Regina Pats Captain Logan Nijhoff is ready for the big leagues
By: Andrew Benson
RP Show Intern
In the Regina Pats 104-year team history, a lot of players have held the position of captain for the Pats. Logan Nijhoff was named the team’s 80th captain before entering the bubble earlier this year. An experience Nijhoff said he won’t soon forget.
“It was definitely unique in the bubble,” said Nijhoff. “I actually quite enjoyed it. It was almost like a never-ending road trip with your team. I thought it was really good for our team and we got to know each other very well.”
Now months after leaving the bubble, the Pats are 3 games into their 2021-2022 regular season. After winning 2 straight games against Prince Albert, the Pats travelled to Winnipeg for a game against the Ice.
Needless to say, the Pats wish they could have that one back, after losing 5-2 on the road, and being outshot 41 to 18.
“Last night we just didn’t really stick to our game plan,” said Nijhoff. “We knew they were going to capitalize on odd man attacks and try to break it down in the neutral zone, and they did exactly that.”
“I think it’s a great learning opportunity early in the season. We have a lot of young players here who haven’t really played on the road. We just have to let it go and build on it.”
Playing on the road will be a new experience for many of the Pats young players, but also some of the veterans.
“Not being able to play on the road last year, it has felt like almost three, four years since we’ve been able to play on the road,” said Nijhoff. “It’s exciting to get fans back in the stands and have that hockey atmosphere again.”
The Pats will be on the road on Friday to take on the rival Moose Jaw Warriors. A game which will be big for the pats to figure out what kind of team they want to be moving forward.
“It’s been a difficult few years rebuilding, but now we have the most competitive team we’ve seen since 2017-2018,” said Nijhoff. “We need to learn how to win games, what our structure is, and what our true identity is.”
“We are gunning for the playoffs. Anything short of that would be a huge disappointment considering the lineup we have.”
Through 3 games, Nijhoff has not found the back of the net, though Pats fans shouldn’t be too concerned. Earlier in Sept. Nijhoff was able to attend the Anaheim Ducks training camp and compete in the 2021 Rookie Faceoff Tournament.
“It was a little bit of a late notice, but it was a tremendous honour to go down there and wear an NHL uniform,” said Nijhoff. “I thought I played pretty well, and it was just incredible to go to the rink in flip flops and have palm trees next to you
Just to be in the locker room with some of those guys like Ryan Getzlaf, and I got to catch up with Pats alumni Sam Steel and Josh Mahura, and to see how the professionals act and how they treat their bodies and go about themselves was something special and I will never forget it.”
