At no point last season did the Red Deer Rebels win five games in a row. The longest streak was four, from Feb. 14-21 and now just seven games into the 2018-19 season, the Rebels already have one five-game win streak.
Provided, it’s a small sample size and there are as many counter-points to their success as there are positives– a win is still a win in the WHL.
At 5-2-0-0, the Rebels as of Thursday sit second in the Central Division and seventh overall. They are just one point behind the division-leading Edmonton Oil Kings, who in 10 games have a 5-4-0-1 record and 11 points.
The shooters, the snipers, the world class lamp lighters 🚨🚨🚨. You'll see them all in a new edition of Insurance Goals of the Week! pic.twitter.com/QROXTwxisS
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 11, 2018
There have been heart-stopping moments, hair-raising mistakes and highlight-reel saves and goals. Through seven games they’ve been fun to watch and the team is feeling it, too.
“It’s been awesome, everyone is just enjoying hockey and we’re having a good time. All the boys are liking each other, so it’s been good just to be around. It’s a good atmosphere,” said Rebels goalie Ethan Anders, before the team departed to Saskatoon on Thursday.
“We seem looser. Not in a bad way but we’ve been more upbeat and we’re all more chatty. We’re gelling this year really well.”
That in and of itself is something almost no WHL pundit predicted. Most had the Rebels pegged near the bottom of the league and bottom of the division. Again, a lot can happen in the remaining 61 games.
Still, they were particularly impressive in a pair of home wins over the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders. Saskatoon had only lost once coming into Red Deer and the Raiders were undefeated.
🎥 WHL Highlight of the Night 🎥
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 7, 2018
October 6, 2018 @ReeseJohnson98 of the @Rebelshockey #WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/fGXMMohfGm
Did they Rebels play a perfect game either night? No, there were some glaring errors in their play, that were at times exploited by two teams who are ranked among the top 15 in the CHL. But each night, either by a timely goal (captain Reese Johnson scoring with under two minutes left against the Raiders) or solid goaltending (Ethan Anders made 78 saves over the two games) they did enough to win.
At some point, lack of production from their bottom six, or even from players other than Jeff de Wit, Brandon Hagel and Oleg Zaytsev is going to catch up with them. That trio along with 20-year-old captain Reese Johnson, have 16 of the Rebels’ 27 goals. Add three goals from top defenceman Alex Alexeyev, and there’s been virtually no production from players not on the top unit.
Second-year winger Chris Douglas has two goals and a handful of names have the rest. Scoring was always going to be an issue for this team but so far, the veterans have shouldered the load. They will need to do that until the young players catch up to the pace of the game at the WHL level.
This Bains shot sneaks under the glove of Scott, 41 seconds into the third period. Rebels have a 2-1 lead on the Raiders pic.twitter.com/Iy7WAbOMvs
— Jeff D'Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) October 7, 2018
The Rebels have also been bailed out by their goaltender. Rookie Byron Fancy had a shutout in his first WHL start, and Anders has made a steady collection of big-time saves.
His numbers aren’t perfect, but he’s stopped at least 30 shots in five of six starts, and 39 or more three times already. He’s faced the most shots in the league at 222. The way Anders describes it, and the way it looks at times, those shots aren’t always of the highest of quality. Either way, allowing that many shot attempts is another worrisome point that might catch up to the club soon. You are going to have a tough time consistently winning if you allow 3.5 goals per game or more.
Another big reason for the early success are specialty teams. The Rebels power play is eight-for-26 (30.8 per cent). The Rebels didn’t have a single power play against the Raiders, but have a man-advantage marker in all but one other game. In fact, in three of seven games, they have at least two power play goals. That has propelled them to a win in the special teams battle in every game this season, except against Prince Albert when neither team scored on the power play. The Rebels penalty kill is also eighth in the league at 82.8 per cent.
The Rebels hit the road for two games this weekend, playing the Saskatoon Blades on Friday and the Prince Albert Raiders Saturday.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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