The Red Deer Rebels defeated the so called CHL best team 6-3. The Rebels improve to 3-0-1-0 on the season and are now the lone WHL club without a regulation loss. I also can’t wait to see the CHL rankings next week.
Draft Eligible Matthew Gard got the Rebels on the board to make it 1-0 with his second goal of the season somewhat early in the first period at 4:06 from a beautiful feed from Trae Wilke. The other assist went to Matteo Fabrizi.
Carson Birnie scores his first of the season on the Power Play to make it a 2-0 Rebels game at 14:53 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Jhett Larson and Jace Weir. It was kind of fitting that Birnie scored that one considering he had a couple close chances before that.
The Tigers outshot the Rebels in the first period 15-14
Matthew Gard scored his second goal of the game when he whacked at a rebound and it bounced in at 1:53 of the second period. The goal marks the first WHL point for recently acquired Jack Bousquet. Bousquet was recently acquired by the Rebels from the Spokane Chiefs. Bousquet is a 2007 born from Dallas, Texas, He was playing for the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL prior to coming to the Rebels.
Former Seattle Thunderbird Bryce Pickford got the Tigers on the board at 3:17 of the second period with the assists on the goal going to Gavin McKenna and Nate Corbet.
Carson Birnie got his second goal of the game on the Power Play at 6:50 of the second period to make it a 4-1 Rebels game. The assist on the goal went to Matteo Fabrizi
Jonas Woo scored for the Tigers to make it a 4-2 game at 7:58 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Bryce Pickford and Gavin McKenna.
Jhett Larson scored for the Rebels at 8:52 of the second period to make it a 5-2 Rebels game. The assists on the goal went to Beckett Hamilton and Samuel Drancak
Trae Wilke scores his first of the season to make it a 6-2 Rebels game at 14:09 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Derek Thurston and Matthew Gard
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-11 for the Tigers
Bryce Pickford scored for the Tigers at 17:48 of the third period to make the game 6-3. The assist on the goal went to Shane Smith.
Shots on goal in the third period were 19-3 for the Tigers. The Tigers outshot the Rebels 49-28 in the game.
For the Rebels Chase Wutzke made 46 saves on the 49 shots that he faced for the win. For the Tigers Jordan Switzer made 16 saves on the 20 shots he faced. He was relieved by Ethan McCallum at 6:50 of the second period. McCallum then made 6 saves on the 8 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Matthew Gard 2) Carson Birnie 3) Matteo Fabrizi
Attendance in Red Deer was 3,501.
Rebels next game is Saturday October 5th in Calgary against the Hitmen
Quentin Bourne has been released by the Red Deer Rebels- “Quentin Bourne, an 18-year-old defenseman from Lawndale, California, has been released by the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. Bourne, who was the Rebels’ eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, spent two seasons with the team, appearing in 78 regular season games and 11 playoff games. His best statistical season was 2023-24 with 12 assists in 47 games, though he never scored a regular season goal. Rebels’ coach Brent Sutter cited Bourne’s dissatisfaction with his limited role, often as a sixth or seventh defenseman, as the reason for the parting of ways. Despite the amicable split, Bourne, who played forward in the playoffs, hopes to find new opportunities closer to home in the United States.” Bourne is now playing for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL.
