Regina Pats make push for playoffs as team heads on U.S road trip

The Regina Pats will head out on their road game stretch this week where they will face all six American based Western Hockey League (WHL) teams as they look to garner some points in the final regular season stretch.

As of right now the team sits in tenth in the Eastern Conference, outside of a playoff spot.

“It’s been like that for awhile for us. We’re trying to catch some teams in points right now. You win some and you lose some obviously that’s how the season is going to go. But as long as we’re taking every game as a playoff game,” said forward Tye Spencer.

“I think playing a full 60 [minutes], I think that’s big with our group, playing physical like we did against Calgary and I think we’ll be fine,” added captain, Tanner Howe.

Regina is coming off a big win against the Calgary Hitmen on Monday. One of the teams they are chasing in the standings to try and garner the final playoff spot in the east.

“I think we saw it as a playoff game for us. We were either going to be seven points or five points back chasing them for that playoff spot,” said head coach Brad Herauf.

“It helped us a lot. We knew we had to treat it like a game seven game. It was a big four point night. So glad our group came out with the win,” Howe added.

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However, with just 12 games remaining in the regular season the Pats have their work cut out for them.

They will be facing some of the top teams in the league on the upcoming road trip. That includes the first and third place in the west teams in the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks.

“It’s going to be a hard trip. It’s been known to be a hard trip in the past. So we just kind of have to go in with the mindset that we’re here to win every game and treat it like our last,” Howe shared.

“We know how good these U.S. teams are. We need to make sure we’re playing at our best. Making sure we get as many points as we can out of this trip,” said Spencer.

The team is looking forward to playing in some new places and against teams they only get to see a few times a year.

“They hear about these guys on the internet, to see these rinks and stuff, I think that’s the biggest thing they’re looking forward to,” Herauf explained. “For us coaches our process stays the same. We can’t get too caught up on what the other teams are going to do.”

“It’s going to be new for us. You only do these road trips once a year. I think all the boys, they’re excited for it. It’s new for us, new for the younger guys too. It’s going to be fun, good team bonding,” Spencer shared.

“I’ve personally always loved playing new teams. It does get a little repetitive playing the same team[s] every couple of weeks.”

The Pats first of six games will be on Friday when they take on the Spokane Chiefs.