2022 -= 2023 Season (Camp-pre-season-regular season)

[chopper]

PATS LOSE 4-2

Just got finished watching this game and that's a couple hours I won't get back.

You knew they couldn't ride this bromance bubble with Bedard forever, and tonight it ended. Lack of effort, depth, and discipline.

The Pats are not a deep team and Paddock did nothing to improve it at the deadline. So when I listened to him on the post-game, I was both incensed and at the same time worried that there may be something clinically wrong. His biggest excuse for the loss was that two of his top six forwards (Stringer and Ginnell) went down with injuries. How would/could any lucid coach in this league refer to Stringer and Ginnell as top six forwards? Of all the ridiculous things I've heard from him, this was maybe the most bizarre thing I've ever heard him say, and there has been some odd-ball stuff. If your team refers to these guys as top six when they would be utility forwards on any other team, you're in deep feces!!

Stringer went down in the 1st with an unknown issue but not from a hit. Ginnell came off the ice in the 2nd with some unknown injury. That shouldn't cause us to be outshot 15-3 in the 2nd.

If Bedard isn't scoring or dominating, nobody else can. Valis and Howe were MIA while Bedard was gone, and they have looked as if they still are. Howe looks bad.

We all know the Pats have little to no depth, and if Paddock thinks differently he's clearly delusional. Calling those two guys top six players is proof!

They will need to be much better tomorrow night. Maybe put Oremba with Bedard and Valis if they're short staffed. Oremba needs something to get him going.

PATS WIN 5-2

What a difference a night makes. It didn't even resemble the team from last night. Everyone was skating, tracking back, and sim was excellent. Desperately needed win the Pats needed to have. Good win - good crowd.
The really strange part was that they did it without Stringer and Ginnell. It looks like they never missed a beat without them. Too bad they didn't last night or they could have won both games.
This will be a dogfight the rest of the way. Four teams looking for two spots.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

Congrats on Matteo Michels finally getting that 1st goal monkey off his back. First one might generally be the toughest.

[chopper]

Congrats on Matteo Michels finally getting that 1st goal monkey off his back. First one might generally be the toughest.

I concur! It was good to see the kid finally score. I must admit I've not felt good about him being on the team. Paddock even said he was talked to at the trade deadline regarding if he wanted to be here. He hadn't scored in a year and a half and I'm sure I couldn't be the only one questioning his being here. He can skate and appears to have some smarts. Maybe this is the thing that turns him around. It would be nice if the Pats can find some extra scoring.

The thing I liked most about the game was their commitment to defence. They all tracked back and picked up trailers, helped the D-fence and goalie out. If you play good defence then good things usually follow offensively.

[chopper]

Well that was a road trip that the Pats can profusely thank the hockey gods. Without playing a complete game in any game, they were able to extract 5 points and at least keep pace with the other teams in the hunt. It would appear that Swift Current, Regina, Medicine hat, and possibly Brandon may all have a legitimate chance. I watched all the games and lets be honest the Pats were not very good in any game yet they eeked out some points. You often hear that a team deserved better but this road trip made up for that. They were mostly out muscled, outworked, and out chanced but found a few minutes in a few games where they had some things go right.

The Pats were were really manhandled during this trip. IMO a lot of liberties are being taken against Bedard but they don't have anyone to stand up. Englot, Armstrong, Dubinsky, McNutt have all been traded away. When you take away your toughness and heart, it shows down the stretch. The only gamer we've got left is Corbin Vaughan and he's only 16, yet he showed up in Lethbridge. Big mistake moving away all the size and toughness.

We are giving up 4 goals per game this year. We gave up 17 goals in 4 games which is actually above that rate.As long as they give up that many goals per game, it won't matter what Bedard does. They can't expect to score 5 per game! This trip Bedard looked a bit tired but that's part of this “no protection” thing. NOBODY should be allowed to take liberties with him. Unfortunately Paddock doesn't and really has never has understood or believed in that. They needed some size and skill with Bedard. Ginnell tries but can't skate well enough or finish whatsoever. We've traded away guys who could have done that. What we've got back isn't helping us now.

Things will be tough down the stretch and the Pats will be in a dogfight. The really sad commentary is that with the best junior player in the world on your team, it shouldn't have ever been got to that!

[Reider]

Seattle and Winnipeg added big skilled players for their second half runs. The Pats did the opposite. The Pats lost more size / toughness / grit / skill than they acquired this year. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. As discussed previously, the best option was to sell big (Bedard, Svozil, and Evans last year). The 2nd best option was to acquire a few players for a second half run to help Bedard and co. The third best option was to do nothing. The worst (4th) option was to tinker and weaken the team a bit, by making a young nimble team, lacking in size, elite veteran talent, depth, grit, and toughness, even worse off in those categories. For some reason JP decided to go down this path and it shows. Lethbridge was big and tough on the walls and in the neutral zone. They bullied Bedard and whoever they wanted at will. The only reason why Lethbridge didn't hammer the Pats is because they lack high end goal scorers. The Pats got the win in Lethbridge and they ended up with 5 out of 8 points on the road, which is good, but this team unfortunately isn't built for the playoffs, which is going to make the second half run a lot more difficult and if they do happen to make the playoffs, it will be short lived.

Does anyone know the current rules regaurding how many games 15 year old players can play? Is the league relaxing the rules? I though there was a 5 game limit, unless the player was granted exceptional status by the league or under situations where the team can apply for emergency types of exemptions (e.g. if the team has a lot of players out due to injury). Cole Temple has played 7 games this year and Gavin McKenna has played 11. It's not really a big deal either way, I'm just wondering how the rules work, to allow players to exceed the 5 game limit. Medicine Hat only has one player on the injury list, so it doesn't appear that the team needs McKenna to play all of these games due to being short on players.

[chopper]

It was a good win by the Pats last night although they didn't come out too well. After they got down 3-1 in the 2nd period they seemed to catch fire, and some lesser lights scored a few goals. It seemed to get us back on track and we played better after that. From there on it was the Bedard show. While we did find a way to win it's a concern we are giving up 4 goals a game. Our defence simply must getter tighter but I don't know if it can. Sim was good but giving up 40 or more shots a game won't be successful in the end. They simply have to tighten up defensively.

I noticed that MJ had four players suspended by the WHL. Evidently for conduct violations. I talked to some MJ people and they said they didn't know what it was about. MJ has a good team but this surely is a big distraction.

[SectionNDeserter]

Does anyone know the current rules regaurding how many games 15 year old players can play?

They can play as many games as they like, once their current team's season is over. As I understand it, that is why a lot of the top prospects enroll in the variety of hockey academies (Edge, Pursuit of Excellence, etc.) that have insanely short seasons.

[chopper]

The Pats lost a couple on the weekend. One to the Ice which was entirely expected, and one to the Raiders which was totally unexpected. The net result is that the Pats find themselves in a dogfight with a four teams for the final playoff spots. You might even include PA because they are not far off the pace. I told a friend of mine that one bad week to ten days could sink a club. I'm not suggesting what team that might be, but obviously the Pats are included in that group. The Pats didn't help them elves by failing to get a split. They have a whole bunch of real tough games ahead of them.

The Pats gave more than they are generally capable for a couple periods last night but the real truth is they were never going to beat the Ice. You could point to some real bad defensive plays and a couple weak goals, but they simply are not near good enough to beat the Ice. They should have been able to beat the Raiders but even that's an issue, after losing our last two games to them. Poor Bedard must be wondering what he's playing with here in Regina. He scores 4 points in PA and they lose. He scores 3 points last night and they lose, albeit an anticipated loss! After the top five guys the talent, speed and grit, falls into the abyss.

There seems to be a major flaw or crack in the system when you have the best junior player in the world the past two seasons, yet you missed the playoffs last year and you're in a fight to make the playoffs this year!!!!

[chopper]

Last night's game and the one before against Lethbridge had a couple things in common. Firstly the Pats initiated the physical play and finally showed some grit with some big hits and a desire to get involved. Bateman did a heck of a job on the fight he had. That's something it would have been nice to see a little more often this season. Secondly is that the Pats have perhaps figured out that it's OK to score some greasy goals. They all count the same. They don't all have to be highlight reel goals, they just have to cross the goal line. They look like a different team when they're more engaged.

I see the Pats have added Zacharias to the roster. I hope they play him as they should. He's been at or near the top of scoring in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA League all season. I'm sure the Blazers up in Saskatoon would love to have him for the playoffs. If he's not going to play regular here that won't help him at all. A good player should be playing even if it's at the Midget AAA loop.

[SectionNDeserter]

The Pats gave more than they are generally capable for a couple periods last night but the real truth is they were never going to beat the Ice. You could point to some real bad defensive plays and a couple weak goals, but they simply are not near good enough to beat the Ice.

Someone might get the odd bounce that could lead to them losing a game in the playoffs, but I can't see any WHL team beating the Ice in a 7 game series this season.

There seems to be a major flaw or crack in the system when you have the best junior player in the world the past two seasons, yet you missed the playoffs last year and you're in a fight to make the playoffs this year!!!!

It has been an issue for quite a while for the 'exceptional' players. They are always drafted by some of the worst teams in the league, and two years and one good player is rarely enough time to turn a team like that around and make it an elite team. Add to that, the league has also more recently taken the power to trade these players from the teams' hands. I guess the silver lining here is that you at least got to watch him play there for parts of two seasons.