BY Jonathan Huntington
REGINA – The legend of Maddox Schultz continues to grow.
The budding the 16-year-old star of the Regina Pat Canadians scored twice – the two most-important goals of the season so far- to lead his team to the Telus Cup Western Regional title Sunday afternoon at Co-operators Centre.
The 5-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors means Regina advances the national Telus Cup later this month in Ontario – where the Canadian U18AAA champion will be crowned.
“It’s super surreal,” said Schultz, who was also named tournament MVP and finished a remarkable week that also included playing two games with the WHL’s Regina Pats. “(Playing) six games in six days is not the best, but I love playing.”
Schultz finished the tournament with six goals, but none were bigger than what unfolded in the first 18 seconds when he beat Moose Jaw goalie Steven Wawryk to set the tone for the game.
“He will be in the NHL in a couple of years,” quipped Wawryk outside a dejected Warriors’ dressing room after the game. Added Moose Jaw head coach Trevor Weisgerber on Schultz: “He’s special for a reason. He plays the game the right way. He’s a great kid. He’s going to be bigger and brighter (from here).”
The first overall pick in the WHL bantam draft by the Regina Pats, Schultz played 36 games (regular season and playoffs) for the Regina Pats this season while also pulling double-duty with the Pat Canadians. With the Pats eliminated from the WHL playoffs earlier this weekend, Schultz’s remaining games this spring will be at the U18AAA level.
Schultz and his Pat Cs teammates led 2-0 after the first period before Moose Jaw’s Jamie Kirwan got his team on the scoreboard 5:08 into the second. But with less than two minutes remaining in the middle frame, Schultz dealt the Warriors another blow with a bullet from the blue line on the power play.
“(Malaki) Martin ripped (a pass) up to me… and it was an awesome screen (in front of Wawryk),” continued Schultz. “I saw (the goalie’s) blocker down a little bit and he was looking through the screen.”
Mahlon Wiley and Liam Pue added the rest of the scoring for the Pat Cs – as they are now back-to-back Western regional champions and have an opportunity to defend their national title.
And while Regina now prepares to leave for Peterborough for the Telus Cup, the Warriors are left to process another crushing loss to their arch-rivals. Just one week ago, Regina also defeated Moose Jaw for the SMAAAHL provincial title.
“I feel for our guys,” said Weisgerber. “It’s tough. You prep to the start the game and we just lost an assignment (on the first goal).”
FINISH LINES: Regina will open the national Telus Cup on April 20th against the host Peterborough Petes… Moose Jaw’s Ryan Gibbs received the top forward award for the Western regional, while Wawryk was recognized as top goaltender. Mateo Ferreira of the Winnipeg Bruins earned top D-Man honours for the tourney… Jordan Mandel and Aidan Slusar were recognized as the top referees in the four-day tournament and received the championship game assignment… An estimated 1,600 fans jammed into every corner of the Co-operators Centre for Sunday’s final.
