As the 2023 Western Hockey League Playoffs begin this weekend the Red Deer Rebels will have the luxury of two strong options in net.
Will they go with the rookie goaltender Kyle Kelsey who has emerged as one of the top netminders on the Rebels?
Or go to veteran Chase Coward, who despite only playing four games this season since returning to the team, has plenty of playoff experience.
Fans most likely won’t know until Friday night when they announce the lineups for Game 1 at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
Coward played eight games during the 2022 WHL Playoffs posting a 2.24 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. However, it wasn’t statistics that Coward said made him succeed but rather his calmness between the pipes. He hopes to bring more of that this time around.
“I’m just trying to bring the calmness I had in that series just being able to settle the game down,” he said.
“Just bring that to the team whether I’m playing or not just be there. Even in practice just help the guys out.”
Playoffs can be a different animal for goaltenders compared to the regular season.
Coward said the main difference is playing against the same team for the long run instead of a one or two-game series on a weekend.
“Sometimes it can be a bit of a grind because you’re playing the same team seven times. But everything is just ramped up like the competitiveness, and everybody is out there trying to win,” Coward said.
“The group we’ve put together is great because we’ve been working hard all week and a lot of guys have playoff experience from last year. We all know what it takes to be successful in the playoffs.”
Despite showing up late in the season after recovering from a lower-body congenital defect, Coward said if he does get a shot to play he hopes to seize the opportunity.
“It’s really good to be back here for the atmosphere of playoffs,” Coward said. “We got some of that last year and I hope to feel the same atmosphere this year… I think we’ll have a really good playoff put together this year.”
On the other hand, the Rebels could go with Kelsey, who has no WHL playoff experience but helped the Rebels achieve their first division title in 12 years.
He’s also played great as of late posting two shutouts in his last three starts of the regular season.
Coward gave credit to Kelsey saying he’s a very reliable goaltender.
“He definitely had to step up the role this year coming into the league as a rookie. He’s done a really good job of taking the reigns of being a starter, especially with some injuries and uncertainty. He’s been out there all year,” Coward said.
Kelsey explained Coward has been a great resource for him in learning more about the responsibilities.
“Just the extra stuff he does after practice making sure he’s stretching especially with his injury staying on top of that. I’ve picked up a couple of things making sure I’m taking care of my body a little bit more in getting ready,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey’s season has been a bit unusual in the sense that he began splitting games alongside fellow rookie Rhett Stoesser before he suffered a season-ending injury. Kelsey then took over the majority of the games before Coward rejoined the team.
“It’s been very unusual but you’ve got to expect the unexpected anything can happen in hockey,” he said.
Despite that Kelsey isn’t wasting any energy thinking about it but rather focusing on his own game and is excited to get started in his first postseason appearance.
“I’m very excited. We’ve been waiting all year,” he said.
“Looking back on the season I think I’ve grown a lot. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs but I’m pretty happy with the season I’ve had.”
Whether he gets the start in Game 1 or not Kelsey plans to give it his all.
“I’m expecting a pretty good series. Calgary is a good team and minus the last game, all of our games have been close going to overtime a lot. It should be a really good series.”