Thursday Blogging

-Rebels back in action tomorrow night in Lethbridge - 7 p.m. Before returning home Saturday to face the Saskatoon Blades at the Enmax Centrium - 7:30 p.m.

-The standings have been a funny thing this season. At 13-14, Red Deer has been decent, yet not spectacular so far. It's been a while since a mid-week game, so the games in hand are piling up. Three on most teams, four on others. Yet, ground gained in any capacity has been hard to come by. As of today, Red Deer sits in a familiar spot, 10th in the conference, six points back of a playoff spot. When does crunch time begin? As Rebel fans, are you worried with the current standings situation, or is it only a matter of time before this squad reels off a few wins in a row and gets into a playoff spot?

-Hockey Canada named the 36-man World Jr. selection camp roster yesterday. Among the group that will be wittled down to 22 are 10 WHL'ers:

Jordan Eberle - Regina Pats
Colten Teubert - Regina Pats.
Brayden Schenn - Brandon Wheat Kings
Scott Glennie - Brandon Wheat Kings
Martin Jones - Calgary Hitmen
Brandon Kozun - Calgary Hitmen
Brandon McMillan - Kelowna Rockets
Travis Hamonic - Moose Jaw Warriors
Jared Cowen - Spokane Chiefs
Cody Eakin - Swift Current Broncos

Obviously, Canada is so strong in the jr age group, and there will always be second -geussing, and in a lot of ways, no wrong decisions. Some of the notables left off this list though include Wheat Kings defenseman Colby Robak, Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Calvin Pickard, Saskatoon Blades defenseman Stefan Elliot, Lethbridge Hurricanes F Carter Ashton, and most notably for me, Calgary Hitmen blueliner Michael Stone.

There was thought that Rebels F Willie Coetzee, who has had a great season, had an outside chance of a camp invite, but in the end, it proved to be too deep of a group to crack. I'm sure Willie is disappointed, as he showed pretty well in his one game Subway Super Series stint.

Perhaps next year could be the season we see the first Rebel play for Canada since Brandon Sutter in 2007, as Landon Ferraro and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could both be in the mix.


-Meanwhile, speaking of Ferraro, he's back in Vancouver currently seeing a specialist after re-aggravating his knee injury in Friday's 4-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors. This has been a pretty troubling and frustrating injury for Landon, and while he was playing much better in recent weeks, he has still been lacking that extra bit of explosivity in open ice that helped make him a 37-goal scorer last season.

-Red Deer expects to have D Colin Archer and F Daulton Siwak back in the lineup this weekend. Both missed time with concussion symptoms. I'm interested to see Siwak's return and a possible shot at a more offensive role.

-I chatted with former Rebel Martin Hanzal this week:
http://www.reddeerexpress.com/article/20091202/EXP1101/312029996/-1/EXP11/former-rebels-star-part-of-phoenix-rising

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Rebels vs Tigers - Saturday night.

Once again, it's back to the .500 mark for the Red Deer Rebels after a 4-1 win Friday night over Moose Jaw.

Andrei Kudrna and Landon Ferraro combined for six points, while Ryan Nugent Hopkins put the game away with a beauty in the third, his 14th of the season.

Tonight, Red Deer gets the chance to move ABOVE .500 for the first time since September the 25th, when they were 2-1.

Notes vs Med Hat Tigers:

- As always, tonight is a 7:30 start. I'll have the pregame show starting at 7 (www.1067thedrive.fm)

- Josh Cowen left Friday's game with a shoulder injury. He will dress tonight, but I would expect he won't see as much ice as he usually does.

- Once again, 15 year-old D Matt Dumba is in the lineup, as Colin Archer remains out. Dumba's debut was decent Friday, but I think there is more in the tank, and we'll see it tonight. (Nothing like sky high expectations for a 15 year old!) Dumba, by the way, is from Calgary, but spent his early years in Regina, and is a big Rider fan, along with F Brett Ferguson, G Kraymer Barnstable, and assistant coach Bryce Thoma.

Here are the lines tonight: It will be Darcy Kuemper vs Tyler Bunz ingoal

Kudrna - Ferraro - Cowen

Deagle - Nugent-Hopkins - Coetzee

Scheidl - Ferguson - Persson

Mayor - Kambeitz - Elson

Game night

Red Deer Rebels vs Moose Jaw Warriors - 7:30 p.m.

I'll have the pregame show starting at seven. www.1067thedrive.fm

-Rebels 15 year-old Matt Dumba is expected to make his WHL debut tonight, and play tomorrow as well. Due to sketchy road conditions though, he was still running late at last check. Hopefully Dumba gets here soon. Looking forward to watching what will be the first of many WHL games.

Nathan Green is out tonight, and will be gone 6-8 weeks. Colin Archer is still out indefinitely will post-concussion as well. The good news is, Justin Weller (ribs) makes his return to the lineup.

This is how things stack up. It will be Darcy Kuemper vs Jeff Bosch in net.

Kudrna - Ferraro - Cowen

Deagle - Nugent Hopkins - Coetzee

Scheidl - Ferguson - Persson

Mayor - Kambeitz - Elson

Some Wednesday Reading

Life without 20 year-old F Nathan Green begins on Friday night, as the Red Deer Rebels play host to the Moose Jaw Warriors. (7:30 p.m) - 7 p.m. pregame show http://www.1067thedrive.fm/
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-18 year-old Slovak F Andrei Kudrna, who has been very good for Red Deer ever since coming over from Vancouver in exchange for Cass Mappin, will be heading to Saskatoon/Regina this Christmas to play in the the WJC.

From the Rebels this morning:

18-year old forward Andrej Kudrna will play for Slovakia at the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships December 26th to January 5th in Saskatoon and Regina. Kudrna will leave the Rebels December 15th to join Team Slovakia in Prince Albert for their training camp.

Kudrna was acquired by the Rebels from the Vancouver Giants October 6th. He has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 21 games since coming to Red Deer and is in his second season in the WHL.

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- 19 year-old F Willie Coetzee will be in Kelowna tomorrow night as part of team WHL in the CHL Subway Super Series against the Russian Selects. Coetzee won't play tonight in game one in Victoria.
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-Former Rebel captain Ted Vandermeer, out of Caroline, AB, is back at home, and will miss the rest of the CHL's Missouri Mavericks season after a chronic athritic condition became too painful in his hips and back. Doctors are hoping that medication will do its work, and Ted can recover fully before getting back up to speed.

Ted, who last played with the Rebels in 2006-07, is the youngest of the six Vandermeer brothers, five of whom play pro hockey, (Pete, Jim, Dan, Bill, Ted) while the other, Joe, plays for the Chinook League's Bentley Generals.

Bill, now in his 4th Central League season, also toils for the Mavericks, as does former Rebel Karey Pieper, who is getting a chance to follow his dream and play pro hockey.
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-With two more assists last night, former Rebel D Jordan Henry, out of Milo, AB, is having a career season with the Rochester Americans, Florida's AHL affiliate.

Henry, a great skater and solid two-way guy but not necessarily a natural offensive defenseman, now has two goals and eight points in 18 games this season. After going undrafted in his WHL career, Henry was signed to a contract by the Panthers two and a half years ago, and has gotten better and better as a pro. You'll see him in the NHL one day.

- From Dan Rosen at NHL.com -A piece on Sylvan Lake native Derek Morris growing up in Central Alberta: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=507303

- If you haven't read it, John Buccigross gives a very interesting read on Brian Burkes' son, Brendan, who is gay.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=4685761


- Go 'Riders.

AW

Green out for a while

As per head coach Jesse Wallin today:

Rebels 20 year-old F Nathan Green will miss the next 6-8 weeks with a broken fibula suffered in the Rebels game Sunday night in Medicine Hat. The break will not require surgery, meaning we could see Green back in the lineup sometime early in the New Year.


This is obviously as huge blow for Red Deer, as Green has done nothing but play hard and play well since coming over from Brandon in an off-season trade. scoring nine goals and 22 points in 25 games.

On the bright side though, with the way the gruesome injury was described to me....a broken fibula with no surgery is absolutely the best case scenario. We could just as easily been talking about a spiral fracture or a torn ACL and MCL that could have put Green on the sidelines for months, if not the season.

What does this injury mean? Landon Ferraro and Willie Coetzee will have to really take this team on their shoulders offensively. Ferraro, most notably, has really been coming on since returning from injury. We have yet to see him in full-fledged sniper form, but it's been a steady progression. The progression will have to end this weekend though.

Ferraro's time to shine, is now.

Rebels fall in Med Hat - GO GREEN

Rebels lose in Medicine Hat.

You've been able to copy and paste that headline for quite some time here in Red Deer.

For the 11th consecutive regular season game, the Rebels lose on the road to the Tigers, this time, giving up three powerplay goals in a 3-1 final.

Here's the summary:

1. M.H Etem, (18) (King, Vey), 18:53 (PP)

2. M.H Etem, (19) (Vey, Kundratek), 7:45 (PP)
2. M.H Kundratek, (1) (Etem, MacKay), 12:59 (PP)

3. R.D Nugent-Hopkins, (13) (Coetzee, Morin), 7:34 (PP)


-Five on five, Red Deer was solid, but obviously, the Tigers powerplay was the deciding factor.

-Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves in his second consecutive start, while Tyler Bunz was named the game's first star, turning aside 38 shots in the Tiger net.

Rebels head coach Jesse Wallin had this to say:

"I thought it was a tough loss. We haven't had a win in this buliding for a while, and I thought we played real well in the first period. We did a real good jo and in stretches during the game we played well, but unfortunately our penalty kill didn't get the job done tonight. We gave up three powerplay goals and it was just a matter of execution. They didn't do anything different than what we expected to see, we just didn't execute. There were a couple of missed assignments that made it into our net."

"I thought we came at them in the third, had some opportunities, got a goal on our powerplay which gave us some life, but at the end of the day we came up short."

-So, it runs the road regular-season losing streak against the Tigers to 11 straight. The last time the Rebels won a regular season matchup in MH was back on November 18th, 2006, when Ted Vandermeer's hat trick goal in overtime gave Red Deer a 5-4 victory.

-The Rebels did win a playoff game in Medicine Hat back in the 2006-07 season (a 6-2 win in game one) but dropped the next three road games of that series.

- Justin Weller was NOT in the Rebels lineup last night. He suffered an injury Saturday night in the second period and left the game against Spokane.

-Next up for the 12-13 Rebels, a crucial home weekend against the Tigers and the Moose Jaw Warriors. Red Deer sits in a tie for 9th in the Eastern Conference, now four points back of the 8th place Swift Current Broncos, and five points back of the 6th place Regina Pats.
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For those of you not familiar, I was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. I didn't live there long however, and grew up in the small town of Beaubier, SK, about ten miles north of the U.S. Border.

Like the rest of my kind, I was glued to the TV yesterday, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders punched their ticket to the Grey Cup game with a 27-17 win over Calgary in the West Final. It's a great day to be a Rider fan, although Montreal is going to be a tough test.

I actually don't plan on going to the game in Calgary, but I will be a nervous wreck somewhere in the province. Now that Jim and Jer's on Bremner Ave is shut down, which bar in Red Deer serves at Rider Central?

Donna and Harold Potts, if you're reading the blog today, please accept my congratualatory high-five.

If you need your 'Rider fix this week, make sure you check out Rod Pederson's blog, linked at right. I check it every day.

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To follow up on a story I've followed. Red Deer native Matt Fraser, who play's for the Kootenay Ice, has now raised almost $7900 for the Cranbrook hospital as part of the "Matt Fraser shoot for the stars program". The initiative was totally Matt's brainchild, as his mom and billet's mom have both battled cancer. Ray Ferraro gave Matt's charity a mention on his terrific blog as well. (also linked at right)

Rebels 3 Chiefs 2 / Back to .500

Red Deer Rebels 3 Spokane Chiefs 2

(Red Deer, AB)

It's been a longstanding mystery in hockey. The first game back on home ice following a long road trip is almost always a bad one for the home team. Saturday night, the Red Deer Rebels decided to buck the trend.

Adam Kambeitz and Landon Ferraro scored in the first period, while Nathan Green scored the game winner at 9:02 on the third, as the Rebels edged the Spokane Chiefs 3-2 at the Enmax Centrium, getting back to the .500 mark at 12-12 this season.

With the game tied at two in the final frame, Green took a nifty backhand pass from Andrei Kudrna while streaking to the net and stuffed one home past Spokane netminder Michael Tadjdeh for his ninth of the season.

Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for Red Deer, who won their 2nd straight game. Tadjdeh made 20 saves for the Chiefs, who saw their three-game win streak come to an end.

The Rebels begin the second third of their season Sunday night in Medicine Hat against the Tigers (6 p.m. - 106.7 The Drive)

News and Notes

The goal for Ferraro was his third of the season, and sixth point in his last six games. Rebels defenseman Justin Weller left the game early in the second period and did not return. The game marked the Rebels debut for 17 year old F Lane Scheidl. The forward was acquired from the Vancouver Giants early Saturday for 17 year-old F Connor Redmond. The victory for Red Deer was their first over Spokane since November 9th, 2004.


Here's the summary:

1. R.D Kambeitz, (2) (Deagle, Elson), 6:16
1. SPO Johnson, (10) (Brassart, Cowen), 12:24
1. R.D Ferraro, (3) (Coetzee, Borejko), 19:37
3. SPO Johnson, (11) (Wahl, Spurgeon), 5:11 (PP)
3. R.D Green, (9) (Kudrna, Cowen), 9:02