On Friday night the Rebels played the Hitmen at the 7 Chiefs arena There was no broadcast and the Rebels lost 1-0. Game Summary
On Saturday night the Lethbridge Hurricanes came to town.
Beckett Hamilton, the Rebels 1st round pick in the 2023 Bantam draft notched his first goal of the pre season on the Power Play at 7:29 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Carson Birnie and Jhett Larson.
Swiss Import Leo Braillard tied the game for the Hurricanes with man advantage goal just over eight minutes later at 15:32 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to 2024 Nashville Predators 3rd rounder Miguel Marques and Bonnyville, Alberta native Tristen Doyle.
Just 26 seconds later Samuel Drancak breaks in and makes it a 2-1 Rebels game at 15:58 of the first period. The goal was unassisted.
Shots on goal in the first period were 12 for the Rebels and 5 for the Hurricanes.
Beckett Hamilton got his second goal of the game on the Power Play again with the assists going to Carson Birnie and Jhett Larson at 5:50 of the second period. That is the second time in the game the trio combined for a goal.
The Hurricanes replaced Brady Smith at the midway point of the period as Koen Cleaver entered the game.
Mossbank, Saskatchewan native Chase Petersen found the net for his second of the pre-season on a give-and-go with Duncan, BC native Gavin Lesiuk. Edmonton native Reid Soper the Rebels second round pick in last years bantam draft, was credited with the second assist the goal came at 13:04 of the second period. If you want to feel real old, not a single kid on that line can purchase beer, I am actually wondering if any of them have had a chance to get a drivers license.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-6 for the Hurricanes.
Samuel Drancak got his second goal of the game on the Power Play at 4:03 of the third period. The assist on the goal went to Carson Birnie.
Just three-and-a-half minutes later, the Rebels struck again on the power play when Jhett Larson ripped a shot home for his first goal of the pre-season making it 5-2; Beckett Hamilton and Quentin Bourne picked up the assists on the goal.
Shots on goal in the third period were 16-4 for the Rebels. The Rebels outshot the Hurricanes 34-24.
Taylor Tabashniuk made 22 saves on the 24 shots that he faced for the win for the Rebels. For the Hurricanes in the first half of the game Brady Smith made 13 saves on the 16 shots that he faced. While in the second half of the game Koen Cleaver made 16 saves on the 18 shots that he faced.
The Three Stars of the game were 1) Samuel Drancak 2) Beckett Hamilton 3) Jhett Larson
Rebels next game is Friday September 13th against the Medicine Hat Tigers in Red Deer. The Tigers should be the power house of the CHL this season. They also just acquired former Prince Albert Raider and 2024 Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick Ryder Ritchie. They gave up a great player in Mrsic to get him. Ritchie was one of if not the best player on the Raiders last season. The Raiders should also be the other power house in the east anyhow next to the Tigers. Raiders look amazing also.
After the game the Rebels made the following transactions- Tucker Tullikopf (F ’08 – Red Deer Chiefs) Cash Arcand-Vandale (F ’09 – Saskatoon Contacts) Luke Jamieson (F ’09 – Edge School). We will see all those names alot in the future. Wish they were easier to spell🤣
Rebels that were out attending NHL Camps- Chase Wutzke (Minnesota), Hunter Mayo (Winnipeg), Jace Weir (Tampa Bay), Kalan Lind (Nashville), Kasper Pikkarainen (New Jersey), Ollie Josephson (Seattle).