Darrell Davis
Regina Leader-Post
Life has been easy recently for the Regina Pat Canadians, the reigning Telus Cup champions whose adage during this tortuous hockey season has been “Embrace the grind!”
The grind resumes Monday in Peterborough, Ont., where the Pat C’s end a two-week respite and begin a demanding seven-games-in-seven-days schedule that determines Canada’s top male under-18 hockey team. The Pat C’s are looking to win the title for a record-setting sixth time while becoming just the fifth franchise to win back-to-back Telus Cups.
“We gotta get into that first game quickly and then it flows from there,” said Pat C’s captain/defender Cooper Bratton, one of six players returning from last year’s championship squad.
“They’re all winners of their leagues, so they’re strong teams. We gotta bring our ‘A’ game to beat them.”
After qualifying for the Telus Cup by defeating the archrival Moose Jaw Warriors 5-1 in the west regional final April 5 at the Co-operators Centre, the team has had daily practices, healed some bruises and started watching videos of their upcoming opponents. Regina also defeated Moose Jaw in each of the last two Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League championship series.
“It’s fun to be playing hockey at this time of the year,” said Pat C’s head coach Ryan Hodgins.
“There’s an understanding that with games in a series, you’re gonna have a chance to respond. At these tournaments you might not get that chance, so every game’s a big game.”
The Pat Canadians have rotated two starting goalies — Ben Meyer and Adam Muntain — equally throughout the regular season. Hodgins said the team has faith in both netminders, but he hasn’t yet decided how he’s going to deploy them in Peterborough.
Muntain played in Regina’s last game against Moose Jaw, surrendering only one goal while the Pat Canadians got goals from Maddox Schultz, with two, Liam Pue, Brady Vipond and Mahlon Wiley. Schultz and Pue each played 34 games this past season with the WHL’s Regina Pats, but they are now with the Pat C’s as full-time players.
“Throughout the year we definitely learned a lot,” said Bratton. “We’re playing a lot of hockey.
“There’s a lot that goes into being fresh when you’re playing that much hockey. It’s important to take care of your body.”
Regina’s tournament schedule starts Monday night against the host Peterborough Petes, followed by games Tuesday against the Halifax Macs, Wednesday against the Waterloo Wolves, Thursday against the Chevaliers de Lévis and Friday against the Okanagan Rockets. The top four teams from the round-robin schedule advance to semifinals on Saturday, with the winners qualifying for Sunday’s final.
“I think the schedule is awesome,” said Hodgins. “The video doesn’t always show what the teams are doing, but there are only six teams left playing in the nation so everybody’s good, everybody’s prepared.
“I said to the guys that they’ve earned the right to be here so it’s important go enjoy these times and take it all in because not everybody gets to do this. But we’re not satisfied.”
After winning last year’s Telus Cup in Chilliwack, B.C., by beating Lévis 3-2 in overtime, the Pat Canadians are tied with the Notre Dame Hounds (from Wilcox) and Saint-François Blizzard with five Canadian championships apiece. Notre Dame is among the four teams to have won back-to-back titles, having won in 2009-10, a feat last accomplished in 2012-13 by the Red Deer Chiefs.
