Tag Archives: Red Deer

2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup, Edmonton Oilers, Zach Laing

Memorial Cup: Huskies eliminate Rebels, face Knights for championship

The Rebels knew that tonight’s Memorial Cup semi-final was going to be the biggest game of their season and many of their lives, but didn’t come out playing like it.

It took only 10 minutes for the Huskies to get on the board, when Timo Meier found Francis Perron on the power play and he wired one past Rebel G Rylan Toth.

One minute and seven seconds later, the Huskies got back on the board when Martin Dzierkals sent a soft backhander to the net which managed to squeak by the Rebel netminer. A third goal in the second period came to the Huskies in thanks to a power play tally by Nikolas Brouillard and the game was out of reach.

Rob Wallator/CHL Images

However, that wasn’t due to a phenomenal effort by the Red Deer Rebels. In a typical Alberta fashion, the Rebels did everything they could to fight through adversity and come back in the game.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, who outshot the Huskies 37-27 by the end of the game, they ran into a goaltender who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The Rebels managed to score in the third, when captain Luke Philp found the back of the net.

With their win tonight, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies advance to the finals against the London Knights Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM MT.

“I don’t think any of you guys out there thought with us being hosts and being beat out in the semi-finals that we could play against these top teams,” said Rebels Head Coach Brent Sutter. “We deserved to be in this game tonight with our two and one record.

“We played with this team tonight too. We made a couple mistakes in the first period that put us behind – we didn’t quit – we kept battling and I thought their goaltender was the best player on the ice. That’s the way she goes”

Huskies goaltender Chase Marchand certainly was the best player on the ice tonight, as he turned aside 36 shots from the resilient Rebels.

“I thought we played a good game,” said marchand. “Our defence played great, they boxed out the guys and allowed me to see shots.

“We’re looking forward to the rematch [with the Knights].”

Like what happens to every Junior hockey player, there is always that one final game. Tonight, the Rebels Haydn Fleury was one of those guys as the 2014 seventh overall draft pick will vy for a spot on the Carolina Hurricanes next season.

“It’s certainly disappointing to be in this position

“We spotted them two quick, and we couldn’t really bounce back this time,” said Fleury. “We had the scoring chances and the shots on goal to do that, but the bounces just didn’t go our way.

“Coming here as a 15-year old was surreal, and the Sutter’s have been great to me. Next August I won’t be coming to Red Deer, I’ll be going down to Carolina – I’m going into Carolina next year to make their team.”

As we look toward the Memorial Cup Championship match Sunday afternoon, the CHL’s Top Ten ranked No. 1 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies face off again against the No. 3 London Knights. A matchup Huskies Head Coach Gilles Bouchard is looking forward too.

“We want to be better game after game,” said Bouchard. “We have a group of players who work very hard and compete very hard.

“If you want to win some day for sure we have to respect this. We have to compete and battle in every situation for 60 minute with consistency is what would be most important for Sunday.

Come Sunday, the Knights will have had a total of five days off since their last game and after taking a trip to Banff yesterday, they will be skating everyday up until the championship bought.

 

I am credentialed and covering the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer. You can follow me on twitter here for live updates from all this year’s games.

My work at this year’s Memorial Cup:
Knights surge past the Rebels 6-2 in the tournament’s opening game – Beer League Heroes, May 21.
Conner Bleackley shines in first game in over two months – Copper and Blue, May 21.
Should the Oilers be looking at drafting Kale Clague? – Beer League Heroes, May 22.
Top lines from the Knights and Rebels dominate at the Memorial Cup – Copper and Blue, May 23.
Rebels top line of Helewka, Philp and DeBrusk lead the host squad to a 5-2 victory over the Huskies – Beer League Heroes, May 23.
Wheat Kings dethroned in “disappointing” loss to the Knights – Copper and Blue, May 24.
Tyler Parsons shines as Knights beat Huskies 5-2 to book berth into Memorial Cup final – Beer League Heroes, May 25.
Rebels eliminate the Wheat Kings and book a berth in the semi-finals – Copper and Blue, May 26 

Brennen York, NHL, NHL Entry Draft, Prospects

WHL Players to Watch

Another exciting season of WHL hockey is right around the corner, and with main camps kicking off this week, the anticipation of opening night is almost unbearable. There are tons of enticing storylines to watch for as the season gets underway, and the one I will be watching the closest is how the 2016 draft eligibles will perform. Over at DraftGeek.ca, we currently list six WHL’ers in our top thirty which is somewhat underwhelming, however I fully expect to see Sam Steel, Tyler Benson, and Jake Bean’s stock rise over the course of the year, meaning we could see three WHL players in the top ten come draft week. Aside from the draft eligibles, there’s a laundry list of players to keep an eye on this season for a number of different reasons.

Mathew Barzal (C) – Seattle Thunderbirds

After an injury plagued campaign in 2015, Mathew Barzal has possibly the most to prove out of any Western Hockey League player. Barzal will be a huge threat this year as his elite level puck skills and vision make him a dangerous junior hockey player. The T-Birds are a team on the rise with a good, young core in place; it’s possible we see them take over as the top squad in the U.S division. Though they will lose veterans like Shea Theodore, Roberts Lipsbergs, and Justin Hickman, players like Nolan Volcan, Gropp, Kolesar, and Bear will be able to pick up the slack, and along with Barzal carry the team into the playoffs.

Nolan Patrick (C) – Brandon Wheat Kings

Nolan Patrick may be the next superstar to come from the WHL. Since Ryan Nugent Hopkins, the WHL has lacked in elite talent near the top of the draft order, and I’m not saying they haven’t been producing great talent, there just hasn’t been a Jonathan Toews or Steven Stamkos level prospect come around for a while. That changes with Nolan Patrick. I believe he’s the next one. Nolan brings a unique package to the Wheat Kings in that he’s as good of a goal scorer as he is a puck distributor. He has a big frame and gets around the ice extremely well. The Wheaties will push for a memorial cup this season, and it will be on the back of Nolan Patrick.

Carter Hart (G) – Everett Silvertips

The 2014/15 season was an interesting one for the young netminder. Playing behind a veteran goaltender usually means you won’t see a ton of starts, and it’ll be a while before you see time as a regular. Carter had a different story to write. After unseating Austin Lotz as the starter late into the season, Hart ran with the starting gig throughout the playoffs posting a .929 save percentage along the way. Coming off a gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka tournament, expect Carter to come into the season with a ton of confidence. Without anyone to really push for the job, I fully expect Carter to run with the job and finish top 10 in the league.

Conner Bleackley (C) – Red Deer Rebels

It wouln’t be a huge surprise to see Bleackley stick around in Colorado this season, but with the additions of Carl Soderberg and Mikhail Grigorenko, it’s more likely he suits up for the Rebels this season. With a lack of game breaking forwards up front, Bleackley will be heavily relied upon as the key offensive spark plug for the Mem Cup hosts. Conner is a strong two way player who isn’t necessarily considered an offensive minded player, but this will be the year we get to watch him emerge as a dominant junior hockey player. If all goes well for Conner, his offensive totals will be in the 70 point range. If he can prove to be a reliable point producer this season, it’s likely he’s brought in as a third line NHL’er next season.

Of course there are a ton of players who will play key roles on their clubs this season, but if I were to list every player who’s poised to have a breakout campaign I’d be writing for weeks. In a year that almost any team will be able to push for a playoff spot, I think this will be a very exciting season, and I can’t wait to get things rolling.