‘We can’t be proud of our effort:’ Pats lose 7-2 against Hurricanes

A young Regina Pats team couldn’t keep up with the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday night at the Brandt Centre, losing 7-2 in WHL action.

“(Lethbridge has) really good players – they were at the top of their game – but I’m very disappointed in our players,” head coach Dave Struch said following the loss. “I think that right off the hop we played very slow, we were very inconsistent in our work ethic.

“Top to bottom we can’t be proud of our effort here.”

The Pats were back at home for the first time since Jan. 8 and just concluded a five-game U.S. Division road trip, going 1-4 during that stretch.

During the road trip, the Pats were dealt blows to their lineup, losing forwards Drew Englot (appendicitis), Makai Mitchell (broken bones in face) and defenceman Kyle Walker (undisclosed).

During Friday’s game, forward Easton Armstrong and defenceman Parker Berge made their WHL debuts, with the pair of 2003-born players being called up to the team.

“It felt pretty good but obviously it’s not as good when you don’t come out with the (win),” Armstrong said following the loss. “It was really fast obviously but it was really good to get the (first game done) and rally back for Sunday.”

Forward Cole Carrier made his Pats debut after coming over from Kelowna for two draft picks (a sixth-rounder and a conditional eighth) on the WHL Trade Deadline day.

The Pats, who were wearing their Suit Up Night blue jerseys in support of organ donation, fell behind early in the game, with Lethbridge co-captain Dylan Cozens scoring on the first shot of the game, the first of two goals for the forward.

Lethbridge also got two goals from both forward Oliver Okuliar and defenceman Alex Cotton. Forward Zack Stringer scored the other goal for the Hurricanes.

Pats goaltender Danton Belluck started the game but Donovan Buskey came in to start the second period after four first period goals got by Belluck.

“We’ve got the injury bug right now, it’s bound to happen throughout the season. It doesn’t matter how young you are, it’s unacceptable what happened out there tonight,” Pats captain Austin Pratt said. “It’s something that the leaders and everyone else needs to be better. It’s something that can’t happen again.”

Forward Robbie Holmes scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season in the contest. Defenceman Zach Wytinck scored the other goal for the home team.

It was the first game at home for the Pats since the team traded away goaltender Max Paddock to the Prince Albert Raiders on Jan. 10 for 17-year-old Jakob Brook, who hasn’t suited up for the team due to a knee injury, and two bantam draft picks (a second-rounder in 2020 and a conditional third-rounder in 2022).

“(Paddock) was a good friend to everyone, he made a connection with everyone and his time here was special,” Pratt said. “The organization loved him, the fans loved him, his team loved him. That’s the bad part about this business is that you’ve got to say good-bye to guys like that. He helped us out tremendously and now it’s got to be something that falls on us to.”

The Pats lost all four meetings with the Hurricanes this season, with Friday being the final meeting. The Pats will host the Saskatoon Blades at 4 p.m. on Sunday.