1997 – First round playoff win
The Rebels met the Regina Pats for a first-round matchup. Red Deer had earned home-ice advantage in the first round as the second seed in the Central Division. Regina had finished as the third seed in the East Division.
Only two points separated the two teams in the overall standings.
Red Deer came out of the gate strong, with Arron Asham and Brent McDonald scoring first period goals. Early in the second period, Regina came back with two goals of their own. After the 10-minute mark of the period, Red Deer found their scoring touch once again. Scott Burt, Jonathan Zukiwsky, and Greg Schmidt added goals for Red Deer before Regina could respond.
With the clock ticking down on the game, Regina scored twice more. Red Deer was hanging onto a one-goal lead with minutes remaining in the game. Arron Asham scored an empty-net goal to give the Rebels a 6-4 win and a 1-0 series lead.
Rebels rookie goaltender Marc Magliarditi made 18 saves in the victory.
1998 – Playoff heartbreak
Already down 1-0 in their first-round series with the Swift Current Broncos, the Rebels lost a tight game in overtime.
Swift Current got themselves on the board before the end of the opening frame.
The second period saw Red Deer take over the game. They put 24 shots on Broncos goaltender Terry Frisen and slide two pucks into the net. It was the Rebels’ first lead of the series. Justin Mapletoft and John Kachur scored the second-period goals.
The third period opened up with another goal by John Kachur. Then Swift Current took over. They had two goals before the end of the third period to tie the game at three.
Chad Beagle was the overtime hero for the Broncos as he scored on Dustin Schwartz to send the teams to Red Deer with the Broncos holding a 2-0 series lead.
1999 – closing out the regular season
In a game with not much to play for, the playoff-bound Rebels met the Saskatoon Blades who were destined to miss the post-season dance.
34 points separated the teams at the end of the night and is showed as the Rebels trounced the Blades 9-2.
Red Deer got a hat trick from Shawn McNeil and single goals from Justin Mapletoft, Brad Leeb, Frantisek Mrazek, Jordan Walker, Ryan Bonni, and Kent Beagle.
The Rebels split the goaltending duties, Dustin Schwartz made 15 saves on 17 shots while Shane Bendera came in for mop-up duty and stopped all seven shots he faced.
2001 – moping the floor with Lethbridge
The Rebels were on their way to the best season in franchise history. With the win, the team finished with a 54-12-3-3 record, 114 points.
The did need to play the final game of the season though and they were taking on the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Despite a tumble towards the end of the season, Lethbridge was also a playoff team in 2000-01 with 66 points.
Lethbridge was no match for Red Deer on this night. Red Deer took it to Lethbridge, especially in the second period, as they cruised to an 8-0 win.
The team got two goals apiece from future NHLer Colby Armstrong and Justin Mapletoft. They also received single goals from Kyle Wanvig, Doug Lynch, Joel Stepp, and Shay Stephensen.
Backup goaltender Cam Ondrik made 15 saves in the shutout win, his second of the season.
2004 – Game two against Calgary
Red Deer held a 1-0 series lead as the teams met for the second time in as many nights.
The game was a back and forth affair. Calgary took an early lead, followed by two Red Deer goals. Joel Henituik and Shay Stephensen gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead after the first period.
Ryan Getzlaf scored 21 seconds into the second period for Calgary to knot the game at two. Tyler Johnson gave the Rebels the lead back with less than seven minutes to play in the middle stanza.
With Barry Brust pulled for the extra attacker, Calgary tied the game at three with 49 seconds left in regulation.
There was nothing doing for either team in the first overtime so a second was required. That fifth period nearly became six, if not for Joel Henituik scoring with 1:15 to play in overtime two.
Barry Brust made 50 saves in the loss while Rebels netminder Cam Ward had to make 63 saves.
The teams headed to Calgary for Game 3 with the Rebels leading the series 2-0.
2005 – final game heartbreak
Red Deer was chasing the Calgary Hitmen for third in the Central Division. Unfortunately, a loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes stopped the attempt.
After holding off the Hurricanes, the Rebels scored first, a goal by future NHLer Dion Phaneuf. Once the celebration was over, the Hurricanes answered, with five straight goals.
Andrew Leslie made 25 saves in the loss. Aaron Sorochan made 29 saves in the win.
2010 – Game 1 against Saskatoon
Red Deer was able to score the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, so they were destined to take on the Saskatoon Blades as they captured the third seed. 16 points separated the two teams in the standings.
It was not a good start for the Rebels in the playoffs as they lost the opening game 3-0 to the Blades.
Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves on 27 shots in the loss.
2015 – Final weekend
The Rebels took on the Edmonton Oil Kings in the second to last game of the 2014-15 season. The two teams would engage in a home-and-home series to close out the season. Edmonton hosted Red Deer in the first of the two games.
Red Deer and Edmonton took turns scoring goal over the first two periods. The Rebels’ goals came from Brooks Maxwell and Riley Sheen. After 40 minutes it was 2-2.
It was the final period that saw Red Deer take over with four goals over the final 20 minutes. Nelson Nogier scored the game-winner at 3:30 and the team was off to the races. Short-handed, Wyatt Johnson scored his 25th goal of the year at 7:43. Connor Gay and Riley Sheen rounded out the 6-2 win.
Taz Burman earned the win, making 32 saves on 34 shots.
