Regina Pat Canadians advance to West regional final

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The Regina Pat Canadians are just one win away from a trip to the national championship.

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After putting together a 3-0 record through the round robin at the Telus Cup West Regionals in Kenora, Ont., the Pat Canadians will now play in the regional final on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time with a trip to the Telus Cup on the line.

The national under-18 AAA male hockey championship is set for Apr. 21 to 27 in Chilliwack, B.C. with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds serving as host.

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The Pat Canadians earned the right to represent the province at the regionals after beating the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA League final. Regina — who finished first place in the league with a 35-7-2 regular season record — also beat the Prince Albert Mintos and Saskatoon Blazers in the playoffs.

As for the round robin at regionals, Regina began the tournament with a 5-1 win over the Manitoba champion Winnipeg Wild on Thursday. League MVP, rookie of the year and top scorer Maddox Schultz, Chase Surkan, Ryan Ulmer, Logan Mehl and Cash Lanigan scored for the Pat C’s while Taylor Tabashniuk made 33 saves to collect the win in net.

Regina then picked up its second straight win on Friday night with a 5-0 victory over the host Kenora Thistles. For a second straight game, Schultz opened the scoring while Regina also got goals from Nathan Gardiner, Ulmer, Lanigan and the SMAAAHL’s top forward Jonah Sivertson. In net, Tabashniuk made 20 saves for the shutout.

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On Saturday against the Thunder Bay Kings, the Pat Canadians kept their undefeated record intact with an 8-0 win. Cruz Klapak had four goals in the win with Schultz, the SMAAAHL’s top defenceman Eli Johnson, Gardiner and Lanigan scoring the others. Adam Muntain made 18 saves for the shutout.

The winner of the West regionals will join host Fraser Valley plus the Pacific region champions, the Atlantic region champions, the Quebec region champions and the Ontario region champions.

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