It wasn’t the game the Regina Pat Canadians hoped to be playing on the final day in Peterborough — but when the puck dropped for the Telus Cup Bronze Medal Game, they showed exactly why they are one of the premier U18 programs in the country.
Facing the Okanagan Rockets for the second time this week — after a tight 5–4 Regina win in the round robin — the Pat Cs delivered a complete 60 minute performance to secure third place nationally with a 6–2 victory.
Regina wasted no time setting the tone. On an early power play, Liam Pue walked into a shooting lane and fired a high glove‑side rocket to open the scoring at 3:52. Less than a minute later, Nathan Gardiner made it 2–0, taking a feed from Pue and lifting a smooth backhand over the blocker. With assists to Pue and Maddox Schultz, the line drove the early momentum and sent Regina into the first intermission up two.
Early in the second, Schultz took over. Charging up the left wing, he beat the Rockets goaltender low along the ice to push the lead to 3–0. Midway through the frame, Regina’s depth struck again. A slick back‑door pass from Malaki Martin found Grady Hodgins, who buried it to make it 4–0 with nine minutes left. Okanagan responded quickly — scoring on a broken play just 20 seconds later — but the Pat Cs answered right back. With Regina shorthanded, Kai Lanigan sprung Martin on a breakaway. Martin made no mistake, finishing with 5:17 left in the period to restore the four‑goal cushion and send the Pat Cs into the second intermission up 5–1.
The Rockets cut the lead to 5–2 midway through the third, but Regina’s power play delivered the final blow. With just over seven minutes remaining, Schultz hammered home his second of the game on a feed from Martin to re‑establish the four‑goal margin and seal the bronze medal.
Regina Pat Canadians 6 — Okanagan Rockets 2
Shots: OKA 35 — REG 25
Power Play: REG 1/3 — OKA 0/4
Goaltending: Adam Muntain stopped 33 of 35 for a .943 save percentage.
