50 years after Memorial Cup win, 1973-74 Pats' bond remains strong
Former Regina Pats defenceman Kim Macdougall spent time earlier this week hauling feed bales to his prize-winning sheep on his Regina-area farm.
“So I don't have to do it on the weekend when all the guys are in,” Macdougall said from the cab of his tractor, where he likely made a few calls to his 1973-74 Pats teammates about reuniting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the team's most recent Memorial Cup championship.
Macdougall expects 14 members of the team, including oft-missing Rob Laird, to attend the reunion.
They were scheduled to be at the Brandt Centre on Friday, signing autographs for fans and handing out year-end trophies to the current players as this year's Pats complete their home schedule with a “Fan Appreciation Night” game against the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The group also plans to attend a hot stove session Saturday, starting at 1 p.m., at the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame before enjoying a catered meal that evening at a friend's house in Emerald Park.
Laird didn't attend previous reunions to celebrate 25 years, 40 years and the 100th birthday of the Memorial Cup in 2018 when Canada's major-junior championship was held in Regina. Laird is a longtime scout for the NHL'S Los Angeles Kings.
The group stays in touch via emails and phone calls, with Macdougall serving as the de facto secretary. This is the first time they'll be missing Clark Gillies, a Hockey Hall of Famer with a bountiful personality who died two years ago. The team has also lost forward Rick Uhrich, coach Bob Turner and general manager Del Wilson.
Alternate captains Dennis Sobchuk and Greg Joly aren't expected to attend. Macdougall's list of returnees includes goalies Ed Staniowski and Bob Leslie, defenders Mike Harazny, Dave Thomas, Mike Wirachowsky and Macdougall, forwards Mike Wanchuk, Laird, Jim Minor, Rob Tudor, Bill Bell, Jon Hammond and Drew Callander, and stickboy Randy Mccormick.
They'll certainly reminisce about their surprising appearance in the 1971-72 league final, where the rookie-laden Pats lost a bestof-seven series 4-1 to the Edmonton Oil Kings. They may discuss getting swept by the Flin Flon Bombers in the opening round of the 1972-73 playoffs. And they will certainly talk about the championship road, when they were trailing the Swift Current Broncos 5-1, after losing the first game, before rallying to win that second game — and eventually the series — against a team whose roster included Bryan Trottier and Tiger Williams.
The best stories will come from the Memorial Cup in Calgary, where the Pats were losing 3-1 to the Quebec Remparts in the final and Turner was itching to give a paint-peeling speech. That was before Staniowski vowed to stop everything, Gillies got into a momentum-changing fight and Sobchuk, who spoke to the team during intermission, scored three goals in Regina's 7-4 victory.
Unlike current WHL rosters comprising players drafted from across Canada, supplemented by an occasional American and a few Europeans, the Pats' 1973-74 roster contained mostly Regina guys.
“We had Wanchuk and Joly from Alberta,” said Macdougall. “We had Dave Faulkner, a Saskatchewan guy who we traded two local guys for (Brad Anderson and Glen Ing). (Staniowski and Clark) were from Moose Jaw, Sobchuk from Lang, Tudor from Dysart. The other 13 guys were from Regina.
“Of all the things that have changed in the Western Hockey League and with the Pats, that's the biggest thing. There's no way that will ever happen again. When they said `Regina Pats' it really was the Regina Pats.”