The Red Deer Rebels found themselves stuck in a frustrating rut Wednesday night in Kamloops, experiencing that eerie sense of déjà vu for the third game running—they surrendered a goal on the very first shot their opponent took and never managed to claw their way back. The result was a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers, marking yet another loss on their tough B.C. road trip. So far, the Rebels haven’t picked up a single win during this swing through British Columbia. They dropped a 5-3 decision to the Kelowna Rockets on Tuesday, January 27, then fell 5-2 to the Blazers the following night. With three games now in the books on this six-game trek, the slide has reached four straight losses overall, starting back home with a defeat to the Calgary Hitmen on January 23.
Red Deer native Cooper Moore makes it 1-0 Blazers game at 3:29 of the first period with the assists on the goal going to Pittsburgh Penguins Prospect Harrison Brunicke and former Red Deer Rebel Ty Coupland.–Kamloops wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard. Early in the frame, former Rebel Ty Coupland found Harrison Brunicke, who slid a perfect cross-crease feed to Cooper Moore, who beat Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro.
Shots on goal in the first period were 13-8 for the Blazers
It became 2-0 when Ty Bonkowski scored his 10th goal of the season at 4:30 of the second period with the assist on the goal going to goalie Logan Edmonstone.–Kamloops carried the momentum into the second period, striking early as Ty Bonkowski buried his 10th goal of the season to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.
Owen DeWitt scores for the Rebels to get them on the board at 7:42 of the second period during a mad scramble in front of the net with the assist on the goal going to Kohen Lodge and Matus Lisy.–Owen DeWitt, playing in front of plenty of friends and family from his hometown of Sicamous, got the Rebels on the board with his first WHL goal as he scooped the puck out of a scramble in the slot and fired it past Blazers netminder Logan Edmonstone. The announcers in the Rockets game along with this game kept pointing out that the Rebels stopped at his parents Dairy Farm and got Ice Cream on the trip out to Kamloops. Probably warm enough out there for ice cream too.
Former Trail Smoke Eater Josh Evaschsen scores his 23rd goal of the season to make it a 3-1 game for the Blazers at 8:45 of the second period. Assists on the goal went to Arizona State commit Nathan Behm and South African born Harrison Brunicke.–Josh Evaschesen walked in over the line and snapped a shot off the post and in, restoring the two goal advantage.
Patrick Sopiarz who has been on fire lately makes it 3-2 with an unassisted goal at 10:35 of the second period.–Patrick Sopiarz went bar down on Edmonstone for his third goal in his last two games. It was a 3-2 game through two periods.
Shots on goal in the second period were 13-4 for the Blazers
Regina native Dryden Deobald makes it a 4-2 game for the Blazers at 11:37 of the third period with the assists on the goal went to Langley native Jacob Dumansky and Czech import Vit Zahejsky.–Vit Zahejsky found Dryden Deobald net front, who snapped a shot past Kondro for his second of the season, extending the lead to two.
Josh Evaschesen scored into the empty net at 18:13 of the third period with the assists on the goal going to Harrison Brunicke and Jordan Keller.
Shots on goal in the third period were 13-8 for the Blazers. The Blazers outshot the Rebels 39-20 in the game
Saskatoon native Logan Edmonstone made 18 saves on the 20 shots that he faced for the win for the Blazers. For the Rebels Matthew Kondro stopped 34 of the 38 shots he was peppered with all night.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Harrison Brunicke 2) Josh Evaschesen 3) Ty Bonkowski
Attendance in Kamloops was 4165
Rebels next game is Saturday January 31st in Victoria against the Royals
He is still listed at mynhldraft.com as playing with USNTDP, Hurlbert is a volume shooter and at time of writing, his 183 shots taken ranked third in all of the CHL. Having said that, he is amongst the top five in assists in the WHL. Hurlbert has since been passed in the WHL scoring race, but it will be a battle down the stretch with a number of players close to the league lead. He likely should’ve garnered more attention for a spot on the US world junior team, but leaving the USNTDP didn’t help his cause. LINK Some scouts have said Hurlbert could be this draft’s Ben Kindel.