The Red Deer Rebels crashed what was shaping up to be a big-time homecoming party for Justin Feser.
The local product made his first Western Hockey League appearance at the Centrium Wednesday, and could not have penned a better script for the opening 20 minutes. The 17-year-old forward sniped a pair of goals to give the Tri-City Americans a 2-0 lead after one period, but the Rebels eventually recovered from a 3-0 deficit to post a 4-3 shootout win.
For Feser, the personal success was just OK because his team failed to hold the fort.
“Yeah, it’s nice to come back and get two goals, but it would have been a little nicer to leave with two points,” he said.
Still, the experience of potting his 24th and 25th goals of the season in his hometown was second to none.
“I haven’t been here (Centrium) for a while. I always used to come here to watch the Rebels so it was kind of cool to come back and score in the building,” said the Americans’ second-year developing star.
Feser exceeded his — and the Americans’ — expectations when he earned a roster spot in the fall of 2008 following impressive training-camp and preseason showings. A ninth-round — the 194th overall — selection in the 2007 WHL bantam draft, Feser scored a team-leading 30 goals and collected 30 points in 36 games as a 15-year-old with the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Rebels in ‘07-08, but wasn’t expecting to crack the Tri-City lineup at the age of 16.
Not only did he secure a position with the club despite not being listed on the Americans roster in the 2008-09 WHL Guide, the Red Deer native scored 12 goals and added 16 assists in 63 games as a raw rookie and has already far exceeded that offensive output this winter with 25 goals and 47 points in 50 outings.
“It took a while to adjust to the league last year and coming into this year I was a little more confident in what I could do,” said Feser. “At the same time, every game is just as hard now as it was as a 16-year-old so you have to prepare for each one the exact same way.
“The coaches are giving me lots of opportunities and I’m just trying to take advantage of all of the ice time I’m getting. I also have some solid players to play with and that makes it a lot easier.”
As does skating with a top-notch team, which the Americans are this season with a league-leading 36 wins and 74 points.
“Yeah, that makes it more fun to play instead of being a .500 team or a team that loses more than it wins,” said Feser. “But we still have to play a full 60 minutes, which we didn’t do tonight, and we have to remember that the last 25 games or so of the season are going to be like playoff games. We have to come ready to play every night like it’s the last game of the season.”
Americans head coach Jim Hiller is confident that he’ll get the necessary effort from Feser on a nightly basis down the regular-season homestretch and beyond.
“Justin is a key player for us, he plays against the other team’s best lines and he puts the puck in the net at the same time,” said Hiller. “We couldn’t be happier with him. He played wing last year and he’s playing centre now and I think that he has really, really expanded his game playing in the middle.”
In Hiller’s opinion, the five-foot-nine, 180-pound Feser is the whole package.
“He does everything really well. He wins faceoffs, he gets in on the forecheck and he protects the puck, so we’re extremely happy with him. You can see it — he’s a hockey player.”
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com