Regina Pats clean out lockers, look for gains in off-season

Garbage bag day came early for the Regina Pats on Monday, after the WHL team missed the playoffs for the first time in six years.

It was a tough season for the Pats, who finished near the bottom of the league’s overall standings with just 42 points.

Head coach Dave Struch admitted as much but is still optimistic for next season, saying one of the residual effects of loading up for the Memorial Cup run a year ago was a strong locker room that carried into the rebuild.

“We got to maintain the culture here, the work ethic, the high standard of commitment, which is what we wanted to do,” Struch said.

“The young guys would give the older guys energy. The old guys would say the right things at the good times to give us some momentum. When we’re down in games by large margins, the players continuing to be relentless no matter what the score is … these players were all-in, all the time to getting better.”

Struch said this year was about development, giving young players plenty of ice time to grow and play through their mistakes. However, that will change next fall.

“Next year, there’s going to be a lot more importance put on wins. We (were) talking to players about internal competition,” Struch said.

“The players’ skill levels, they need to work on that in the summertime. Their fitness, conditioning, is very important because when they come back … after the summer’s over, we need to be up and ready to go right off the start.”

Graduating players look back

The Pats are bidding farewell to three overage players: Forward Brett Clayton and defencemen Liam Schioler and Brady Pouteau.

Pouteau, 21, was glad to finish his WHL career in Regina, the team that drafted him, traded him to Lethbridge and then re-acquired him last year. He was wearing his jersey to the year-end media availability.

“Even on the ice, (I was) just trying to soak everything in, take a solid look around the room and enjoy the moment with the guys,” Pouteau said. “It’s pretty surreal. Still a weird feeling.”

Despite where the team finished in the standings, Schioler wasn’t disappointed with how his final season went.

“Being a 20-year-old and having the opportunity to still play here was a huge honour and no, I don’t think there’s a sour taste at all,” he said. “What a world-class organization it is … The biggest thing is just the relationships and friendships I’ll have from being here.”

Clayton played in Regina for just 43 games, arriving in a trade from Tri-City and, before that, playing for Portland. He still found that time meaningful.

“It’s always tough going to a new team, but I fit right in right away. They treated me like one of their own and it was a blast,” he said.

“Three really good teams, three cool places to live. (I’ll remember) all the billets that I met over the years, coaches, lifetime of memories.”