A special shoutout to the Red Deer Rebels play-by-play man Cam Moon, who was born on this day! Today is a milestone birthday for Cam, we’ll let you figure out how many years young he is!
You guys. It’s a milestone day in @Rebelshockey history! Stick tap to the legend #Mooner ? ? @1067TheDrive #WHL pic.twitter.com/77XocuwRle
— TROY GILLARD (@Troy_Gillard) March 27, 2020
A very busy day in Rebels history starts below!
1999 – Round 1, Game 3 against the Calgary Hitmen
Red Deer scored two wins in Brandon to open the series and headed home with all kinds of confidence. The teams combined for 14 goals in Game 3 as well as 174 minutes in penalties as a brawl broke out towards the end of the game.
Red Deer opened the scoring 22 seconds into the game on a goal from Lukas Bednarik, his second of the opening-round series. Brandon answered back 28 seconds later to tie the game at one. Before the first period was over, Frantisek Mrazek scored to make it 2-1 Red Deer.
Bradon struck early in the second period to tie the game.
Shawn McNeil then took over the game as he scored twice in 22 seconds on the power play to make it 4-2 in short order. Brandon hit back with a power play goal of their own, this goal was Brad Twordik’s first of the playoffs. His goal made it 4-3.
Shawn McNeil added another tally, his hat trick goal, 44 seconds later to make it 5-3 Red Deer. Kevin Marsh scored his fourth goal of the playoffs at 12:36 of the second period. This goal was the eventual game-winning goal for Red Deer.
Brandon scored their second power play goal of the period with just over four minutes left in the frame. This goal made it 6-4 in favour of Red Deer. The Rebels weren’t done yet, as they added their fifth and sixth goals of the period. First Brad Leeb scored his third of the playoffs, then Lukas Bednarik scored his second of the game and third of the playoffs. Red Deer went to the dressing room leading 8-4.
Each team scored once in the third period as the game was out of reach for Brandon. Mrazek scored his second goal of the game to make it 9-5 with eight and a half minutes to play.
Dustin Schwartz made 35 saves in the win for Red Deer to extend their series lead to 3-0.
2001 – Round 1, Game 3 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes
With the teams each winning a game in Red Deer, the series shifted to Lethbridge for games three and four.
All six of the Rebels goals in this game came courtesy of the special teams, with five power play goals and short-handed marker. Red Deer scored four times in the first period on 14 shots. All four goals were on the man-advantage. The Rebels scored twice before the game was six and a half minutes old on goals by Ross Lupaschuk and Justin Mapletoft.
A minute and a half later Lethbridge responded to make it 2-1. Then Red Deer went back to work on the power play. With less than four minutes left in the opening period, Mapletoft had his second goal of the game. Martin Erat made it 4-1 with another power play goal just over a minute later.
Short-handed late in the second period, Red Deer’s Andrew Bergen made it 5-1.
Red Deer finished 5-for-11 on the power play. Their fifth power play goal was scored by Diarmuid Kelly with less than nine minutes to play in regulation.
160 minutes in penalties were dolled out in this game as things devolved late in the game and the referees handed out game misconducts.
Shane Bendera made 21 saves in the win.
2002 – Round 1, Game 4 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes
Red Deer had won three straight and had a 3-0 stranglehold on the opening-round playoffs series with Lethbridge. The team wanted to close out the series as soon as possible to get some rest in before a possible second-round battle.
As the game started, the Rebels began to pour it on the Hurricanes in hopes of taking an early lead. And take an early lead they did. 2:10 into the game Colin Fraser scored his second of the playoffs. A little more than seven minutes later, Joel Stepp scored his second of the playoffs. Red Deer had a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.
Lethbridge weathered the storm and scored a goal of their own 13 and a half minutes into the second period. They did everything they could to tie the game but were unable to in the second period.
Early in the third period though, the tying goal they were looking for came through. Jeremy Jackson scored his third goal of the series to make it 2-2 with more than 18 minutes remaining in the game.
Logan Koopmans did everything he could to stop the Rebels from scoring including three power plays. Unfortunately, the Rebels were just too much for the Hurricanes on this night and throughout the series.
With 8:26 to play in regulation, Doug Lynch scored the game-winning goal, sending the Rebels to round two. Koopmans made 26 saves in the loss, Cam Ward had 20 in the win.
2004 – Round 1, Game 5 against the Calgary Hitmen
The Rebels had a 3-1 series lead heading into the fifth game of the series. Red Deer hosted Calgary for the third time in the series. With elimination hanging in the balance for the Hitmen they worked hard to keep the Rebels at bay.
It worked, especially early in the game as the teams remained tied at zero after 20 minutes.
Calgary then got on the board on the power play, six and a half minutes into the second period. It was 1-0 Hitmen through 40 minutes.
All the action came in the last seven minutes of the third period as Calgary scored it’s second of the night. Jeff Schultz scored the eventual game-winner for Calgary. Red Deer did score with less than five minutes on the clock as Joel Henituik scored his fourth of the series. That was all they could muster though.
With less than a minute left in the game, future NHLer Andrew Ladd scored into an empty Rebel net. Final score 3-1 Calgary.
Cam Ward made 29 saves in the loss. Barry Brust made 23 saves in the win for Calgary.
2005 – Round 1, Game 2 against Medicine Hat
With the Tigers up 1-0 in the series, the Rebels knew they would need to work hard to overcome the boisterous 4006 fans that packed the Medicine Hat Arena.
Red Deer scored early and often, then held on to take a 4-3 victory over the Tigers. Joel Henituk, Tyler Johnson and Ashton Rome (2) scored for Red Deer, opening up a 4-0 lead on the Tigers by 11:40 of the second period. The team had scored twice on four first period shots.
Medicine Hat responded quickly with a short-handed goal and began to turn the tide in their favour. The third period saw the Tigers add two more goals but it was not enough for the home side to overcome the Rebels. Goaltender Andrew Leslie did just enough to hold the Tigers at bay. The series was tied at one heading to Red Deer for game three.
2007 – Round 1, Game 3 against Medicine Hat
Red Deer and Medicine Hat were tied at a game apiece heading to Game 3 in Red Deer. Medicine Hat’s high powered offence came to play as they outscored Red Deer in the first and second periods to hang on for their second victory in the series.
The Tigers had a 3-0 lead, including a power-play goal, before the Rebels got a sniff at the scoreboard. Brennen Wray scored his first playoff goal at 14:38 of the second period. Medicine Hat answered back with their fourth goal less than 30 seconds later. Their offence was just too much to overcome as it was now a three-goal lead.
With 90 seconds to play in the second period, Dustin Moore scored his second goal of the playoffs to make it 4-2.
Medicine Hat made it 5-2 before Ted Vandermeer scored his first goal of the playoffs. Final score was 5-3 Medicine Hat and they took a 2-1 series lead.
2013 – Round 1, Game 4 against the Prince Albert Raiders
The Rebels headed into the fourth game of the series with a 3-0 lead. They hoped to close out the series on the road at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
This game got off to a rocky start for Red Deer as Prince Albert scored twice early. Conner Bleackley scored with eight minutes to play in the first period to send the teams to the dressing room with the Raiders up 2-1.
Brooks Maxwell scored his third goal of the series 13 minutes into the second period to tie the game.
Patrik Bartosak had to be stellar in the final 40 minutes, making 24 saves in to keep the Raiders from scoring. His brilliance paid off for the Rebels as Turner Elson scored his third goal of the series to win it for Red Deer 3-2. They moved on to the second round with the win in Prince Albert.
2016 – Round 1, Game 3 against the Calgary Hitmen
With the series tied at a game apiece the Rebels headed to Calgary looking to give themselves a 2-1 series lead. It certainly didn’t start that way as the Hitmen got on the board first.
An early 5-on-3 for Calgary gave them a chance to jump out to an early lead. They took advantage and were up 1-0 just over three minutes into the game.
Calgary went up 2-0 before Red Deer could score. Evan Polei scored his second of the playoffs before the end of the first period to send the teams to the dressing rooms with the Hitmen up 2-1.
Jake DeBrusk scored the first of his two goals early in the second period to tie the hockey game.
He would then score again barely a minute into the final frame to give the Rebels their first lead. The Hitmen fought back with 14 third period shots, tying it up with six minutes to play.
Miraculously, Red Deer scored for the second time on their five third period shots to win the game. Evan Polei had his third of the playoffs and Red Deer had a 2-1 series lead.
2018 – Round 1, Game 3 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes
The Hurricanes had outscored Red Deer 14-3 over the first two games of their opening-round series. The Rebels could not find an answer to the high-powered Hurricanes offence.
The Hurricanes started early in this game, scoring just 1:35 in on the power play. Red Deer answered back with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Brandon Hagel scored his third of the series short-handed. The teams went into the intermission tied at one.
The second period started much the same way as Lethbridge scored first to retake the lead seven minutes in. Red Deer responded seven minutes later when Kristian Reichel scored his first of the series. This time though Lethbridge scored with seconds left in the period, on the power play to take a 3-2 lead to the dressing room.
Red Deer got in deep when the Hurricanes scored to take a 4-2 with 7:31 left on the clock. The lead seemed insurmountable but Grayson Pawlenchuk replied for Red Deer just over a minute later. That made it 4-3.
With the goalie pulled and a man-advantage, the Rebels managed to send the game to overtime. Reichel had his second goal of the game.
Overtime didn’t last long as the Rebels took a penalty at the end of regulation. The power play lasted just 38 seconds as Calen Addison ended it to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 series lead. Riley Lamb had 25 saves in the loss
