The Red Deer Rebels have struggled as of late.
Their fifth straight loss on Tuesday night capped off a disappointing road trip through Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
During that time the Rebels struggled defensively giving up four goals or more every game. A lack of discipline in key times of the game also proved costly taking a total of 54 minutes of penalties and giving up eight powerplay goals on 24 opportunities.
Head coach Derrick Walser said it came down to inconsistency throughout the lineup.
“Small little things and those end up being big things. There were moments when we were on it and then there were moments we weren’t,” he said.
“We’ve got to get back to being disciplined. Staying out of the box is one thing but it’s all the small little habits… We have an opportunity to come back into our home rink, reset, get ourselves reorganized, get composed, and go out and play the right way. We’ll be fine.”
It’s been a surprising turn of events given the Rebels were riding a nine-game winning streak before the skid. Walser said bad habits crept into their game toward the end of their winning streak.
“We won a couple of games and we ended up going on a tough road trip. Stuff we were maybe getting away from came back to hurt us,” he said.
“It’s a learning curve… It can change quickly but right now the only way it can change is guys dialing it in in practice today. Getting their minds back in the right mindset.
“We take care of pucks, we’re a stingy hockey team and we’re going to play hard but we’ve got to play smart.”
Fortunately, they have a great opportunity this weekend to get back on track against two teams they’re chasing in the Eastern Conference standings.
On Friday at home, they’ll get the chance to close the gap on the Moose Jaw Warriors who are three points ahead of the Rebels followed by a road matchup with the Medicine Hat Tigers who are also ahead three points for the lead in the central division.
“We’ll make sure all those little details are on track today and we’ll worry about Moose Jaw [on Friday]. Not looking at anything farther ahead I’ve always been that way,” he said.
“Right now we’ve got to dig our heels in and make sure that we’re mentally focused for the first period against Moose Jaw.”
Rebels forward Jhett Larson added even though the result of their road trip wasn’t what they’d hoped for it’s important to build off of what they did right.
“It’s going to be a big weekend for us. We have a lot to play for and we’re excited to come back from that. Adversity helps the team and it’s good to learn from it now than down the road in playoffs,” he said.
“I think those two games will go as they are if we just play our game and keep our details the same.”
The Rebels have proved this season multiple times they’re capable of beating the WHL’s top teams and putting together long stretches of great hockey.
They hope to prove that again this week.
“We’re confident knowing we are a top team in this league and we know we can beat the top teams like we have if we do everything right,” he said.
“I think some things were slipping away but we’ll work on that this week and these upcoming games.”