Justin Mapletoft is in his fourth season with the Red Deer Rebels. He's never won at the Calgary Saddledome.

Unreal.

Fact is, the Rebels were wearing silver and black the last time they posted a Western Hockey League victory over the Hitmen in Calgary, B.J. Young notching the winner in a 5-3 triumph Jan. 29, 1997.

Red Deer is 0-15 at the 'Dome during that stretch.

"I couldn't actually tell you why. We’ve come close a few games, but otherwise, for some reason, we just haven't played well there," Mapletoft said Tuesday, as the Rebels looked ahead to tonight's game in Calgary.

"In the games we did play well, we shot ourselves in the foot. We made more mistakes than Calgary and they cost us."

The 12-2 Rebels will face a stern test tonight. With the return of Kris Beech, Pavel Brendl, Matt Kinch and Shaun Sutter from the pro ranks, the Hitmen are a vastly different team than the edition that was thoroughly outplayed in a 7-5 loss to Red Deer Sept. 23 at the Centrium.

After a slow start, the Hitmen have improved to 8-6-1 with their  veterans back in the lineup, and are coming off 12-4 and 11-2 whippings of Prince Albert and Moose Jaw.

"Yeah, it will be a good challenge for us. We’ll see where we're at," said Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter.

"Calgary's right in there again. They went from being a team that was wondering what they'd have this season to a team that knows what they have."

Mapletoft agreed.

"They're a lot better team than their record. They've got a few guys back and seem to be playing with a lot of confidence," he said.

"But we've also been playing with confidence and we're going to go in there expecting to play a good game. The team with the least amount of mistakes is going to win."

The Rebels have kept their errors to a minimum in their last three outings, 3-0, 4-1 and 3-1 wins over Swift Current, P.A. and Moose Jaw.

That trend will have to continue tonight for the Rebels to emerge with a win.

"Defensively, we have to be sharp. Every line is going to have to be responsible for their defensive assignments," said Sutter.

"But at the same time we can't get back on our heels.

"We have to be going, we have to play in-your-face hockey.

"We're a team that believes in a strong forecheck and creating turnovers, and I don't think we should stray from that.

"We're going to continue to play our type of game and make adjustments as the game goes along. We want to go in there with the attitude that we can beat that hockey team, no matter who they have."

While the Rebels have allowed only two goals in their last three games, they haven't exactly filled the opposition net.

"We have to bear down on our scoring opportunities," said Sutter.

"We're getting lots of chances and we have to start putting the puck in the net."

Mapletoft’s line, with Colby Armstrong and Kyle Wanvig on the wings, has been relatively quiet after a torrid start.

"We've kind of struggled a bit the last little while, but it's good that it's happening now," said Mapletoft, the team's top scorer with 10 goals and 31 points.

"We can work through it and hopefully we can start picking it up again tomorrow night.

"Certainly we'll have to create more offence in Calgary, but right now we're getting an all-around effort from everyone and that's the main thing."

Meanwhile, the Rebels are still battling history. Devin Francon is the only current Rebel who played in that long-ago victory at the 'Dome.

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Rebels netminder Michael Garnett is the WHL player of the week. The 18-year-old posted a 0.50 goals-against average in two games, shutting out Swift Current and allowing just one goal in Sunday's win over Moose Jaw. Garnett will get the call Friday when the Portland Winter Hawks visit the Centrium. Shane Bendera will start tonight in Calgary.

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Kootenay added some scoring punch Tuesday by acquiring Bret DeCecco from Seattle. The T’birds also sent defenceman Brennan Evans to the Ice in return for 20-year-olds Brad Tutschek and Dion Lassu.