Rough WHL season toughens up Regina Pats

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It was a surprising sight, seeing the Regina Pats’ two top goal scorers standing together near centre ice while yelling at the Brandon Wheat Kings bench.

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“I’m not really one to let them run around, hitting our guys after the whistle,” said Pats winger Caden Brown, whose team-leading 15 goals this WHL season are five more than his co-yelling teammate Julien Maze.

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“Hope I didn’t make them mad.”

Evidently the Pats are tired of being pushed around.

Heading into Friday’s home game against the Wenatchee Wild, which will feature the Pats wearing commemorative Star Blanket jerseys for Indigenous Celebration Night, they have won only twice in their last 10 outings and are on a three-game losing streak that dropped their record to 13-29-6.

Friday’s 5-2 loss against the visiting Wheat Kings featured two empty-net goals and some feistiness as the Pats, who are in a major rebuilding mode, try proving they will soon be a team worthy of league-wide respect.

“The biggest thing I’m trying to teach to the team right now is about moving forward,” said Brown, 19. “The growth is going to come from within the group.

“On the top teams, the coaches aren’t babysitting everyone. It’s the captain, the leaders, the veterans on the team who get everything moving forward, working as a group to hold each other accountable as we’re moving forward.”

The Pats are Brown’s third WHL team. He began his career with the Prince George Cougars and was moved to the Everett Silvertips. Everett traded him to the Pats in November, 11 days before the Silvertips sent Maze to Regina.

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“We’ve been together for 2 1/2 years and we’ve had a good relationship,” said Maze, 17. “He’s honest and a great teammate.

“It was a really big surprise getting traded but it’s been a great decision for me. We get to bring what we learned (in Everett), to play like a pro hockey player and act like a pro. We have really good details here, too. The coach we had was really hard on us, for the better, and he taught us the perfect details, the little things that are important.”

The ex-Silvertips were angry after Maze got cross-checked by Brandon defender Adam Belusko following a goal-mouth scramble.

“We were battling and then he was saying something to me,” said Maze. “I wasn’t able to say anything back. I tried to get the rebound, he was fired up and gave me a little cross-check.

“I went down because I wasn’t expecting it. It’s part of the game, part of the fun. At the end of the day, we’re both battling, competing and we’ve both got a goal in mind.”

While Maze and Brown are Regina’s only double-digit scorers, Brandon has eight players who have scored more than 10 goals. The Pats were trying to keep pace and did for most of the contest, except for a second-period lull.

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At the end of the third period, after Brandon’s Ben Binder Nord knocked over Regina’s Jace England, Pats defender Dayton Deschamps fought the Wheat King player.

“That’s awesome,” said Brown, the only 19-year-old forward on Regina’s roster. “Never give up because you never know what happens. Every night we’re going out there trying to win.

“Not at all have we given up, but I truly believe in a couple of years this team is going to be really, really good. That’s something we’re preaching every day, that we’ve got to start building towards that now. Look at (the Medicine Hat Tigers). They weren’t very good a few years but look at them now. That’s the trajectory we want to be on.”

Faceoff for Friday’s game is 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The Pats then play their next five games on the road.

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