Pats Battle ICE to Cap off Pre-Season
September 17, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Regina Pats News Release
Regina, Sask. – The Regina Pats finish off their pre-season schedule against the Winnipeg ICE on the road at 6:00 p.m. local time, Saturday.
The Pats are currently 3-1 on the pre-season as they are coming off a 3-2 overtime victory over the ICE on Thursday, where Parker Berge scored the overtime winner. Borya Valis (1G-1A) and Luke Bateman (2A) tallied a pair of points and Tye Spencer scored a power play goal. In net, Matthew Kieper got the start, allowing two goals on 17 shots and Koen MacInnes recorded the win stopping all 12 shots that he faced over 32 minutes of ice-time.
On the other side, Winnipeg’s Zach Benson scored twice in the loss. The final shots were 29-25 for the ICE, with the Pats going 1-3 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.
Connor Bedard has four goals in two games thus far. In net, the Pats have received solid performances from Koen MacInnes and Drew Sim. The 20-year-old MacInnes was acquired from the Everett Silvertips in the offseason for a pair of late picks and has allowed just three goals on 54 shots over 102 minutes of ice-time while Sim has stopped 30 of 30 through 30 minutes of action. The Pats are now 3-1 on the pre-season, having outscored their opponents 12-to-9, as all four games have been decided by two goals or less.
On another note, Pats players Cole Dubinsky (Edmonton Oilers), Alexander Suzdalev (Washington Capitals) and Stanislav Svozil (Columbus Blue Jackets) are at NHL training camps.
For the ICE, they are coming off a spectacular 2021-22 season where the club went 53-10-3-2 with 111 points, finishing first in the entire WHL before losing in Eastern Conference Finals to the Edmonton Oil Kings. The 53 wins and 111 points were franchise records. Matthew Savoie (BUF) and Conor Geekie (ARZ) are currently at NHL training camps after they were drafted ninth and 11th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. But they still have Zach Benson for pre-season action tonight as he is going into his draft year following 63 points (25G-38A) in 58 games last season with Winnipeg. Don’t forget about his 23 points 15 playoff games last year, which was tied for the fifth most amongst playoff scorers last season.
The ICE are poised for another outstanding season, barring any injuries or players making respective NHL clubs like Savoie, Geekie and Carson Lambos, who was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the first-round of the 2021 NHL Draft. They currently have one returning goalie, six returning defencemen and nine returning forwards from last year on their current pre-season squad.
In the pre-season, the ICE sit with a 1-1-1 record, dropping an overtime contest to Regina, losing to Brandon 6-1 on the road before beating the Wheat Kings at home 3-1. Tonight’s game will also be the ICE final pre-season game.
Unfortunately there will be no WHL Live or Radio feed tonight in Winnipeg. You can follow along on all of the Pats social media channels for updates during tonight’s game.
2022-23 HEAD TO HEAD VS. WINNIPEG
Date Home Away Time Result
October 7th Regina Winnipeg 7:00 p.m. MDT
November 17th Winnipeg Regina 7:05 p.m. CST
November 19th Winnipeg Regina 8:05 p.m. CST
December 11th Winnipeg Regina 5:05 p.m. CST
February 18th Regina Winnipeg 7:00 p.m. CST
March 3rd Regina Winnipeg 7:00 p.m. CDT
For the regular season, the Pats will play the Winnipeg ICE six times, with three at home and three on the road.
COMING UP
REG vs. MJ – Friday, September 23rd (7:00 p.m. Brandt Centre)
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