In a dazzling end to a historic season, 15-year-old phenom Schultz led the Regina Pat Canadians to a 3-2 overtime victory over Quebec’s Chevaliers de Lévis to capture the Telus Cup — Canada’s national U18 AAA hockey championship.
Schultz capped off his three-point night with the game-winning goal in OT, effortlessly gliding into the left face-off circle and firing a lethal wrist shot past goaltender Antoine Proulx. The arena erupted as Regina’s players tore off their helmets to celebrate, revealing a team-wide show of solidarity with matching bleached blonde hair.
The clutch goal was the highlight of Schultz’s jaw-dropping 20-point performance across seven games (nine goals, 11 assists), topping the tournament leaderboard by a full six points. His Telus Cup run included two hat tricks and a five-point game against B.C.’s Okanagan Rockets.
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The win marks Regina’s first Telus Cup title since 1999 and the fifth in franchise history. Schultz’s MVP-caliber season also included 43 goals and 50 assists in 44 regular-season games, plus 22 playoff points in 10 games, earning him Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League MVP honors.
Despite speculation around applying for exceptional-player status to fast-track into the WHL, Schultz and his family chose to enter the league under the Western Canadian Development Model, which allows him to play up to 34 WHL games next season.
He may not have to leave home to do so — the Regina Pats, who won the WHL Draft Lottery, hold the first pick in the upcoming WHL Prospects Draft on May 7.
Schultz now joins elite company. Only Connor Bedard and Landon DuPont have been granted exceptional status in the WHL, but Schultz’s name is quickly rising in Canada’s hockey ranks as one of the country’s most exciting young talents.
