PATS TAKING FANS ALONG FOR THE RIDE
Team’s playoff run has captivated hearts and minds in hockey-mad Regina
There was a time, not so long ago, when a Regina Pats home game generated less excitement than a David Hasselhoff movie.
Adam Brooks certainly can attest to that.
The classy centre made his WHL debut with the 2012-13 Pats, who finished with a 25-380-9 record and out of the playoffs.
“When I was 16, we struggled that year, for sure, and it was tough to get fans in the building — especially to get fans loud in there and to get the city behind us,” the 20-year-old Brooks reflects.
“It obviously wasn’t for lack of trying.”
Nonetheless, there was a lack of a buzz — a pronounced contrast to the prevailing passion for the Pats.
On Friday, the Pats celebrated their 24th sellout of the season when the Seattle Thunderbirds visited the Brandt Centre for Game 1 of the league championship series.
Since amassing a franchise record 52 regular-season victories and finishing first in the CHL’s top-10 rankings, the Pats have won three playoff series to reach the league final for the first time since 1984.
“Now, with the success that we’ve had, it seems like everyone is on board,” Brooks marvels.
“You look around the city and see all the support that we have. You walk by restaurants and there are signs in the window, or there are signs on the buses and things like that. It’s awesome for players who are playing here. That stuff doesn’t go unnoticed by us.
“It just gives you a lot of confidence and really makes you love the city. It’s pretty crazy how things have turned around here. It’s crazy how the fans have got behind us. It has just been a lot of fun.”
Tickets for Friday’s game sold out in two minutes early in the week. After five minutes, all available seats for Saturday’s contest were devoured.
Compare that to May of 1984, when the Pats faced the Kamloops Junior Oilers (now Blazers) with a league title at stake. Regina’s home attendance numbers during that classic seven-game series were 3,211 (no, that was not mistyped), 5,203 and 6,150.
Does today’s voracious appetite for Pats tickets even qualify as news anymore?
Every home playoff game has drawn a sellout of 6,484. We will issue a news alert in the unlikely event that there’s an empty seat anytime soon.
The degree to which the Pats have captivated the sporting public in the greater Regina area is somewhat reminiscent of 2007, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders enjoyed a breakthrough season that elevated interest in the team to an unprecedented level.
After wallowing in a morass of mediocrity, the Roughriders enjoyed a storybook 2007 season that culminated with a Grey Cup victory. Their payroll included the CFL’s most outstanding player for 2007 (quarterback Kerry Joseph) and the coach of the year (Kent Austin).
Fast forward a decade. The current Pats are, in some ways, emulating the Roughriders of 2007.
The 2016-17 Pats boast the league’s coach of the year (John Paddock, who was also named the WHL’s top executive) and player of the year (Sam Steel).
Steel, Brooks, Austin Wagner, Tyler Brown, Connor Hobbs and friends have quickly become popular figures with the local sporting public.
The Roughriders, by contrast, have spent the last two years divesting themselves of beloved players (see: Darian Durant, Weston Dressler, John Chick).
The team’s biggest name is former Tennessee Titans and University of Texas Longhorns star Vince Young, a 33-year-old quarterback who hasn’t played a down of professional football since 2011.
Mind you, there is some positive news to report. The Roughriders have gone an entire week without being fined.
They have also gone 10-35 since mid-September of 2014.
The Green and White’s protracted tailspin began shortly before Paddock made his regular-season debut on the Pats’ bench in the employ of new ownership, Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group.
The fortunes of the Roughriders and Pats have since diverged. In terms of profile, the oncesizable gap between Regina’s two primary sports franchises has diminished.
Make no mistake, the Roughriders will always dominate this market. But the Pats are well beyond the point where they are an afterthought.
More than ever, they are part of the coffee-row chatter.
And their fans no longer need coffee in order to stay awake.