It’s official, the Red Deer Rebels will play the Calgary Hitmen in the first round of the Western Hockey League Playoffs.
The two Central Division rivals will square off in the postseason for the first since 2016 beginning next Friday.
Games 1 and 2 will be at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Friday and Saturday, April 1 at 7 p.m.
The series will then transition to Calgary for Games 3 and 4 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday, April 3, and Wednesday, April 5 at 7 p.m.
If needed Game 5 will return to Red Deer on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. and Game 6 on Sunday, April 9 at the Saddledome at 2 p.m. Game 7 would take place in Red Deer at the Centrium on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 p.m.
The last time these two teams met in the playoffs in 2016 was in round one and the Rebels beat the Hitmen in five games. Historically, the pair have met in the playoffs six times over the span of the WHL, with Red Deer winning four of those series.
However, that was then but this is now. Different seasons, and different players, but the same old rivalry.
This season they played each other eight times with Red Deer coming away with six victories in the regular season. Most recently the Rebels beat Calgary at the Saddledome 9-0 on March 11 but the night before the Hitmen came away with a 4-3 overtime win.
The two teams went into overtime three times over the season and Rebels sniper Kai Uchacz, who hit the 50-goal mark for the first time in his WHL career, led the season series with nine goals.
Jayden Grubbe also contributed 10 points in the season series scoring three times and posting seven assists.
Red Deer will enter the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference after they came away with their first division title since 2011. Meanwhile, Calgary will head into the postseason for the first time in four years.
Tickets for the playoffs can either be purchased at the Peavey Mart Centrium or on the Tickets Alberta website.