Saab taking advantage of extra ice time
He’s now up to two goals in his WHL career, but his first one will be imbedded in his memory forever.
Red Deer Rebels rookie forward Zane Saab finally broke through Dec. 9 at Prince Albert, scoring the opening goal in a 2-1 win over the Raiders by converting a centering pass from Dwayne Jean Jr.
“Jeaner made a really nice play,” Saab reminisced. “Weirsy (defenceman Jace Weir) passed to Jeaner, he skated off and kind of passed from behind the net to me. It was a nice play.
“It was finally good to get the first one, get the confidence. I kind of needed it.”
Saab, who potted his second goal of the season (pictured above) in Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos, has been scratched for roughly half of the season, dressing for 16 of the team’s 31 games to date.
“It’s been good. I just have to work for my opportunities,” said the 17-year-old Edmonton native, selected by Red Deer in the third round — 47th overall — of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.
“You have to earn it (ice time) and sometimes you have to pay your dues,” said Rebels head coach Derrick Walser. “He’s been excellent. There hasn’t been a lot of ice for him but he’s been working hard in practice trying to get better each day.
“When your time comes that’s what you have to do — take advantage of it. It’s like every team in the league, it’s the next man up mentality and you have to take advantage of it.”
With veteran forwards Kalan Lind and Carson Latimer out with injuries, Saab has been playing more and could be rounding into the type of player the Rebels expected when they drafted him.
Saab was a point producer in minor hockey. He scored five goals and added an assist in five games for Team Alberta in the 2021 WHL Cup at the Peavey Mart Centrium and last season he rang up 24 goals and collected 43 points — to go with 70 minutes in penalties — in 36 games with the U18 AAA Edmonton Jr. Oilers Orange.
He anticipated that he would bring his scoring touch to the Rebels and hopefully produce on a consistent level.
“I definitely thought it was something I could bring to this level,” he said. “It’s obviously going to come for me and hopefully I can keep up the pace.”
The importance of playing a solid 200-foot game at the major junior level is something that hasn’t been lost on Saab.
“I would say I’m an offensive player, but I also rely on my defensive skills so I’m a bit of a two-way player as well,” he said.
Zane Saab gets his first @TheWHL goal tonight in P.A! pic.twitter.com/9pfCA48ENd
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) December 10, 2023
With the manner in which he’s performed while playing a regular role in recent games, Saab could be on the verge of gaining more ice time even when the team is fully healthy.
In the meantime, he’ll continue to hone his game in practice and try and take advantage of every opportunity he’s given.
“The guys who aren’t playing a lot, we work them pretty hard,” said Walser. “You want to hate not to play but you also want to get better with your fitness and work on things you need to get stronger at. It’s helped him.”
The Rebels are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games and have used a three-game winning streak to climb up the Eastern Conference standings. Red Deer is now sixth in the Eastern Conference and second in the Central Division.
The team was somewhat successful on last week’s Eastern Division road trip — emerging with a pair of wins and stretching the conference front running Saskatoon Blades to the limit in a 4-2 loss — and has built on that success with two consecutive wins since returning home.
“It was good, we had a tough schedule with long bus rides but we came to play,” said Saab of the trip, that concluded with the win at Prince Albert.
“It was a really good bus trip home,” he added.
Notable: The Rebels close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule Saturday against the visiting Regina Pats . . . Red Deer forward Ollie Josephson played his 100th WHL game Thursday, while captain Kai Uchacz surpassed 160 points.
(Photo by Taylor Lachance)
