PHOTO COURTESY Regina Pats/Keith Hershmiller Photography
The Regina Pats selected forward Maddox Schultz first overall in the 2025 WHL Draft and the top prospect will play in Medicine Hat on Saturday against the Tigers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat Tigers fans will get an early look at the future of the WHL at Saturday’s season opener.
The Regina Pats will ice the first and third overall picks in the 2025 WHL Draft with forwards Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue slated to make their WHL debuts this weekend. Regina opens its season in Swift Current on Friday against the Broncos before taking on the Tigers here on Saturday.
“It’s super exciting, the Pats have put us through a good training camp and obviously a few preseason games under our belt, which is nice,” said Schultz, the 2025 first overall pick who was born in Medicine Hat but grew up in Regina. “Gearing up for the season is really important to our team and we’re all looking forward to it.”
Pue says there’s some benefit to getting their first look at the WHL on the road and he’s enjoyed the process of getting used to the WHL game from U18.
“Obviously you want to play in front of the big home crowd but being away is just as good, I’m looking forward to it,” Pue said.
“It’s been really good having to adjust to the to the bigger, faster, league but I think I’ve done a pretty good job with that so far in preseason and we’ll just stick to it going into the regular season.”
The pair will have 34 games with the Pats this season under Hockey Canada’s Western Canadian Development Model. Having both played last season at the U18 level while eligible for U15, they’re granted more games in the WHL in their draft seasons.
Schultz led the Regina Pat Canadians to a Telus Cup Championship with 43 goals and 93 points in 44 games in the regular season, leading the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League in goals, assists and points. Pue has 30 goals and 50 points in 29 games with the Langley Hockey Academy U18 team.
Both are excited to get more of an opportunity at the WHL level than the rest of their fellow 2010-born draftees, who are restricted to 10 games.
“Liam and I, under this new model, have been super lucky enough to take advantage of it and obviously our development for the WHL is really important,” Schultz said. “Together we can create a special bond and maybe do something special with this team a few years down the road. We’re really looking forward to it and later on, it’s going to be a very fun team to be part of.”
When they aren’t in the WHL Pats’ lineup, the pair will play for the U18 Pat Canadians, Schultz’s second year with the club. They’ll be able to practise with their WHL teammates when possible, getting them an opportunity for more WHL experience earlier than most.
“We get to play up in the WHL and then you can go down to U18, get some confidence, score some goals and then come back up and just try and do your thing,” Pue said.
For the 15-year-old Pue, a product of Longley, B.C., it’ll be the first season he isn’t playing for his hometown Hockey Academy. He’s enjoyed his first month in Regina.
“I’ve got a pretty amazing billet family, I couldn’t ask for much more,” Pue said. “So they’ve made it feel like I’m right at home, it’s been a fairly easy adjustment.”
Schultz has lived in Regina since he was five, having moved from Medicine Hat to his hometown. He remembers being at Tigers’ games growing up and seeing a lot of Rroary at those games. Saturday’s season opener will be his first game at Co-op Place, an experience he’s looking forward to.
Gavin McKenna and Oasiz Wiesblatt playing in that rink and doing what they did for the city was pretty cool,” Schultz said. “I am and the Regina Pats are looking forward to go make an impact in that barn.”
Schultz hasn’t talked to McKenna yet, a fellow first overall pick in the WHL. He’s met Connor Bedard, the Pats first overall pick in the 2020 draft. The 15-year-old says he has a long way to go before he thinks of matching what Bedard or McKenna did in the WHL.
“It’s going to be pretty hard to cap off what they’ve done,” Schultz said. “But maybe if the Pats win the league, that’d be super special and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
