The Red Deer Rebels embarked on their annual trip away from the Westerner Park Centrium as it played host to the Canadian Finals Rodeo as well as Agri-Trade.
Every November, the team heads on a nine- to 14-day journey to visit other WHL teams.
This year, the team headed east to take on the six teams of the East division. As it is every time the team heads that direction, the Rebels knew the road would be tough.
Starting back on November 1st, the Rebels were in Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors. Despite a solid effort by the team — one in which they pushed the pace and took 38 shots at Adam Evanoff — the Rebels goaltending was not up to the task. Ethan Anders was pulled following the third goal of the game on just the 13th shot he faced. Two more goals were scored by the Warriors in a 5-2 final.
The following Sunday afternoon in Regina, the Rebels prevailed 3-2 in overtime to pick up their fourth win of the season. Arshdeep Bains was the hero as the Rebels needed just 48 seconds to dispatch the Pats. Josh Tarzwell and Chase Leslie were the other goal scorers for the Rebels as Byron Fancy picked up his first win of the season.
They were then off to Manitoba where the Rebels met the Brandon Wheat Kings and the newest team in the WHL, the Winnipeg ICE, for the first time.
The Rebels started Fancy for the second game in a row, and this time the result was not a good one as the Wheat Kings downed the Rebels 5-2. With time ticking down in the third period, Mason Ward collected his first WHL goal. The goal gave the rookie defenseman five points in 14 games. Bains scored his second goal in as many games.
Then the team was off to Winnipeg, meeting the ICE for the first time since they moved to the Manitoba capital. After getting off to a poor start, the Rebels had the game tied at three with less than eight minutes to play in the third period. Winnipeg scored twice in 1:04 to take the game 5-3. Red Deer had goals from Ethan Sakowich, Brett Davis, and Jaxsen Wiebe. Anders made 41 saves in the loss.
Between the fourth and fifth games of the road trip, Brent Sutter made a deal with the Swift Current Broncos, sending Jordan Borysiuk, Cohner Saleski, Parker Lalonde, and a 2020 third-round pick in exchange for 17-year-old forward Ben King. King was available for both games this past weekend.
It was then on to Saskatoon last Friday as the Rebels faced the Blades. Once again, the Rebels were on the losing end of the decision, surrendering three goals while scoring only once. Two of the Blades’ goals came on the power play, both early in the second period. Dallon Melin was the only scorer for the Rebels. The goal was Melin’s second of the season and first since opening night.
Finally, the road trip for Red Deer ended in Prince Albert, as the Rebels had an opportunity to avenge the 4-0 series sweep during last season’s playoffs. The team was able to steal a 3-2 victory in regulation as the Raiders outshot them 33-27. The secondary scoring stepped up for the Rebels with Chris Douglas, Dawson Barteaux, and Melin all scoring. Melin’s goal with six and a half minutes to play held up as the game winner. Arshdeep Bains had two assists, and Ben King collected his first point as a Rebel.
The team now heads home for four straight and six of the next eight, after covering nearly 3,000 kilometers over the nine-day trip. The Rebels will not venture outside their division until December 6th when they are in Moose Jaw, SK.
Other news…
Jayden Grubbe and Kyle Masters were playing on Canadian teams at the U-17 World Challenge in Medicine Hat and Swift Current from November 2-9.
Grubbe’s team finished the tournament in eighth place. He scored twice and added an assist in Team Canada Black’s five games.
Masters played on Team Canada Red. His team managed fifth place in the eight-team tournament. Masters registered three assists in his four games. Late in the fourth game, he picked up an assist on the goal that took the teams to overtime in the quarterfinals. In overtime, an awkward fall took him out of the game and has resulted in him being listed as out indefinitely by the Rebels on the weekly report put out by the WHL.
The team had some fun this week, creating this video:
Mondayz. ??
? @JoelSexsmith @chrisdoug7 @ethanrowland158 @saky44 pic.twitter.com/xAjhdjgx4I
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) November 11, 2019
And finally, a Rebel alumnus was called up today to the Winnipeg Jets. Good luck to Michael Spacek (120GP, 48G, 91A) as he could see his first action as early as this week against the Florida Panthers.
#NHLJets recall Michael Spacek from the @ManitobaMoose.
DETAILS: https://t.co/gSMh76uwtZ
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 13, 2019
Milestones
Cameron Hausinger played in his 275th WHL game on Saturday in Prince Albert. He needs one assist for 75 in his career. Zak Smith is three games from his 100th WHL contest. Josh Tarzwell is 7 games from 200 in his WHL career. Brett Davis is 8 assists from 100 in his career. Dawson Barteaux is 7 games from 200 in his WHL career. Ethan Sakowich is 7 points from 50 in his career. He will also play in contest 225 on Friday.
