Man, what a rough one Friday night at the Centrium—3,735 of us showed up hoping the Rebels could pull off the upset against the Calgary Hitmen, but it ended up a 5-1 grind in Calgary’s favour. The Rebels actually jumped out to the lead early, about five minutes into the first, when 20-year-old forward Tyson Yaremko tipped a shot from Beckett Hamilton on the power play for a nice one to get the building going. But after that, the Hitmen just took over, scoring five unanswered and making it tough to watch. Coach Marc Habscheid nailed it after—he said once they got that first one, the game slipped away from us. We had a real hard time handling them down low, they were quicker, and we spent way too much time stuck in our own end. Matthew Kondro battled hard all night in the crease trying to keep us in it, but it wasn’t enough. Now we’re sitting at 16-23-2-2 and heading out on a six-game road trip through the B.C. Division—gonna be a long haul, but hopefully the boys can find some rhythm out there.
Tyson Yaremko tips in Beckett Hamilton’s point shot at 4:59 of the first period while the Rebels are on the Power Play to make it a 1-0 game. The other assist on the goal went to Nate Yellowaga.–It took just seconds for the chemistry to ignite! Beckett Hamilton wired a heavy shot from the point, and there was Tyson Yaremko lurking at the top of the crease—perfectly positioned to redirect it past Aidan Hesse and light the lamp for the Rebels on the man advantage.
Okotoks, Alberta native Ethan Moore ties the game up at 1 at 9:59 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Airdrie native Wyatt Pisarczyk and Edmonton native Julien Maze.–Quick response from the Hitmen! Just five minutes later, Ethan Moore made a slick move and tucked it under the pad of Red Deer’s Matthew Kondro, who stretched out desperately but couldn’t keep it out—game tied!
Russian Import Andrei Molgachev makes it a 2-1 game for Calgary on the Power Play at 10:42 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Caine Wilke and former Regina Pat Julien Maze got his second assist of the game.–And they answer right back—only 43 seconds after tying it up! Power-play goal for the Hitmen: Andrei Molgachev winds up from down low in the circle and wires one home—Calgary takes a 2-1 lead!
Shots on goal in the first period were 15-9 for the Rebels
Blake Vanek the son of former NHLer Tomas Vanek makes it 3-1 for the Hitmen at 16:17 of the second period with the assists on the goal going to Calder Hamilton the 6th overall pick in the 2024 WHL Bantam draft and Calgary native Shaun Hildebrand.–The only goal of the middle frame came from Blake Vanek, who got a piece of Calder Hamilton’s point shot to extend Calgary’s lead.
Shots on goal in the second period were 17-10 for the Hitmen
Wyatt Pisarcyk 4-1 Hitmen at 4:27 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Keaton Jundt and Pittsburgh Penguins 2025 7th rounder Kale Dach.–Wyatt Pisarczyk added the fourth marker, with a shot through traffic from the point
Julien Maze gets an unassisted empty net goal at 19:04 of the third period to make it a 5-1 game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 16-11 for the Hitmen. The Hitmen outshot the Rebels 42-36 in the game.
Aidan Hesse made 35 saves on the 36 shots that he faced for the win for the Hitmen. For the Rebels Matthew Kondro made 37 saves on the 41 shots that he faced.
Stars of the game were 1) Aidan Hesse 2) Matthew Kondro 3) Julien Maze
Attendance in Red Deer was 3735
Rebels next game is Sunday November 25th in Penticton when the Rebels face the expansion Vees for the first time.
