The Great WHL Journey #2: Regina Pats

Although the fans and media latched onto the nickname, the team didn’t seem convinced. In 1927-28, after merging with the Regina Falcons, they changed their name to the Monarchs but went back to the Pats after a single season. After all, the name had already formed its own identity; since adopting the nickname, Regina won six Abbott Cups, more than any other team, along with Memorial Cups in 1925 and 1930. Under any other name, they only won once.

But Regina continued tinkering with the name, and by 1936-37, the Pats’ name was no longer actively being used. This is where things get a little messy and call into question the legitimacy of the Pats’ claim to the oldest continuously operating junior team. While I can neither confirm nor deny what happened – not even the team’s official website acknowledges a change – and records aren’t readily available from this time, I’ve had to connect a few dots. So, here’s my theory:

In 1936-37, the Pats decided to lean into their success and renamed their team the Abbotts, which they kept until 1940-41. They then left their current league, possibly to find better competition, a regular practice at the time, and changed their name again to the Generals. However, the Generals never caught on and returned to the Abbotts the next season. Then, in 1946-47, the Abbotts and the Regina Commandos merged and returned to the familiar Pats, which remained unchanged for the next 80 years.

The only supporting evidence I found to support my theory, other than the chaotic and unpredictable nature of junior hockey in the years before organized leagues, was a single article on the Pats’ website complaining about the Moose Jaw Canucks and how the two Regina-based teams need to reunite to beat their rivals. It was apparently an unpopular opinion at the time, but after losing to the Canucks for a few more seasons, the two teams must have softened, reuniting under the more popular moniker and reasserting themselves as one of the best teams in Saskatchewan. The Pats won four more Abbott Cups from 1950-1956 and added another in 1958 when they joined the brand-new Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

Yet, when it came to the Memorial Cup, the Pats were at a competitive disadvantage, as the SJHL just wasn’t as strong as others in Alberta and Ontario. So, when they made the Memorial Cup in 1950, 1952, 1955, 1956, and 1958, they were quickly dispatched, winning just four games in five tournaments. So, when plans for a brand new major junior league in Western Canada were proposed, the Pats jumped on it, joining fellow SJHL defectors in the Canucks, Saskatoon Blades, Weyburn Redwings, and Estevan Bruins. Thus, the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League was born, the precursor to the WHL.

However, one small problem emerged – the CMJHL wasn’t sanctioned to compete for the Memorial Cup. That took the wind out of the sails for many of the former SJHL teams, and after just two seasons in the new league, the Pats, along with the Canucks, Redwings, and Bruins, left the league and returned to Junior A. The Pats unsurprisingly won the league title in their first season back and lost in the Final in the next. Clearly, the competition wasn’t strong enough, so they returned to the WHL in 1970-71, where they’ve remained ever since.

Since returning, the Pats have won the league title twice, in 1973-74 and 1979-80, and made it to the final four times, with the most recent coming in 2016-17. It’s not quite the same level of success as the first iterations of the team experience, but it’s still a world-class organization that is never down and out for long.

Franchise Leaders:

• Most Points (Total): Dale Derkatch (1981-85) – 491
• Most Points (Season): Jock Callander (1981-82) – 190
• Most Goals (Season): Doug Wickenheiser (1979-80) – 89 
• Most Games Played: Frank Kovacs (1987-92) – 352
• Most Wins (Total): Linden Rowat (2005-09) – 85 
• Most Wins (Season): Three-way tie with 33 – Linden Rowat (2007-08, 57 GP); Tyler Brown (2016-17, 50 GP); Donald Choukalos (2000-01, 60 GP)
• Retired Numbers: 9 – #1 Ed Staniowski; #7 Jordan Eberle; #8 Brad Hornung; #9 Clark Gillies; #12 Doug Wickenheiser; #14 Dennis Sobchuk; #16 Dale Derkatch and Mike Sillinger; #17 Bill Hicke
• Highest Drafted Players: Greg Joly, 1st (Washington, 1974); Connor Bedard 1st (Chicago, 2023); Doug Wickenheiser, 1st (Montreal, 1980); Brad Stuart, 3rd (San Jose, 1998); Clark Gillies, 4th (Islanders, 1974), Darren Veitch, 5th (Washington, 1980)

Brandt Centre

The Brandt Centre is a strange relic of its time. Built in 1977, the arena’s orange, blocky exterior more closely resembles a Pizza Hut than a hockey arena. There’s nothing wrong with that, and having a strange exterior gives it some character that is sadly lacking in junior hockey, as many of the old barns across the WHL have been replaced with modern event centers. It gives it more personality, and for the oldest junior team in the world, Regina certainly has that in spades.

The only problem is that just a few dozen meters behind it stands Mosaic Stadium, the brand-new, modern field for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The beautiful, white-domed stadium was opened in 2017, replacing the aging Taylor Field, and Regina’s Exhibition Grounds was the most logical place to build a new fieldhouse. However, sitting beside the Brandt Centre creates a strange juxtaposition. On one side of the parking lot, you have the state-of-the-art football field that can hold 30,000 people. On the other hand, you have a 6,000-seat orange box that looks ripped out of the 1970s and whose leaky roof during the 2024 Montana’s Brier caused delays to Canada’s biggest men’s curling event.

I knew it was a smaller arena than Saskatoon, and this wasn’t the first time I’d been inside the Brandt Centre, but I was surprised at how small it felt, even with the upper bowl opened up. The curtains set up to separate the seating from the concourse felt almost claustrophobic, especially with everyone trying to get to their spot or grab a bite at the food stalls.

What wasn’t small, though, was the jumbotron, which reportedly cost over $3 million and is the largest suspended scoreboard in Saskatchewan. It was installed in 2015 in preparation for the 2018 Memorial Cup, and the arena added another $3.6 million in renovations to accommodate the increased crowds. Yet, over a decade later, it needs even more repairs to get up to WHL standards, which has started discussions on whether the city should build a new downtown arena.

Food and Extras

Summary

• Tickets – $38-$42 for lower bowl seats on Ticketmaster before fees
• Hat – $38-$48
• Jersey – $140, $350 for specialty sweaters
• Puck – $10

Regina doesn’t have nearly as many different stalls as Saskatoon, which was to be expected. The few they had were almost all under the name North 77, and they all offered the same thing. Most of it was your typical arena food – burgers, fries, hot dogs, popcorn – but something called the brisket yorkie caught my eye. I enjoy trying foods that are specific to their locale, and neither Spencer nor I had any idea what to expect, so I went for it. It turned out that a ‘Yorkie’ is a Yorkshire pudding with gravy, onions, and brisket that looked more like deli slices than prime cuts of beef. Still, it was tasty. The only problem is that it was impossible to cut with a plastic knife.

While North 77 is the primary concession stand, there are a few other options for food and beverages. Spencer showed me the new walk-through cooler tucked away at the far end of the rink, showcasing a wide selection of beers and drinks. Even though I don’t drink, I will admit it was pretty cool. Opposite our seats was a tent that offered made-to-order pulled pork sandwiches, which I had to get, although I wasn’t sure if that was a pop-up tent or a permanent option. Finally, there was on-tap Cherry Coke, which I’ve never seen anywhere else.

But when I asked Spencer about his go-to arena meals, he didn’t have an answer because he generally doesn’t eat at the games thanks to the high cost of seeing the Pats. On Ticketmaster, single seats start at $31 for upper-level seats, and ours ended up being $47 after fees and taxes. You can get NHL tickets for almost the same price.

Fans can thank the Connor Bedard effect for that. According to Spencer, the Pats jacked up their prices when Bedard was in town, but after he left, the arena had less of a desire to return the prices to a more affordable rate. That’s been tough for Regina fans to swallow and has prevented some lifelong fans like Spencer from going to watch games in the past few seasons. Add on the fact that they don’t offer kids discounts, and it’s practically impossible for him to take his family to a game together. That’s not how junior games should work. These events are for the kids first, and if most families can’t afford to go, then the product will suffer if it hasn’t already.

As for souvenirs, the team store is located just outside the main concourse but still within the main arena area, and it seemed like a well-stocked store with plenty of options. I went for a mini-stick and a few promotional posters that the team had been releasing throughout the season. In total, there were six that combined to spell out PATS while featuring some of the best players of the last decade. I only managed to get three of them, as Eberle was already all gone and Bedard hadn’t been released yet. Still, free is always good, and I certainly won’t complain about Chandler Stephenson, Stanislav Svozil, and Jake Leschyshyn.

Nov. 12, 2023 – Regina Pats vs Brandon Wheat Kings

With Regina sitting just 2.5 hours south of Saskatoon, I planned to leave the morning of the game and return home in the evening. Personally, it didn’t matter which team the Pats played; I just wanted to see a game with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and share some stories of growing up with hockey. But Spencer didn’t want to catch just any game; he wanted to see the Brandon Wheat Kings and, more specifically, Nate Danielson, the Detroit Red Wings’ most recent first-round draft pick. As a die-hard Red Wings fan, Spencer wanted to watch his team’s future star, and if you’re paying nearly $50 a ticket, it’s best to make sure it’s a worthwhile game.

Better yet, the Wheat Kings and Pats were developing a bit of a rivalry Regina started in the 2023-24 season with a promising 6-3-1 record in their first 10 games, giving hope to the beginning of the Bedard-less era, but the rest of the league quickly caught up, and by Nov. 12, the Pats were down to 9-9-2 and on a three-game losing streak.

The only good news was that they’d already taken on the Wheat Kings three times and managed to keep on pace with them, scoring 13 goals while allowing 14. Veteran Parker Berge was especially dangerous against them, scoring three goals and five assists in their three matchups. On the other end, the 2025-eligible Roger McQueen had been just as dangerous against the Pats, scoring three goals and five assists. No matter what happened, this promised to be a close game.

The Wheat Kings jumped out to an early lead, scoring less than five minutes into the first and following it up with another midway through the second, leaving the Pats scrambling, and despite getting some good chances, they weren’t functioning as a unit. After the early goal, though, the game slowed to a defensive struggle, and I took the chance to catch up with Spencer and what he found so enticing about hockey.

Like me, Spencer grew up a hockey fan and did all the things a hockey kid does, but his family wasn’t big into going to Pats games. However, some family friends were regular attendees, and they were more than happy to bring him along since their own kids were reaching an age where they weren’t interested in hanging out with their parents all the time. Their loss was Spencer’s gain. 

The Pats were a tough group in the early 2000s, featuring future NHLers Rick Rypien, Colton Orr, Barrett Jackman, Garth Murray, and Garnet Exelby, but those aren’t the players that stuck out for Spencer. The first was Matt Hubbauer. Although he started his career as a tough guy, he emerged as one of the Pats’ top scorers in 2001-02, leading the team with 48 goals. It was easy to cheer for a guy like that, and he quickly became one of Spencer’s favourite players, especially after he attended the Red Wings’ camp as an undrafted free agent.

Everything was going right for Hubbauer until suddenly doctors discovered a tumour in his sinus cavity, causing him to have frequent nosebleeds. Invasive surgery was required to remove it, and doctors told him he might never play hockey again, but less than six weeks later, he was back on the ice with the Pats. Regina was over the moon when he returned; the whole city was behind him, a feeling Spencer still remembers all these years later.

The next guy was Josh Harding, the Pats’ hometown star goalie. He was also one of the few goalies Spencer had seen who caught right. It was so strange to see, yet he was just as good, if not better than every other goalie who caught left. When Harding was selected to the 2004 Canadian World Junior team, it cemented his status as his favourite player. That same year, Hubbauer was also back in the spotlight, this time on CBC’s short-lived reality show, Making the Cut, where he was one of the finalists to earn an invite from an NHL team. It was a big year for the Pats’ faithful.

The memory of watching Hubbauer and Harding play in his hometown made Spencer feel like he was somehow part of their journey, and it’s why he wanted to see Danielson play before he went off to the pros. It’s a feeling I’m well acquainted with; watching a junior star feels like you are privy to secret information that only a select few have access to.

Those memories made Spencer much more interested in the intricacies of hockey, and he’s tried to pass that love on to his kids. Despite the cost, he brought his kids to see Bedard, even if they were too young to realize what they were watching. But there are also the simple pleasures of hearing a skate cut through the ice, the crash of the puck against the boards, and even the smell of the ice itself. You can only get that in a small arena like the Brandt Centre.

Near the end of the second period, Tanner Howe finally put one by Brandon’s goalie Ethen Eskit, giving the Pats their first goal and a much-needed boost, which is when I discovered one of Regina’s rituals – turning off the lights when the home team scores. The lights went out three more times before the end of the game, including one more goal from Howe, making the final score 4-2 for the home team. So far in this journey, the home team is undefeated.

With the game over, we wandered around the arena a little bit, then I was back on the road to Saskatoon. It was interesting watching the Pats for the second stop in my journey, as the franchise feels almost like the opposite of the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades play in one of the largest arenas in the WHL and feel much closer to a professional venue, whereas the Pats are in one of the smaller venues and feel much more local. The Blades have some of the most affordable prices, from jerseys to merch, while the Pats have some of the most expensive. Even their teams are opposites, with the Pats struggling to string wins together and the Blades cruising to first place.

Still, there was no question that the city loves their Pats. Giant banners adorn the walls featuring their retired numbers, and the blue and red colour scheme runs throughout the arena. Despite the smaller arena, Regina nearly matched the attendance of the Blades game I was at, coming in at 3,322 people. Our seats were also fantastic, putting us right up to the action at center ice. While I preferred the overall experience of the Blades, watching the Pats felt like I was a kid again, talking hockey with my uncle in a cold arena while eating hot fries. These are the moments that create lifelong hockey fans, and I hope the Pats don’t lose their hometown feel in pursuit of a new arena.