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The Regina Pat Canadians have once again laid claim to the provincial U18 AAA crown in Saskatchewan.
The Pat Canadians took the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League title after a 5-2 win over the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors on Saturday afternoon at the Co-operator’s Centre in Regina.
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“It feels amazing. I’m loving every minute of it. We deserve it and played hard. I couldn’t be happier for the guys,” said Pat Canadians forward Malaki Martin, who scored his 10th goal of the playoffs in the win.
“It’s pretty special. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been able to raise a trophy so being able to do so today, it’s pretty surreal and pretty special,” said Liam Pue, who joined the team this season after he was selected third overall by the Regina Pats in the WHL.
For the trio of Maddox Schultz, Ethan Young and Adam Muntain, it’s their third straight provincial title as teammates. They won the U15 AA crown on the Pat Blues and then as members of the Pat Canadians last season.
For the second season in a row, the Pat Canadians knocked off the Warriors in the finals. Last season, the Pat Canadians swept Moose Jaw 3-0.
It was a different story this time around as Moose Jaw battled back from down 2-0 in the series to force a deciding Game 5. That included a 5-1 win over Regina on Friday night in Moose Jaw.
Pat Canadians head coach Ryan Hodgins said you could tell the group was ready to go after the loss.
“On the ride home, it wasn’t a good feeling but you could feel their energy and again this morning when they got here,” Hodgins said. “I had a good feeling.”
Schultz said the quick turnaround from a Friday night game to a Saturday afternoon contest worked in their favour as well.
“I think dwelling on a loss is the worst thing you can do leading up to a game,” said Schultz, who was the first overall pick in the last WHL Bantam Draft.
“I think we came out flying in the first period. We came out hard on the forecheck and on the first shift, we scored. It was a huge moment for our team to win and everyone is in a good mood, so we’re looking forward to regionals,” said Schultz, who was on the Pat Canadians team last season that not only won the league title, but the Telus Cup as well.
It was Schultz who opened the game quickly for the Pat Canadians as his goal came just 26 seconds into the contest.
“A lot of anger came out of us in that first period. Everyone was super angry, and we united as a team. To do that against a team like that is special. It’s a good one for us,” Schultz said.
Kai Lanigan added another goal in the first period to extend the lead for Regina.
Up 2-0, Pat Canadians goaltender Adam Muntain made a stellar save on Moose Jaw’s Ryan Gibbs to keep the Warriors off the board.
“I saw the pass come from over here and it went right back door and I had no clue it was going to get through so that’s why I stopped in the middle,” said Muntain, who made 28 saves in the game. “Then I dove back and it went right in my glove. I can’t ask for more.”
Moose Jaw did get onto the board before the first period ended with Riley Brown scoring.
Ryker Doka extended the Pat Canadians lead back to two goals in the second period.
In the third, the Pat Canadians pulled away with Martin scoring as well as Mahlon Wiley. Moose Jaw scored with just 22 seconds left in the game as Tyler Hudec found the back of the net.
While this is the end of the league play between the two clubs, there is at least one more battle on the horizon between the two teams.
Both will be participating at the Telus Cup West Regionals this season as the Pat Canadians got an automatic bye as the host team this year.
“We wanted to get this job done first and win it to prove why we should be there. Now we focus on next week and get that done as well,” Pue said.
Moose Jaw will be the Saskatchewan representative in the tournament as the Winnipeg Bruins and Thunder Bay Kings come to Regina for the tournament. That takes place from April 2-5.
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