Regina Pats to honour 1974 Memorial Cup championship team during final home game of season

This weekend will mark the final home game for the Regina Pats 2023-24 season where the organization will honour the 50th anniversary of its 1974 Memorial Cup Championship Team.

“Where did the years go? You, know? Fifty years, wow,” exclaimed Ed Staniowski, a member of the 1974 squad when asked about the reunion.

“The big thing that stands out for me for all the reunions has been the camaraderie, the closeness of the players. You know we spent so much time together those three years that basically [that team] was together, that whenever we do get together it’s just like it’s been a week since we’ve been together type of thing,” he added.

“You get in the room and it’s like it was yesterday and I say that seriously,” echoed his former teammate, Kim MacDougall.

“The stories get better as you get older.”

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Members of the championship team were on hand in 2018 when the Pats played host to the Memorial Cup and were last honoured in 2014 at their 40th anniversary.

This time around there will be 14 members of the 1974 team in attendance on Friday night.

• Goaltender Ed Staniowski
• Goaltender Bob Leslie
• Defenceman Mike Harazny
• Defenceman Dave Thomas
• Defenceman Kim MacDougall
• Defenceman Mike Wirachowsky
• Forward Mike Wanchuk
• Forward Rob Laird
• Forward Drew Callendar
• Forward Jim Minor
• Forward Rob Tudor
• Forward Bill Bell
• Forward Jon Hammond
• Stick boy Randy McCormick

“At our fortieth, Ricky Urich had passed away just a few days before. This time around we’re missing Clark Gillies,” MacDougall said. “Those are the tragedies that at our age you become used to. Every time you meet is seems you have a few less people.”

Prior to puck drop the organization will host a pre-game ceremony to celebrate their success. Fans will also have the opportunity to get autographs during the first and second intermission.

The celebration will be a homecoming and almost feels one of a kind at this point as they are the last team to win a Memorial Cup for the Pats’ organization.

Regina has appeared in 15 Memorial Cups. They have not won a league championship since 1980.

In the 1974 Memorial Cup final, which was played in Calgary, Regina trailed the Quebec Remparts 3-1 after the first period.

“I remember the guys talking in the dressing room. Eddy [Staniowski], he told us he was going to shut the door and they weren’t going to get any more on him. Dennis Sobchuk was our offensive leader. He said it was his last game and he wasn’t going to lose, he was going to go out and score some goals,” said forward Drew Callendar.

“He went out and got a hat trick. Clark Gillies was our enforcer. He had a fisticuff with one of the Quebec tough guys and it just changed the whole flow of the game and we ended up taking over the game,” he added.

Callender and the squad would take the game 7-4.

“It’s like a dream. The papers came in. I remember that vividly. It was probably four o-clock in the morning. They came to the front door [at the hotel], we grabbed the bundle and went up to our rooms and the hall and were reading the headlines from the game,” MacDougall reminisced.

The game marks the Pats’ annual “Fan Appreciation Night” where prior to puck drop the Pats will hold their annual Player Awards Ceremony.

Team posters will be handed out to the first 1,500 fans and the 50/50 will start at $35,000.

Both intermission and in-game prizes will be handed out, with the opportunity to walk away with $50,000 in the team’s “Call Your Shot” campaign.