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