'He's built like Crosby': 15-year-old Regina phenom Maddox Schultz taking the hockey world by storm
Many scouts rank Schultz as top Canadian player born in 2010
There are a few hints that it's playoff season for Maddox Schultz and his family.
His hair is the most obvious. As is the custom with many hockey teams when the playoffs begin, the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan U-18 AAA league have all dyed their hair blond.
His demeanour is also a little more serious.
"It's chaotic. I think it's something you got to get used to because as you progress and as you get older, I think, this is something that is just going to keep coming," said Maddox. "So you got to just be prepared. I think I've been doing a really good job at that."
Schultz celebrated his 15th birthday on March 15. Over the past year he got permission from Hockey Saskatchewan to play for the Pat Canadians as a 14-year old.
He went on to lead the under-18 league in goals, assists and points, and was named the most valuable player at the prestigious Circle K Classic over the holiday season, following in the footsteps of Landon Dupont, Gavin McKenna, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Parise.
Maddox and little sister Sydney have spent their whole lives at the rink. His parents Vicki and David are elite-level figure skating coaches.
'We were kinda raised at the rink, because when we were really little our parents had to teach," Sydney said. "So the parents would kind of just babysit us when we were really little."
"We would bring their playpen to the rink, so they have been rink rats pretty much their whole lives," Vicki said.
Playing up a level in hockey is nothing new for Maddox. At every step he has played against players that are older, bigger and sometimes faster.
Last season, Maddox was called up from his U-15 team to play with the Regina Pat Canadians as a 13-year-old.
His head coach Ryan Hodgins said it was a no-brainer.
"It's definitely unique to have a player at that level at that age, but you could see it coming with Maddox, from when he was playing minor hockey, that he was a special player."
Maddox's play has turned heads across the country. Many scouts rank him as the top player in Canada born in 2010.
Todd Ripplinger is a scout with the Moose Jaw Warriors and has scouted in the Western Hockey League for more than 30 years. He has heady praise for the young hockey player, comparing him to an all-time great.
"He's built like Crosby, he can score like Crosby, gets in tight around the net," Ripplinger said. "His shot is so, so hard and strong already for a 14-year-old, but his biggest attribute is his skating."
It's going to be an important three months for Maddox. The Regina Pat Canadians finished first in the regular season and are driving for a league title and a possible berth in the Telus Cup national championship.
The Western Hockey League prospect draft is also coming up in May. Maddox has the chance to be the first player from Regina to be taken first overall since the draft started in 1990.
There were rumblings that Maddox would seek exceptional status for the 2025-26 WHL season, following in the footsteps of current 15-year-old player Landon Dupont of the Everett Silvertips and Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats.
The Schultz family made the decision earlier this year to not seek exceptional status, instead opting for a new rule called the Western Canadian Development Model. It's a pilot project created in co-operation with Hockey Canada, the Western Hockey League and Junior A leagues across Western Canada.
This will allow Maddox to stay with his U-18 team in Regina while also playing up to 34 games with his Western Hockey League team.
"It was a pretty easy decision as a family," Maddox's father David said. "The title of exceptional status, the players that have worn that, I mean, they're unbelievable, what they've been able to do with it, but we didn't think that was right for him and for our family."
"It's more of a hybrid option with this one, and that was really attractive to us again just to push, but also protect," Vicki said.
The Schultzs have always been tight-knit, going from rink to rink, game to competition, on-ice session to off-ice training. They are their own best support group.
Even at such a young age, Maddox recognizes how important his family is and how fleeting his time with them might be.
"I think I've just got to be grateful for the time and enjoy the time that I have with them, because they're my people," he said. "When I'm older and I'm at a bar with my friends or whatever, I've just got to remember all the times that I've spent with them."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
