Darrell Davis: Don't write off the Regina Pats and their WHL playoff hopes just yet

‘Energy vampires’ aren’t allowed on head coach Brad Herauf’s team

Published Feb 05, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read

Tye Spencer celebrates with Regina Pats fans after being named first star in a 7-6 WHL shootout victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Feb. 4/24. KEITH HERSHMILLER PHOTOGRAPHY / Regina Pats reg

Hold on. Despite a few swoons, these Regina Pats aren’t finished yet.

They had scored just once in their last two games and fallen precipitously out of playoff contention by Sunday evening when they met the visiting Red Deer Rebels, one of the WHL’s best defensive squads. Midway through the third period it seemed like a good time to start writing the Pats’ obit, bemoaning again their offensive inadequacies as they had blown a lead, were trailing 5-3 and had registered only 12 shots against Rebels goalie Rhett Stoesser.

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Tut! Tut!

Not so fast!

“One thing we talk about is, ‘Don’t become an energy vampire to our group,’ ” said Pats head coach Brad Herauf. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer or fixing cars for a living, it’s your job to do your job to the best of your abilities.

“So for us, standings, the way you feel, sicknesses, we’re not giving boys excuses that way. We’re building the standard to find a way to find answers to the problems.”

Six minutes later, goals by Tye Spencer (his second), Zach Moore and Sam Oremba put the Pats ahead 6-5. They did surrender a tying goal to Kai Uchacz at 18:23, but after a scoreless overtime Pats goalie Ewan Huet stopped Red Deer’s would-be snipers as teammates Braxton Whitehead and Tanner Howe scored shootout goals to win 7-6.

“When he says ‘energy vampire,’ the first thing I think of is energy,” said Spencer. “And that’s one of our strong suits. That’s what brings us out of these little pockets that we get into.”

Vampires are fictional, “undead” characters from movies and books, known for sucking blood from the living. And the Pats are still alive. Evidently.

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“We’re obviously really aware of where we are right now,” said Spencer. “We use that as motivation.

“We’ve been checking to see how many points we’re out (of a playoff spot). We gotta take every game as if it’s a playoff game and it doesn’t matter how we play at the end of the night, it’s getting two points.”

With 19 regular-season games remaining and their 18-25-6 record — deflating 9-1 and 3-0 losses to the Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos, respectively, had preceded the Red Deer contest — the Pats have 42 points and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference. They’re seven points behind the Calgary Hitmen, who hold the conference’s eighth and final playoff berth, plus the ninth-place Prince Albert Raiders will need to be leapfrogged if the Pats intend to appear in the postseason.

Are the Pats concerned?

“It would really concern us (if they weren’t),” said Herauf. “We talked about our culture and talked about breaking it down because we’re building a standard here.

“We’re not gonna feel sorry for ourselves. That’s just not us. It’s not the way we’re gonna play. Is it getting harder for us? Yeah. Is it easy? No, but that’s what hockey is. And your job as a hockey player, my job as a coach, is to find solutions, not excuses.”

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Nearly a year after the departure of Connor Bedard, a franchise superstar whose offensive abilities ensured the Pats were rarely out of contention, the Pats are in a major roster overhaul.

New general manager Alan Millar has dealt current talent for future possibilities, looking to build an ultra-competitive team, likely in two seasons.
Regina has retained coveted captain Tanner Howe, a potential NHL first-round draft choice whose work ethic is beyond reproach. And evidently contagious.

Few teams work harder than the Pats. That’s partly a testimony to Herauf, a long-time assistant who was promoted this season to replace retiring GM/head coach John Paddock. Herauf admitted the Pats had some unimpressive stretches during January and he was particularly dismayed with his players for the first part of Sunday’s third period, but impressed with how they rallied.

It evidently starts by not sucking the energy out of the room, the way a columnist might by implying the rest of the season is a write-off. The teenagers and 20-year-olds wearing red throwback jerseys on Sunday, honouring their namesake Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, don’t see things that way.

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