Import-ant first steps for Reichel and the Rebels

And so it begins.

Unofficially, it is the beginning of hockey season in central Alberta. Red Deer played host to the second game of the day in the tournament they are hosting, the first having been played just hours earlier between the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Prince George Cougars.

Officially, this is the first pre-season game for the Red Deer Rebels, as they hosted the Calgary Hitmen, The latter club was also having their first taste of action against players outside of their own four walls.

The game got off to a very fast start as the Rebels’ Kristian Reichel scored on a shot from in the slot just 19 seconds into the contest. Throughout the game Reichel was placed on a line with Buffalo Sabres prospect Brandon Hagel and Detroit Red Wings draft pick Lane Zablocki.

Despite holding the early lead, it was the Hitmen that held the early advantage in shots and time in the offensive zone. 2000-born prospect Ethan Anders was up to the task early and did a great job of controlling any pucks shot his way.

With just four minutes and 30 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Reichel would strike again. This time he scored by stealing the puck from a Hitmen miscue in the high slot and then firing one to the left of 1997 born overage goalie Nick Schneider. Schneider would like to have both goals back as he allowed two goals on just six Rebels shots through 20 minutes. The first period would end with the Rebels leading 2-0.

New Hitmen head coach Dallas Ferguson must have had some encouraging words for the troops during the intermission as they returned to the ice looking much more confident than in the opening frame. Elkhorn, Manitoba product Layne Toder scored the Hitmen’s first pre-season goal with a high wrist shot that made it past Anders to cut the lead to 2-1.

Just a minute and a half later, second year hopeful Justyn Gurney tied the game at two.

The Rebels would retake the lead with a nifty play from behind the net when Resse Johnson made a perfect pass to Chris Douglas who was parked right in front of Nick Schneider for the goal. Johnson is looking to solidify his roster spot after missing all of last year’s regular season with an injury. He played for the Rebels in just three playoff games when he returned.

2001-born, 2016, third round draft pick Hunter Campbell would knot the game back up on a cross crease feed from Jake Kryski. Kryski held the puck on the rush up the ice and Campbell got himself into great position for the tip-in on the pass.

Also a 2001-born player, fourth round pick River Fahey would regain the Rebel lead with an assisted goal from right in the slot. The period would end with the Red Deer Rebels leading 4-3 and outshooting Calgary 21-18.

In the final frame, the teams looked like they had settled into their games and it became a much more tightly contested and physical game. Both teams had players laying out hits and grinding pucks off the boards. Lasse Petersen would start the 3rd in-between the pipes for the Rebels. Ethan Anders left after allowing three goals on 18 shots.

With the Rebels already on the power play, a scramble in front of the net resulted in a scrum in which the refs only penalized a Hitmen player. This infraction would leave them down two men and give the Rebels an opportunity to salt the game away. With the Rebels icing four forwards and just one defensemen for the power play, it was Kristian Reichel scoring his hat trick goal after being set up by Brandon Hagel and Alexander Alexeyev.

That would end the scoring on the night, Calgary did pull the goaltender for the extra-attacker with just less than two minutes to go to no avail. Your final score on the night is Red Deer 5 Calgary 3.

Following the game Rebels Head Coach Brent Sutter trimmed the roster by two players, sending defencemen Nic Draffin (2001) and forward Justin Svenson back to their respective midget AAA squads.

Next action for the Rebels is tomorrow night at the Enmax Centrium, puck drop for the Rebels and the Oil Kings is slated for 7PM.