Crunch Time For The Rebels, Playoffs at RDC

"Do or die" time has arrived for the Red Deer Rebels.

Mind you, some say it has already passed.

Here's the situation... the Rebels enter tonight's game in Prince Albert eight points behind Brandon for the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference with 13 games left to play. The Rebels can hold onto the fact that they have three games at hand on the Wheat Kings. But time is quickly running out for those games to have any impact.

Regina's win over Kootenay last night puts them 10 points ahead of the Rebels in seventh place. The Rebs have two games at hand on the Pats.

Fans have mentioned to me countless times this week that Brandon and Regina play each other five times between now and the end of the regular season. Their belief is that if a team can manage to win four out of five, or perhaps all five, then the Rebels can catch the other team and make the playoffs.

Personally, I don't put much stock in that theory. If the Rebels have any hope whatsoever of rallying into a playoff position I feel they need to win at least three of four games on their Saskatchewan road trip (not that I'm going out on much of a limb here). This would include a win over the Pats in the final game of the roadie next Wednesday.

As Rebels fans have come to realize, hoping for good news on the out of town scoreboard has become an exercise in futility (and frustration). Short-staffed or not, the Rebels simply need to take care of their business and go from there.

Anyhoo... here's how the four game flatland trip will unfold...

Tonight - at Prince Albert 6:00pm
Saturday - at Saskatoon 6:00pm
Tuesday - at Moose Jaw 6:00pm
Wednesday - at Regina, 6:00pm

Tune in each night at 5:50pm for Cam Moon and the pregame show on 106.7 The Drive.

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It's playoff time at Red Deer College...

Kings Volleyball beat SAIT three sets to one in provincial quarterfinals action yesterday at Briercrest. The Kings take on Keyano later today in the semifinals.

Meantime... Queens Volleyball take on NAIT in quarterfinals action this afternoon at provincials in Medicine Hat.

Also this weekend...

Kings Basketball host Keyano in quarterfinals action tonight at RDC at 7pm.

The men's and women's curling teams are at provincials in Camrose

Queens Hockey takes on Mount Royal in a best-of-five semifinal series starting tomorrow night in Calgary.