The Regina Pats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1917, the Pats are the world's oldest continuously operating major junior hockey franchise in its original location and using its original name. The team was originally named the Regina Patricia Hockey Club, after Princess Patricia of Connaught, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of the Governor General, the Duke of Connaught. The team name also associates Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry–Pats sweaters bear the regimental badge and "PPCLI" flash as a shoulder patch.

Today, the team plays in the East Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference. The Pats host games at the Brandt Centre and games are broadcast on 620 CKRM radio.

The Pats are one of the most successful junior hockey franchises. They have made a record sixteen appearances at the Memorial Cup tournament, and a record fourteen appearances in the tournament final. The teams' four Memorial Cup championships are the third most in history.

The team was founded in 1917 and named after the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, a Western Canadian regiment founded during the First World War.^[1] The Memorial Cup was founded as a tribute to Canadian war veterans, and the Pats earned the right to contest the first ever Memorial Cup championship in 1919, which they lost to the University of Toronto Schools.^[1] The team's first home was at Regina Arena, which opened in 1910 and could seat approximately 2,000.^[2] In 1920, the team moved to the Regina Stadium, which they would call home until 1977.^[2] In 1923, the team's name was shortened to the Pats. In 1925, the team secured its first Memorial Cup title with a victory over Toronto Aura Lee. For the 1927–28 season, the Pats merged with the Regina Falcons and called themselves the Regina Monarchs. The team went on to win the Memorial Cup that year before reverting to the Pats nickname in 1928–29.^[3] The Pats would win one more Memorial Cup title in this era, defeating the West Toronto Nationals 2–0 in 1930.

The Pats played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 1946 to 1948, the Western Canada Junior Hockey League from 1948 to 1956, and then the revived Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 1956 to 1966. During the 1960s, the club was an affiliate farm team for the Montreal Canadiens.^[4]

Del Wilson, a scout for the Canadiens, became the Pats general manager in 1955; in 1966, Wilson and the Pats became central in establishing a new major junior league for western Canada, the Western Canada Hockey League.^[5] Although the impetus for the new league was creating more even footing for western teams to compete with teams in eastern Canada for the Memorial Cup, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) regarded the new league as an "outlaw league" and, ironically for WCHL members, banned its teams from competing for the Memorial Cup. Because of this, the Pats returned to a once-more revived Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in 1968.^[6] In 1970, CAHA reorganized junior hockey in Canada and finally recognized the WCHL as a legitimate major junior league, and the Pats returned to the league, which was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1978, for good. Wilson, who purchased the Pats in 1970, helped turn the team back into a national champion, as the Pats won their first President's Cup WCHL championship and fourth Memorial Cup in 1974.^[7] Wilson sold his interest in the team in 1980, the same year the team won its second President's Cup.^[8] The team remained competitive in the early 1980s, losing the WHL final in 1982 and 1984.

In 1977, the team moved from Exhibition Stadium to the adjacent and brand-new Agridome, since renamed the Brandt Centre.^[9] The team's last game at Exhibition was a 4–3 overtime win over the Swift Current Broncos in front of 2,200 fans; they opened the new arena with a 8–4 victory over the Saskatoon Blades before a crowd of 4,200.^[2]

In 2014, John Paddock joined the team as its coach and manager. The 2016–17 season, the Pats' 99th, saw the team post its first ever 50-win season and capture its second Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions;^[10] the team would advance to its first championship final since 1984, which it lost to the Seattle Thunderbirds.^[11] The 2017–18 season marked the 100th anniversary for the Pats, and the team held celebrations throughout the year. In addition to announcing an outdoor game at Mosaic Stadium against the rival Moose Jaw Warriors, the Pats hosted the 2018 Memorial Cup.^[1][12] Although the 2018 outdoor game was ultimately moved indoors due largely to weather and ice concerns, the Pats did host the Calgary Hitmen at Mosaic as part of the 2019 Heritage Classic festivities; the game, dubbed the "Prairie Classic", saw Calgary win 5–4 in overtime.^[13][14]

The Pats have been western Canadian junior hockey champions fourteen times, including twelve Abbott Cup and two President's Cup victories. The Pats were also Saskatchewan junior hockey champions in 1918 before the advent of inter-provincial junior championships.

The Pats have appeared in more Memorial Cup tournaments than any other team, winning four times and finishing as the runner-up ten times. They have hosted the Memorial Cup tournament, solely or jointly, seven times: 1947, 1955, 1957, 1969, 1980, 2001, and 2018.

• Memorial Cups (4): 1925, 1928, 1930, 1974
• Abbott Cups (12): 1919, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1930, 1933, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1969
• Ed Chynoweth Cups (2): 1973–74, 1979–80
• Scotty Munro Memorial Trophies (2): 1973–74, 2016–17
• WHL Division Playoff Champions (6): 1966–67, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84
• WHL Conference Champions (1): 2016–17
• Regular Season WHL Division Champions (9): 1971–72, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1997–98, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2016–17

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

Notes

• List of ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan
• Saskatchewan Royal Connections