Yaremko excited to finish WHL career with Rebels
By DANNY RODE – Tyson Yaremko was exactly the type of player Red Deer Rebels owner/president/General Manager Brent Sutter was looking for to fill his final 20-year-old spot this season.
The Saskatoon native not only added leadership to one of the youngest teams in the WHL, but additional offence as well.
In 18 games with the Rebels since being picked up from the Portland Winterhawks, Yaremko has seven goals and four assists.
“It’s always fun to score a goal here and there but it’s as important to play both ways … to be defensively good,” he said.
“I feel I’m a two-way player and it’s neat to score but I can be an important player in the last couple of minutes of a game if they need a shutdown line. If they’re six-on-five I can do that as well.”
Tyson has fit in as one of the team’s top penalty killers and shown he can play on the power play as well.
“I played on penalty kill a lot in Portland,” he said. “It’s always fun to be on the power play as well.”
Yaremko iws one of many new faces on the Rebels this season, and like the others was welcomed with “open arms.”
“It’s a great group of guys, a great team and I think everyone welcomed me. It’s been a great month and a half so far.”
Being a 20-year-old it was expected he’d bring leadership into the room.
“Obviously it was different here, I didn’t know many of the guys but once I felt comfortable, I tried to be a leader for the younger guys, tried to show up for the guys who don’t have as much experience as me.
“It is a younger team but it’s awesome to see a whole bunch of young guys and great players and it’s cool to see where they will be in three or four years. They’re exactly in the spot I once was.”
Tyson was drafted by the Swift Current Broncos in fourth round, 68th overall, in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft. He played one game with the Broncos as a 16-year-old but didn’t make the team the following season.
“I guess it wasn’t the right spot for me,” he said. “They have a great organization, but it wasn’t the time for me to go in there. But once I got traded to Portland (in 2023) I think I had a great opportunity there and made the best use of it.
“It was a great organization and in my first year there as an 18-year-oldwe made a run to the final and the following year we made a good run as well. I’m looking forward to doing the same in Red Deer.”
In his first season with the Winterhawks, he played 54 games and finished with four goals and 10 helpers. The following season he was off to a good start with 14 goals and 16 assists in 35 games when he suffered a lower body injury which sidelined him for close to a year.
He came back this year and played 12 games and had two goals and an assist before the trade to the Rebels.
It was a move which suited him.
“I was looking forward to a fresh start,” he said. “I had a tough injury last year and was out for a while and I’m excited to be here.”
Tyson will finish his junior career with the Rebels and join the University of Alaska – Fairbanks next season.
“I’m looking forward to that. I hope to have a couple of years there and get a chance to turn pro.”
One thing he is looking forward to is flying to games.
“A lot better than the bus,” he said with a laugh.
The Rebels are in a battle with the Moose Jaw Warriors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They have 12 games remaining on their schedule and have two big games this weekend as they host the Edmonton Oil Kings Friday at 7 p.m. and the Broncos Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Marchant Crane Centrium.
