert, a 5-2 loss, and Brandon, a 6-1 win, but they've yet to win on the road. Johnson says they showed good resilience to bounce back against Brandon, but need to put it together away from Mosaic Place.

"We responded well, we did what we wanted to and we played a full sixty," said Johnson. "We played the right way, we played the right way and we got rewarded."

The Pats have lost two straight and sit at 1-4-0-0. Getting a lead early could be big for the tribe due to the early woes for the Pats, but Johnson says it will come down to who plays the full sixty minutes, "We've just got to focus on playing our game for not just that first bit, but the whole sixty. We're going to take it bit-by-bit, but focus on playing the whole game."

Catch all the action with James Gallo and Marc Smith on Country 100 starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40pm, after tonight the Warriors will be off until the weekend when they take on Portland (Saturday) and Red Deer (Sunday).