Rebels remain confident despite tough results down south
By DANNY RODE
It’s an understatement to say the Red Deer Rebels swing through the U.S. Division of the WHL didn’t go as planned.
The Red Deer crew posted a 0-4-0-2 record, but despite the disappointment head coach Dave Struch is taking a positive outlook.
“As much as the wins and losses are not there, there’s lot of positive stuff to work on, to build on, but there’s still a lot of stuff we need to get better at,” Struch offered on Wednesday. “No matter how the road trip went we have lots to build on from the positive side and the negative side.
“We know every team goes through it at some point and maybe this is the right time for us … to go through it and learn from it.”
As a longtime player and coach in the league, Struch knows what it takes to handle a little negativity.
“The most important part of the failures, or difficulties, or bumps in the road I believe is to grow from those situations, learn from them to help the team out.
“We have to build and grow from the road trip. I know the players aren’t happy, which is a good thing.”
Struch believes even if the team had a winning record, there’s still things to work on, such as goal scoring, as they managed just nine tallies on the six-game trip.
“We saw a lot of good things, and the video evidence showed we carried the momentum in the majority of the games, created a lot of good changes. We’re in the right spots, but we have to bear down and score some goals.”
Rebels captain Ollie Josephson agrees.
“I don’t think there’s one thing that led to it, but it comes down to burying our chances. We get lots and lots of chances every game, we just have to put them in the back of the net.
“That starts in practice and using every rep you get. I know we’ve been working hard on it all week.”
Josephson is one to lead by example.
“Being one of the leaders on the team, I have to do things the right way, lead by example on the ice, try to say the right things in the room, try to help the team out of this rut. I’m not worried I think we will be fine. We’re playing hood hockey, just not bearing down on our chances.”
Scoring has been a problem all season as they’ve managed just 55 goals in 21 games, which is last in the league.
Their power play isn’t helping at 12.3 percent… last in the league.
“It just comes down to executing, bearing down when you have a good opportunity,” said Struch. “We’re working on it and expect to get better.”
With Kalan Lind returning from a lower body injury Saturday against the Victoria Royals (7 p.m. at the Peavey Mart Centrium), Struch hopes the power play receives a boost.
“No question about it. He’s an asset in a number of areas – net presence, five-on-five, power play, all different situations. He’s a gritty kid. He plays a hard game and gets in the hard areas. We know he can score in there. Hopefully that will put us on a good track.
“But it’s not just him. We’ve got a number of guys who go to those areas. We just need them to bear down. It’s not a negative, but something to build off of.”
Like any team, players have a tendency to squeeze the stick a bit harder when having trouble cashing in scoring chances.
“We’re human, so it happens, but we’re not worried,” said Josephson.
“The guys get frustrated and it’s our job to get them through it, relax and play the right way without the puck so that they have the puck more.
“We also can’t forget we have another whole side of our game which we have to continue to play the right way and get better at so we can have those offensive opportunities.
“The guys have to continue to grow and play with confidence to get over this little hump we’re on,” Josephson concluded.
ICE CHIPS – Kasper Pikkarainen remains out with a lower body injury, with no time set for his return … He is the only Rebels listed on this week’s injury report … the Rebels play three of their next four games at home, including a match up with highly regarded Prince George Cougars, Nov. 29 followed by the Brandon Wheat Kings the following night … Tickets for all Rebels home games are available at ticketsalberta.com.
