Broncos, Pats coaches offer up mutual respect after gritty 7-game series
Manny Viveiros didn’t kick the Regina Pats while they were down.
In fact, the head coach of the Swift Current Broncos offered some words of encouragement after his team knocked Regina out of the WHL playoffs Monday night with a 3-2 victory in Game 7.
“They’re an excellent hockey team,” Viveiros said of the 2018 Memorial Cup hosts. “They get a break right now but they’re as good as anybody in our league. Once they get their guys back again, they’re going to be a team that can win the Memorial Cup. That’s how good they are.”
Swift Current was pretty good too, compiling the WHL’s secondbest record (48-17-5-2). The Pats finished 16 points back (40-25-61) but they closed the gap with a huge second half and nearly rode that momentum to a first-round playoff triumph.
“We ended up scoring one more goal,” noted Viveiros, whose team outscored Regina 21-20 in the series. “They could have easily won that hockey game (Monday). That’s just the way it goes.”
As the host team for the Memorial Cup, there was an expectation that the Pats would advance deep into the playoffs — perhaps even challenge for a league title. They made some pricey moves at the trade deadline with that goal in mind, but the Broncos proved to be a daunting first-round opponent.
“There’s no shame (in losing to them); they’re a real good team,” Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said. “We happen to think we outplayed them a little bit in the series, but they deserve lots of credit. I think Manny is a fantastic coach and he gets lots out of (his players).
“This wasn’t an upset and I don’t believe it would have been an upset if we had won.”
Despite the outcome, Paddock walked away from the series with few regrets. His only real bone of contention was a familiar one — the Pats’ inability to stay out of the penalty box.
Regina sent the Broncos to the power play a league-high 38 times in the first round, allowing 11 goals (28.9 per cent). That’s playing with fire against the league’s No. 1-ranked power play.
“I think we put it all on the line; we just made a couple of mistakes,” said Paddock, who noted that having to spend so much time on the penalty kill started to wear down his top players. “If we just had even a couple less (penalties) a game … that’s four minutes. Those guys are more rested and they have more in their tank over the course of 11 days.”
The Pats went 5-for-29 on the power play in the series (17.2 per cent), but they outscored Swift Current 15-10 while even strength.
Ironically, Regina was awarded the lone power play in Game 7. There could have been others — both ways — but the most costly non-call might have come late in the second period when Pats defenceman Josh Mahura was clobbered with an elbow to the head from Josh Anderson — right in front of the referee.
Mahura picked himself up and headed to the bench for repairs while Swift Current took advantage of an odd-man opportunity the other way. It led to Glenn Gawdin being left all alone in front for the eventual game-winning goal.
“Of course (it ticks you off ) but for me those are two of the top four referees in the league,” added Paddock, referring to Chris Crich and Brett Iverson. “I have no (feelings) other than the disappointment of losing. That’s just the way it goes.”