Rebels 7 Hitmen 5

If there had been any worries about how Justin Mapletoft would perform with the Red Deer Rebels following his stint at the New York Islanders camp this season, he quickly put them to rest.

All the 19-year-old centre did was score three times and set up three other goals as the Rebels opened their 2000-2001 Western Hockey League season with a wild 7-5 victory over the Calgary Hitmen before a sellout crowd of 5,780 at the Centrium Friday.

Unlike a number of other junior stars who have returned from pro camps not ready to play, Mapletoft was at the top of his game.

"I came back here with the idea of keeping up the same speed I was playing there . . . to come back with a positive attitude and help this team win," explained the four-year veteran. "I want us to play the best we can this year and I want to be a leader on this team."

That's exactly the attitude Rebels head coach Brent Sutter likes.

"I think Mapes has the ability to be a leader for us," said Sutter. "We had a little talk after he got back from camp about him playing in the team concept. Tonight he showed just how good he can be when he does that."

Mapletoft scored the go-ahead goal in the first period then potted a pair early in the second as Red Deer built up a 5-2 lead. However, as good as Mapletoft was, the Rebels defensive play was as bad. They consistently got caught in odd-man situations as the Hitmen stormed back to tie the score early in the third period.

But, the Rebels offence wasn’t about to let down and Colby Armstrong's second of the game — this with a two-man advantage — put Red Deer back up for good. Jim Vandermeer and Kyle Wanvig, who also played a solid game after returning from the Boston Bruins camp, added single goals. Calgary’s Jordan Krestanovich tried to equal Mapletoft's performance as he finished with three goals while Robin Gomez and Rod Sarich scored once each.

The win was a nice start to the season, considering the Rebels needed 10 games last year before they got the best of the Hitmen. But, Mapletoft says they need to play a lot better.

"We need to work on a lot of little things, especially on team defence, but then the season is still early," he said. "The nice thing was we created a lot of chances, and we have to be happy with the number of shots."

The Rebels finished with 54 shots on Calgary goaltender Brent Krahn while Red Deer starter Shane Bendera finished with 14 saves.

"Shane didn't have his best game . . . he's the first to admit that," said Sutter, who had a few things to say about his defensive play.

"I wasn’t happy with the way we played . . . it was sloppy," he said.

"After it was 5-2 the guys seemed to have their own program . . . they went away from what we talked about. I understand it's the first game, but we have to play a lot smarter.

"We have to be a lot more aware defensively."

But while Sutter could be pleased with the win and the offence, Calgary assistant coach Jeff Maher didn't have much to be happy with.

"We’re missing some guys, but this may be our club," he said. "There were a lot of guys tonight who sat back and waited for someone else to do the job, and they weren't there.

"We knew coming in Red Deer would be high with their season opener and we weren't ready.

"Krahn and Krestanovich had good games, but other than that our 16 year-olds were our best players."