1998 – Kachur hat trick
The series between the Red Deer Rebels and Swift Current Broncos shifted to Red Deer for Game 3. Swift Current had a 2-0 series lead.
The game did not start off well for Red Deer as Swift Current opened up a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Those two goals came on just eight Broncos shots.
An early second-period power-play turned the tide for Red Deer as John Kachur scored to give the Rebels some life. A little over nine minutes later Kachur scored again to tie the game at two. Unbelievably, the Rebels scored a third time in the period to give themselves a 3-2 lead, Brad Leeb had his first goal of the playoffs.
A minute and a half later the hard-charging Broncos tied the game at three.
Thankfully Red Deer had a little gas in the tank and scored just about seven minutes into the third period. Kachur scored his third goal of the game and fifth of the playoffs. This goal proved to be enough as the Rebels won 4-3. They now trailed the series 2-1.
Dustin Schwartz was strong between the pipes for Red Deer, he had 28 saves to preserve the win.
2000 – three games to go
Red Deer met Prince Albert in their third to last game of the season. The Rebels were a middle of the pack team due to the success of the Calgary Hitmen and Kootenay ICE in 1999-2000.
Red Deer and Prince Albert were pretty evenly matched in 1999-00, both teams qualified for the post-season dance.
The Raiders got themselves an early lead and added to it early in the second period. Finally, by the midway point of the second period, Red Deer broke through the pads of Duane Perillat. Justin Mapletoft scored his 38th goal of the season to make it 2-1.
Five minutes later the Raiders extended their lead back to two on the power play.
In the third period, the Rebels found their scoring touch adding three goals, one each from Dustin Paul, Lyle Steenbergen, and Justin Mapletoft. Mapletoft’s 39th of the season proved to be the game-winning goal for Red Deer.
Shane Bendera made 29 saves in the win including all 12 third period shots by the Raiders.
2002 – opening game of the playoffs
Red Deer won the Central Division with 100 points and met the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first round of the WHL playoffs, they finished with 72 points good for fourth in the division.
Despite Red Deer dominating the first 20 minutes, they could not solve Lethbridge goaltender Logan Koopmans. He made 14 saves.
It took until late in the second period for Red Deer to get on the board as Mikhail Yakubov lit the lamp with 2:28 left in the period. Lethbridge answered 1:07 later to tie the game. That would not last long as Doug Lynch scored with seven seconds left on the clock to make it 2-1 Red Deer.
Early in the third period Red Deer opened up a 3-1 lead on a goal from Carsen Germyn. Lethbridge made it interesting when they scored with 5:33 to play in regulation. With the Hurricanes net empty, the Rebels sealed the game when Yakubov scored his second of the game. Red Deer took the opening game of the series 4-2.
Cam Ward made 17 saves in the win.
2003 – Game 2 of the opening round
Red Deer had a 1-0 series lead over the Calgary Hitmen when the two teams met for the second night in a row. The Rebels had a 42 point lead in the regular-season standings.
All the scoring was done in the first half of the game as the Rebels got themselves out to a 3-0 lead before the game was 22 minutes old. Joel Stepp, Matthew Keith, and Boyd Gordon scored goals for the Rebels.
Calgary made a game of it by scoring twice on the power play. That was all the could muster before the Rebels and Cam Ward shut the door. Ward made 24 saves to preserve the win and a 2-0 series lead.
Gerry Festa made 38 saves in the loss.
2013 – Game 1 against Prince Albert
The Rebels headed into the playoffs on a bit of a slide, losing their final three contests. The Raiders, on the other hand, were on a modest two-game winning streak.
Prince Albert handed Red Deer everything they had in the series-opening game but just could not solve Patrik Bartosak. He had 31 saves in a shut out win for Red Deer.
Brooks Maxwell set the tone early as his goal at 0:25 gave his team a very early 1-0 lead. Rhyse Dieno and Cody Thiel added goals for the Rebels before they put the game on cruise control for the third period. Bartosak had to make 13 saves in the final frame as the Raiders pushed hard to get on the scoreboard.
The win gave the Rebels a 1-0 series lead.
2019 – another opening-round game against Prince Albert
Pegged by many to go onto the Memorial Cup, the Prince Albert Raiders made quick work of the regular-season title, finishing with 112 points, 11 more than the next closest team. Red Deer, on the other hand, finished with 72 points and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
As expected the game was all Prince Albert. The Rebels only mustered 21 shots on Ian Scott and he turned them all aside.
Prince Albert only needed Dante Hannoun’s late first-period goal to seal the win but added two more in the second period.
Ethan Anders made 25 saves for Red Deer in the loss.
