It was a tough 2024-25 season for the Red Deer Rebels.
The Western Hockey League club failed to make it to the post-season for the first time since 2013-14, as the season wrapped up with a 4-1 road loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday, March 23. Red Deer finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, with a 26-34-6-2 record.
This was David Struch's first full season as head coach. He took over the position last season after Derrick Walser and the club agreed to part ways — Red Deer was eliminated in the second round of that year's playoffs.
"It's disappointing to not go through (a playoff run like) last year. We had some success in a short period of time last year and we hope we can get back to that again," Struch said in a media conference on Monday, March 24.
Several key Red Deer players faced injuries this season, including captain Ollie Josephson and forward Jhett Larson both missing 20 games, forward Kalan Lind missing 31 games, and Finnish import player Kasper Pikkarainen missing all but one game before being removed as a roster player in February. With these injuries, as well as many changes at the trade deadline, a number of young players were thrust into increased roles on the team.
"They got to play. They got an opportunity that most young guys don't get in this league because of injuries. I think it'll be good moving forward," he said.
"We don't want to take away what being a Red Deer Rebel is. You talk about the asset of a competitive edge, and that's what being a Red Deer Rebel is ... and that's what it's going to be forever."
In year-end interviews, Struch said the main message he wanted to get across to players was the importance of leadership.
"When you go through things like we did this year, as difficult as it is, (players need) to take the things they can get better at as individuals and as a team to become leaders in their own mind and actively on the ice," Struch said.
"Especially during that long stretch where we had a tough time winning games, those young guys got lots of ice time. I think that's really important for them to learn from it and take that into next year."
Even through injuries and challenging stretches, Struch said the veteran players helped hold the room together.
"That's really important when you go through adversity like we did," said Struch.
"We put together something good in the last 20 games when we got things in place. We built some chemistry and started to win some hockey games."
Struch said he wants to see his players use this down year as fuel to improve in the 2025-26 season.
"You look at a captain like Ollie Josephson, his daily habits are NHL (calibre) and with his work ethic on the ice, the young guys have someone pretty special to follow," he said.
"The young guys get to take over and provide the next standard moving forward, and get back to the playoffs and win some hockey games."
