2021 Regular Season

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

Funny, it was in 96-97 when I started watching. Ive seen how consistently aggravatingly and unsuccessful this franchise is. No getting around that. Despite more funding, more opportunity, more promotion, higher prestige, more TV spots and on and on...we are inferior to our entire division overall. We have only have seen the second round 3 times, and went to the finals once. Our track record is absolutely embarrassing, and I know that better than most.

The fact is though that it is one thing to acknowledge the problems of the past and a different thing to maintain perpetual pessimism into the future. Goods and ills both eventually pass, and that's the attitude you must maintain. This next crop of players should NOT inherit the sins of it's past managers players and coaches, or it may increase the possibility of replicating those results.

I maintain this team is a way better club than that their record reflects(in the west conference for the last few years, this is a playoff team), and our younger players even right now are the main contributors. This is upward trending. They have the potential to surprise some people with their depth, and of course we also still have Bedard, who might very well be close to generational. Remember his last year he wasn't even PPG for the first 20 games last season, yet finished with 85 pts in his last 42 games.

Our goal for next season should be to see how well we can do with Bedard. We have to see that through given the uniqueness of this opportunity. If not, we move him for the biggest trade package we can find. Because if we aren't getting four full years out of a franchise player, we better get assets to make up for that. Getting this player is an absolute gift and it can be in more ways than one. Moving him can be the ticket out of mediocrity, unless we are world beaters next year(unlikely st this stage with zero playoff experience)

One thing I'm awfully tired of the usual story always being the same: "Hey, everyone in the general hockey world, look at this great player...on this dog-**** team." A team without our history and notoriety wouldve been sold a long time ago and maybe moved. A couple good years and a couple separate 2nd round appearances is very very very weak. But it will most likely get better

...and if we have an eberle/teubert issue on our hands again...if we hold onto Bedard and miss the playoffs again, I whole heartedly endorse the permanent boycotting the team. MJ isn't a far drive to watch junior hockey and it'd be worth it if that's what we deal with.

[Reider]

The Pats acquired Koen Macinnes with the intent on him being the #1 goaltender. WHL teams don't bring in OA goaltenders to backup a younger starting goaltender. If he comes in and wins the #1 job, he's going to be the starting goaltender. If he comes in and gets beat out for the #1 job, I can't see the Pats keeping him around, when they could fill that OA spot with a skater.

The Pats obviously really like what Cole Temple brings to the table, which is why they traded up one spot to make sure that they got him. And in doing so, they gave up one round and two years. If Temple turns out to be better than the players drafted after him, it won't seem like such a bad trade. But if there are players that are every bit as productive as him, then it's probably not going to be considered a good trade.

SC gave up a 1st and a 3rd for a 2nd round draft pick. That's a generous offer. I'm not sure if the Pats had an opportunity to take that deal or not, but that's certainly a deal worth considering. I mean SC was willing to upgrade your 2nd round pick with a first round pick, plus throw in a 3rd round pick for good measure, just so they could have another 2nd round pick? Even if this year's draft is deeper than next year's and even if the 1st round pick is later in the round and this year's 2nd round pick is higher in the round, it's still a trade worth considering because you can still draft another good player with the 3rd round pick. and you end up with two good players instead of one, which is important in this league.

You need high end talent and a lot of it, in order to be a serous contender in this league. Depth is important. And depth doesn't mean having warm bodies, it means having quality players throughout the line up. The Bronco's had 6 draft picks in the first 4 rounds this year. The Pats had 3. At this rate, which franchise is more likely to have a quicker and better rebuild? This is why myself and others thought it was imperative that the Pats sold big last year. they needed to move Evans, Nijhoff and a few other players in order to get as much in return as possible as they were out of the playoff picture. They ended up missing the playoffs and they lost those assets. Had they sold big last year and if they moved Bedard next year, they could have accumulated a lot of mid to high round draft picks etc.. in order to set themselves up for a proper rebuild. But they failed to cash in and now the rebuild is going to be set back a number of years.

Yes the Pats might have a couple of really good players in each draft year that join the team, but that's not enough to propel them into a championship. The Pats Had Bedard and Evans last year, which I would consider elite talent and they couldn't even make the playoffs. Tanner Howe had a good year (27 goals). They got 20+ goal seasons out of Nijhoff and Dubinsky. I think Svozil is a good player and Feist stepped up his play as the season went along. But in the big picture, this team lacked high end talent, they lacked quality goaltending and they didn't have much quality depth. Those are some of the reasons why they missed the playoffs. We can also get into coaching, the lack of team discipline, the PK going into the tank for a while etc.. but I don't think fans should believe that the Pats are a shoe in to make the playoffs next year just because Bedard is on the team. They lost Evans and Nijhoff and replaced them with who? They're going to likely be replaced by the Vaughan twins, who might be good players, but there's no way that Corbin will be one of the top scoring defensemen next year and will Jaxson score 20+ goals next year and be one of the better face off men in the league? Is Svozil going to be back next year?

This franchise has been dismal for many decades. In 2001, Brent Parker tried to host and trade his way into a Memorial Cup victory, but that didn't work because he forgot or didn't realize that he needed to acquire a good goaltender.

2015-2016 was the first year in a really long time that the Pats made the playoffs and had a really good playoff run with a young / talented team. They gave the Memorial Cup host Red Deer Rebels all they could handle. The Pats ended up losing the series, but the young talented players gained a lot of valuable playoff experience and confidence.

2016-2017 is the year that the Pats should have won the WHL Championship. They had the talent and they could have won if they played their cards right. However, this is when John Paddock started to dismantle the depth of the team and didn't have enough veterans for the playoffs. Now I realize that the Pats wanted to host the memorial cup the following year, so they had one leg in, both years. However, without going into a long winded analysis right now, I believe that the Pats could have at least made sure that they had enough veteran's for the playoffs. Some of their high end talent (Brooks, Wagner, Henry etc..) ended up getting banged up and they didn't have the depth to win the series.

2017-2018 - They lost Brooks, Wagner, Hobbs, Leedahl and Zborovskiy etc. in the off season. They tried to trade their way into a championship. They ended up having a decent team, but they didn't have enough team speed / high end talent in the Memorial Cup final (or WHL playoffs) to win.

They haven't made the playoffs since. They're likely going to lose Bedard to the NHL after next season and will Stanislav Svozil be back next year? Some fans think that it is not a given that he will be back. And even if Svozil returns next year, will the Pats be able to get another quality import player to sign and report?

When did the Parkers originally buy the Pats? The Pats haven't had "hockey people" running / owning this team in a long time. I'm aware that perhaps one or two people with a hockey background was a part of Semple's ownership group, when they bought the team, but those guys have since been bought out. It's just the Semples, who, as far as I know, are not hockey people.

The hockey operations department has been a huge failure. They have literally shot themselves in the foot time and time again for the last 6+ years and ran this team into the ground. They have done this by dismantling the depth of the team, making bad trades, using high draft picks to draft players, who refuse to sign and report in Regina, including import players like Daniil Guschin, by not being able to recruit any high end American talent and by having a difficult time recruiting quality import talent, as well as not being able to get the discipline issue fixed, despite knowing that it's been an ongoing problem.

The hockey operations department had an opportunity to mitigate some of their mistakes last year by selling big and they failed to do it. So here we are with 3 picks in the first 4 rounds, no first round pick in 2023, a team that is far from guaranteed to make the playoffs next year, they're likely to lose Bedard after next year and some people apparently believe that getting Svozil back next year is not a sure thing. This team is a complete disaster and it hasn't been very good for the better part of 4 decades. We don't have a winning culture here. It seems like (rich business) people like to buy the Pats to use as their pet projects instead of hockey people buying the team with the intent on creating a winning culture and winning championships. And on top of it all, they plan on raising ticket prices, which has clearly infuriated a lot of fans. It has thrown gas on the fire, so to speak.

The Riders (and the CFL in general) lost a lot of fans permanently due to the team (and league) medically discriminating against their fans. If the Pats (and WHL in general) don't think that this can't happen to them, well, then keep going down the same path and see what happens. This is Canada, not a communist country. Also, Regina is a hockey hot bed full of hockey people. You might be able to fool some hockey people some of the time, but you won't fool all hockey people all of the time. A lot of fans are currently not very happy about a lot of things right now and if they keep doing what they're doing, it wouldn't surprise me if more fans say enough is enough and do something else with their time and money. Not everyone wants to inject themselves with something they don't want x2 and wear a mask on their face for 2 and a half hours, just to have the "privilege" of being able to pay exorbitant prices to watch a poor on-ice product year after year.

The hockey operations department needs a major overhaul / refresh. The fact that the owners are ignoring all of the ongoing problems and failures with this department, shows that either a) They can't see or understand what's happening or b) If they do see and understand what's happening, they are ignoring it and are fine with the rebuild being set back many years. In either case, it just goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Hockey fans want to see a winning culture and a winning team on the ice. And we aren't getting that in Regina. We see it elsewhere, but not in Regina.

[dsquared]

To: SAJ:

"The fact is though that it is one thing to acknowledge the problems of the past and a different thing to maintain perpetual pessimism into the future. Goods and ills both eventually pass, and that's the attitude you must maintain. This next crop of players should NOT inherit the sins of it's past managers players and coaches, or it may increase the possibility of replicating those results."

I know it is like mutual funds: "Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance." My point is that ownership/management is doing nothing now to flush the losing mind set, that has been prevalent over the last quarter century. Nobody has even identified that there is a problem and spoken about it publicly. There is nothing that is going to change without that happening. With approximately 25% of next season's players being carry overs from last, their current belief system & work ethic have a great starting point for next season. Nothing is ever done.

"I maintain this team is a way better club than that their record reflects(in the west conference for the last few years, this is a playoff team), and our younger players even right now are the main contributors. This is upward trending. They have the potential to surprise some people with their depth, and of course we also still have Bedard, who might very well be close to generational. Remember his last year he wasn't even PPG for the first 20 games last season, yet finished with 85 pts in his last 42 games."

The fact of the matter is we play in the eastern conference and compete with 11 other teams for 8 playoff spots. There will always be problems with scheduling and post season eligibility. I for one, think that we should see each western conference team once a season in our own rink (and vice versa) and the remaining games should be split evenly between the remaining eastern conference teams so that there is a more equitable distribution of the 8 playoff spots.

"Our goal for next season should be to see how well we can do with Bedard. We have to see that through given the uniqueness of this opportunity. If not, we move him for the biggest trade package we can find. "

I have said it before and I will say it again, they will trade him before next season's trade deadline. The Pats are incapable of fielding a competitive team, do not have the desire to win or know what it takes. They will squeeze every last nickle out of Beddard merch and pull one of their patented bone head trades when they do move him.

"A team without our history and notoriety..."

Yeah at least a quarter of their most recent existence with a big "L" stapled to their foreheads. That is our recent legacy......

"But it will most likely get better"

Come on, really? 25 years of c^#% and you are still willing to buy their brand of sub mediocre hockey? How much more are you willing to take? It is that belief system in their fan base - that ownership/management are counting on. I will always be a fan, just not a paying one. I have gotten off this bus and encourage the rest of you to as well.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

in a literal sense, yes they will most likely get better. if our younger players are our primary contributors, its just the next intellectual step to believe we will be a stronger club when those younger players are older. Without sounding brain-dead on the matter, we have to 'trust the plan' and support the local club if we go actually go to the games, and we have to, to an extent, give them the benefit of the doubt even when it looks like they arent doing it right. Negativity and positivity are both infectious and you can choose which one you spread to more impressionable people. As the saying goes, you should "support publicly; and criticize privately".

I get it; Ive been following them for a long time and everyone knows they generally suck, but if you, or really any of the other usual cynics around here, truly do think theyre completely hopeless, why even waste time on them at all? it cant be that fun being negative about something all the time.

[dsquared]

Without sounding brain-dead on the matter, we have to 'trust the plan' and support the local club if we go actually go to the games, and we have to, to an extent, give them the benefit of the doubt even when it looks like they arent doing it right. Negativity and positivity are both infectious and you can choose which one you spread to more impressionable people.

I will pass on the Kool-aid.

[chopper]

I don't know if I'm the only one who has noticed that we haven't announced our 1st round signing or any signing for that matter. It seems that getting kids to sign here is like pulling hens teeth. I noticed that Vancouver had a picture of four players sitting at the table signing on to that organization. Again it may be nothing but maybe it does say something.

[dsquared]

The Pats are usually at the end of the draft signing pic parade. I am still waiting to see how many picks were wasted on players bound for the NCAA..... because you know they will have.... sigh!

[Reider]

The Pats definitely seem to be on the slower side of signing their draft picks and they seem to like to wait until they meet the players in person to sign them. I think we'll see some signings soon as the Pats have their spring camp from June 10th to the 12th. Cole Temple should get signed for sure and probably a couple or a few others as well, depending on how things go. If the Pats are unable to sign Temple or any of their other high picks, that wouldn't be a good thing.

Another interesting thing is that the Seattle Thunderbirds are back in the WHL Final again this year after beating the Pats in the WHL final 5 years ago, while the Pats couldn't even make the playoffs this year with Bedard and Evans on the team. Of course, there's also the part where the Pats hosted the Memorial Cup the following year, but still, the Pats are nowhere near being a top contender and they'll likely lose Bedard after next season, if not sooner (e.g. at the trade deadline).

The Pats need to acquire more mid to high round draft picks and they have to be able to sign the top players they draft. They can't keep losing them to the NCAA or elsewhere as it hurts the caliber of their team.

Seattle is already back in the WHL Finals, Moose Jaw surged ahead of the Pats this year, Swift Current had more mid to high round picks than the Pats at the WHL prospect draft this year. How are the Pats going to close the gap (never mind surge ahead of these other teams) if they don't acquire more mid to high round draft picks, then follow through by drafting the right players and then of course, signing them? How are they going to become a top contender without a solid goaltender? Or without getting their discipline issues under control? Or by continually making bad trades? Sure, it's great that the Pats drafted Temple, but he's only one player and Bedard will be gone soon. At some point the Pats need to make a full commitment to their rebuild. This means both feet in and all hands on deck. The one foot in approach never seems to work. That's why they didn't win a Championship in 2017 or 2018 and that's why they're not doing very well with their rebuild to date. They don't even have a first round pick in next year's draft.

Perhaps the Pats could get their 2023 first round pick back from Kamloops, plus Kamloops' 2023 first round pick, plus more draft picks and players by trading Bedard to Kamloops next year? The Blazers are hosting the Memorial Cup next season and they're going to want / need a player like Bedard, so it's an option worth looking at for both teams.

[Reider]

The Pats traded Cole Carrier to Lethbridge today for a 6th round pick in 2023. As a result, it appears that Cole Dubinsky, Luke Bateman and Koen MacInnes are currently the 3 players penciled in to be OA's next year. Jacob Brook appears to be the odd man out at the moment. As it stands now, this is not a roster that screams playoff contender. Will Svozil return? If so, will the Pats be able to sign a second quality import player? Will the Pats be able to get Matthew Wood to sign? Will Stringer be able to stay healthy for most of the season?

Forwards:

Bedard
Howe
Dubinsky
Stringer
Valis
J. Vaughan
Whitehead
Rowan
Spencer
Armstrong
Michaels
Linklater
Barnett
Zacharias

Defencemen:

Svozil?
Bateman
Feist
Berge
McNutt
C. Vaughan
Johnson?
DeWitt
Herman
McEachern

Goaltenders:

MacInnes
Kieper
Sim
Pyne

[Reider]

The Pats signed their coaching staff, equipment manager and athletic therapist to multi-year extension's today. It doesn't mention anything about their GM / HC John Paddock getting an extension. I believe he has one more year on his contract, so he might be planning on retiring after next year.

https://reginapats.com/article/pats-...ear-extensions