The Regina Pats are heading into Saturday night with their season on the line and with no shortage of belief.
Trailing the Medicine Hat Tigers 3-1 in their first-round WHL playoff series, the Pats will need a win in Game 5 on the road to keep their season alive and force a return to the Brandt Centre for Game 6 on Sunday.
According to head coach Brad Herauf, that is exactly the expectation inside the dressing room.
“We are going to be back here on Sunday,” Herauf said following Game 4. “I know it’s Easter Sunday for some people, so cancel your plans because our plan is to be back here playing.”
That confidence has been a defining trait for a Regina team that has spent much of the season proving doubters wrong.
Despite entering the series as heavy underdogs against the defending WHL champions, Herauf said his group has earned everything it has accomplished this season.
“We fought, we scratched our way to everything that we’ve earned. You cannot take anything away from these kids and this hockey team this year.”
Herauf pointed to the Pats’ resilience throughout the regular season, noting the club battled its way into the playoffs with the same group it opened training camp with back in September.
Along the way, players such as 30-goal scorer Keets Fawcett took major steps forward, something Herauf believes speaks to the character of the room.
Now, with elimination staring them in the face, the Pats are leaning into the same mentality that has carried them through difficult stretches all year.
“For us, it’s just about being in survival mode,” Herauf said. “This team has always played its best hockey when our back’s been against the wall, and I don’t expect anything else come Saturday.”
That urgency was evident in Game 4, where Regina generated chances but once again struggled to capitalize on them.
The Pats had multiple quality looks, including breakaways and odd-man rushes, but their inability to convert has been a major storyline in the series.
Herauf said the key in Game 5 will be sticking with their structure and not letting frustration take over.
“It’s about sticking to it. Do not deviate, don’t try to change our game, don’t try to go hunting for goals and points, because if we do that, we’re just going to open ourselves up, and that’s what Medicine Hat wants.”
Against a Tigers team loaded with offensive firepower, mistakes have been costly.
“We had three turnovers, and they turned all into goals,” Herauf added. “These guys don’t miss chances.”
Still, inside the Pats' room, there is no fear heading back into a hostile environment.
Fawcett said the group remains hungry for another chance.
“We want to go down swinging. We know what this group’s capable of. We did it there in a packed barn, and I think we’re not scared to go there.”
Captain Ephram McNutt echoed that sentiment, saying the motivation is clear.
“A huge motivator is bringing it back to Regina,” McNutt said. “We’d love to have, at the very minimum, one more game here.”
For the Pats, that means finding a way to finally turn chances into goals.
“I think the scoring drought is probably part of it,” McNutt said. “If we could bury a couple quick ones, that would bring a lot of spark.”
Now, with the season hanging in the balance, the message from the Pats bench is simple: One more win. One more trip home. And if Brad Herauf is to be believed, the Brandt Centre lights won’t be going dark just yet.
