THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

The Regina Pats are just three days away from opening their 2015 training camp so today I will give you a preview of what’s to come with this club. As well a look back at the Regina Thunder’s dominating win over the Edmonton Wildcats on Sunday and the other two contests in the PFC.

– Saturday the Regina Pats begin the 2015/16 at the Cooperators Arena. The rookies will report on Friday and practice all weekend and then the vets will hit the ice for the first time early next week. A total of 60 players will be in attendance. Here is a breakdown of the players who are gone, returning and those looking to crack the roster for the first time.

GONE: The Pats graduated 3 forwards from last season. Braden Christoffer, Patrick D’Amico and Pavel Padakin. A total of 83 goals and 91 assists.

20-year-old defensemen Carter Hansen is gone to the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL while 19-year-old d-man Nathyn Mortlock is headed to training camp with the Kootenay Ice and if he doesn’t stick there he will go to Melville as well.

Forward Jesse Gabrielle was traded to the Prince George Cougars for forward Lane Zablocki.

RETURNING PLAYERS:

20-year-old’s: Goaltender Daniel Wapple. In 2014/15 he went 29-15-4-6 with a 3.03 GAA and a .906 SV percentage.

Defenceman Colby Williams, was named the clubs MVP last season. He put up 11 goals, 30 assists, 95 PIM’s and was a plus 45 in 64 games.

Forward Taylor Cooper is the 3rd overage returnee. Between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Regina Pats last year he scored 25 goals and had 60 points.

19-year-old’s: Forward Adam Brooks, led the team in scoring last season with 30 goals and 62 points in 64 games. Was also an outstanding plus 24.

Defenceman Chase Harrison is the lone other 19 on the roster from last year. He had 3 goals and 17 points in 59 games.

18-year-old’s: Defenceman Sergey Zborovskiy. Drafted by the New York Rangers this summer. Put up 19 points and was a plus 15 as a rookie last year.

Defenceman James Hilsendager, 6 points and 54 PIM’s in 53 games.

Defenceman Connor Hobbs. Drafted by the Washington Capitals in the 2015 NHL Draft. He had 18 points and was a plus 6 in 45 games.

Forward Jared McAmmond. As a rookie scored 4 goals and added 3 assists.

Forward Rykr Cole, scored 9 goals and had 21 points to go along with 48 PIM’s in his first year in the league.

Forward Austin Wagner. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings this summer. Scored 20 goals, added 19 assists and was a plus 13 in 61 games played.

Forward Colton Kroeker. Colton scored 3 goals and had 3 assists as a rookie.

17-year-olds: Defenceman Ryan Krushen who joined the club after Christmas and had 2 assists in 20 games.

Forward Luc Smith. He put up 2 goals, 7 points and 68 PIM’s in 68 games as a 16-year-old.

Forward Sam Steel. Steel was named the Pats rookie of the year for 2014/15. He scored 17 goals and had 54 points in 61 games. He was also a plus 10.

– There are also 5 players who were with the Pats late in the season and into the playoffs who will look to play the entire season in Regina this year.

They are 16-year-old Goaltender Jordan Hollett who did not play in a game but was the clubs 1st round selection in 2014.

17-year-old defenceman Brady Pouteau who played three games in the playoffs against Brandon.

18-year-old forward Adam Berg. He played in the Pats 9 playoff games and recorded 3 assists. He also appeared in 12 regular season games scoring once and adding 2 assists.

16-year-old forward Jake Leschyshyn who played in all 9 playoff games last year scoring once. He also played 12 games during the regular season and scored three goals.

17-year-old forward Jake Elmer. Elmer played in three regular season games and was with the club in the playoffs.

COMING IN: There are a number of 16 and 17 year-old’s who will be looking to crack the roster this year.

The potential 16-year-old’s will come for the most part from the 2014 draft class. That includes 1st round pick goaltender Jordan Hollett. Hollett won a championship with the Okanagan Hockey Academy last season and put up a 2.10 GAA in 12 games played.

Second round pick forward Erik Gardiner who played with the Prince Alvert Mintos last season. He scored 20 goals and had 45 points in his first year of midget. He was also called up and played in two games with the Pats last year.

Fifth round pick, defenceman Riley Bruce. He had 80 penalty minutes and 9 points in 35 games with the Winnipeg Thrashers Midget AAA.

6th round pick, defenceman Garrett Ewert. Put up 12 points and 55 PIM’s in 39 games with the Thomson Blazers of the BCMML.

7th round pick, forward Carson Welke. Scored 6 goals and 26 points and 60 PIM’s in 40 games with the Yorkton Rawtec Maulers of the SMAAAHL.

8th round pick, forward Zachary Cox. 6 goals and 11 points with the UFA Bisons. They won the AMHL title and went on to appear in the Telus Cup.

9th round pick, forward Gary Haden. He put up 15 goals and 31 points in 33 games with the UFA Bisons last year. In the playoffs he scored 7 goals and 13 assists in 13 games.

10th round pick, defenceman Adam Sandstrom. 5 points and 10 PIM’s in 13 games with the Red Deer Chiefs of the AMMHL last year.

11th round pick, forward Robbie Holmes. He scores 16 goals and added 16 assists in 31 games with the Sherwood Park Squires of the AMMHL. He also recorded 49 PIM’s.

There are also list players who will battle for a roster spot. They are defenceman Austin Johnson. With the Moose Jaw Generals he had a goal and 3 assists in 35 games.

Forward Drew Coughlin. He scored 4 goals and had 6 assists in 30 games with the Pacific Coast Academy Elite 15’s of the CSSHL.

Forward Dalton Ossman. He had an incredible first year of midget in 2014/15 with the CRAA Blue of the AMMHL. He scored 40 goals and added 40 assists in just 36 games. He also had 73 PIM’s.

Forward Garrett Szeremley. He scored once and had 5 assists as well as 62 PIM’s with the Pembina Valley Hawks of the MMHL last year.

Goaltender Ben Laidlaw. In 21 games with the AC Avalanche of the AMMHL he put up a 2.86 GAA and a .916 save percentage.

– The potential 17-year-old rookies will come from the 2013 draft and the list group of players.

Sam Steel and Luc Smith were the Pats 1st and 3rd round picks that year and played as 16-year-old’s last season.

Second round pick defenceman Liam Schioler will no be attending camp. He has committed to the Lincoln Stars of the USHL.

Forward Lane Zablocki is already on the team according to John Paddock. He was acquired from the Prince George Cougars for Jesse Gabrielle. Zablocki played Junior A last year with the Sherwood Park Crusaders. Scored 15 goals and 25 points. Add on 114 PIM’s in the 55 games.

The Pats selected two players in the 4th round in 2013. First was defenceman Brady Pouteau who finished the year in Regina. Pouteau had 14 points in the regular season with the UFA Bisons last year and in the playoffs had 15 points in 12 games.

The second, fourth round pick was used to select defenceman Jared Freadrich. He played Junior A in Whitecourt with the Wolverines last year. He scored 4 goals and 11 points as well as put up 59 PIM’s in 45 games.

Sixth round pick forward Jake Elmer finished the year with the Pats. He put up 45 points in 40 games with the Edge Prep last season.

Seventh round pick, goaltender Kurtis Chapman. Chapman another UFA Bison last year had an incredible season. In 17 regular season games he put up a 2.76 GAA and a .909 save percentage. In the playoffs in 13 games his GAA was 1.92 and save percentage was .942 leading his team to a AMHL Championship.

1998 born list players:

American Defenceman Trevor Woytcke. A big body at 6’5 and 194 lbs. He had 4 goals, 8 points and 50 PIM’s with the Minnesota Magicians of the USHS.

Forward Trygve Many Guns. Another big kid at 6’3 and 252 lbs. He spent last year with the UFA Bisons and he scored 12 goals and 25 points in 34 games.

Forward Sean Richards. Played in the AJHL with the Olds Grizzlies last year scoring 5 goals, 11 points and had 63 PIM’s in 56 games.

Forward Riley Woods. Led the Regina Pat Canadians to a SMAAAHL Championship last season. Scored 22 goals and added 37 assists for 59 points in 42 games.

The 2000 age group from the 2015 Bantam Draft will also be in attendance plus the teams free agent camp invites.

Camp will start Saturday morning at the Cooperators Arena. The Veteran Players will hit the ice for the first time on Tuesday next week. The Pats pre-season tournament will start next Thursday also at the Cooperators.

—

The Regina Thunder dominated on Sunday en route to a 63-14 win over the visiting Edmonton Wildcats. The running back duo of Colton Klassen and Victor St. Pierre Laviolette have been unstopable and with Jaeden Marwick throwing the ball so well and the defense being so stingy this team is for real. In my 5 plus years of calling games in this league, this is the best team I have ever seen. The Saskatoon Hilltops and Calgary Colts are also coming off lopsided wins in week 2 so maybe they are on the same level but I won’t know that until later in the year.

Here is a recap of the week 2 games courtesy Ryan Watters on cjfl.org.

COLTS 59 – HUSKIES 10

The lone Saturday tilt saw the Colts upend the Edmonton Huskies 59-10 in Edmonton as the offence poured on 416 yards of total offence.

Quarterback John Kiesman was simply awesome finishing 12 of 22 for 155 yards and threw five touchdowns.  His favourite target was Kyle Brick who caught four of those touchdown passes and collected 76 yards in the process.  Cole Bazient hauled in the other TD pass.

On the ground the Colts galloped for 219 yards led by Xavier Ramsay and his nine carries for 87 yards and a major.  Kiesman rumbled four times for 62 yards.

The Colts defence pitched a second half shutout and also got on the score board as Jayden Lawson picked up a fumble and hustled 32 yards the other way for a major.  The D created seven Huskies turnovers as Owen Redlick and Dylan Niedermaier each picked off two passes and Jean Ventose and Adam Folz recovered a fumble.  Akida Lewis had the lone sack and Niedermaier had five tackles.

This coming weekend the Colts (1-1) will stay in Edmonton and battle the Wildcats (1-1) at Clarke Park at 7:00pm.

To say the Edmonton Huskies missed Jimmie Airey is an understatement.   Without arguably their best player not touching the ball, the Huskies scored just 10 points, compared to 33 last week

Offensively quarterback Kieran Pruden finished 19 of 38 for 236 yards, but threw four interceptions.  His top receiver was Brennan McNeil who hauled in five passes for 101 yards.

The Huskies lone touchdown was scored by Landon Rosene on the ground in the second quarter.

Defensively the Huskies were on the field a lot.  Jassen Brown led the club with seven tackles while Daniel Loggale had six.

The Huskies (0-2) will stay at home and face the Regina Thunder (2-0) on Sunday at 1:00pm.

HILLTOPS 50 – RIFLES 8

The Saskatoon Hilltops blew by the Winnipeg Rifles on Sunday afternoon 50-8 behind 258 yards on the ground.

Logan Fischer led the charge with 13 carries for 172 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns.  Des Vessey rushed 11 times for 39 yards.

Through the air, quarterback Jared Andreychuk completed just eight passes but two of them were touchdowns as he collected 131 yards.  Chad Braun caught both touchdown passes while Evan Turkington made three receptions for 82 yards.

The highlight of the game was when Liam Murphy returned a missed field goal, 128 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

The Hilltops defence forced four turnovers and a touchdown as Luke Melnyk returned a pick, 93 yards for a score.  Cody Peters and Arnold Osam also intercepted a pass.  Dillon Buckle collcted two sacks, while Austin Thorarinsson  had one.

Sunday the Hilltops (2-0) will finally host their home opener at SMF Field in the second half of a home and home with the Rifles (0-2).  Kick-off is set for 1:00pm.

Despite the loss on the scoreboard, the Winnipeg Rifles were able to move the ball offensively, but just couldn’t finish off a drive.  Quarterback Jamie Ybarra Jr. finished 14 of 26 for 236 yards, mostly shorter passes.  Ian Lee hauled in four passes for 73 yards to led the club.

The Rifles ground game was solid as Michael Ritchott carried 19 times for 105 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Andrew Ricard had three tackles and an interception.  Spencer Riche sacked the Hilltops quarterback for a safety.

Sunday the Rifles (0-2) travel to Saskatoon to face the Hilltops (2-0) for the second straight weekend.

THUNDER 63 – WILDCATS 14

Following suit with the first two games, the Regina Thunder collected a blowout win of their own, crushing the Edmonton Wildcats 63-14 collecting 580 yards of total offence.

The Thunder used 10 different receivers as quarterback Jaeden Marwick spread the ball around.  He finished 14 of 23 for 184 yards and threw four touchdowns.  Kasim Ocaya caught two of those touchdown passes, while Levi Paul and Thomas Brescinani each caught one major.

Colton Klassen was outstanding on the ground, carrying 14 times for 176 yards and touchdown.  Victor St. Pierre-Lavoilette rushed for two touchdowns on nine carries.  Daniel Bjorge also scored a touchdown on the ground.

The Thunder defence saw a great game from Dustin Erbach who collected six tackles, three assisted stops and forced a fumble.    Mason Dick recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown.

Sunday the Thunder (2-0) will hit the road for the first time and visit the Edmonton Huskies (0-2) at 1:00pm at Clarke Park.

The Edmonton Wildcats had no answer for the Thunder on Sunday afternoon recording just 243 yards of total offence.

Quarterback Jordan Olson was 10 of 21 for 102 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Olson in the second quarter.  Jordan then ran for a touchdown in the third quarter.

The Wildcats defence could not slow down the Thunder, but did manage two turnovers. Travis Semenok picked off a pass and Landyn Vick recovered a fumble.  Jayden Dalke led his club with seven tackles.

Saturday night the Wildcats (1-1) will host the Calgary Colts (1-1) at 7:00pm.

That’s it from me today. Have a great week!

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18