Legendary Regina Pats’ alumni, Dale Derkatch and Mike Sillinger talked about their time with the organization and shared their thoughts on phenom Connor Bedard.
Derkatch played for the Pats from 1981-85. He continues to hold the record for the most goals (222), assists (269), and overall points (491) with the team.
“I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe I played in the league. I can’t believe my parents had to watch some of the stuff that went on when I was playing, there were lots of fights and brawls,” he laughed.
Derkatch is currently a scout for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Sometimes I watch as a scout now, I’m watching the games, watching the guys and I go, ‘I played in this league?’ So it’s pretty cool to have records that are still in the book, which may be broken someday. It’s nice for my kids to see, that’s probably the biggest thing,” said Derkatch.
Sillinger, who hails from Regina, was a member of the Pats from 1987-91. The forward sits second in the club’s record books behind Derkatch for overall points. (419)
He said it’s a different system now with a draft and said a lot of hometown boys don’t get to play for their hometown.
“That year, Jamie Heward, Frank Kovacs, Terry Hollinger, Jeff Sebastian, Kelly Markwart, Gary Dickie, the list goes on, we were all hometown boys, which was awesome. The building was full and you know you had lots of support from everyone. It was a fun four years,” exclaimed Sillinger.
Sillinger played just a couple seasons after Derkatch but the two wore the same number, which was 16. Something Sillinger noted was actually a coincidence; however, he was still a player he looked up to.
“He was a spectacular player. I was basically 11-12 years old watching Dale and watching the Pats. They had lots of firepower. He was so good with the puck, very creative, and could score and make players,” described Sillinger.
They both have their number 16 hanging in the rafters of the Brandt Centre. Derkatch had his number retired in 1998, Sillinger in 2010.
“I got to be in the rafters with his number 16 and it was kind of cool. He was a great guy that said, ‘Yeah, no problem. It’s an honour to have Mike in the rafters with me.’ So he’s definitely a great hockey player, a great player, and the all-time greatest [with the Pats],” said Sillinger.
Sillinger was the last Regina Pat to record back to back 50 goal seasons in 1988 to 1989 and 1989 to 1990. However, this season that changed when Connor Bedard became the first Pat to do so in over thirty years in 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023.
“I think last year, getting 50 in the last game of the year was pretty cool. Obviously, you don’t think about the numbers too much but when that happened, I was pretty happy. This year, I didn’t really set out, you know, number goals. I just wanted to improve as a player and obviously win,” said Bedard on the milestone seasons.
“You have to give your teammates credit because the years I did it, I always had a good team, we always had a good power play, we were an exciting team. That helps big time and so I’m sure that’s happening with the Pats and Connor [right now],” said Sillinger. “A guy of that magnitude, you have to let him do what he does.”
Sillinger noted he actually forgot about the milestone until a few weeks ago when Bedard accomplished the same feat.
“It was kind of funny when Connor did it, you know, my name was mentioned and it was on Twitter and everything like that. I didn’t really think anything of it,” he chuckled.
The list of remarkable and memorable players to go through the Regina Pats’ organization is lengthy given that it is the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) oldest franchise. When Derkatch joined the team, he spent his time going through the archives to learn about some of the former greats.
“I used to look in the WHL Guide all the time. I used to look at it and look through the rosters for smaller players because there weren’t many. I was always told that I was too small to play at every level whether it was Bantam, Midget, and so on,” said Derkatch who is listed as five feet six inches on his Elite Prospects profile.
“One of the players [who stood out] who played here was Brian Varga. He played here before me and he was fantastic. He won the scoring race one year. When I got here, he was traded to Medicine Hat. So I looked up to players like that,” said Derkatch.
Sillinger noted he looked up to not only Derkatch but also that entire team since he was able to watch them as a young teenager.
“I loved watching the Pats. I loved watching offensive guys like Derkatch, lists of scuffles and fights. That game has changed big time,” Sillinger laughed. “But it was just so exciting to see. Every time they played Brandon, Ray Ferraro, he was the competitor. He had over 200 points in the league. It was pretty impressive watching junior hockey back then.”
As for Bedard, who grew up in a different era of the WHL, he noted a more recent name he looked up to when he joined the organization.
“Sam Steel I think was someone that you know I was looking up to when I got drafted here. Watching his junior highlights from here, obviously seeing what he’s been able to do in the NHL, and trying to follow in his footsteps,” said Bedard.
But as Bedard has now set the stage to lead the next generation of talent that walk through the doors of the Regina Pats, both Sillinger and Derkatch agree he will be one of the most talked about players in the franchise’s history.
“It would be somewhat along the lines of a guy like McDavid, or MacKinnon in the NHL, or Crosby. Back when I played, it was Lemieux and so on. He is a player that doesn’t come along every often,” said Derkatch. “I have never felt that way about pretty well anyone and I’ve been scouting now close to 25 years.”
“He’s going to be a franchise player for some organization in the NHL, whoever drafts him is going to be very lucky. He’s going to carry on to have a fantastic career, he’s going to have big time longevity,” said Sillinger.
In just over three months, the 2023 NHL draft will take place in Nashville, Tenn. where Bedard is projected to go first overall. Sillinger was drafted 11th overall in 1989 to the Detroit Red Wings. He shared some wisdom for Bedard to take in his upcoming draft day.
“You have to have fun with the draft. You have to enjoy the moment. You can’t let your highs get too high and your lows get too low. I think the biggest thing when you do get drafted and you go to camp, take it all in. You can’t take the job for granted,” said Sillinger.
Bedard said it was nice of Sillinger to take his time out to talk about him like that.
“Obviously it’s cool him being from here and stuff. He’s kind of a Regina legend. What he did with his career was pretty special. It’s what you kind of hear a lot throughout your draft year in general. I’ve been enjoying it and kind of not looking too far ahead in the future,” said Bedard.
