Pat Canadians, Warriors eye national championship birth at Telus Cup Western Regional tournament

The Telus Cup Western Regional kicks off in Regina, with two Saskatchewan AAA teams vying for a spot at the U18 nationals. Donovan Maess reports.

The Regina Pat Canadians and Moose Jaw Warriors have their sights on claiming the 2026 Telus Cup Western Regionals and punch their ticket to the Telus Cup in Peterborough, Ont.

The two Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League (SMAAHL) just finished a heavy weight bout in the provincial final, which went the distance in Game 5.

Regina pulled out the victory to claim their second-straight league championship.

“It was tough,” Pat Cs head coach Ryan Hodgins told CTV News. “This league is the top league around. How we did it? I don’t know. These guys worked hard, they do the little things right, we put the time in and things worked out.”

“We always wanted to prove that we’re the best,” forward Malaki Martin added. “Winning the league just makes it so much better.”

The provincial championship is Regina’s first step towards successfully defending their 2025 Canadian U18 AAA national championship.

• Regina Pat Canadians win national championship on Schutlz’s overtime winner

Losing just twice in the SMAAAHL playoffs – both in the final to Moose Jaw – Regina enters regionals as the host team and a target on their backs.

“All year and through the regular season, everyone wanted to beat the national champions,” Mahlon Wiley said. “We’ve been putting up with it all year and if we stick to our gameplan, we’ll be good.”

“We didn’t really talk about being the host,” Hodgins added. “We just talked about winning and that was our goal all the way through, to win a provincial championship.”

Regina is the number one ranked team in the country, according to MyHockey Rankings.

Moose Jaw looks for retribution

While the Pat Canadians sit number one, another Saskatchewan squad is number two – Moose Jaw.

The Winmar Warriors faced elimination in Games 3 and 4 in the SMAAAHL final but battled back to force a decisive Game 5.

“We have lots of resiliency in our group,” Warriors’ head coach Trevor Weisgerber said. “In both those first two games, I think for sure we should have been 1-1.”

Although Pat Canadians ultimately came out on top in that winner-take-all final game, Moose Jaw earned their spot in the Western Regionals with Regina hosting the tournament.

“We’re happy to be in it, but for us to lose the way we did, it is disappointing,” Weisgerber admitted. “We would’ve loved to come in the right way.”

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Despite their situation, the Warriors are not taking the opportunity to still reach the Telus Cup for granted.

“Ideally you win and to get there. But for us to have this opportunity to be able to come in and have a chance to go to nationals, our mindset is definitely focused on that,” coach Weisgerber said. “We’re excited to get going.”

While it is not the way Moose Jaw wanted to get to the tournament, their goals remain the same.

“Whoever’s there on Sunday, we just hope we’re one of them,” Weisgerber said. “And whoever that other team is, we’ll make sure we’re focused, prepared and ready for our guys to go, whoever that is.”

Not done yet

Regina and Moose Jaw have already faced off nine times this year between the regular season and playoffs.

The two teams split their regular season matchups 2-2 with Regina taking the playoff series 3-2.

They will get at least one more crack at each other Friday evening in the regionals’ round robin, and a possible 11th matchup in the final should both teams qualify.

“You don’t have to get geared up to those guys,” Hodgins said about Moose Jaw. “They’ll be just as geared up to play us. Of course it’s going to be a good tilt and both teams will be fired up.”

“Either way, it’ll be exciting if we can get there,” responded Weisgerber. “Hopefully we can finish it if that’s the case.”

The other two teams in the tournament are the Manitoba provincial champion Winnipeg Bruins and Northern Ontario representatives Thunder Bay Kings.

“You’re getting the best of the best out of [each] province,” Weisgerber said. “They’re all going to be tough competition, and when you’re playing a tournament format like this, every game is so crucial.”

“We’re continuing to work and striving to get better,” said Hodgins. “That’s what our plan is. In game one, you need to have a good start and we’ll be ready to go.”

Tournament schedule

The 2026 Telus Cup Western Regionals begin Thursday in Regina. All games will be played at Co-Operators Arena at the REAL District.

Two games will be played each day until Sunday’s gold medal game.

Thursday, April 2:

4:30 p.m. - Moose Jaw Warriors vs. Winnipeg Bruins

7:30 p.m. - Regina Pat Canadians vs. Thunder Bay Kings

Friday, April 3:

4:30 p.m. - Thunder Bay Kings vs. Winnipeg Bruins

7:30 p.m. - Regina Pat Canadians vs. Moose Jaw Warriors

Saturday, April 4:

11:15 a.m. - Moose Jaw Warriors vs. Thunder Bay Kings

2:15 a.m. - Winnipeg Bruins vs. Regina Pat Canadians

Sunday, April 5:

2:30 p.m. - Championship Game, teams TBD

The tournament champion will earn their birth to the 2026 Telus Cup in Peterborough, Ont. April 20-26, 2026.