Sask. Rush aims to end playoff drought as training camp begins
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The final weekend of training camp is set for Nov. 22-24 back in Saskatoon.
Members of the Regina Pats organization can sense that a season well worth watching is just over the horizon.
It has been three years since the team’s Memorial Cup run in 2018 — three years spent rebuilding, with one of those years spent playing inside the Regina bubble without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a media availability Thursday — eight days before the WHL team’s first regular-season game on Oct. 1 — head coach Dave Struch remarked on the adversity the Pats have faced.
“We’ve had to maintain a level of work ethic and culture and energy through (a) difficult three years after the Memorial Cup. We’ve gotten that. We’re now set up where we’ve got in some good young talent that can follow our leaders and we feel really good about what we’ve done for the past three weeks (during camp),” Struch said.
“It’s been exciting to this point but the real bullets start flying next weekend and our guys need to be ready.”
Pats forward Connor Bedard, CEO Shaun Semple, forward Jakob Brook and head coach Dave Struch during a news conference on Sept. 23, 2021. (Joseph Ho/980 CJME)
The team’s home opener against the Prince Albert Raiders on Oct. 2 will be televised nationally.
The Pats can expect to spend a lot of time in the spotlight this year thanks to teenage phenom Connor Bedard, the WHL’s first-ever exceptional status player. Bedard shone in his rookie season as a 15-year-old, recording 28 points in just 15 games last season.
It’s because of that performance that general manager John Paddock feels the anticipation before this season.
“We got a taste of what’s coming down the road for the next couple of years last year. We have an extremely exciting player and we’ve been pleased with some of the new players that have come in via different routes,” Paddock said.
The organization finds itself under new ownership, with the Brandt Group acquiring the team in March. CEO Shaun Semple said the new group has made multiple investments in hockey operations, including hiring Ken Schneider as an additional assistant coach and Dale Derkatch as a scout.
Another four people were hired in areas like merchandising, game-day experience, digital communication and community engagement.
“We really didn’t get into this business to make money. We got into it as a community initiative to really bring a winner back to Regina,” Semple said.
On average, ticket prices have increased by about $4, Semple said, with some seats decreasing in price. He said ticket prices have been frozen for the past three years.
“I know the costs go up every year like most businesses so (ticket prices) may go up,” he said. “We basically priced our tickets in the upper mid-market, which is where the WHL puts the Pats and we did comparative analysis on that basis.”
This season also comes with new community initiatives. For games on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Pats and Brandt will highlight local charities to help them raise money. The two organizations have committed to matching up to $220,000 raised at 11 games.
As well, 3,000 people who worked on the front lines of the pandemic will be invited to “Gratitude Games” in October and November.
League policy has mandated that all players, team staff and officials must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the season starts. The vaccine requirement also applies to coaches and members of the front office, trainers, minor officials and anybody else who would interact with players.
Starting Oct. 1, members of the public will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to attend event and entertainment venues. That includes ticketed events at indoor facilities on Regina Exhibition Association Limited grounds.