Pats Begin Alberta Road Trip in Edmonton
September 29, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Regina Pats News Release
Edmonton, Alta. – The Regina Pats begin their three game Alberta road trip today in Edmonton against the Oil Kings at 7:00 p.m. MDT inside Rogers Place.
MATCHUP
The Pats are coming off a home-and-home split against the Moose Jaw Warriors on opening weekend, losing 5-4 on Friday at home before winning 6-3 on Saturday on the road.
Saturday, the Pats came back down 3-1, scoring five unanswered goals for their first win of the season. Connor Bedard (3G-1A) recorded his third career hat-trick, scoring the tying and game-winning goal, while Parker Berge (1G-1A) and Borya Valis (1G-1A) each tallied two points. Drew Sim stood tall in net, making 34 saves on 37 shots. The Pats outshot the Warriors 39-37, and went 0-1 on the power play and 4-5 on the penalty kill.
Alexander Suzdalev has been reassigned by the Washington Capitals to the Regina Pats, and will be on the trip with the club.
On the other side, the Oil Kings are 0-2 on the season, after dropping both games to the Red Deer Rebels by scores of 5-2 and 5-3. Edmonton was outshot 74-to-55 through their first two contests, and have been tied after one period twice.
The Oil Kings are coming off a 50-14-3-1 season with 104 points which was good for second in the WHL, eventually leading to their third WHL championship (2012, 2014, 2022), in their fourth finals appearance in the last 10 years, defeating the Seattle Thunderbirds in six games. They reached the Memorial Cup where they went 1-1-1.
This season will be year one of their rebuild, as they are losing top players from last year like Kaiden Guhle, Sebastian Cossa, Justin Sourdif, Jake Neighbours, Carter Souch and Josh Williams among other key players. One player who could return is Arizona Coyotes first-rounder Dylan Guenther who produced 91 points with Edmonton last year and is only 19. Right now, he is on the Oil Kings roster but is playing pre-season games with the Coyotes.
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Radio: 620ckrm.com
Stream: WHL Live
HEAD TO HEAD (0-0-0)
The Pats are 30-24-2-0 vs. the Oil Kings, all-time & 15-13-0-0 on the road. Are 15-11-2-0 at home.
2022-23 HEAD TO HEAD
Date Home Away Time Result
September 29th Edmonton Regina 7:00 p.m. MDT
November 9th Regina Edmonton 7:00 p.m. CST
December 4th Edmonton Regina 4:00 p.m. MST
March 8th Regina Edmonton 7:00 p.m. CST
It’s the first of four meetings this season between these two clubs. The Pats went 1-3 in the 2021-22 season series against Edmonton, being outscored 23-to-15. The Pats are 3-8-2 over the last 13 meetings since the 2018-19 season against Edmonton and are 1-5-0 over their last six meetings inside Rogers Place. The Pats last victory over the Oil Kings at Rogers Place was on February 14, 2020.
HEADLINES
Alexander Suzdalev returns to the Regina Pats following training camp with the Washington Capitals. The Capitals 2022 third-rounder had an impressive season with HV71 (Sweden-Jr.), where he led his club in scoring with 51 points (15G-36A) in 45 games and ranked 10th in Sweden’s top junior league in points. He is expected to make his debut tonight.
Begin a three game Alberta road trip tonight, marking the first of three games in four nights. Last year, the Pats went 3-6-2-1 on the road against Alberta opponents and 10-12-3-2 overall against those Alberta clubs. Their last Alberta road trip was a three-in-three weekend, where the Pats dropped all three contests, losing to Edmonton (6-3), Red Deer (6-4) and Calgary (OTL, 4-3) in late February. Overall, the Pats went 9-22-2-1 on the road last season.
MILESTONE WATCH
Cole Dubinsky is two points away from 100 and 6 games away from 200.
Luke Bateman is one game away from 150.
Tanner Howe is 5 assists away from 50.
BY THE NUMBERS
3: Three goals and one assist for Connor Bedard on Saturday in Moose Jaw for his third career hat-trick, seventh career 4+ point effort and his first points as Pats captain…The North Vancouver, B.C. product has totaled 19 shots in two games, and is 62.5% on faceoffs (20-for-32).
6: Six different players are riding two game point-streaks heading into action tonight…those six players include Easton Armstrong (1G-2A), Parker Berge (1G-2A), Cole Dubinsky (1G-1A), Tanner Howe (2A) and Borya Valis (2G-1A)…dating back to last season, Armstrong is on a four game point-streak (2G-3A)
100: Points last season for Connor Bedard was fourth in the WHL, while his 51 goals was second…He recorded 85 points (40G-45A) over his final 42 games (since Nov. 28), with points in 39 of those 42 contests, after he had 15 points (10G-5A) in his first 20 games this season.
3: Graduating 20-year-olds from last year; Logan Nijhoff will play for the San Diego Gulls (AHL), Ryker Evans is expected to play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) and Neithan Salame has committed to play for Grant MacEwan Univ. this season (USports).
69: Points (27G-42A) for Tanner Howe last year was tied for third amongst all rookies, while his 42 assists were tied for third…he finished one point away from tying Jordan Weal for the fourth most points (70) by a 16-year-old in a single season in franchise history.
240: Goals for last season ranked 10th in the WHL and fourth in the Eastern Conference, averaging 3.52 goals per game…the Pats were the only team in the WHL last year that has scored 200+ goals and did not make the playoffs…their 277 goals against was fourth highest in the league.
COMING UP
7:00 p.m., Saturday, October 1 – Regina Pats (1-1-0-0) at Red Deer Rebels (2-0-0-0)
2:00 p.m., Sunday, October 2 – Regina Pats (1-1-0-0) at Calgary Hitmen (1-0-0-0)
7:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 5 – Regina Pats (1-1-0-0) at Brandon Wheat Kings (0-0-0-1)
7:00 p.m., Friday, October 7 – Winnipeg ICE (2-0-0-0) at Regina Pats (1-1-0-0)
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