Wood would give Regina another top-drawer 17-year-old forward, to complement Bedard and Tanner Howe.Ī second-round choice in the 2020 WHL prospects draft, Wood spent this past season with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. QUESTION: Can the Pats recruit Matthew Wood? “That’s one of the things we’ll have to discuss,” Paddock says. Which brings us to another question: Do the Pats focus on developing Kieper and Pyne or pursue an established older goalie to eliminate some, or all, of the uncertainty?

So did Kelton Pyne (5-2-1-0), who registered two shutouts in abbreviated duty. Some optimism can be derived from the fact that Matthew Kieper, 18, had a winning record (16-14-1-0) for a losing team. “I think we’ve got some internal options, but we’re not satisfied where we sit here today.” “Our goaltending situation has to figure itself out,” Herauf says. The offence (see again: Bedard, Connor) was more than counteracted by an obese goals-against total (277) - the fourth-worst figure in the 22-team league. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. With 240 goals, Regina easily outscored four teams that qualified for the Eastern Conference playoffs - the Saskatoon Blades (219), Brandon Wheat Kings (218), Lethbridge Hurricanes (216) and Prince Albert Raiders (194). Matador goalkeeping dogged the Pats for much of the 2021-22 campaign. QUESTION: Who will play goal … and how well? Photo by Troy Fleece / Regina Leader-Post The Regina Pats’ goaltenders, Drew Sim included, did not have a banner season in 2021-22. While Paddock was recuperating, veteran assistant Brad Herauf served as the Pats’ interim head coach. “I’m feeling a lot better,” Paddock says, “and I’m feeling better every day.” Regina Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock, who was not on the bench for the final 2 1/2 months of the 2021-22 season due to illness, says he is “feeling a lot better.” Photo by Troy Fleece / Regina Leader-Postĭue to illness, the two-time WHL coach of the year was absent from the bench for the final 2 1/2 months of the 2021-22 season, which concluded Sunday with a 7-4 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. Good question - one of many questions, in fact, that hovers over the Pats as they begin to formulate plans for the 2022-23 campaign. “We have the most elite player in Canada,” Pats head coach, general manager and vice-president of hockey operations John Paddock says. One more golden opportunity remains for the Pats to parlay Bedard’s prodigious talents into post-season prosperity, given the virtual certainty that he will ascend to hockey’s highest tier at 18. The numbers were far more impressive in the case of Bedard, who amassed 51 goals and 100 points in 62 games.

Despite the presence of 16-year-old phenom Connor Bedard - the presumptive first overall selection in the 2023 NHL draft - the 2021-22 Pats limped to a 27-36-3-2 record.

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