Rebels 4 Blades 1

No one remembers the preseason once Western Hockey League teams start playing for keeps.

That’s too bad, because the Red Deer Rebels have had a preseason to remember this fall.

Red Deer improved to 4-0-1 in exhibition play with a 4-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades before close to 600 fans Friday in the Scottsville/Red Deer Minor Hockey WHL Classic at the Arena.

“It’s exhibition and everybody is evaluating their teams, but there’s still nothing like winning,” said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.

“I guess the real test will come next Friday,” he added, looking ahead to the Rebels’ regular-season opener against Calgary at the Centrium.

Sutter has seen a steady improvement in his club since opening the preseason with a 4-2 win over Calgary Sept. 1.

“The things we want to concentrate on this weekend are playing our system and doing the little things right,” he said. “I think that’s where I see more progression. “I see guys who don’t have to be reminded of things every time they go on the ice. The guys who were here last year already had an idea of what we want as coaches, and the others are starting to understand.”

The Blades, on a goal by Justin Kelly, led 1-0 after one period. But Red Deer, outshot 10-3 in the opening frame while taking six of eight minor penalties, ruled the rest of the way.

Ladislav Kouba, making his preseason debut, pulled the Rebels even just over four minutes into the second period and captain Jim Vandermeer notched the winner a minute later.

Vandermeer’s goal came just seconds after he misfired on a penalty shot. From the ensuing faceoff, he took Colby Armstrong’s pass, moved into the slot and blew a slapshot past Blades netminder Tony Kolewaski.

"I thought Vandermeer was our best player tonight and we were interested to see how Kouba would play," said Sutter.

"I thought he looked pretty good. You can tell the kid’s going to be a player. We’re excited about what he can bring us. He’s got a knack around the net, he’s responsible defensively and he competes hard."

Armstrong completed the Red Deer scoring by potting a power-play goal midway through the second period and adding an empty-netter in the final minute of the game.

"Colby played well and so did (Joel) Stepp," said Sutter, who was also impressed with Doug Lynch and defencemen Jeff Woywitka and Bryce Thoma, all second-year players.

"These guys are all getting involved physically now," said Sutter. "They're a year older and a year stronger and they feel good about themselves. They worked out hard this summer."

Rookie netminder Cam Ward wasn’t overly busy. He made nine saves in the first period, then faced only nine shots the rest of the way.

Kolewaski was Saskatoon’s best player, taking certain goals away from Armstrong and Kouba. He finished with 22 saves.

While his team was clearly outplayed, head coach Kevin Dickie is confident the Blades will be OK once they have everyone back in uniform.

"We’re so down in numbers right now that we’re just looking forward to getting through the exhibition season," said Dickie, who joined Saskatoon this year after spending the last three seasons coaching at Acadia University.

The Blades still have five players in NHL camps — including top sniper Garret Bembridge — and another five are out with injuries.

"I’m sure we’ll be competitive. The biggest thing for us is that we need to play hard every night, and the other thing is we need probably two or three guys to take us to that next level, maybe giving us 40- to 45-goal seasons," said Dickie.

--------------
l The Blades dressed 10 rookies while the Rebels had 11 first-year players in uniform, including six 16-year-olds and defenceman Dion Phaneuf, 15.

l The Rebels take on the Prince George Cougars today at 7:30 p.m. and face the Regina Pats Sunday at 4:30 p.m. In other games, Saskatoon plays Regina today at 2:30 p.m. and the Blades meet Prince George at 1 p.m. Sunday.

l In Friday’s late contest, Aaron Foster scored twice to pace the Cougars to an 8-4 win over the Pats. Adam Stefishen, Zach Young, Derek Boogaard, Jordan Chomack, Willy Glover and Shon Jones-Parry also tallied for Prince George, while Regina got two goals from Joey Bastien and singles from Landon Boyko and David McDonald.

Marty Maurice stopped 29 shots for the Cougars, with Regina netminders Chad Davidson and Marcus Wright combining to make 31 saves.

l Former Rebel Steve McIntyre has been traded from Prince Albert to Medicine Hat for a fifth-round bantam draft pick in either 2001 or 2002.