Pat Canadians hope to maintain torrid pace

Surging team begins playoffs Saturday against the `run-and-gun' Warriors

The Regina Pat Canadians aren't there yet, but they certainly would like another shot at the Saskatoon Blazers in their Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League playoffs.

It seems there's a grudge remaining from last year.

“Against the Blazers,” said Pat C's captain Casey Brown. “That's who I want.”

Saskatoon won last season's championship, winning the bestof-five series 3-2 with an 8-0 victory over Regina in the deciding contest. Brown was stopped on a point-blank shot before the game became lopsided.

“I'm new to this,” said Regina's

first-year head coach Ryan Hodgins. “I think there's some history with the Blazers.

“But at the end of the day, in this league, every team is a tough team. It doesn't matter, one through eight, they're all good. There are zero weak teams in this league.”

After completing its regular season Feb. 23 with a 3-0 win against the visiting Prince Albert Mintos, Regina finished second in league standings with a 32-11-1 record. Regina was six points behind the first-place Blazers, so those teams can't meet until the final series.

Regina will be matched against the seventh-place Moose Jaw Warriors (22-19-3) in their opening, best-of-five quarterfinal series.

That series starts Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at the Co- Operators Centre. Game 2 is Monday in Moose Jaw. Regina won all four regular-season contests against Moose Jaw, outscoring the Warriors 20-7.

“(The Warriors) are a run-andgun team,” said Brown, who next season intends to play junior for the BCHL'S Penticton Vees before starting his commitment to Arizona State University in 2025.

“They just want to score, don't really care as much for defence. So we've just got to walk down and score when we can.”

The Pat C's have five players who averaged more than one point per game, including Brown with his 33 goals and 22 assists. He was second on the team, behind Steve Steranka (34-28-62, second in SMAAAHL scoring) and ahead of Ellis Mieyette (17-34-51), Dayce Derkatch (18-29-47) and Jonah Sivertson (21-24-45).

Although rookie goalie Jaidyn Shaw earned Regina's season-ending shutout, veteran Taylor Tabashniuk has started 26 of 44 games, posted a 21-4-1 record, leads the league with a 2.09 goals-against average and recorded three shutouts.

“We've talked all year about getting better and better, improving as a team and our individual play getting stronger,” said Hodgins, whose squad lost only one of its nine games in February.

“All teams during the year, you've got your ups and downs, but we kept saying we've got to push each other in practice and make ourselves better all the time. The biggest thing is, right now, I'm happy with our practices and I'm happy how we're playing.”

The league's other quarterfinal series feature the Blazers against the eighth-place Estevan Bears, third-place Warman Wildcats against the sixth-place Tisdale Trojans and fourth-place Swift Current Legionnaires against fifth-place Prince Albert.

At the end of the day, in this league, every team is a tough team. It doesn't matter, one through eight, they're all good.