MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- You can add Riley Thorpe to the list of Moose Jaw Warriors who have scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal for the local Western Hockey League squad.
The 16-year-old forward sent the bears flying with 6:28 to play in the second period on Friday night at the Moose Jaw Events Centre after scoring his second goal of the season.
Unfortunately for the local squad, the final result wouldn’t be in their favour as they dropped another close decision, this time 3-2 to the Swift Current Broncos.
Moose Jaw fell to 6-17-3-1 with the loss and remain in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, while Swift Current improved to 15-11-0-1 and moved into sole possession of third place.
While the result wasn’t what they wanted, it was still a great moment for Thorpe, who is in his rookie season with the Warriors.
“It was definitely special,” he said. “It was a nice three-on-two coming down and Hughy (Ethan Hughes) made a play over to Fads (Landen McFadden) and he sent me a nice pass backdoor, then everyone started jumping and it was a really special moment.
“I actually didn’t even realized I scored until the lights started going off and everything, and then I was ecstatic. It was pretty sweet that it happened.”
Here’s how it all looked:
Yeet those bears Moose Jaw!!!!! 🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸@MJWARRIORS pic.twitter.com/BgVx9LVBzl
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 7, 2024
Of course, falling a goal short on the scoreboard dampened that moment, with the team continuing to search for ways to get the big goals that help win games.
“We’re not completely happy with how that one turned out,” Thorpe said. “We’re still hoping to continue to get better and win some more games as the season goes on… we just have to have more effort and more compete and we have to be first on races and battles and not fall short.”
Swift Current received the first power play of the game 4:15 into the contest, and they’d make it count, with Rylan Gould perfectly tipping a point shot from Brady Birnie into the corner of the net. The game’s opening goal came with 5:27 gone in the frame.
The Broncos had the lion’s share of chances through the remainder of the period, but Warriors goaltender Brady Smith -- making his debut in front of Moose Jaw fans -- made a handful of big saves in close to keep it a one-goal game,.
The second period was largely uneventful for the first 10 minutes, with the Warriors’ Lynden Lakovic having one of the best chances on a goalmouth scramble, only for Broncos goaltender Joey Rocha to successfully spawl and keep the teddy bears in the stands.
Swift Current would extend their lead with 8:27 to play in the period. Gould scored his second of the game on the power play, finding the puck in a goalmouth scramble and stuffing it home for the 2-0 lead.
Two minutes after that goal, it was time for the bears to fly.
The 3,198 fans in attendance ended up filling the beds of three pick-up trucks, with many more stuffed inside the cab.
The bears, toques and mittens will all go to the Salvation Army in support of their annual toy drive to help ensure every child has toys under the tree on Christmas.
The good times didn’t last long, though, as Swift Current increased their lead to 3-1, as Dawson Gerwing scored with 2:17 to play in the frame.
There things remained until 6:09 remaining in the third period, when Rilen Kovacevic jumped on the rebound off a Connor Schmidt shot in close and ripped the puck top shelf glove side.
The goal continued the overage forward’s ongoing hot streak, as he now has nine goals in the Warriors’ last seven games.
Moose Jaw would pull Smith for the extra attacker with 2:14 to play, but it would be for naught, and they’d have another one-goal loss on their ledger.
Smith finished with 36 saves, while Rocha turned aside 28.
The Warriors are back in action Tuesday when they travel to Prince Albert, while Swift Current is back on the ice Saturday when they host the Red Deer Rebels.
