Stoesser working his way back to Rebels crease
Little by little, Rhett Stoesser is working his way towards a return to the Red Deer Rebels crease.
Last season’s WHL Central Division First Team All-star netminder suffered a freak injury during a practice session in February and underwent right knee surgery March 17 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a stretched medial collateral ligament.
Stoesser was cleared to participate in a full practice last Thursday for the first time this fall and was encouraged with how he handled proceedings.
“I felt pretty good,” he said Tuesday. “I’d been facing shots for a few weeks before that, so it was mainly getting used to facing rebounds . . . just keep pushing forward.”
The 18-year-old goalie started rehab a short time following surgery, bending his knee, executing single leg squats to get the muscles activated and working with body weights.
“And now we’re finally into everything,” he said.
The Carstairs product, who was listed by the Rebels after passing through the WHL Prospects Draft, enjoyed a strong rookie season in 2022-23, posting a 2.35 goals-against average and .910 save percentage while recording a 19-6-0 win/loss slate.
Stoesser is confident he can raise his game another notch this winter.
“There’s always room for improvement, but mainly it will come down to just playing hockey and working hard in practice,” he said. “Getting better in practice is the main thing so that I’m good to go come game time. Then I can just build off that.”
There’s no set date for Stoesser’s return to active duty, nor is there any rush to get him back between the pipes.
“He’s been taking shots for probably eight weeks, but now he can engage in game-like situations like getting used to traffic and working on some of the small technical things,” said head coach Derrick Walser, who started second-year stopper Kyle Kelsey against Edmonton Saturday — in a 4-2 loss — and gave rookie Chase Wutzke the start the following night in a 4-3 win at Rogers Place.
“We’ll see how it goes. I’m not too worried about it,” said Walser of Stoesser’s eventual return. “He just has to get himself back into game shape and go from there.
“We are fortunate we have three good goalies.”
During his extended time as a spectator, Stoesser has been able to keep tabs on the team’s progression. He’s liked what he’s seen.
“It should be an exciting year,” he said. “We should have a really good team this year, so I’m stoked to get in there and hopefully get my first win in a while.”
Meanwhile, the Rebels will likely have their three remaining NHL campers — defenceman Hunter Mayo and Mats Lindgren and forward Kalan Lind — back for their next game, Friday at home versus the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. Lind was officially returned to the Rebels by the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Mayo is expected back from Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Lindgren will play in a preseason contest for the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday.
Walser noted that other teams are also having players return from NHL camps, making for an even playing field.
“But we’re looking forward to having them back,” he said. “We’ll have to move some players down in the lineup and others into different spots. That’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks, evaluating and trying to put our team together.”
The eventual return of all three will be huge for the Rebels, with Mayo and Lindgren able to run the power play from the blueline and Lind expected to contribute offensively while bringing his usual aggressive game as a top-six skater.
“He plays hard, he brings you into the fight on a consistent basis,” Walser said of Lind, a second round pick of the Nashville Predators in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
“That’s why he was drafted where he was. He competes, just like our guys did on Saturday when we were a completely different team (from Friday).”
Notable: The Rebels’ top two picks in this year’s Prospects Draft, forward Beckett Hamilton and defenceman Jake Missura, have been named to Team Saskatchewan for the WHL Cup to be held Oct. 18-22 at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Alberta, BC and Manitoba have yet to select their teams for the tournament featuring 2008-born players . . . After Friday’s contest the Rebels will be idle until the following weekend when they’ll host the Prince Albert Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday and Saturday.
