A feather in the cap last night for Deven Dubyk.
In his final appearance in the rink where he spent his first three WHL seasons, Dubyk made 28 saves to backstop the Red Deer Rebels to a 4-2 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.
By all accounts, it was a solid team effort. A perfect way for the Rebels to say "thank you" to the guy who gave them so much in so little time.
Dubyk made a very difficult decision when he joined the Rebels in late December... passing up a chance to play in the RBC Cup with the host Humboldt Broncos. The Rebels are thankful he made the decision that he did.
His overall solid play kept the injury-riddled Rebels in countless games over the past three months. Obviously, the Rebels did not win nearly as many of those games as they would have liked. But Dubyk at least gave them a chance more often than not. As I mentioned in a previous blog... his numbers don't jump right out at you (3.05 GAA, .905 save %) but if you think the Rebels season was bad enough already... not having Dubyk between the pipes would have made it look much worse.
Back to last night's game... Alex Petrovic started his farewell week by scoring a pair of goals, his 11th and 12th of the season. As Director of Player Personnel for the Florida Panthers Brian Skrudland told me last month, Petrovic is a lock to play for their AHL affiliate in San Antonio next season. So let's enjoy his final few games with the Rebels because his presence will definitely be missed next year.
Tyson Ness scored his 20th goal of the season last night. Ness has taken full advantage of the extra ice time he's received this year. He will be a valuable leader for the Rebels as a 19-year-old next season.
Just two games left for the Rebels, both of them at home, Friday versus Lethbridge and Saturday versus Edmonton.
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Meantime... Edmonton Oil Kings Head Coach Derek Laxdal is softening on his stance, somewhat.
You'll recall that he accused the Rebels of using some dirty tactics during last Saturday's game at Rexall Place... setting the stage for what could be an explosive game this Saturday at the Enmax Centrium.
But in another article featured in today's Edmonton Journal, Laxdal wasn't so sure that will be the case...
Saturday’s game against Red Deer could be a rough one. The teams combined for 156 penalty minutes at Rexall Place on Saturday and Laxdal was vocal after the game, repeatedly saying that the Rebels — who were eliminated from the playoffs —were unprofessional in how they conducted themselves.
Laxdal now brushes off the suggestion that the Rebels’ final game of the season Saturday could get out of hand.
“It’s the game of hockey,” he said. “The game gets physical and we’ve got to play through it. We’ve got to focus on getting those two points and focus on the way we play.
“We want to play a physical hard game. If it gets out of control a little bit, that’s the referee’s job to settle it down. It’ll be fine.”
We shall all find out together on Saturday.
Showing posts with label Tyson Ness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tyson Ness. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Rebels Kings in Queen City
I suppose you can say that the Red Deer Rebels deserve a 'pat on the back' after their latest win.
Tyson Ness led the way with a goal and an assist as the Rebels beat the Regina Pats last night by a score of 3-2.
The Rebels end their eight game Scotties-induced road trip with a 4-3-1 record. Pretty good by typical standards. But with the Rebels being in the desperate situation that they are in... nine out of a possible sixteen simply isn't enough to help their cause. They are eight points out of a playoff spot with nine games left on their schedule.
Regardless, last night's game was a nice way for GM / Head Coach Jesse Wallin and crew to finish off their extended time away from the Enmax Centrium...
"Just a real gutsy effort at the end of a long trip like this. Feels live we've been gone for two and a half months more so than two and a half weeks. It sometimes can be tough to be engaged at the end of a trip like that and I thought the boys were focused and played really well."
Wallin made particular mention of Ness' solid outing, which earned him first star honours...
"Tenacious. Nesser played the way he does. He was good on the forecheck and good on the penalty kill. He blocked shots and is a talented player and it was good to see him get rewarded with a goal."
Brooks Maxwell and Chad Robinson also scored last night for the Rebels while Deven Dubyk made 20 saves.
Dominik Volek and Jordan Weal each scored powerplay goals for the Pats, who missed out on a chance to move past Saskatoon and into fifth place in the conference.
The Rebels pulled back into town at around 5:30 this morning so today will be rather low key. They return to action at the Enmax Centrium tomorrow night versus Swift Current and Saturday versus Saskatoon.
INJURY NOTE - was hoping to get through the rest of the regular season without having to talk about yet another injury to yet another Rebels veteran, but alas here are... Turner Elson missed last night's game, and will be out for the foreseeable future, after having his bell rung by a hit from behind from Moose Jaw's Kenton Miller on Tuesday. Here's hoping it's nothing serious but it sounds like he could be out a while.
Tyson Ness led the way with a goal and an assist as the Rebels beat the Regina Pats last night by a score of 3-2.
The Rebels end their eight game Scotties-induced road trip with a 4-3-1 record. Pretty good by typical standards. But with the Rebels being in the desperate situation that they are in... nine out of a possible sixteen simply isn't enough to help their cause. They are eight points out of a playoff spot with nine games left on their schedule.
Regardless, last night's game was a nice way for GM / Head Coach Jesse Wallin and crew to finish off their extended time away from the Enmax Centrium...
"Just a real gutsy effort at the end of a long trip like this. Feels live we've been gone for two and a half months more so than two and a half weeks. It sometimes can be tough to be engaged at the end of a trip like that and I thought the boys were focused and played really well."
Wallin made particular mention of Ness' solid outing, which earned him first star honours...
"Tenacious. Nesser played the way he does. He was good on the forecheck and good on the penalty kill. He blocked shots and is a talented player and it was good to see him get rewarded with a goal."
Brooks Maxwell and Chad Robinson also scored last night for the Rebels while Deven Dubyk made 20 saves.
Dominik Volek and Jordan Weal each scored powerplay goals for the Pats, who missed out on a chance to move past Saskatoon and into fifth place in the conference.
The Rebels pulled back into town at around 5:30 this morning so today will be rather low key. They return to action at the Enmax Centrium tomorrow night versus Swift Current and Saturday versus Saskatoon.
INJURY NOTE - was hoping to get through the rest of the regular season without having to talk about yet another injury to yet another Rebels veteran, but alas here are... Turner Elson missed last night's game, and will be out for the foreseeable future, after having his bell rung by a hit from behind from Moose Jaw's Kenton Miller on Tuesday. Here's hoping it's nothing serious but it sounds like he could be out a while.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Rebels (Finally) Beat The Tigers!
It was a recipe for disaster.
The Rebels were heading into a road game versus a team they hadn't beaten all season (hardly at all over the past couple of seasons) with just four of their regular defencemen in the lineup. Not gonna lie... I was bracing for the worst.
But those four d-man (Petrovic, Borejko, Thiel, Hak) along with the two call up's (Haydn Fleury, Kevin Pochuk) played admirably in a 6-3 Rebels win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.
They weren't perfect... but they were very, very effective.
GAME SUMMARY
"Hak and Thiel in particular really gave us a lot" coach Jesse Wallin said post-game, "they did a good job of moving the puck, did a real good job of defending. Hakker was out there against Etem and Shinkaruk a lot and did a great job of shutting them down, not giving them a lot."
(Etem still did find a way to score all three Tigers goals. He leads the entire CHL with 47 this season.)
Fleury and Pochuk also held their own in what was a tough spot for the two youngsters.
"They weren't out there a lot, but they did get a fairly regular shift" noted Wallin, "I though they looked comfortable, too. They kept it simple. It was a high-paced game which was an adjustment for them at times. They certainly certainly didn't hurt us and they did a good job of defending."
Once again, the Rebels prospects did an admirable job of stepping up when called upon (ala Feser, Bleackley, Bricker).
No doubt Deven Dubyk was a happy man following last night's game. The 20-year-old netminder earned his first ever win over his former club (while still wearing those gaudy orange pads) making 24 saves in the process.
Tyson Ness, who has been extremely solid for the Rebels of late, scored the first two goals of the game for the Rebels. Charles Inglis scored their next two as he continues to heat up. Turner Elson netted his team leading 19th and John Persson scored the empty netter (actually, he was tripped up while heading in on the empty net and was awarded a goal) to seal the deal.
Once again, the Rebels climb within two points of the Wheaties for the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference.
Once again, the Rebels will be challenged to play well in back-to-back games. It certainly won't be easy as they visit the conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday.
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OTHER NOTES...
- The Rebels finish January with a 6-5-1-1 record
- Forward Brooks Maxwell was back in the Rebels lineup after missing a few games with an upper body ailment
- Mathew Dumba will suit up for Team Cherry in tonight's CHL NHL Top Prospects Game in Kelowna. Last night, he took part in the hardest shot event at the skills competition... clocking in at 91.8 mph.
- Courtesy of @WHLFacts on Twitter... Turner Elson had 14 points in January, the highest total in any single month of his WHL career
The Rebels were heading into a road game versus a team they hadn't beaten all season (hardly at all over the past couple of seasons) with just four of their regular defencemen in the lineup. Not gonna lie... I was bracing for the worst.
But those four d-man (Petrovic, Borejko, Thiel, Hak) along with the two call up's (Haydn Fleury, Kevin Pochuk) played admirably in a 6-3 Rebels win over the Medicine Hat Tigers.
They weren't perfect... but they were very, very effective.
GAME SUMMARY
"Hak and Thiel in particular really gave us a lot" coach Jesse Wallin said post-game, "they did a good job of moving the puck, did a real good job of defending. Hakker was out there against Etem and Shinkaruk a lot and did a great job of shutting them down, not giving them a lot."
(Etem still did find a way to score all three Tigers goals. He leads the entire CHL with 47 this season.)
Fleury and Pochuk also held their own in what was a tough spot for the two youngsters.
"They weren't out there a lot, but they did get a fairly regular shift" noted Wallin, "I though they looked comfortable, too. They kept it simple. It was a high-paced game which was an adjustment for them at times. They certainly certainly didn't hurt us and they did a good job of defending."
Once again, the Rebels prospects did an admirable job of stepping up when called upon (ala Feser, Bleackley, Bricker).
No doubt Deven Dubyk was a happy man following last night's game. The 20-year-old netminder earned his first ever win over his former club (while still wearing those gaudy orange pads) making 24 saves in the process.
Tyson Ness, who has been extremely solid for the Rebels of late, scored the first two goals of the game for the Rebels. Charles Inglis scored their next two as he continues to heat up. Turner Elson netted his team leading 19th and John Persson scored the empty netter (actually, he was tripped up while heading in on the empty net and was awarded a goal) to seal the deal.
Once again, the Rebels climb within two points of the Wheaties for the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference.
Once again, the Rebels will be challenged to play well in back-to-back games. It certainly won't be easy as they visit the conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday.
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OTHER NOTES...
- The Rebels finish January with a 6-5-1-1 record
- Forward Brooks Maxwell was back in the Rebels lineup after missing a few games with an upper body ailment
- Mathew Dumba will suit up for Team Cherry in tonight's CHL NHL Top Prospects Game in Kelowna. Last night, he took part in the hardest shot event at the skills competition... clocking in at 91.8 mph.
- Courtesy of @WHLFacts on Twitter... Turner Elson had 14 points in January, the highest total in any single month of his WHL career
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