Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The Regina Pat Canadians are Telus Cup champions.
Maddox Schultz scored 28 seconds into overtime with a wrist shot from the faceoff dot to secure a 3-2 win for the Regina Pat Canadians over Quebec’s Chevaliers de Levis in the gold medal game of the national male under-18 hockey championship in Chilliwack, B.C. on Sunday.
The 15-year-old Schultz, who was named the tournament’s MVP prior to the gold medal game, also had two assists in the victory to give him 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in seven games which led all skaters.
“It feels awesome,” Schultz told tournament broadcaster HNLive after the win. “Just thinking in overtime — let’s go win it.”
In regulation time, Regina also got goals from Johan Sivertson and captain Logan Mehl while Taylor Tabashniuk made 29 saves in net for his fifth win of the tournament. Sivertson finished second in tournament scoring with 14 points in seven games followed by teammate and the tournament’s top defenceman Eli Johnson (12 points) and Chase Surkan (12 points).
Tabashniuk allowed just six goals in his five starts, finishing the tournament with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage to go along with his undefeated record.
“We’ve been working for this all year,” Tabashniuk, a Regina Pats prospect, told HNLive. “It’s a surreal feeling.
“The boys just never gave up. We went down one (goal) in the second and then scored a late one in the second period and that was a huge goal from (Mehl).”
The national championship is Regina’s first since 1999 and fifth overall, tying the Notre Dame Hounds and Séminaire Saint-François for most all-time. The Pat Canadians last won a medal in 2015 when they claimed bronze.
After finishing the round robin with a 4-1 record, with their only loss coming against the Chevaliers by a score of 6-2 on Friday, the Pat Canadians beat the Elgin Middlesex Canucks 5-0 on Saturday in the semifinal to book their spot in the gold medal game giving them a second chance at the Chevaliers.
“It’s unbelievable,” Pat Canadians head coach Ryan Hodgins told HNLive. “The (round robin) loss, I think, motivated us.
“Our group … we don’t complain; we just stick to the grind and we just got back to work after that loss.
“All year, they just compete and they’re compete is second to none. And it’s hard to beat a team that competes like we do and then the skill just takes over with the compete.”
And in the final, the West regional champion Pat Canadians showed just that as Regina got on the board first as Sivertson scored near the end of the first period to make it 1-0 before Malyk Côté replied for Levis to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second period, Félix Grenier scored for the Chevaliers to make it 2-1 before Mehl tied the game once again with just over a minute left in the middle frame.
After a scoreless third period, Schultz, who was eligible to play at the U15 level this season but played U18 as an underager, scored in the opening minute of the three-on-three overtime period to secure the victory for the Pat Canadians, to cap off a remarkable season for the Regina product and his team.
Schultz is now expected to hear his name first overall in the WHL draft on May 7 as the Regina Pats hold the first overall selection. Next year, Schultz will be eligible to play up to 34 games with the WHL team that drafts him while also suiting up for the Pat Canadians.
“He’s a special kid and all the attention he gets, he deserves,” Hodgins said of Schultz. “He’s a special young man and very fortunate to be with us. It’s awesome to have him.”
tshire@postmedia.com
