Luke Bateman, a solid wall of defense for the Regina Pats
REGINA, Saskatchewan — Luke Bateman is one of the newest players acquired by the Regina Pats in the 2020-21 season of the Western Hockey League. The Pats acquired him from the Seattle Thunderbirds in the United States of America.
He was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, on September 19, 2002 (he is 19 years old). Bateman is 6-foot-5, weighs 99 kilograms, is a lefty shooter, and plays as a defender.
He joined the Thompson Blazers U18 AAA in the British Columbia Elite Hockey League U18 in the 2017-18 season. The defender played 33 games during the regular season and provided five assists. He also played two games in the playoffs before concluding the season. He was ranked No. 14 in the skaters’ statistics at the end of the season.
Bateman is not one of those defenders who score many goals and provide many assists, but while he is not doing that often, he is also making sure that no other player from the opposite team is doing the same.
In his second season with the Thompson Blazers U18 AAA, he played 32 games and moved a little away from his tradition of not going for goals or assists. He scored 10 goals and provided 14 assists in the regular season. Then he played two more games in the playoffs before concluding the season.
Bateman moved to the United States of America, where he continued playing hockey. He joined the Seattle Thunderbirds for the latter part of their 2018-19 season and played four games with them. In the 2019-20 season, Bateman played his first full season with the Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League. He played 57 games, one of the most in the league; he scored one goal and provided 11 assists and was one defender no player wanted to play against.
Bateman was ranked 16th in the 2019-20 skaters’ statistics, and only five defenders were ranked higher than him. In his last season with the Thunderbirds, Bateman played 22 games, scored one goal, and provided five assists. Unfortunately, the season was not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the 2021-22 season came, it was time to go home, and the Regina Pats hockey club was the destination. The Regina Pats signed him in 2021-22 from the Seattle Thunderbirds.
“He brings experience… adds another dimension to our back-end,” said John Paddock, the Regina Pats Vice President of Hockey Operation and General Manager.
Paddock was right about Bateman because what he said when Bateman joined the team is precisely what he is doing and even more. In just 12 games played with the Regina Pats this season, Bateman has scored one goal and provided three assists. At the moment, he is ranked 12th in the skaters statistics, which is not bad for a defender, and only Ryker Evans and Stanislav Svozil are ranked higher than him in the skaters’ ranking.
Luke Bateman is like the wall on the ice. Every opposite player that wants to score will need to go around him. The Regina Pats are privileged to have such a defender in this season.
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