Top WHL draft prospect’s love for hockey shows on Google Maps!

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The family home of budding hockey star Maddox Schultz is easy to recognize — punch his Regina address into Google Maps and the streetview picture shows a battered hockey net on the driveway.

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“That’s net Number Six,” said his dad, David Schultz, pointing at a worn-out goal with chipped paint and torn mesh, including the extra twine surrounding the 4×6-foot frame.

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“We’ve gone through a few nets. So we got smarter and upgraded to an NHL net, but we need to string it first. I mean, that one only lasted a few months.”

Maddox Schultz evidently loves hockey and shooting pucks, but sometimes they rip through the strings, sail through the garage’s particleboard walls, chip the backyard fence and one smacked off the gas-cap cover of a neighbour’s car.

“That was expensive,” said David.

No hard feelings, though. That particular neighbour went to watch Maddox Schultz at the Telus Cup regional qualifying tournament earlier this month in Kenora, Ont., proving it does take a village to raise a hockey player.

When he’s not at home or attending Grade 9 classes at Martin Collegiate, Maddox Schultz is playing first-line centre and anchoring power plays while extending his hockey season this week as the leading scorer for the Regina Pat Canadians. The Pat Canadians, in their 10th appearance and vying for a fifth Canadian AAA crown, are one of six teams competing in the Telus Cup in Chilliwack, B.C.

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It’s amazing for a rookie, who just turned 15, to win the regular-season scoring title of the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League. So he did it again in the playoffs, tallying 22 points in 10 playoff games after netting 43 goals and 50 assists in 44 regular-season matches. As the Pat Canadians outscored opponents 25-2 while going undefeated through four games in the Kenora qualifier, Schultz led all scorers with six goals and four assists.

“He’s unbelievable,” said 18-year-old Pat Canadians teammate Eli Johnson, who met Schultz during the 2023-24 season when the latter played five SMAAAHL games as a 13-year-old and didn’t look out of place at that young age. “Maddox is fun to play with. He works hard every practice, every game.

“His give-a-crap level’s really high. He wants to win as much as everyone else. I think that’s really important for a young guy like him. I mean, he just got his learner’s (licence)!”

Maddox Schultz is indeed a gifted and hard-working hockey player. He’s the son of two skating instructors who have shown the real-life possibility of professional sports careers and whose on-ice lessons have helped make him such a great skater and scorer that his name should be called first when his hometown Regina Pats open the WHL prospects draft May 7 with the selection they conveniently won in the league’s recent lottery.

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“His hockey IQ, his explosiveness, his skill, compete, he’s the whole package,” said Pat Canadians head coach Ryan Hodgins. “Plays really well in his own end, he’s defensively responsible and he makes his teammates better. He’s a good teammate.”

Pats general manager Alan Millar hasn’t tipped his hand, but after celebrating his team’s good lottery fortune he planned to make the necessary arrangements, work out a promotional schedule and call the family of the franchises’s top choice as a pre-draft courtesy. It would only be a surprise if Millar doesn’t call the Schultz family shortly after the Telus Cup, but it hasn’t happened yet.

“Nope,” said Vicki Shultz, Maddox’s mother, when asked last week if the Pats GM had called.

“Wherever and whatever they decide to do, whatever. Just the fact they have the first pick, and if they pick him, it means he can stay home.”

Maddox Schultz would be an outstanding addition to the Pats. In the past eight years the Pats have made the WHL playoffs only once and never won a postseason series despite the fact they had superstar Connor Bedard wearing their jersey for three seasons before he became the No. 1 pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL draft.

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His path to major junior hockey may differ slightly from Bedard’s, but Schultz also wants to play in the NHL.

“That’s where I wanna be; that’s the goal someday,” said Schultz. “Probably since I was eight, maybe seven.

“I always had a love for the game, started early and kept going. You can love the game but you still have to put in the work because good things don’t come easy.”

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Every Pat Canadians game this season seemed to have a cluster of junior hockey scouts in attendance.

At least until the playoffs, when 1,600 people would overflow the 1,200-seat Co-Operators Arena to see a squad that included offensive whizzes Schultz, Jonah Sivertson, Chase Surkan, Logan Mehl and Cruz Klapak, Johnson and Boston Tait on defence backstopped by veteran goalies Taylor Tabashniuk and Adam Muntain — with their hair bleached blond in a Pat C’s postseason tradition — lead Regina through four rounds of playoff hockey. Regina finished atop the league standings with a 35-7-2 record.

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At one regular-season game, longtime Edmonton Oil Kings scout Shawn Stieb was sitting beside Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger in a group of cohorts. The discussion pivoted to Maddox Schultz.

Stieb held up one finger.

“If we draft first, we’re taking Maddox,” said Stieb. “He’s a complete player with a 200-foot game. He’s not scared to work both ends of the rink. He’s so committed to the game and the best thing about him is his family keeps him humble. He comes from a tremendous family.”

Edmonton didn’t win the lottery though. The Oil Kings were only in the running for the first selection because Moose Jaw, while en route to winning the most recent WHL championship, had traded its 2025 first-round draft choice to Edmonton as part of a three-player, four-pick deal just days before the league-imposed 2023-24 roster deadline.

In the midst of a full-blown rebuild in 2024-25, Moose Jaw finished in the basement of the 22-team WHL with a 15-45-6-2 record, giving the Warriors a 57.1 per cent chance of winning the opportunity for Edmonton to draft first. While enduring their own tear-up-the-roster season, the Pats finished 21st at 16-44-53 and had the second-best lottery odds at 23.8 per cent.

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Amid baseless social media accusations that the WHL lottery was rigged in Regina’s favour, it was true that Moose Jaw didn’t really have a chance to land Schultz. But Ripplinger wasn’t going to give up on any opportunity to get a player capabe of reinvigorating a franchise.

“Not at the moment,” said Ripplinger with a chuckle. “But there are always trades that can be made, deals to work out.

“He’s the Number One player in my eyes. I don’t think I’d say he’s going to be the next Connor Bedard, but he’s more of a 200-foot player. He’s special, game-smart, a tremendous skater with great hockey sense.”

Considering Schultz’s talent and potential, Ripplinger was asked if he regretted dealing away Moose Jaw’s first pick.

“No,” he said. “We made trades to help us win a championship. I’ve got a ring. And those aren’t easy to win.”

Pats assistant general manager Dale Derkatch also watched Schultz frequently during the past season. Derkatch didn’t need much studying; a few years ago he coached Schultz on a minor hockey team with his youngest son, Drake Derkatch.

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Months before the Pats learned they were going to win the WHL draft lottery, Derkatch was asked if Schultz could become a junior hockey superstar. Derkatch is familiar with the concept. He’s the Pats’ all-time scoring leader with 222 goals, 269 assists and 491 points. His number “16” was retired by the legendary franchise in 1999.

After completing a stellar career in Europe, Derkatch became an NHL scout, spent one season as Regina’s head coach and later, while serving as player personnel director of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, obtained future NHLers Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey. Although Millar gets the final say, Regina’s GM said he will justifiably trust Derkatch with overseeing the Pats’ draft.

“I know Maddox pretty well,” said Derkatch.

“Amazing talent, wonderful young man, terrific family. Everything you would want in a player with a natural hockey sense and the ability to score, which isn’t something you can teach. He may be the superstar you’re talking about.”

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Hockey scouts have been noticing Maddox Schultz since he was nine, when he played for the Saskatchewan Jr. Pats at the 2019 Brick Invitational Tournament in Edmonton. Among the 200 or so eventual NHLers who have played in the Brick are Brady Tkachuk, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Schenn, Alex Pietrangelo, Auston Matthews, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Seth Jones, Jonathan Toews and at least three former Pats — Adam Brooks, Sam Steel and Jordan Eberle.

Although Eberle’s junior career predates Schultz, as a kid he cheered for Brooks and Steel, seeking their autographs like today’s younger players were doing on the ice inside the Co-Operators Arena when the Pat Canadians swept the Moose Jaw Warriors to win the SMAAAHL title in March. Schultz signed everything offered, smiled and chatted with the youngsters.

The Brick is a prestigious tournament, primarily for stellar 10-year-olds. It was basically the beginning of Schultz’s experience playing in older age groups, but it didn’t start too well. Saskatchewan scored only three goals while losing all six games in 2019. According to Brick tournament statistics, Schultz took a penalty and uncharacteristically didn’t register a point.

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During this season the Pat Canadians attended another prestigious tournament, the Circle K Classic in Calgary over the Christmas holidays. Helped by a last-second, game-tying goal and the overtime winner from Schultz in a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pens Elite, Regina advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated. Schultz was named the tournament’s most valuable player, despite being the youngest player in the event. Schultz said the Pittsburgh game is his all-time favourite, but not because of his goals.

“We were down three with five minutes remaining, so it was super memorable for our team to win in overtime,” said Schultz. “It was cool to move on.”

There were undoubtedly scouts in the stands watching the 5-foot-10, 165-pounder come through in the clutch.

“I saw him play this year, in a tournament, but it wasn’t the Circle K,” said Craig Button, a well-travelled TSN analyst dubbed “Director of Scouting” for a career spent as an NHL scout, administrator and general manager. “The manager of Ross Mahoney’s golf club (Ryan Pollock) coached him a couple years back, so that’s how I first heard about him.

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“I was in Saskatchewan for a family wedding in October and ran into Colin Priestner (general manager of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades), so I found some time to go watch Schultz. It was pretty obvious how good he is. Not that I’m into one-game scouting, but when you watch really good players you just go, ‘Yeah. Yeah.’

“He’s got it.”

Mahoney, a member of his hometown Royal Regina Golf Club, is the Washington Capitals assistant general manager credited with drafting all-time NHL goal-scoring leader Alex Ovechkin. And Pollock did coach Schultz last season with the Regina Pat Blues, where he was a 13-year-old in an under-15 league and had 63 goals and 71 assists in 27 regular-season games before adding 32 points in nine playoff games.

That’s when the rumbling started that Schultz would request exceptional status, which would allow him to play full-time in the WHL next season as a 15-year-old. Only two other WHL players have been given that status — Bedard and current Everett Silvertips defender Landon DuPont.

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Because Schultz had already been granted exceptional status this season to let him play under-18, in conjunction with his parents and agent he decided against asking for the same exemption to play major junior hockey. It will allow him to play up to 34 WHL games — half a schedule — next season and, if the Pats select him, also remain with the Pat Canadians for another SMAAAHL campaign.

“Having the label ‘Exceptional Status,’ those are some pretty big shoes to fill,” said Maddox. “You know, the comparisons people would put on me, to compare me for example with someone like Bedard, it’s best just to take that 34-games option.”

In the junior hockey world, where teenagers can be dealt across the country or even to a U.S. franchise, it’s such a perfect scenario if Maddox were to remain at home, which isn’t usually an option these days.

“Our motto has been: ‘Arrive on time,’ ” said David. “There isn’t the rush to play an extra 34 next year to apply for the status and everything that comes with it when the following year you’re in the exact same boat. So enjoy it. Arrive on time.”

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Asked about his earliest hockey memory, Maddox recalls being a five-year-old beginner in Medicine Hat. After learning to ride a two-wheel bicycle at three and competing in BMX events a year later against seven-year-olds, hockey was the sport that captivated him.

“Probably on the Medicine Hat Bruins,” said Maddox. “It was initiation hockey. I remember dad driving to my first hockey practice at 7 a.m. so it was about 6:30. That’s a core hockey memory for me.”

Maddox was born in the southeastern Alberta city, as was his younger sister (by one year) Sydney, when their parents lived there for a few years after retiring as professional skaters. The competitive nature of the family still shows during regular games of trivia or Yahtzee, when the siblings tend to taunt each other about bad dice rolls. But Sydney proudly wears her brother’s jersey to Pat C’s games and Maddox boasts about his sister’s skating prowess.

Vicki, who was immersed in hockey while growing up in Central Butte because her brothers played, is now the skating director for Skate Regina. David, who is originally from Winnipeg, is Skate Canada Saskatchewan’s high performance director. They met in Edmonton while training as athletes and skated professionally on cruise ships in their 20s before starting a family and getting coaching jobs in Medicine Hat, putting their kids on skates before their third birthdays, and ultimately moving into their current Regina-based jobs about 10 years ago.

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Although Sydney has remained a competitive figure skater, Maddox switched between both before choosing hockey skates as he became obsessed with playing mini-sticks throughout the house, attending Medicine Hat Tigers WHL games, watching the NHL on television and making friends on his hockey team.

“He never really figure skated with the intent to become a competitive skater,” said David Schultz. “He figure skated because it was fun. His mom and dad were out there.”

While progressing through Hockey Regina’s age divisions, by Grade 7 it was evident Maddox was a special student/athlete. That’s when Kim Perepeluk approached the family about getting him into Martin Collegiate, where Perepeluk is a co-ordinator for the school’s athletic academy. They worked out an arrangement so Maddox could continue attending Harbour Landing Elementary School in the mornings and twice weekly head to Martin for sports training in the afternoons, a program which includes power skating, yoga, boxing and lawn bowling.

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“We do a number of things that give kids an opportunity to build their athleticism and, more than anything, just be kids and have fun,” said Perepeluk, who last year coached the Esso Cup-winning Regina Rebels to the Canadian AAA U18 female hockey championship.

“Maddox is a pretty special young man. Not only is he an exceptional hockey player, but a really mature, dedicated young athlete.”

Every current player on the Pat Canadians attends Martin, which has certainly helped them bond as friends and teammates. Schultz has an average in the 90s and said he’s partial to English classes, but his true passion is hockey, arriving early and staying late for practices, watching pro games on TV and talking about his favourite team and player, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

“I’ll be at school and start thinking about our next game or practice,” said Maddox. “I get pretty excited about hockey.”

It was tough during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Hockey Canada cancelled all its competitions across the country.

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“During the pandemic, I built a rink in the backyard,” said David Schultz. “Our small backyard slants toward a park and it has a 2 1/2-foot drop from the top point to the bottom. Oh my gosh, the amount of water it took! On warm days it would melt. It crowned and blew out one of the walls. What a disaster!”

It got worse: “I took one in the teeth on the backyard rink,” said Vicki.

That didn’t stop anything.

“Maddox would be out there, put headphones in, have his helmet on, gloves and stick, and he would shoot for hours in the backyard,” said David. “Sydney would want time to put her music on and skate, so if you drove by our house at night you would see bright spotlights on our little patch of ice that’s totally slanted toward the park, pitch black everywhere else. I’m buying netting cuz he’s shooting harder, blasting the deck, windows, everything. I hadn’t put up the back wall and said, ‘Son, don’t shoot until I get that up.’ ‘OK, Dad. I won’t shoot, I promise.’

“I get back with some wood to fasten the wall and there’s already a big hole in our fence because he put a puck right through it. I looked at him and he said, ‘Dad, I can’t help it. If I’ve got a puck, I want to shoot it.’ ”

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