REBELS: Dumba Dealt To Portland

Trade breakdown (as per whl.ca)

The Red Deer Rebels have officially parted ways with Mathew Dumba.

Today, the Rebels traded Dumba’s WHL playing rights, along with a conditional 2014 WHL Bantam Draft pick, to the Portland Winterhawks. In return, the Rebels get 18-year-old forward Presten Kopeck and conditional bantam draft picks.

While it has become quite clear that the Minnesota Wild have no interest in sending Dumba back to play for an on-the-fringe playoff contender (if they ever had any to begin with), the chance to send him out west to play for a league championship and Memorial Cup contender may be a much more enticing possibility. It is clearly a possibility that both Rebels GM / Head Coach Brent Sutter and Winterhawks GM / Head Coach Mike Johnston are banking on.

Rebels Gone Wild

Sometimes, as a broadcaster, you get lucky.



Prior to last night’s game at the Enmax Centrium between the Rebels and Regina Pats, Cam Moon and I were saying “How cool would it be if Paul Charles came to the game tonight?  He’d be a PERFECT intermission guest.”



Most of you probably don’t know who Paul Charles is… he is a scout with the Minnesota Wild.  And, as we’ve all seen, there’s no shortage of Rebels-Wild activity to chat about these days.



Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, Paul walked into the media lounge while Mooner and I were still chatting.  Perfect.



Paul is a big reason why Minnesota drafted Mathew Dumba 7th overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft.  Before that, he was a big advocate for drafting Darcy Kuemper, which the Wild did in the sixth round (161st overall) of the 2009 draft.



That particular selection is turning out to be quite a steal for the Wild, and Charles couldn’t be happier.

Wild Camp Looms For Dumba

It looks like the Minnesota Wild will have their 2012 first round draft pick attending their training camp.

Red Deer Rebels Owner / President / GM / Head Coach Brent Sutter fully expects to lose the services of Mathew Dumba for a few days while he skates with the teams that selected him 7th overall last June.

“Matty will be leaving for sure,” Sutter confirmed before Monday’s practice at the Enmax Centrium. “There’s a good possibility Matty could be leaving before the weekend games [Friday at Saskatoon, Saturday at Prince Albert]. He’ll be gone for a few days and then he’ll be back again.”

A Wild Birthday Milestone For Dumba

Courtesy:  Minnesota Star Tribune

Time to dust off the keyboard and do a bit of blogging for the first time in what seems like way too much time off.

As Mathew Dumba today celebrates his 18th birthday, I figured it would be a good idea to catch up with the star Red Deer Rebels defenceman. 

From playing at the World U-18's (becoming the first blueliner to lead the tournament in scoring), to being selected 7th overall by Minnesota at the NHL Entry Draft, to skating at the Wild's summer development camp and signing his entry level contract... "off-season" hasn't been a part of Dumba's vocabulary.