Darrell Davis
Regina Leader-Post
The Regina Pat Canadians have talked all season about winning back-to-back Telus Cups, which would give the venerable franchise the most under-18 male hockey championships in Canadian history.
“It’s been on our mind since the start of the year,” said Pat C’s goalie Adam Muntain, whose 29 saves backstopped a 5-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors in the west regional final on Sunday inside the jam-packed Co-Operators Arena.
“We talked about it, but we never really imagined it to happen. Now we’ve got a chance to do it.”
Regina has earned a second consecutive berth in the six-team Telus Cup, slated for April 20-26 in Peterborough, Ont., and a chance to win a sixth trophy.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Pat C’s head coach Ryan Hodgins. “That’s what these guys do. They just respond and, you know, all of it’s a grind. We always talk about embracing the grind because the team that embraces the grind is gonna come out on top. And these are character kids.
“Maddox (Schultz) is a big-time player and he rises to the top. Zero surprise.”
Pat C’s forward Maddox Schultz, who said it would be important to start quickly against Moose Jaw, scored 18 seconds into the contest and added a power-play goal late in the second period to give Regina a 3-1 lead heading into the final stanza.
Brady Vipond, Mahlon Wiley and Liam Pue, into an empty net, also scored for Regina. Jamie Kirwan’s power-play goal pulled Moose Jaw within 2-1 early in the second period
“I got a beautiful pass from (Ryker Doka), I kinda got loose and ended up burying it,” said Schultz, who also scored twice in a must-win, 3-2 victory Saturday against the Winnipeg Bruins. “Our start was crucial.”
Schultz and Pue, who played back-to-back playoff contests for the WHL’s Regina Pats before playing four straight regional games, were playing their sixth game in six days.
Regina and Moose Jaw met 11 times this year, splitting their four regular-season games before the Pat C’s won their best-of-five Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League championship series 3-2. Playing in the four-team, round-robin west regional tournament, Moose Jaw defeated Regina 6-2 in a round-robin game Friday, which tied the season at five games apiece leading into Sunday’s showdown.
“Everyone at the Telus Cup is unbelievable,” said Schultz, who scored the championship-winner in 2025, giving Regina a 3-2 overtime victory against the Chevaliers de Levis and was named that tournament’s top player.
“We know what to expect. We’ve gotta expect everyone to be similar to Moose Jaw, similar competition, so we’ve gotta bring our best and hopefully we’ll get it done.”
The Pat C’s won their fifth championship in 2025, tying them with the Notre Dame Hounds and Saint-François Blizzard for most overall. Notre Dame is also one of four squads to claim back-to-back titles, which it accomplished in 2009-10 and hasn’t been done since the Red Deer Chiefs in 2012-13.
