ALAN MILLAR NAMED GM OF THE REGINA PATS, PADDOCK RETIRES

Regina, Sask. –  The Regina Pats announced several changes to their Hockey Operations department on Monday.

John Paddock has announced his retirement after nine seasons with the Pats and 39 seasons split between junior and professional hockey. With that, the Pats are extremely excited to announce Alan Millar as the Regina Pats’ Vice-President, Hockey Operations and General Manager, becoming the 20^th GM in team history.  

Paddock, 69, joined the Pats ahead of the 2014-15 season, serving as Head Coach and GM from 2014-2018 and 2021-2023, as well as GM from 2018-2021. During his tenure with the Pats, the Oak River, Man. product helped lead the Pats to the WHL Final in 2017 and the Memorial Cup Final in 2018. He was also recognized as WHL Coach of the Year in both 2015 and 2017, as well as being awarded WHL Executive of the Year in 2017. He finishes his Pats coaching career as one of the great and most successful coaches in franchise history, ranking second in wins (209) and third in games coached (378), helping develop countless players’ careers, with 12 drafted to the National Hockey League during his time. Paddock also played a pivotal part in developing Connor Bedard who was the third ever Regina Pats player to be selected first overall.  

“John has contributed so much to this hockey club over the last nine seasons, both on the ice and in the community,” Regina Pats Chief Executive Officer Gord Pritchard said. “Like any business, the hockey business is all about relationships and throughout his career, John has always made it a priority to first and foremost develop relationships with those he is working with and the players he’s coaching. I believe that is why he’s had such a great career. He puts people first.”  

Prior to joining the Pats, Paddock served in several front office and coaching roles in the NHL and in the American Hockey League. Paddock is a member of the AHL Hall of Fame after being a five-time Calder Cup champion, winning three of them as a coach. In the NHL, Paddock was the Head Coach and later the GM of the Winnipeg Jets from 1991-1995, and was the GM of the Phoenix Coyotes in their inaugural 1996-97 season. He then served as both an Assistant Coach and Head Coach with the Ottawa Senators from 2005-2008, acting as the Head Coach for the Eastern Conference all-star team in 2008.  

Paddock would finish his NHL career with the Philadelphia Flyers where he was an Assistant Coach and Assistant GM from 2009-2014. During his NHL career, Paddock would reach the Stanley Cup Final three times; in 1980 as a player with the Flyers, in 2007 with the Senators as an Assistant Coach and in 2010 with the Flyers as their Assistant GM.  

Paddock also had a successful playing career, playing in 87 NHL games split between the Washington Capitals, Quebec Nordiques and Flyers, as well as 462 games in the AHL. He played a memorable role in the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Islanders, scoring the tying goal to send game six into overtime. Paddock will remain with the organization as Senior Advisor.  

“He has had such a positive impact on so many players, coaches and staff during his career. Coaching, developing, guiding and propelling many of us forward within the game towards our goals,” Pritchard added. “We are so incredibly grateful for everything he’s done. While he will surely be missed, we wish he and his wife Lori all the best in their retirement.”  

With John’s departure, the Regina Pats are excited to welcome Alan Millar back to the Western Hockey League, as he has been hired as Vice-President, Hockey Operations and General Manager.  

Millar, 56, brings with him extensive operations and team management experience going back to 1989, beginning his front office career with the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, the Newmarket Saints. Millar then spent two years as the Assistant GM of the OHL’s Guelph Storm, before joining the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, the Saint John Flames from 1993-97 as Director of Operations.  Millar returned to Guelph as the GM of the Storm from 1997-2003, winning an OHL Championship with the Storm in 1998. Millar then served as the Director of Hockey Operations of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in 2003-2004and was the GM of the Sarnia Sting from 2004-2009. There, he helped draft and develop future NHL players; Manny Malhotra, Craig Anderson, Martin St. Pierre, Fedor Tyutin, Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan, Dustin Brown, Daniel Paille, Matt Martin and Steven Stamkos.  

“We are incredibly excited to have Alan join our organization; he has 36 years of experience working in hockey and a proven track record of building winning teams and developing players,” explained Pritchard. “If you look at all the teams Alan has managed during his career in the CHL, he has done a great job drafting players, developing from within and building teams that consistently challenge for a championship.”  

Millar has most recently served as Director of Player Personnel within Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, where he selected the rosters and managed Canada’s National U18 teams and National Junior teams, from 2021-2023. With Hockey Canada, Millar won gold at the 2021 IIHF U18 Championship, gold at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and both gold medals in 2022 and 2023 with Canada’s National Junior team.  

Prior to that role, Alan was the Director of Hockey Operations with the Moose Jaw Warriors for two seasons and was their General Manager for another nine seasons from 2010-2021.  

As GM of the Warriors, Millar compiled 270 wins and finished first in the WHL in points in the 2017-18 season with 109, going 52-15-2-3. During his time in Moose Jaw, the Tottenham, Ont. product helped develop current NHL players Morgan Rielly, Brayden Point, Brett Howden and Tanner Jeannot, while also having a total of 17 players drafted to the NHL under his tutelage.  Also, during his time in Moose Jaw, Millar was part of Hockey Canada’s CHL Management Group and was Chairman of the WHL’s Competitions Committee.  

In addition, through the WHL Prospects Draft, Millar drafted recent NHL draftees Brayden Yager (1^st round/Pittsburgh Penguins), as well as Denton Mateychuk (1^st round/Columbus Blue Jackets), Jagger Firkus (2^nd round/Seattle Kraken) and Daemon Hunt (3^rdround/Minnesota Wild).  

“We saw Alan’s ability to consistently challenge for a championship when he was in Moose Jaw where he had very strong teams that were incredibly tough to play against, particularly in 2017-2018,” Pritchard said. “It is Alan’s experience and success that excites us as an organization as the Pats start an exciting new chapter in our history. We look forward to Alan leading our hockey program.”  

The Pats will provide further updates regarding hockey operations personnel in the coming days.  

The Pats organization is excited to welcome Alan to Regina and look forward to a fantastic season. The Pats would also like to thank John Paddock once again for everything he has brought to the organization. We wish him all the best in his retirement.