The Red Deer Rebels have found their new head coach.
On Thursday, June 5, Red Deer Rebels owner, president and general manager Brent Sutter announced Marc Habscheid has been hired as the 10th head coach in Western Hockey League club's history.
The Swift Current, Sask., native has been a WHL coach for 18 years, with stints in Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack/Victoria and Prince Albert. He has 582 wins, which is the sixth most in league history, in 1166 regular season games, also the sixth most in league history, for a .544 winning percentage. He's additionally coached 139 WHL playoff games with 75 wins, the eight most in WHL history, and a .540 winning percentage.
Habscheid has won two WHL championships as a head coach – 2003 with the Kelowna Rockets and 2019 with the Prince Albert Raiders – and guided the host Rockets to a Memorial Cup championship win in 2004.
Habscheid won the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and 2018-19 and was CHL Coach of the Year in 2003. Habscheid served one season as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins in 2006-07 and recently coached two seasons of pro hockey in Austria.
As a player, Habscheid suited up for 148 WHL games for Saskatoon and Kamloops between 1979-83, compiling 276 points. He went on to play 345 NHL games with Edmonton, Minnesota, Detroit, and Calgary.
"Habscheid has the rare distinction of having both played and coached for Canada at the World Junior Championship, World Men’s Championship, and Olympic Winter Games," notes a Red Deer Rebels' media release.
In May, the Rebels announced David Struch was stepping down as the team's head coach due to personal reasons. He had joined the Rebels as interim head coach in March 2024 and guided the club to a second-round playoff appearance, before being named full-time head coach prior to the 2024-25 season.
Red Deer will host the Edmonton Oil Kings to open the 2025-26 WHL Regular Season. The Red Deer Advocate home opener goes Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Westerner Park Centrium.
This will be the 10th time the Oil Kings visit for the Rebels home opener, with Red Deer going 5-3-1 in the previous nine. The Rebels will visit Edmonton the following night for the Oil Kings' home opener at Rogers Place.
The full schedule for the 2025-26 WHL Regular Season will be announced later this month.
