REBELS: Skill and Size improved with additions of DeBrusk and Rattie

There's no secret about what Taden Rattie is expected to bring to the Red Deer Rebels.

The team acquired Rattie's WHL rights from Portland Monday in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. Rattie reported to the Rebels Tuesday morning. 

He's here to make his imposing presence felt and make the Rebels a tougher team to play against, and Rattie has the credentials.

"My size factor, they [Brent and Shaun Sutter] talked about it," Rattie said prior to his first practice with the Rebels. "I'm 6'4" so I've got to use my body out there, finish checks and just forecheck hard and do what I can."

The Airdrie native has racked up 297 penalty minutes in 87 career games in the AJHL, including 142 in 34 games with the Calgary Mustangs this season (3rd in the league).

It's Official, Bentley Generals Moving to Lacombe

Photo: Rod Ince, Fast Photo

The Bentley Generals will moving base camp a few miles east next year.

Lacombe City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a $3.4-million plan to build new dressing rooms for the Barnett Arena, including a new team area for the Generals.

Team officials weren't sure what to expect ahead of Monday's vote. They were relieved once council approved the plan following a short discussion.

In response to questions from a couple of city councillors, Generals officials at Monday's meeting said they will make their new area available for use by other groups during their off-season. Negotiations will take place over the coming months.

The two sides will also look at how they can work together on fundraising endeavors for the arena expansion. Council is optimistic the project can be done for less than the budget $3.4-million.

Work on the new dressing rooms is expected to this spring and be completed in time for the Generals to play in Lacombe full-time next season.

Bentley Generals On Verge of Moving to Lacombe

The Bentley Generals, two-time Allan Cup champions, await a vote from Lacombe City Council on Monday that would pave the way for them to relocate there next season.

Team officials say they have held on long enough (too long, perhaps) but a move is needed in order to keep the club competitive moving forward.

My story on the impending council vote and potential move...

http://www.1067thedrive.fm/news/bentley-generals-on-verge-of-relocating-to-lacombe/

Rebels Prospects Update

The Red Deer Rebels continue to build toward the future in addition to their mission to win the 2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup they’ll be hosting in May.

The goal is to return to being the perennial championship contender they were in the early 2000’s. For that to happen, you need not only to have a strong current roster but also a full cupboard of prospects.

Cam Moon, being the legendary voice of the Rebels that he is, recently sat down for a chat with Shaun Sutter, Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel. Sutter, as he does so well, gave Mooner a rundown of some prospects that are off to strong starts this season.

“A lot of guys are playing well and that’s what we want to see,” Sutter said. “We want to see progress and development throughout the year in areas where guys want to work on and where they need to improve.”

“Internally, there is probably as much talk about next year and what we have inside our organization for what we are building going ahead because we are striving toward being a contending team every year and these guys are going to be a part of that.”

Here’s what Shaun had to say about some of them, starting with a hometown Red Deerian…

REBELS: Big Men, Young and Old, Looking To Make Statements This Season

We’ve known for four years that Kayle Doetzel is one of the toughest defencemen to play against in the entire Western Hockey League.

His hard hitting, dependable play in his own zone earned him Rebels Defenceman of the Year honours last year. Now, the 20-year-old blueliner is looking to add more dimensions to his game.

“I worked a lot on my mobility and puck work,” Doetzel said Tuesday regarding his work in the off-season. “For a bigger guy, that’s something you need is to be able to catch some of the smaller guys [in the league].”

Doetzel also said he’s worked hard to become an even more physical player. So, there’s that.

The Rosedale, Saskatchewan native has plenty to prove heading into the new season. After receiving NHL camp invites each of the past two year from Nashville and Toronto, Doetzel found himself left out this year while eight of his Rebels teammates left to skate with big league clubs.

His coach says his first step in getting back on the pro scene is to get off to a strong start to the year.

 “He’s got a history since he was here as a young guy that he doesn’t play to his abilities that both he and we would like [early in the season],” says Brent Sutter. “In the last half, he turns it around and gets going. That’s probably affected him to some degree as to why he’s not at a pro camp this year.”

It is the expectation of both Sutter and Doetzel for #8 to be a standout among what could be the deepest defense corps in the WHL Eastern Conference.

“We’re expecting him to be a leader for us,” says Sutter. “We’re expecting him to be a shutdown defenceman and be a big, strong, solid guy that can log some big minutes. Then, perhaps he can sign a pro tryout again next year and maybe sign a pro contract.”

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While it’s still only the preseason, Austin Pratt seems to be making a smooth transition to major junior hockey.

The six-foot-two Shattuck’s St. Mary’s alum scored once in each Rebels preseason game this past weekend, a 5-3 win over Tri-City and a 5-3 loss to Spokane.

“He certainly has been good,” Sutter admits. “He’s a big body but his conditioning has been really good and he’s played a hard game, and that’s what he has to play.”

While comfortable, Pratt says his first taste of WHL preseason action has been a learning experience.

“I’ve been expecting it but how hard the hits are and how big and fast the guys are, it still takes time to get used to.”

As far as Sutter is concerned, the sky’s the limit for the Minnesota native.

“When he’s moving and engaged and finishing his checks he can do a lot of things that other 16-year-olds can’t.”

Pratt has been mostly playing on a line with Grayson Pawlenchuk and Jeff De Wit. This will likely continue this weekend as the Rebels take their shorthanded lineup into their final two preseason games Friday versus Edmonton (in Red Deer) and Saturday versus Medicine Hat (in Stettler).

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** Keep an eye on @RebelsThisWeek and @247RedDeer for video stories on Doetzel, Pratt and this weekend's final preseason games.

Rebels Roster Update

Following last night’s Black and White Game, the Rebels made a number of roster moves to leave them with 35 players still in the fold. Here’s the list of players trimmed from the roster...

Goaltender
Solomon Burk, Castlegar, BC, 1998

Defencemen
Boedy Donald, Star City, SK, 1998
Jace Foskey, Southlake, TX, 2000 – a 7th round Rebels pick in this year’s WHL Bantam Draft
Boo Grist, North Saanich, BC, 1999 – selected by the Rebels in the 6th round of the 2014 draft
Spencer McHardy, Calgary, AB, 2000 – selected by the Rebels in the 8th round of this year’s draft

Forwards
Brendan Budy, Langley, BC, 2000 – 4th round Rebels pick in 2015
Tyler Kirkup, Virden, MB, 1998 – 9th round Rebels pick in 2013
Brayden Labant, St. Paul, AB, 1999 – 8th round pick in 2014
Jack Langenhahn, St. Albert, AB, 1999
Shane Sherban, Lanigan, SK, 1998

With those players gone, here now is a look at some of the players who are still here and were not on the Rebels full-time roster last season. (Will add updates as I find time to collect info) For some of them I have included comments from Rebels Assistant GM Shaun Sutter from our chat following this year’s WHL Bantam Draft…

#RebelsTC15 The Rookies

For you diehards... here are the rookie rosters for Red Deer Rebels training camp...

2015 Red Deer Rebels Rookie Camp                                   
                                   
                                   
    Team Burgundy                                                                   Team Grey       
                                   
    Goaltenders                                                                       Goaltenders       
Burgundy    Ben Rishaug    Sherwood Park, AB    00         Grey    Lucas Leisen    Edmonton, AB    99
Blue            Riley Kohonick    White City, SK    00              Green    Lukas Shaw     Vancouver, BC    00
                                   
    Defence                                                                             Defence       
2    Carson Sass     Melville, SK    99                            2    Jacob Herauf    Sherwood Park, AB    00
3    Jace Foskey    Southlake, TX    00                          3    Boo Grist    North Saanich, BC    99
4    Matthew Kasowski    St. Albert, AB    99                 4    Jacob Thomson    Brandon, MB    00
5    Holden Parsons    Sherwood Park, AB    99           5    Spencer McHardy    Calgary, AB    00
6    Kelton Travis    Strathmore, AB    00                      6    Christian Riemer    Regina, SK    00
7    Sam Pouliot    North Vancouver, BC    00               7    Evan Simpson    Kitscoty, AB    99
                                   
                                   
    Forwards                                                                          Forwards       
8    Chase Stevenson    West Kelowna, BC    99          8    Jake Mulder    Abbotsford, BC    00
9    Eli Zummack    Kelowna, BC    00                          9    Brendan Budy    Langley, BC    00
10    Cole Basnett    Fairview, AB    00                         10    Brayden Labant    St. Paul, AB    99
11    Dylan Bourlai    Edmonton, AB    99                     11    Chance Adrian    Dalmeny, SK    99
12    Brandon Cutler    Stony Plain, AB    00                 12    Chase Lowry    Edmonton, AB    00
13    Jack Langenhahn    St. Albert, AB    99                13    Parker Saretsky    Wainwright, AB    99
14    Randen Schmidt    Regina, SK    00                      14    Bryce Osepchuk    Smoky Lake, AB    00
15    Martin Rudolf    St. Albert, AB    00                       15    D-Jay Jerome    Lethbridge, AB    99
16    Deklan Whillans    Grande Prairie, AB    99          16    Sam Robinson    Sherwood Park, AB    99
17    Chase Nameth    Regina, SK    00                         17    Joshua Belcher    Rapid City, MB    00
18    Eric Sorensen    Grimshaw, AB    00                     18    Hunter Floris    Vanderhoof, BC    00

#RebelsTC15 Main Camp Roster

Well, here we go. The long journey to the 2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup begins Friday with the start of training camp for your Red Deer Rebels. Ice times at the Enmax Centrium are posted on the Rebels website and are open to the public as always. Here's a look at the main camp roster. The rookie camp roster will be out in the next day or so. Of note, forward Meyer Nell has informed the team he is leaving to attend the University of Manitoba. Three listed players have been invited to main camp (Burk, Donald, Sherban) while McClelland is a free agent invite. EIGHT players are scheduled to attend various NHL camps in September: Fleury CAR, Bleackley COL, Musil STL, Nogier and Spacek WPG, Polei DET and Pederson and Wyatt Johnson ANA
	Team Black						Team White
	Goaltenders						Goaltenders
Black	Trevor Martin	Ardrossan, AB	96			White	Rylan Toth	Saskatoon, SK	96
Yellow	Solomon Burk	Castlegar, BC	98			Red	Dawson Weatherill	Red Deer, AB	99
	Defence						Defence
2	Haydn Fleury	Carlyle, SK	96			2	Josh Mahura	St. Albert, AB	98
3	Kayle Doetzel	Rosetown, SK	95			3	Nelson Nogier	Saskatoon, SK	96
4	Colton Bobyk	Red Deer, AB	96			4	Ethan Sakowich	Athabasca, AB	99
5	Ryan Pouliot	North Vancouver, BC	98			5	Austin Strand	Calgary, AB	97
6	Austin Shmoorkoff	Edmonton, AB	97			6	Boedy Donald	Star City, SK	98
7	Cale Chalifoux	Edmonton, AB	98
	Forwards						Forwards
8	Akash Bains	Delta, BC	99			7	Ivan Nikolishin	Moscow, RUS	96
9	Michael Spacek	Pardubice, CZR	97			8	Lane Pederson	Saskatoon, SK	97
10	Adam Musil	Delta, BC	97			9	Zac Gladu	Medicine Hat, AB	98
11	Jack McClelland	Wichita, KS	96			10	Tyler Kirkup	Virden, MB	98
12	Jeff de Wit	Red Deer, AB	98			11	Conner Bleackley	High River, AB	96
13	Wyatt Johnson	Saskatoon, SK	95			13	Austin Pratt	Lakeville, MN	99
14	Evan Polei	Wetaskiwin, AB	96			14	Presten Kopeck	Medicine Hat, AB	95
15	Tanner Sidaway	Victoria, BC	99			15	Shane Sherban	Lanigan, SK	98
16	Reese Johnson	Saskatoon, SK	98			16	Grayson Pawlenchuk	Ardrossan, AB	97