RDC Kings, Queens Ranked #1 Heading Into Volleyball Provincials

ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship - Hosted by Red Deer College

Edmonton, February 18, 2014 – Red Deer College is honoured to host the 2013-14 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men’s Volleyball Championships on February 21-23, 2014. The top teams from Northern and Southern Alberta will converge on Red Deer College to determine who this year's top volleyball team will be. It's going to be a weekend tournament filled with tough competition!

Friday, February 21
1:00 PM Game 1 GPRC (#6) vs. SAIT (#3)

3:00 PM Game 2 NAIT (#7) vs. GMU (#2)

6:00 PM Game 3 BC (#8) vs. RDC (#1)

8:00 PM Game 4 UAA (#5) vs. MHC (#4)

Saturday, February 22
1:00 PM Game 5 LG2 vs. LG1

3:00 PM Game 6 LG4 vs. LG3

6:00 PM Game 7 WG1 vs. WG2

8:00 PM Game 8 WG3 vs. WG4

Sunday, February 23
11:00 AM Game 9 WG5 vs. WG6

1:00 PM Game 10 LG 7 vs. LG8

3:30 PM Game 11 WG7 vs. WG8

ALL GAMES AT RDC MAIN GYM


ACAC Women’s Volleyball Championship - Hosted by Grande Prairie Regional College

Friday, February 21
1:00 PM Game 1 King’s (#5) vs. BC (#4)

3:00 PM Game 2 LAKE (#8) vs. RDC (#1)

6:00 PM Game 3 OC (#6) vs. GPRC (#3)

8:00 PM Game 4 NAIT (#7) vs. GMU (#2)

Saturday, February 22
1:00 PM Game 5 LG2 vs. LG1

3:00 PM Game 6 LG4 vs. LG3

6:00 PM Game 7 WG1 vs. WG2

8:00 PM Game 8 WG3 vs. WG4

Sunday, February 23
11:00 AM Game 9 WG5 vs. WG6

1:00 PM Game 10 LG 7 vs. LG8

3:30 PM Game 11 WG7 vs. WG8

www.acac.ab.ca

Local Sports: February 18

The Red Deer Rebels solid grip on a WHL playoff spot is now rather tenuous.

The Rebels sit just two points ahead of Prince Albert for 8th in the Eastern Conference after a 7-1 drubbing in Calgary on Monday. The Rebels also fell 4-1 at home to Saskatoon on Saturday, one night after their 3-2 overtime win in Edmonton.

The Rebels host the Oil Kings for their first of five straight games at the Enmax Centrium.
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Senior AAA Provincials

The Bentley Generals beat the Stony Plain Eagles 3-2 in overtime on Monday at the Red Deer Arena. The Generals have a 3-0 lead in the provincial semi-final series with game four coming this Saturday at Stony Plain.

The Innisfail Eagles and Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs are tied 1-1 in the other semi-final series, game three goes Friday night in Innisfail.

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Great Words From The Great One / Sutter Talks Iggy

Wayne Gretzky and Yours Truly

I can’t lie to you.  Even as a lifelong Calgary Flames fan I was really, really looking forward to today.



After all, it’s not every day that The Great One visits your city… especially when your city is Red Deer.



Wayne Gretzky had the crowd in the palm of his hand this morning at the 10th annual RDC Kings and Queens Scholarship Breakfast.  Over 1,400 people came out to Westerner Park to hear Wayne share stories on stage with his former St. Louis Blues teammate, Kelly Chase [who is very entertaining in his own right].



Playing For 'Keeps'

Joel Ward, Keith Hansen, Trevor Keeper

I will not use the obvious pun and say that RDC found a real keeper to coach their men's hockey program.

Whoops... I guess I just did.

Red Deer College President / CEO Joel Ward and Athletics Director Keith Hansen announced this morning that Trevor Keeper will be behind the bench when Kings Hockey returns to ACAC competition for the 2013-2014 season.

Keeper has a wealth of elite level coaching experience, including as an assistant coach with the Red Deer Rebels from 2003-07.  Trevor has also coached the Red Deer Midget AAA Rebels, at the World U17 and U18 championships with Team Canada, and various elite teams with Hockey Alberta.  Keeper coached the RDC Queens Hockey team this past season and will maintain those duties for the 2012-2013 season while building the Kings program at the same time.

For Keeper, the task is a daunting one.  To build a college men's hockey program from the ground up while also overseeing a women's program at the same time means he'll be busy to say the least.  But it's a challenge he's quite looking forward to.

"I relish that," Keeper said when asked about the pressure of making the Kings a contender in relatively short order.  "I want to be competitive right off the bat.  We have a plan for the first four or five years that we wanna be right at the top of the league."

Hansen echoed those sentiments.  He is fully confident that Keeper and his five year plan will have Kings Hockey where RDC wants it to be, at the top.

"There's no doubt in my mind about that.  I know Trevor feels the exact same way I do.  It is athletics and you play it to win, to be honest with you, and you play it to be as good as what you can be.  We're not going into the league just to be a solid team.  We want to go in being one of the best teams."

The reincarnated Kings have quite a lofty set of expectations to try and meet.  The past program won seven ACAC championships and three national titles. 

As you would expect, RDC received quite a number of applications for this particular coaching position.  But Hansen has no doubt they've made the right call by staying in-house and hiring Keeper.

"When you hire someone from within, you know them.  You know what kind of character they are, what kind of person they are, and what kind of coach they are," Hansen explained.  "He fit the bill perfectly.  He's a great instructor, a great leader, and I think will be the perfect person to bring the program back. 

Keeper says while they will be looking far and wide for the right players for their program, his main focus will be on building around a strong core of local talent.

"The key thing is to build from our Central Alberta base.  Six year ago, I coached the Midget AAA's here in town.  A lot of those guys are 20, 21, 22 right now.  Some of them have expressed interest in coming back already.  So that's where we're gonna be starting from."

One thing that definitely works in Keeper's favour when it comes to recruiting is the fact he has an entire year to do it.

"It would be extremely difficult if it was a shorter term.  Knowing that I have a year to do it, watching players over the course of the next season, speaking to them, meeting them face to face, talking to their parents even though they're in their early 20's.  Try to get some key recruits in, not just open the doors to anybody." 

Ward also used this morning's press conference to officially announce that RDC's bid to the ACAC to have Kings Hockey reinstated for 2013-2014 has been approved.

"We're very excited about it," Ward told the local media this morning.  "It took a lot of work and a lot of committment by a lot of people to make this happen.  But we absolutely believe that bringing back men's [college] hockey to Red Deer is the right thing to do.  This is the right time and we're committed to making it work."

The "re-addition" of Kings Hockey also makes RDC the only school to be competing in every single sport in the ACAC, something Hansen takes great pride in.

"We're the biggest athletic program in Alberta now," he explained.  "That was always for me a bit of a hole, without men's hockey.  Quite honestly, it was a big hole because it's a marquee sport.  This fills the hole without taking anything away from any other athletic team.  You get stronger when you get bigger and I think this will be fantastic for our program."

Friday Free-For-All

It's everyone's favorite day of the work week... and it's starting to warm up outside (you may not notice it right away but trust me it's happening)...

The Red Deer Rebels will be doing some scoreboard watching tonight as the Brandon Wheat Kings take on the Saskatoon Blades. The Wheaties are four points up on the Rebels for the final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference (Rebels do have two games at hand).

Last night, a few of the boys ventured out to Blackfalds for the first Enmax Pond Hockey session of the season. Chad Robinson (@RoboCop_17) posted a pic of them getting set to sign autographs for dozens of their young fans.

https://twitter.com/#!/RoboCop_17/status/160197509338234880/photo/1

The Prince George Cougars come calling to the Enmax Centrium tomorrow night. It'll be the first game since the Rebels acquired Charles Inglis from the Cougars in exchange for Daulton Siwak back on December 29th. Puck drop is at 7:30pm (pre-game show on The Drive starts at 7pm) with post-game fireworks to follow.

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You may just see me in Sylvan Lake tonight to watch the Bentley Generals take on the Admirals in Chinook Hockey League action. Should be a great game as they get closer to the end of the regular season. Game time tonight at the Medican Multiplex is at 8:30pm.

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You may also see me at RDC taking in some ACAC volleyball action as the Kings and Queens play host to the SAIT Trojans. Action starts at 6pm (Queens first, Kings to follow). There is basketball action at RDC tomorrow night also starting at 6pm, also vs. SAIT.

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Along with the rest of the sporting world... I'm quite saddened by the tragic loss of Sarah Burke. It's safe to say her legacy will live strong for years to come.

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My heart wants the Ravens and 49ers to win the AFC and NFC championship games this weekend... but my head says the Patriots and Giants will come out victorious. Of the possible Superbowl match-ups, Giants vs. Ravens would be the least interesting (by a landslide)... 49ers vs. Ravens (Harbaugh Bowl) would be fascinating, don't ya think!

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