Braydon Buziak's rookie season in the Western Hockey League is proving to be a memorable one.
The Battleford product will have a chance to play for a league championship as the Regina Pats captured the Eastern Conference title Sunday with a 7-4 road win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the sixth game of their best-of-seven series.
This marks the first time that the Pats have made it to the final since 1984. They haven't won a WHL championship since 1980.
Buziak, who plays as a centre, has a goal and three assists in 17 playoff games.
The 19-year-old scored his first career WHL playoff goal Wednesday night as he helped the Pats get rolling in a 6-2 in over the Hurricanes.
He also had an assist Sunday on a goal by Robbie Holmes, which helped to get the Pats rolling on offence after they fell behind 3-0 early in the game.
Standing in the way of Buziak and his teammates from a WHL title are the Seattle Thunderbirds, who won the Western Conference title in six games over the Kelowna Rockets Sunday night.
The Thunderbirds, who have never won a championship, made it to the final last year but lost to the Brandon Wheat Kings in five games.
Former Battlefords AAA Stars goaltender Rylan Toth is a member of the Thunderbirds, but he's been sidelined with an injury since the end of the regular season as rookie Carl Stankowski has taken over starting netminding duties for the team.
The series is slated to get underway at 7 p.m. Friday at the Brandt Centre in Regina.
In addition to capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup, the winner of the WHL final will go on to represent the league at the Memorial Cup in Windsor, Ont. from May 19-28.
The Pats will be hosting the 100th edition of the tournament next year.
