Vlooswyk continues to make strides in rookie season
By DANNY RODE
Luke Vlooswyk has everything he needs to anchor the Red Deer Rebels blueline over the next couple of seasons.
The six-foot-five, 200-pound native of Calgary is already showing as much as a 17-year-old rookie.
He leads the Rebels in plus-minus with a plus seven, with blueline partner, Derek Thurston at plus five.
“I don’t believe plus-minus always tells the whole story, still it’s a good indicator and something to take pride in,” he said.
The pair have been together for most the season and find themselves up again opposing top lines quite often.
“I think we’re tough to play against and taking on the other team’s top line is something I love and I try to embrace it.”
Vlooswyk believes the pair could anchor the defence for years to come and “we’ll be strong on the back end.”
Luke feels his game has taken big strides this season.
“My game from the start of the season to now is like night and day,” he said. “I’m really proud of that and I think it’s getting better every day.”
Rebels head coach Dave Struch sees that as well.
“He’s come a long way this season. He still has some inconsistencies, but with experience and what he has to go through playing against top six forwards, especially in our division, he has no choice but to develop and get better.”
Struch believes he just needs to work move the puck faster and “think the game” more quickly.
“You only overcome those by learning through failures and small victories … you learn from both sides.
“When he become even bigger and stronger he will be even more of an asset.”
Vlooswyk does feel he’s taking strides on the offensive side.
“I think the biggest positive in my game has been my decision making, making the play a second or two quicker, not over handling the puck and that’s huge.
“On the other hand, I’m still trying to work on just defending, although it’s one of the better parts of my game. If I want to be an elite defenceman that needs to be the focal part of my game.”
Playing a physical game is something he believes will only help the team in the future.
“That’s a bit of a rarity in the game these days, but I think every team needs a guy like that.”
His size, physical play and overall ability will likely see him drafted in the 2025 NHL Draft in June. He presently ranked 109th among North American skaters by Central Scouting.
Vlooswyk was drafted by the Rebels in the first round, 17th overall, in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
He played his 16-year-old year with the Calgary Edge U18 Prep team, leading them to the league championship.
“Playing with the Edge made for a smooth transition to the Dub,” he said.
He did play seven regular season games and nine playoff contests with the Rebels last season.
“That experience I got at the end of the year with the Rebels kind of translated into this year and I think contributed to the way I’m playing.”
Vlooswyk has had a solid rookie season in spite of the team’s struggles at times.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I believe we’re trending in the right direction,” said Vlooswyk. “We made a number of deadline moves to get younger and I believe we’ll be dramatic next year. We’ll take a step up. We have a great group in there, a good young core and we’ll be a dangerous team.
‘We still believe in ourselves, and we’ll continue to fight every day to make the playoffs. I know it’s not in our control, but we’ll try to do our part.”
The Rebels are 10 points back of the Swift Current Broncos in the fight for the last playoff berth, but the Saskatchewan squad has three games in hand.
The Rebels have 15 games remaining with the next eight at home, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at the Peavey Mart Centrium against the Edmonton Oil Kings. They also play Monday at 2 p.m. for the Family Day Matinee, also against Edmonton.
