Rebels 3 Buffaloes 0
If anyone believed the Red Deer Optimist Rebels would have any rust heading into the Alberta Midget Hockey League playoffs they quickly dispelled that notion.
The Rebels stormed out of the gate, and while their offence could have been a bit sharper, they completely dominated the Calgary Buffaloes on their way to a 3-0 victory in the opening game of the best-of-five South Division semifinal series at the Arena Tuesday.
“With the layoff we had (nine days) I wasn’t sure how we were going to come out, but I really liked our energy early on,” said Rebels head coach Doug Quinn. “Overall I was happy with our effort, except for a few undisciplined penalties.”
“That was a big win for us,” said Rebels captain Brady Bakke. “It was tough coming off the break, but we definitely pushed forward and came out hard.”
He gave Quinn credit for making sure the team was prepared.
“We had some real good practices . . . Doug pushed us hard.”
Bakke felt if there was one area the team showed some rust it was around the net.
“Give their goalie (Coleman Vollrath) credit he made a lot of great saves, but we have to bear down,” he said. “That could be where we were a bit rusty. But we’ll get back to where we were at the end of the season, where everything was going in.”
The Rebels jumped into a 1-0 lead 4:33 into the first period on a goal by Quinn Brown. It was the Rebels sixth shot of the period while the Buffaloes had yet to register a shot. In fact it wasn’t until 8:11 that the Calgary squad tested Red Deer netminder Dasan Sydora.
Dylan Thudium gave Red Deer a 2-0 lead at 5:50 of the second period on a spectacular rush when he fought off a Calgary defender from the blueline in and beat Vollrath high to the glove side as he cut across in front.
Scott Feser made it 3-0 at 9:57 of the third period on the power play, one timing a Joel Topping pass.
The Rebels finished with a 54-18 advantage in shots on goal.
Although he wasn’t all that busy, Sydora made several solid saves, especially with the team two men down. The Buffaloes, who have one of the top offensive teams in the league, enjoyed three five-on-three advantages.
“Special teams were big,” said Quinn. “Killing off those five-on-threes could have been the difference between winning and losing. They have some elite talent and a dangerous power play, so I’d just as soon we played five-on-five and roll our lines. Any time we had trouble with a team over the years it’s when it turns into a speciality team situation.”
Bakke gave his penalty killers credit, too.
“We strive to be better in that area, as it’s a big part of the game,” he said. “With the new head contact rule it seems to come up a lot.”
While the Rebels look to have as much speed and quickness as the Buffaloes they also have more size, which was evident in their battles along the boards.
“When we built our team over the years I always liked bigger, stronger teams where we have a good forecheck, a really good defence and good depth as we try to wear teams down,” said Quinn. “I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
He also gave credit to Sydora.
“He’s been strong for us all year. He has an incredible work ethic. We have a team that gives up less than 20 shots per game, but unfortunately eight or nine of those are qualify scoring opportunities and Dasan and Matt (Zentner) have made a lot of big saves.
“Their goalie was solid as well. In fact they’re a good team and while I’m happy with our effort, it’s only one game. This is a long journey and we can be excited tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to work.”
Bakke knows the series is far from over.
“There’s going to be some good games against them. We have to be prepared and build on this. I do know it will be a lot of fun.”
The series resumes Saturday at South Fish Creek Arena in Calgary with the third game Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Arena. The fourth game, if necessary, is March 7 in Calgary and the fifth, if needed, March 8 at 8 p.m. at the Arena.
The winner of the series faces the winner between the Calgary Flames and Calgary Northstars. The Flames won the opener 6-3 Monday.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com