'He's built like Crosby': 15-year-old Regina phenom Maddox Schultz taking the hockey world by storm

Dan Plaster · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

There are a fewer hints that it's playoff play for Maddox Schultz and his family.

His hairsbreadth is the astir obvious. As is the customized with galore hockey teams erstwhile the playoffs begin, the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan U-18 AAA league person each dyed their hairsbreadth blond.

His demeanour is besides a small much serious.

"It's chaotic. I deliberation it's thing you got to get utilized to due to the fact that arsenic you advancement and arsenic you get older, I think, this is thing that is conscionable going to support coming," said Maddox.  "So you got to conscionable beryllium prepared. I deliberation I've been doing a truly bully occupation astatine that."

Schultz celebrated his 15th day connected March 15. Over the past twelvemonth helium got support from Hockey Saskatchewan to play for the Pat Canadians arsenic a 14-year old. 

He went connected to pb the under-18 league successful goals, assists and points, and was named the astir invaluable subordinate astatine the prestigious Circle K Classic implicit the vacation season, pursuing successful the footsteps of Landon Dupont, Gavin McKenna, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Parise.

Maddox and small sister Sydney person spent their full lives astatine the rink. His parents Vicki and David are elite-level fig skating coaches.

'We were kinda raised astatine the rink, due to the fact that erstwhile we were truly small our parents had to teach," Sydney said. "So the parents would benignant of conscionable babysit america erstwhile we were truly little."

"We would bring their playpen to the rink, truthful they person been rink rats beauteous overmuch their full lives," Vicki said.

Playing up a level successful hockey is thing caller for Maddox. At each measurement helium has played against players that are older, bigger and sometimes faster.

Last season, Maddox was called up from his U-15 squad to play with the Regina Pat Canadians arsenic a 13-year-old.

His caput coach Ryan Hodgins said it was a no-brainer. 

"It's decidedly unsocial to person a subordinate astatine that level astatine that age, but you could spot it coming with Maddox, from erstwhile helium was playing insignificant hockey, that helium was a peculiar player."

Maddox's play has turned heads crossed the country. Many scouts fertile him arsenic the apical subordinate successful Canada calved successful 2010. 

Todd Ripplinger is simply a scout with the Moose Jaw Warriors and has scouted successful the Western Hockey League for much than 30 years. He has heady praise for the young hockey player, comparing him to an all-time great.

"He's built similar Crosby, helium tin people similar Crosby, gets successful choky astir the net," Ripplinger said. "His changeable is so, truthful hard and beardown already for a 14-year-old, but his biggest property is his skating."

It's going to beryllium an important 3 months for Maddox. The Regina Pat Canadians finished archetypal successful the regular play and are driving for a league rubric and a imaginable berth successful the Telus Cup nationalist championship.

WATCH | The travel of a 15-year-old climbing ranks successful the hockey world: 

The Western Hockey League imaginable draught is besides coming up successful May. Maddox has the accidental to beryllium the archetypal subordinate from Regina to beryllium taken archetypal wide since the draught started successful 1990.

There were rumblings that Maddox would question exceptional presumption for the 2025-26 WHL season, pursuing successful the footsteps of existent 15-year-old subordinate Landon Dupont of the Everett Silvertips and Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats.

The Schultz household made the determination earlier this twelvemonth to not question exceptional status, instead opting for a caller regularisation called the Western Canadian Development Model. It's a aviator task created successful co-operation with Hockey Canada, the Western Hockey League and Junior A leagues crossed Western Canada.

This volition let Maddox to enactment with his U-18 squad successful Regina portion besides playing up to 34 games with his Western Hockey League team.

"It was a beauteous casual determination arsenic a family," Maddox's begetter David said. "The rubric of exceptional status, the players that person worn that, I mean, they're unbelievable, what they've been capable to bash with it, but we didn't deliberation that was close for him and for our family."

"It's much of a hybrid enactment with this one, and that was truly charismatic to america again conscionable to push, but besides protect," Vicki said.

The Schultzs person ever been tight-knit, going from rink to rink, game to competition, on-ice session to off-ice training. They are their ain champion enactment group.

Even astatine specified a young age, Maddox recognizes however important his household is and however fleeting his clip with them mightiness be.

"I deliberation I've conscionable got to beryllium grateful for the clip and bask the clip that I person with them, due to the fact that they're my people," helium said. "When I'm older and I'm at a barroom with my friends oregon whatever, I've conscionable got to retrieve each the times that I've spent with them."