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Triton
03-10-2006, 12:39 PM
Finally A Reason To Be Excited About The Playoffs!


Finally A Reason To Be Excited About The Playoffs!
by: Rod Pedersen

After a one-year absence from the post-season, the Regina Pats are playoff bound and excitement is in the air!

As the snow melts and Regina area gas stations sellout of washer fluid, all signs point towards the post-season party and the Pats are happy to be invited.

And unlike the playoffs of years past, there are bountiful reasons to be excited about Regina's first-round showdown with the Saskatoon Blades.

Let's review.

The 2005 WHL playoffs were a misnomer, as the Pats missed out on a berth courtesy of their much-maligned 12-win campaign.

In 2004, Regina lined up against the Moose Jaw Warriors in round 1 and were limping into the playoffs at the time. Their only hope was a stellar performance by goaltender Dustin Slade but the Warriors, under the guidance of Coach-of-the-Year Curtis Hunt, somehow got him off his game. A typical Slade blow-up resulted in a suspension, which kept him out for the balance of the series, and Moose Jaw got out the brooms.

In 2003, Regina lined up against the Brandon Wheat Kings in round 1 and again crossed their fingers with hopes that franchise goalie Josh Harding could pull off a miracle. He did his best, and an overtime goal by Kyle Ladobruk in game 1 gave the Pats a split coming home but the series wrapped up in five. A ludicrous suspension to Matt Hubbauer and a phantom match penalty to Colton Orr didn't help the Pats chances, and the "Darling of the Dub", Jordin Tootoo, was allowed to crash and bang his Wheat Kings into round 2 while the Pats dusted off the Callaway’s.

In 2002, despite a surprising 40-win season, the Pats seemed overmatched heading into a first-round series against the Warriors. That one also went Moose Jaw's way, as Sutherby, Limpright and company found a way to neutralize Hubba Hubba Hubbauer and company and it was another early playoff exit for Regina.

Do we have to remember 2001?

That of course was the Memorial Cup year and despite that loaded Pats'
roster with the likes of Brett Lysak, Kevin Korol, Blake Evans, Filip Novak, Garnet Exelby et al, the Pats lost in six to Calgary. Pavel Brendl torched Pats' goalie Donald Choukalos with two late tallies in game 6 to provide them the victory in the deciding game. It's a struggle to find words to describe the ride home from the Saddledome after that one. Numb, shock, panic and terror all seem to fit the bill. If memory serves, it was a 43-day wait until the start of the Memorial Cup, which the Pats wound up losing in overtime in the semifinal.

In 2000, the Queen City Kids drew the Saskatoon Blades in the opening series and Regina, under the guidance of Tim Tisdale faced a Saskatoon team coached by Brad McCrimmon and Tim Cheveldae. That one went to game seven, but a 5-minute major for checking-from-behind to Novak game the Blades all the opportunity they needed and they cashed in to move onto round two.

In 1999, it was another case of the Pats pressing their nose up against
the glass on the outside looking in. They never made the playoffs that year, and knew they were going to miss out and that's why they dealt off stars Kyle Calder and Brad Stuart at the trade deadline.

1998 was, to me, the last really exciting time for the franchise to be heading to the second season. With 47 wins under their belt, the Pats dispatched Moose Jaw in four games in round one and barely broke a sweat with the likes of Calder, Boyd Kane, John Cirjak, Josh Holden, Ryan Hoople, Stuart, Clint Cabana and Dmitri Yakushin.

But of course the enthusiasm was dealt a blow in game two of that affair when Josh Holden suffered severed tendons on the top of his left wrist. It was discovered later that Kane went into round two playing with two separated shoulders and Cirjak was suffered from a severe groin injury. Brandon came into the then-Agridome and won the opening two games and the Pats got a split in the next two in Winnipeg but the series came to an unmerciful conclusion in Regina in game five.

That year, it wasn't meant to be and we were left wondering if the hockey Gods had forgotten about us.

1997 was another heartbreaker and head-scratcher as the Red Deer Rebels shocked Regina in round one taking the series in five. That series was the last Rich Preston would coach from the Pats' bench.

And of course that brings us to the magical 1996 playoffs. It was the first season under the Parker regime and the Pats boasted a rag-tag bunch with the likes of Holden, Chad Mercier, Derek Morris, Kane, Curtis Tipler and rugged veterans Russ Hewson, Tony Vlastelic, Rhett Gordon and Dion Zukiwsky.

They swept Lethbridge in round one in a series still talked-about in WHL circles as game two was the longest in the history of WHL post-season play and was shown nationally on TSN. Game 3 was one of the weirdest situations I've ever been involved in as Hurricanes' Coach and GM Bryan Maxwell "allegedly" assaulted referee Brent Reiber under the stands afterwards, and drew a one-year suspension.

Round 2 featured the Pats against my old team, the P.A. Raiders who were stacked with the likes of Chris Philips, Steve Kelly, Curtis Brown, Roman Vopat and Rod Branch in goal. Regina got out to a shocking
3-1 series lead, but in game 5, the Pats' fortunes turned for the worse when Raider meathead Garnet Jacobsen ran Mercier and effectively ended the series and more-importantly it would turn out, ended Chad's career. The Pats never won another game and lost that Eastern Semifinal in 7.

That was the furthest the Pats have gone in the Parker era and now for the first time in almost a decade the butterflies are back.

Round 1 in 2006 has been destiny for the Pats and Blades for over a month as the standings have shown these two are lined up against each other.
And now, with a handful of games to go, we know the series will open in Saskatoon Friday, March 24th.

Traditionally first-round playoff games don't draw very well but that shouldn't be a problem this time around.

The Pats are coming off a dramatic turnaround year and are healthy heading into the playoffs. They feel they match up well against Saskatoon and the games have, for the most part, all been exciting in the season series.

It has the added zest of former Pats Lorne Molleken and Chad Mercier guiding the Blades and the Pats feel primed for an upset.

Let's get it on!

patsdude114
03-10-2006, 05:32 PM
[QUOTE=canadian eh]Finally A Reason To Be Excited About The Playoffs!

**a phantom match penalty to Colton Orr didn't help the Pats chances**

I dont know what the heck he was talking about there, that was the best of the worst cheap shots there have been in the dome in yrs.... there was a scrum after a whisle Orr skated around the pile to find Tootoo and cold clocked him right in the jaw....
It was worth a 5min major and a game misconduct and a suspension the Pats werent going anywhere that playoff, I have always hated Tootoo always will hate Tootoo, I didnt even like him when he was on Team Canada that season the only reason he was on that team was cause the tournament was in Canada if the tournament would of been over seas Tootoo would of been left off that team cause every hit he landed in that tournament was a chagring call

Fight Guy
03-10-2006, 05:44 PM
He deserved it. That game he was being cheap as hell. He came off the bench in that incident aswell. There was a line change, then the play stopped and he went back out and went into the scrum. he didnt do anything stupid when he left the bench, but it still happened. He did his famous turtle after the punch too. I loved how after the penalty was announced, Tootoo got up and was fine and played the rest of the game. Shouldn't have been a match penalty. If Orr was going for a match, he would have done worse.

nivek_wahs
03-10-2006, 06:10 PM
He deserved it. That game he was being cheap as hell. He came off the bench in that incident aswell. There was a line change, then the play stopped and he went back out and went into the scrum. he didnt do anything stupid when he left the bench, but it still happened. He did his famous turtle after the punch too. I loved how after the penalty was announced, Tootoo got up and was fine and played the rest of the game. Shouldn't have been a match penalty. If Orr was going for a match, he would have done worse.

I have to agree 100%. Tootoo was one of those players you loved to hate... but if he was on my team I would have loved him (but I'm glad he wasn't :laugh: ).

Kevin