White 6 Black 3
There were some who were more than a little surprised when the Red Deer Rebels Black upset Airdrie in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League Ram Division semifinal series.
After all Airdrie won the division and finished 22 points up on the Black.
But Red Deer Rebels White head coach Dallas Gaume wasn’t one of those.
“Airdrie got off to a good start this season, but I really thought the Black would beat Airdrie,” he said. “They played real well the last two months, so it was no surprise they came through that series.”
But don’t expect Gaume to be predicting any upsets in the division final as his Rebels White meet the Black in a best-of-three affair.
The White, who finished 20 points up on the Black in the division, drew first blood recording a 6-3 victory Thursday at the Arena. The second game goes Saturday at 2 p.m. with the third game, if necessary, Sunday at 2:45 p.m. Both games are at the Arena.
“We’re a team that takes pride in playing good defence and moving our feet,” said Gaume. “We did that today and took the puck to the net.”
The White squad never trailed, grabbing a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes and expanding the margin to 5-2 after the second period.
Ty Mappin, who is expected to be one of the top picks in this year’s Western Hockey League bantam draft, led the White with three goals while Chase Thudium, Logan Hermus and James Gaume added single markers.
Chris Gerrie, Teegan Kooman and Dylan Houston replied for the Black.
Jayden Sittler went the distance for the White, making 24 saves, while Joey Desrosiers and Brody Dirk, who came in after the White’s sixth goal in the third period, faced 32 shots.
The White squad is a bit older than the Black as their entire roster is made up of 14-year-olds. The Black have five first-year players.
“There wasn’t any specific reason for it, we went into the draft with a list and while we didn’t get everyone we wanted, which is the same for Bob (Black head coach Bob Rutz), we just took the next best player available.”
“We did get five first-year kids, but we’re proud at how far they’ve come this season,” said Rutz. “They all played well in the playoffs.”
Even with an older squad the White got off to a slow start this season.
“But we got stronger as the year went on,” said Gaume. “Overall we had a good regular season and we’re just trying to keep it going.”
As for playing the other Red Deer team for the first-time in the playoffs, it’s something the players should enjoy, said Gaume.
“I think it’s exciting for the kids as a lot of them go to the same school and are buddies, but it’s more stressful on the parents and coaches.”
It took half the season for the Black to find their groove, said Rutz.
“Since Christmas the guys really bought into the system and played within our structure and when you do that you’ll be successful at any level,” he said. “I know we had a lot more fun since Christmas.”
The fact the Black were playing with confidence was the key to win over Airdrie.
“We were down 4-1 in the first game, but no one gave up, in fact if anything they let down a bit and with us coming back that planted the seed in them and they played a bit nervous in the second game here.
“Everyone played the system and played hard, something we didn’t do tonight. I thought the first-year guys played well, but some of the older guys didn’t have their best game,” added Rutz. “But the key is not to get too high or too low and come back fighting Saturday. What you saw over the last 12-14 minutes is how we played against Airdrie. Now we need to carry that over.”
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com