Offensive Explosion; Rebels Win 10-0 Over Brandon
Adam Helewka made his Red Deer Rebels debut as the Brandon Wheat Kings visited the Enmax Centrium for the first time this season.
FIRST PERIOD
Led by their new-look top line of Helewka, Jake DeBrusk and Ivan Nikolishin the Rebels came out with an offensive explosion for the ages.
Nelson Nogier opened the scoring with his second goal of the season 4:21 into the game with Brandon Hagel drawing the lone assist.
DeBrusk made it 2-0 when he capped off a gorgeous give-and-go with Helewka at 6:07; Austin Strand with the second assist on the goal.
The new guy got in on the goal scoring action as Helewka netted his first as a Rebel, 17th of the year, from DeBrusk and Nikolishin to make it 3-0 at 13:19.
Grayson Pawlenchuk put home a rebound from a Brandon Hagel shot at 13:54 for his 14th goal of the season, 4-0 Rebels.
A mere nine seconds later, Hagel tipped home a point shot from Austin Schmoorkoff for his 8th of the year at 14:05. Schmoorkoff earned his first point of the season on the goal that made it 5-0 from the Rebels, chasing goalie Justin Papirny from the Wheat Kings goal.
The Rebels didn’t stop there as DeBrusk would net his second of the period with Nogier getting the lone helper. Red Deer scored four times within a 2:27 span to go ahead 6-0.
As the period was expiring, Conner Bleackley tipped home a pass from Helewka for his 11th goal of the year. The powerplay goal, also set up by Nikolishin, came with 3.2 seconds left in the opening stanza. The Rebels led the Wheat Kings 7-0 at the end of the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
DeBrusk capped off his hat trick not long into the middle frame, scoring his 14th goal of the year at the 3:06 mark. Once again, Helewka and Nikolishin picked up the assists.
THIRD PERIOD
Ivan Nikolishin scored 14:14 into the final frame to make it 9-0.
The Rebels capped off their incredible scoring night when Pawlenchuk netted his second goal of the night at 15:12 to put the wraps on a resounding 10-0 victory over Brandon. Rylan Toth shutout the Wheat Kings for the second time this season, making 61 saves in the process.
BOOSTER JUICE THREE STARS
1. Jake DeBrusk RD
2. Adam Helewka RD
3. Nelson Nogier RD
HARDEST WORKING REBEL – Brandon Hagel
NOTES – Prior to the game, Brandon Hagel was honoured as the Mitchell and Jewel Rebels Player of the Month for December… Hagel collected 9 points in 11 games in December… Rebels scratches for the game were Haydn Fleury, Josh Mahura, Ryan Pouliot, Presten Kopeck, Michael Spacek and Adam Musil… Fleury (Canada) and Spacek (Czech Republic) each suffered losses at the World Junior Hockey Championship on Saturday and will be returning to the Rebels… Before tonight, the Wheat Kings had gone 6-1-0-1 in their last eight visits to Red Deer… The Rebels have now outscored Brandon 14-0 in two games this season… The seven goal first period outburst was not a team record for the Rebels as they scored 8 in the opening period of an 11-4 win over Prince Albert on January 12, 2002… Attendance for the game was 5742.
NEXT GAME – The Rebels head out for a quick two game Saskatchewan road trip which starts Tuesday night at Prince Albert. Cam Moon hits the air on 106.7 The Drive at 5:50 p.m.
Story by Troy Gillard
Photo by Rob Wallator