There will be only one Elson with the Red Deer Rebels this season.
Trace Elson, the younger brother of Rebels third-year forward Turner Elson, was reassigned Sunday and is set to join the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL.
“We just didn’t think he was quite ready yet. He’s still only 17 and we felt our other ‘94s were ahead of him,” said Rebels GM/head coach Jesse Wallin. “If he can get the ice time he needs in Sherwood Park and continues to develop, it should be a good step for him and hopefully he can come in and push for a spot next year.”
Meanwhile, netminder Dawson Guhle was released outright and will hook up with another AJHL squad in the Camrose Kodiaks.
Guhle, 19, never showed enough through the preseason to push 18-year-old Czech import Patrik Bartosak, the projected starter, and 17-year-old Bolton Pouliot out of the picture. In reality, Guhle had to prove he was starter material.
“He had to come in and really establish himself and show he could be the No. 1 guy,” said Wallin.
To his credit, Daws had a decent camp, but ultimately we feel confident with Patty, who’s a year younger, and Bolton has played real well too. Those guys are both younger and have the opportunity to be here a couple of years.”
The Rebels reassigned defenceman Stephen Pochuk following Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Medicine Hat at Stettler and earlier in the day reassigned forwards Scott Feser and Dexter Bricker.
Pochuk will get a tryout with the Winnipeg Saints of the AJHL, while Feser and Bricker are headed for the midget AAA ranks, to the Red Deer Optimist Rebels and Swift Current Legionnaires, respectively. All three remain in the Rebels’ future plans.
Feser, a Red Deer product, made a positive impression in training camp and preseason play despite being a late-round pick in the 2010 WHL bantam draft.
“He had an outstanding camp. With Scott, we feel we got a real good pick in the eighth round,” said Wallin. “He’s improved a lot over the course of a year and if he can make those kind of improvements over the course of the next season he’ll be a real good player for us.”
As for Bricker, who was suspended three games for a charging penalty he was assessed in the Rebels’ first preseason outing . . .
“He would been on the outside looking in, but we certainly see him being in the mix a year from now,” said Wallin. “It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t have played a couple of more games, but I think being around practice and seeing what it’s like to be a Red Deer Rebel for a couple of weeks will be good for him going back and will give him something to work towards a year from now.”
The deletions leave the Rebels with 28 players, including five — Byron Froese, Alex Petrovic, Justin Weller, Turner Elson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — who are attending NHL camps.
The Rebels open their Western Hockey League regular-season schedule Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Centrium versus the defending league champion Kootenay Ice.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com