Coming off a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds in which they dominated their opposition, the Red Deer Rebels and coach Jesse Wallin are purely positive heading into tonight’s meeting with the host Portland Winterhawks.
The Rebels have already shrugged off the disappointment of being stoned by T-Birds’ goalie Calvin Pickard, who turned aside 46 shots in an all-world performance Tuesday at Kent, Wash.
“Really, we played the same way than we did at home against Vancouver and Saskatoon (in 5-2 and 7-1 wins last weekend),” Wallin said Thursday from Portland. “I was really pleased with our effort. I was pleased with the tenacity and urgency we had in our game. I told the guys after that there’s not a lot I would change in our game other than having to bear down on our opportunities.
“There’s a reason why Pickard is in the mix for a spot on the Canadian world junior team. He’s a world-class goalie and made some saves he had no right making, but at the same time we had a couple back door plays that we fanned on and we had couple of wide open nets where we hit the side of the net and a post. Sometimes the breaks don’t go your way.”
That being said . . .
“We can’t allow it to get us down and frustrated. We just have to stick with it and keep doing what we’re doing and score some goals (tonight).”
l Former Red Deer Rebels centre Landon Ferraro isn’t among the WHL top scorers in his first season with his new team, but the Detroit Red Wings were clearly impressed with his play through 13 games as the Everett Silvertips captain.
Ferraro, a second-round pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Wings this week.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling,” Ferraro told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was five years old. So to finally see that in front of me and get to sign, that was a pretty special feeling.”
Ferraro was told by the Red Wings brass that he wouldn’t be signed during the team’s training camp in September.
“But if he got off to a good start they said they’d look at signing him at some point early in the season,” Everett GM Doug Soetaert told Patterson. “Obviously he’s done that and they feel he has a bright future in their organization.”
Ferraro has five goals and six assists to his credit so far this season.
l Silvertips head coach Craig Hartsburg underwent successful heart surgery Wednesday in Everett.
Hartsburg was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm, which required an open-heart operation. According to Soetaert, who in turn talked to Patterson, the aneurysm was repaired and a section of Hartsburg’s aorta was replaced with an artificial graft.
Hartsburg’s recovery period will last about two months and he will likely return to the bench in January.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com