The Red Deer Rebels season was full of ups and downs but management believes they have a bright future ahead.
Despite struggles early on, the Rebels were able to weather the storm and see some success in the postseason.
Rebels owner and general manager Brent Sutter said their expectations were high but explained they had individuals who struggled in certain areas early on.
It affected the team not only in the win and loss column but in player development.
The Rebels found their game in December and January. However, after a disappointing February that saw the Rebels only win three games, Sutter knew he had to make a change.
On March 1 the Rebels mutually parted ways with former head coach Derrick Walser after less than a year at the helm and hired Dave Struch who had plenty of head coaching experience.
“We really struggled in February again to the point where we got to be concerned from a management point of view to where we were going to go if we did get in playoffs,” he said.
“We were in scramble mode there… Unfortunately, we had to make a coaching change and we had to do what we thought was right for the team and players.”
Struch wrapped up the regular season with a 3-4-1 record before beating the Medicine Hat Tigers in five games in the opening round. The Rebels season came to an end in the Eastern Conference Semifinals when they were swept by the Saskatoon Blades.
“I thought we played extremely well against Medicine Hat. There were a lot of things we did in the last three weeks to get us prepared to be ready for playoffs,” Sutter said.
“Against Saskatoon, we ran into a very good team. They were number one in our league.”
In the second round, the Rebels ran into injury trouble. They were already missing 20-year-old defenceman Elias Carmichael but in Game 2 goaltender Chase Wutzke took a big hit to the head.
He remained in the net for the remainder of Game 2, which resulted in an overtime loss for the Rebels but was ruled out for the remainder of the series.
With netminder Rhett Stoesser out with an injury he suffered in practice in the first round, the Rebels were forced to turn to a rookie goaltender who had yet to make his WHL debut.
Taylor Tabashniuk was put in a tough situation but stood tall in the net in Games 3 and 4. He was unable to secure a victory but it served as a valuable experience for the youngster.
“It was unfortunate that injuries hit us, especially in a key position like goaltending… It was tough you take a young player and essentially throw him to the wolves,” Sutter said.
“To allow your team to be successful this time of the year against a very good team it’s a tough thing.”
This season the Rebels saw the rise of multiple young players including goaltender Chase Wutzke who won multiple goaltender of the week and month awards in his rookie season.
Forward Matthew Gard and defenceman Derek Thurston turned into regulars in the lineup and defenceman Luke Vlooswyk was a positive addition late in the year.
In Sutter’s eyes, the future looks bright in Red Deer and they expect to be competitive for years to come.
“I expect us to be competitive every year. That’s our culture here. We have good young players and good veterans coming back,” he said.
“There’s always change every year… You’re always going to have new guys every year and it’s not going to be any different for us next year but I do like our young players.”
Rebels fans can expect new young players suiting up for the Red Deer next year as well as the return of some key players.
Next year Dwayne Jean Jr., Jhett Larson, Frantisek Formanek, Hunter Mayo, Jace Weir, and Mat Lindgren are all heading into their final WHL seasons. With only three rosters available, the Rebels will have some decisions to make.
“We should be a very competitive team again and it should be an exciting team,” Sutter said.
”With our staff now settled they can work with the players through the summer to get them prepared for training camp is significant. We didn’t have that opportunity last year.”