NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Regina Pats defenceman Matt Paranych stick checks Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo after taking a shot in the first period of a 6-0 win March 10 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Regina Pats have already met their season goal of getting into the postseason.
After making the playoffs following a two-year absence, they’re now looking for more than just experience.
The Pats qualified for playoffs on the final day of the season, losing 4-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings but clinching after a Moose Jaw Warriors loss.
Head coach Brad Herauf is proud of the group for making it to the playoffs, entering as the seventh seed taking on the No. 2 Medicine Hat Tigers. The Pats finished the year with a 25-34-7-2 record, adding nine wins to the year prior. Herauf, in his third year as Pats bench boss, has seen contributions from up and down the order as the team’s biggest progression over the season.
“We’ve had some older guys who really stepped up and had good off seasons, and they haven’t always had an opportunity of important roles on a WHL team team and I think a lot of our older guys grasped those opportunities and really excelled at those roles,” Herauf said.
“We’ve had some younger guys develop here. Obviously, we have our two 15-year-olds who are exceptional players. There’s been some 16-year-olds, Aiden Wagner and Mathis Paull, who have come into our team this year and done a great job.”
The story of the Pats this season has been their first and third overall picks in the 2025 WHL Draft, Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue. The pair have played 34 games in the WHL this season while also playing for the U18AAA Pat Canadians. Herauf says they’ve risen to the occasion playing at the WHL level as 15-year-olds.
“There’s lots of things with these kids that have been different from a lot of other guys’ experience, so with that comes expectation. But the more experience they get, the better they’ve gotten,” Herauf said. “It’s only a matter of time, they’ve shown flashes of being the players they can totally be. Maddox especially here in the second half of the year, he’s had a good runway with our club, holding close to a point per game. So these guys are gonna have impact on the scoreboard either way.”
Their status for the Pats and Tigers playoff series is unknown, the Pat Canadians lead the SMAAAHL finals 2-1, with Game 4 against the Moose Jaw Warriors coming tonight and a decisive Game 5, if needed, on Saturday.
Medicine Hat swept the season series with the Pats 4-0, outscoring Regina 26-7. Former Tiger Matt Paranych, in his second season with the Pats, says they’ll flush the regular season results and get ready for the playoffs.
“We gotta prepare like we would always prepare, everyone’s going to be on their game and guys are working hard in practice, and we’re doing video, we’re getting ready,” Paranych said. “It doesn’t matter what happened in the regular season, it doesn’t matter where we finished, when we go into playoffs, you never know what can happen. We could get a win, we could lose, we just have to flush it and move on to the next one.”
Paranych was traded to Regina in December 2024, looking for a bigger role than he had on a crowded Tigers blue line. He says it’s always been tough to face his former team, each return to Medicine Hat has come with emotions of being back in the place he considers a second home.
Paranych put up a career year this season, tallying seven goals and 33 points in 66 games. He’s looking forward to proving himself in the series.
“It’s always fun to play there, they get such good crowds and it’s such an electric environment,” Paranych said. “They have such a good culture and I’m just so excited to play against them and show the Tigers fans, the Pats fans and all the people watching that I can go prove myself out there. I’m super pumped to get a chance at them again.”
