Excitement building in Moose Jaw ahead of Game 3 in WHL final

The anticipation continues to build in Moose Jaw ahead of Game 3 of the WHL final.

The Moose Jaw Warriors take on the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday evening at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. The puck drops at 8 p.m.

Moose Jaw is leading the series 2-0.

The Warriors have never hoisted the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The last time the team made it to the finals was during the 2005-‘06 season, which ended with a loss against the Vancouver Giants.

Carly Jaye, a local artist, spent the days leading up to the game painting murals of Warriors players on the windows of local businesses.

“I grew up in a hockey family, so I’ve been cheering on our Warriors since I was a kid,” Jaye said. “It’s hard to summarize the excitement, because it really is something that has been a long time coming for our city.”

Jaye painted Jagger Firkus, the WHL’s player of the year, in red, black and white, on McCauley Agencies’ window. Three other businesses will have murals featuring Brayden Yager, Atley Calvert, and Denton Mateychuk.

Jaye’s art has also popped up in schools as colouring pages for students.

“I was just excited to take five to 10 minutes of their classroom time and colour and cheer for their home team,” she said.

She said it’s a special experience to have her art showcasing the team when the Warriors could making their way to a championship.

Kristi Dekker said she thinks the Warriors will take the championship in four games. She said the entire city has banded together to support the Warriors.

“It is very emotional to see,” Dekker said. “To see the community come together, it has been wonderful.”

Chelsea Shaffer was at Game 7 in Saskatoon when the Warriors beat the Saskatoon Blades to earn their spot in the final. She said when the Warriors won the game in overtime she has never received so many high fives.

The Warriors will have the home-ice advantage in Game 3, and Shaffer said she thinks will keep the team’s momentum up.

“They are going to take this,” Shaffer said. “It’s just been great hockey to watch.”