Regina Pat Canadians, Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors to meet in Telus Cup West Regional final

Maddox Schultz once again came up in a big moment to push the Regina Pat Canadians through to the Telus Cup West Regionals final.

The first overall pick of last year’s WHL Bantam Draft scored with five minutes left to break a deadlock with the Winnipeg Bruins. Malaki Martin scored another goal and Winnipeg did get one back but Regina held on to win 3-2.

“I think that’s why you play — it’s for the big moments,” Schultz said. “I think  I just play my way. If I just play my game and I trust that, hopefully, good things happen. I thought our group was really resilient tonight. It’s good to get the job done.”

Pat Canadians head coach Ryan Hodgins said Schultz is a special player.

“He’s just a gamer. His compete and willingness to win is next level. No matter what he’s doing, he wants to win,” Hodgins said.

The win set things up for a rematch of the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League title as Regina will now take on the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors in the final game on Sunday. Regina beat Moose Jaw three games to two to claim its second straight league title.

Regina did find itself locked into a tight battle in the opening period against the Bruins.

The Bruins, who won the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League, scored the opening goal of the game as Mason Chubey’s shot beat Pat Canadians goaltender Ben Meyer.

But that lead wouldn’t last long, as Schultz scored a power-play goal to tie things up shortly after.

The energy was kept high during the second period as well but neither team scored in the frame.

Things remained tied for most of the period until Schultz found the back of the net. Shortly after that goal, Meyer had to make a big save on a breakaway to prevent Winnipeg from tying things up.

“He was coming fast so it was good to just get a piece of my body on it,” said Meyer, who stopped 23 shots in the game.

Martin added the eventual game-winner just 1:16 after the Schultz goal. Winnipeg got back within one as Crewe Schimnowski scored while on the power play and with the Bruins’ net empty, Regina held on for the big win.

Earlier in the afternoon, Moose Jaw finished the round-robin with a perfect record after beating the Thunder Bay Kings 6-1.

“It was good. We wanted to conserve our energy for tomorrow but it was a good game,” said Moose Jaw captain Ryan Gibbs

Moose Jaw had beaten the Regina Pat Canadians 6-2 on Friday night after a 6-3 win over Winnipeg on Thursday. With Moose Jaw already having a spot in the final clinched, it afforded them the opportunity to give some guys some rest. That included goaltender Steven Wawryk, who played in 12 games for the team in the league playoffs and then the first two games of the regionals tournament. Kaleb Page made the start for Moose Jaw against Thunder Bay.

“It’s tough. You take it whenever you can, and we’re fortunate to give some guys some time off and get focused and ready to go for (Sunday),” Moose Jaw head coach Trevor Weisgerber said.

Just 1:01 into the game, Jamie Kirwan opened the scoring when a puck sent towards the net went off his skate.

Tobin Schaefer scored a pair in the period to give Moose Jaw a 3-0 lead after the first.

After a scoreless second period, Carson Park scored two in the third period while Jackson Walker and Carson Deichert also added goals.

Gibbs said the team is excited to play one more game with a spot in the Telus Cup on the line. Regina is the defending national champion.

“We’re pretty stoked. We deserve this more than anyone else. It’s a great group of guys and we have faced adversity throughout the whole season,” Gibbs said. “Coming up second place (in the league) was bittersweet. This is our time to show everyone else who we are.”

The final begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre. Moose Jaw beat the Pat Canadians 6-2 in the round-robin game between the two.

“I think the two best teams here are us and Moose Jaw. I think we’re just going to recover tonight and get ready for tomorrow,” Schultz said.