BY Jonathan Huntington
SASKATOON – All eyes at the Telus Cup in Peterborough this week will be on the Regina Pat Canadians and star Maddox Schultz.
Loaded with WHL draft picks – including first-round choices Schultz and Liam Pue – along with being the defending national champions, the spotlight will be on the SMAAAHL’s top team when the puck drops on Monday in southern Ontario.
But Schultz is already dialed-in and ready to handle the attention from the week-long tournament after seeing this movie last year.
“The Telus Cup is a national event that gets national attention so we can’t get caught up in that,” said the 16-year-old assistant captain. “We have to play our game night-in and night-out if we want to be successful. The guys who have been there before know how hard it is to get there, we will need to tell our new guys to stick with it because it won’t be easy.”
To win the tournament – which features the top-six U18AAA teams in the country – it’s seven games in seven days. For Schultz, that type of stretch is nothing new after playing six games in six days (including two WHL playoff games) during the week of the Telus Cup Western Regional tournament.
“It’s a long week and we need to get the most rest possible. We need to be ready for every single game so starting on time is crucial,” continued Schultz.
Containing Schultz in the opening 20 minutes will be the first priority for every team in the tournament. The Regina Pats first-overall WHL draft choice scored in the opening minute of the Pat Cs’ two biggest wins of the year: the SMAAHL league final and the championship final of the western regional.
And while every team in the tournament is relying on video for advance scouting, the Pat Cs do have the advantage of playing stiff competition all year – including battling the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors 11 times. In fact, Regina finished the year ranked #1 in a national poll, with Moose Jaw ranked #2.
“Moose Jaw was a good team; they gave us a good challenge but so did lots of other teams this year. We think the Sask league is the best league in Canada. So, majority of nights were tough nights,” continued Schultz.
Regina will play a round-robin game each day from Monday through Friday before the top-four clubs advance to the semi-finals on Saturday. The championship game is next Sunday (April 26) and is expected to be on TSN.
(Photo credit: Britt Lanigan.)
