The Regina Pat Canadians were bronze medalists at the 2015 Telus Cup. When this year's national midget hockey championship starts on Monday at CN Centre, the Canadians will once again be in the mix and will have one initial objective in mind - qualify for the semifinal playoff round.
Only by making the playoffs will they give themselves a shot at gold.
"Obviously you want to win every game you can, but, that being said, I think your main goal going into the round-robin games is to make sure you're in the top four teams," said Canadians assistant coach Mike Sillinger. "Two years ago, they made a big deal of us going undefeated (in round robin) and it really meant nothing."
In 2015, the Telus Cup was held in Riviere-du-Loup, Que. In round robin, the Canadians won four games and tied one. With that mark, they were the top-seeded team for the semifinals but were upset 3-1 by the fourth-seeded Toronto Young Nationals, a club they had bounced 7-2 in the first game of the tournament. The Young Nationals went on to beat Grenadiers de Chateauguay 6-2 in the championship game, while the Canadians took bronze with a 6-3 win against the Strathmore Bisons.
Heading into this year's nationals, the Pat Canadians are on an 11-game winning streak. Their playoff run started with a Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League quarterfinal win against the Saskatoon Blazers, a series that went the full five games and saw the Canadians prevail 2-1 in the clincher. Next, the Canadians swept the Yorkton Maulers in the best-of-five semifinals and did the same thing to the Tisdale Trojans in the league final. At the West regional championship in Steinbach, Man., Regina continued its strong play and won all four games. In the final, the Canadians beat the Thunder Bay Kings 4-2 and booked their spot in the Telus Cup.
In the Regina lineup, one player remains from the 2015 team - 17-year-old forward Matthew Chekay.
"We have a whole new group," said Sillinger, a former NHLer who's in his fourth season on the Pat Canadians coaching staff. "The majority of our team is 16-year-olds. We have about five 15-year-olds as well and we've got four 17-year-olds."
One of the 16-year-olds is Sillinger's son, Lukas, who led the team in scoring in the regular season and playoffs. In the 44-game regular schedule (the Canadians had a record of 36-6-2), the talented left winger amassed 26 goals and 78 points in 40 outings. In the 11 playoff games leading up to the West regional tournament, he added 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists).
"Ever since January, he kind of took off," Sillinger said of his boy.
"I think it goes to show, too, how well the team has played. As far as individual stats, yeah, we need him to score, but we have two or three lines that can score. For his play, it shows his offensive ability. He's more of a power-play guy - we use him lots on the power play. He sees the ice very well and knows where that puck has to go."
During the 2015 Telus Cup, Lukas's older brother, Owen, was named most valuable player. He now skates for the Penticton Vees of the B.C. Hockey League.
Sillinger, who played 1,049 regular-season NHL games with Detroit, Anaheim, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Florida, Ottawa, Columbus, Phoenix, St. Louis, Nashville and the New York Islanders, was also on the Pat Canadians' bench when they lost the 2015 Mac's Midget Tournament final 2-1 to the Cariboo Cougars in double overtime.
At the 2017 Mac's, the Cougars fell one step short of the final when they dropped a semifinal game to the Belarus National Under-17 team, 5-4 in overtime. The Canadians, meanwhile, lost 5-0 to Belarus in pool play and missed the playoffs.
In the Telus Cup, the Cougars and Canadians will clash on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at CN Centre.
"I think both teams probably play very similar," said Sillinger, who currently works in scouting and recruitment for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. "As far as size, I know Cariboo has decent size and they've got good skill. I expect a hell of a game on Tuesday night."
