Rebels 3 Pats 0

The Red Deer Rebels closed out their WHL preseason schedule on a positive note and bad ice.

The Rebels were leading the Regina Pats 3-0 Sunday when the final game of the Scottsville/Red Deer Minor Hockey WHL Classic was halted at 2:05 of the second period.

The contest was terminated when both head coaches and the referee agreed the ice in the goal crease at the north end of the Arena was too soft and therefore unsafe.

Assuming the 22 minutes played constituted a game, the Rebels took top honours in the tournament with a 2-1 record and a plus-6 in the goals for and against department.

The Prince George Cougars (plus-5) and Saskatoon Blades (minus-1) were also 2-1 and Regina finished 0-3.

Regardless, the final weekend of preseason action answered some questions for Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter, whose club was 5-1-1 in exhibition play.

"For the most part, I was happy with how we played this weekend and throughout the exhibition season," said Sutter.

"We worked on a lot of important things and in 19 periods of hockey we only gave up 14 goals.

"That’s something we wanted to do — keep our goals against down."

Sutter also wanted to reduce his roster to 24 bodies and was able to weed out the players who were on the bubble.

"The decisions were not easy, but that’s a good thing,” said Sutter. "That shows the depth we have.

"At this time last year I was a lot more concerned than I am now. I didn’t think we had the depth last year but we certainly have it now. We have some prospects who will play in the league someday and we’re excited about that."

Five players, including centre Jason Ertl of Red Deer, were reassigned Sunday. Ertl will join the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs midgets.

Also released were defencemen Shane Grypiuk, Cody Holzapfel and Dion Phaneuf, and netminder Cam Ward.

All five players will remain on the Rebels’ protected list.

"These were the right moves, not just for hockey club but for the kids who can now go back to bantam and midget hockey and continue to develop," said Sutter.

The Rebels roster includes 21 players currently available for duty, two more at NHL camps — Kyle Wanvig and Ross Lupaschuk — and rookie Shay Stephenson, who’s sidelined two months with a broken hand.

Justin Mapletoft returned from the New York Islanders camp Saturday night and netminder Shane Bendera checked in from the main camp of the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in the day.

Bendera was in uniform Sunday and stopped all seven shots he faced before the game was brought to an abrupt halt.

Donovan Rattray, Jeff Smith and Andrew Bergen scored for Red Deer.

"There were holes in the ice that were right down to the cement," said Bendera.

"They made the right decision to call the game. It wasn’t worth risking an injury."

Although his workload was light, Bendera looked sharp.

"I played a couple of rookie games at Columbus, then a bunch of intrasquad games when I went to main camp, so I’m in pretty good shape now," said Bendera.

"The game is faster and the guys shoot harder at the NHL level. Now I have to put what I learned to good use this season."

With four key players still at NHL camps, potentially, the Pats are not as bad as they looked during the weekend.

That’s encouraging, considering Regina will host the Memorial Cup tournament next spring.

But even if star forward Brett Lysak and ace defenceman Barrett Jackman return from the NHL, and the jury is out on both players, the Pats will likely have to complete several trades to ensure they’re competitive in the national championship.

"Once we get all our players back and get a few games under our belt, we’ll have a better idea of what we’ve got," said bench boss Lorne Molleken, who coached the Chicago Blackhawks last season.

"I've talked with Brent (GM Parker) about different possibilities. We've put together a bit of a wish list concerning certain names from different teams.

"Whenever a trade is made it’s usually a long, drawn-out process. I think it’s important that we’re patient and see where we stand."

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l In Sunday’s earlier game, Saskatoon got goals from Davin Heintz, Petr Prochazka, Derek Couture and Craig Valette in a 4-3 win over Prince George.

Adam Stefishen, with two goals, and Tomas Tesarek scored for the Cougars.