Despite missing the playoffs for a second straight year, Regina Pats’ head coach Brad Herauf believes the team’s rebuild may be on the upswing.
“The hard stuff is over,” he told CTV News Monday. “It’s only going to get better from here.”
The Pats finished as the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) second-worst team in 2024-25.
Finishing with the season with just 16 wins and 52 total loses (16-44-5-3) the Pats were ahead of only the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL’s overall standings.
“We wanted to push for playoffs. We wanted to play some meaningful games,” Herauf added. “But we also had a plan in place to rebuild with our trades later in the season and give our younger guys opportunities to be ready for the next season.”
Regina finished the season with the youngest team in the WHL - and with 19 players eligible to return in September, Herauf is optimistic continuity will be an asset for a developing squad.
“With all the trades, [continuity] was a tough thing for our hockey club,” he said. “It’s going to be a part of our plan to make sure we hit the ground running September 1.”
To take that step, the bench boss believes its up to the players to meet the challenge.
“The biggest thing is just the raised expectations of winning,” Herauf said. “It is something we talked a lot with our group this year about.”
“I know the boys have been taking notes on some of the lessons we learned this year and they want to take a step forward as a group,” he added.
The Pats have not missed the playoffs in consecutive years since 2011 when the team went three-straight seasons without reaching the post-season.
With two picks in the first round and another three picks in the second round of this summer’s WHL Prospects Draft, there is a lot to look forward to.
“[The rebuild] is a necessary thing we had to do for our organization,” Herauf said. “I know a lot of people understand that, but we want to be a consistent team.”
“We want to have a draft and develop model,” he added.
The Pats have the second-best odds of receiving the top pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft Lottery behind the Edmonton Oil Kings, who own the Moose Jaw Warriors' pick acquired in the Rilen Kovacevic trade.
