Former Vipers Trainer/Equipment Manager Cochran-Pats Open Memorial Cup With Victory Over OHL Champions:

Former Vernon Vipers Trainer/Equipment Manager Gord Cochran & the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats opened the 100th MasterCard Memorial Cup Friday with a 3-2 victory over the Ontario Hockey League Hamilton Bulldogs.

Cochran is in his fourth season with the Pats. Cochran joined the Pats in 2014 after spending five seasons in Vernon with the Vipers from 2009-2014.

This is posted on the Pats website:

RECAP: Henry’s late heroics give Pats opening night win at Mastercard Memorial Cup 

May 19, 2018

by Regina Pats Staff

The Regina Pats opened the 100th Mastercard Memorial Cup with a 3-2 win over the OHL Champion Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night. The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the first when Robert Thomas tipped in a point shot at 7:49 and it was 1-0 after one. In the second, Sam Steel tied it on the powerplay for Regina just 19 seconds in. Hamilton retook the lead 2-1 at 13:14 of the second when Marian Studenic ripped a shot into the top of the net, but 2:16 later Josh Mahura scored on a beautiful end to end rush and it was 2-2 after two. It stayed that way until late in the third when Nick Henry scored on a rebound with 32.6 seconds left to give the Pats the 3-2 lead and the win. Sam Steel, Nick Henry and Josh Mahura led the offence with a goal and an assist while Max Paddock made 31 saves. Regina was one for four on the powerplay and two for two on the penalty kill. The Memorial Cup will continue Saturday afternoon when the Swift Current Broncos take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 2 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. The Pats are back in action on Sunday against the Titan at 5 p.m. Tickets are available at mastercardmemorialcup.ca.

Scoring Summary

First Period

Hamilton – Robert Thomas (1) from Justin Lemcke and Matthew Strome – 7:49.

Second Period

Regina – Sam Steel (1) from Josh Mahura and Nick Henry – 0:19 PP.

Hamilton – Marian Studenic (1) from Riley Stillman and Ryan Moore – 13:14.

Regina – Josh Mahura (1) unassisted – 15:30.

Third Period

Regina – Nick Henry (1) from Libor Hajek and Sam Steel – 19:27.

Shots on Goal

Regina 8-10-13-(31)    Hamilton 9-10-14-(33)

Powerplays

Regina 1/4      Hamilton 0/2

Quick Hits

– The Pats are the first WHL team to win a game at the Mastercard Memorial Cup since 2016 in Red Deer.

– Josh Mahura scored his Memorial Cup goal in his second appearance in the tournament.

What’s Next

The Pats next game is Sunday against the QMJHL Champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 5 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. Tickets are available at mastercardmemorialcup.ca. The Memorial Cup will continue Saturday afternoon when the Swift Current Broncos take on the Titan at 2 p.m. Tickets for that game are available as well at mastercardmemorialcup.ca.