From the moment you walked into the Peavey Mart Centrium this evening, you could tell that something special was going to happen.
For the first time since March 7, 2020, fans were able to attend a hockey game in Red Deer.
The opponent was the same as the night before, as the Rebels hosted the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Before the puck even dropped on the first home game of the season for Red Deer, you could tell there were a number of changes inside the building. There is a new scoreboard hanging from the rafters, along with some new video boards. Most noticeable of all is the change to the seating, where black cushioned seats replaced the ugly green hard plastic seats.
Of course, there was a hockey game to be played.
It didn’t take long for the crowd to be able to roar their approval as the Rebels kicked off the scoring in under 90 seconds. Blake Gustafson scored his first career WHL goal, unassisted.
“It’s amazing, from the start of puck drop, they were cheering and it gets you going. Gets momentum with you. It’s nice to have the fans back and we’re happy to have them back,” Rebels leading scorer Ben King said.
Neither side gave an inch for the remainder of the period and the Rebels took their first lead of the season into the intermission.
It was a lead they held until the Oil Kings scored a little more than seven minutes into the second period. Their goal came on the power play, as import Jakob Demek scored his first WHL goal, to go with the three assists he picked up the previous evening.
The play picked up in intensity in the middle frame as Red Deer became very physical and took the body to Edmonton. Rebels Captain Jayden Grubbe and the Oil Kings Simon Kubicek dropped the gloves at the midway point of the period.
More physical play led to a second Rebels goal as Ben King scored his second goal of the season with the man advantage. It was a lead they held through the final nine minutes of the period.
The Oil Kings came out firing on all cylinders in the third period, outshooting the Rebels 18-7. But 18-year-old netminder Chase Coward stole the show, stopping all 18 shots.
“Very nice game. They had a push in the third period and you’re going to need some big saves,” Konowalchuk said.
“They’re a good team, they’re going to get some chances and when they did, he was there.”
Red Deer scored two empty-net goals in the final 1:13 of the game, putting the game to bed with a final score of 4-1.
“We just back pressured hard, they didn’t really have a whole lot and we limited the turnovers at the blueline and we finally just capitalized on our chances and got the lead early which was nice,” said King.
“We didn’t let off, last night in the third, we kind of came out slow and they took over the game from there. Tonight we just kept pushing and kept our foot on the gas pedal.”
The Rebels physical play, led by Jhett Larson, who scored one of the game’s empty-net goals, kept Josh Williams, Carter Souch, and Dylan Guenther mostly in check. It is something the team will need to continue to focus on if they hope to win the season series with the highly-rated Oil Kings.
Rebel yell… Three stars as named in the building on Saturday night 1) Chase Coward 2) Kai Uchacz 3) Jakub Demek. Red Deer was outshot 33-28. Edmonton was 1-for-4 with the man advantage, Red Deer was 1-for-3. Four Oil Kings had four shots apiece while Blake Gustafson’s six led all players. Red Deer hits the ice in Swift Current on Tuesday while the Oil Kings’ next action is Wednesday night in Lethbridge.
