Rebels end Hitmen hex
By GREG MEACHEM
Advocate staff

Rebels 2 Hitmen 1

CALGARY —

Finally.

The Red Deer Rebels tasted success at the Saddledome Wednesday for the first time since January of 1997, grinding out a 2-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Calgary Hitmen before 4,114 fans.

The result snapped a 15-game losing streak at the 'Dome, and in the process removed any last scrap of doubt as to the authenticity of the Rebels — ranked No. 4 in the nation — who improved to 13-2-0 on the season.

The Hitmen enjoyed a 28-19 margin in shots, but the scoring chances were pretty much even.

Red Deer had the edge in special teams, getting a power-play marker from Jeff Smith and a short-handed goal from Jim Vandermeer.

Calgary's lone goal came with the Rebels two men short. All the scoring was in the middle frame.

"In the first period both teams were kind of feeling each other out. There wasn't a whole lot of flow," said Rebels GM/coach Brent Sutter.

"In the second period both teams started playing better. But we played the type of game we wanted. All in all, I thought it was a good effort."

Indeed, the Rebels frustrated the high-flying Hitmen — coming off 12-4 and 11-2 wins over Prince Albert and Moose Jaw last weekend — with their fast feet and dogged forecheck.

"I like our speed. When you have guys up front who can skate and a back end that can move the puck, it’s a big plus," said Sutter. "Our speed is a big part of our forecheck."

Netminder Shane Bendera also played a key role. Among his saves was a first-period stop on sniper Pavel Brendl, who pounced on a turnover in the neutral zone and broke in alone.

Otherwise, the Hitmen simply didn’t get many solid offensive opportunities, a credit to the Rebels and their tight-checking style.

"Calgary has the guys who can put the puck in the net," said Sutter.

"You have to do the job against them, and it takes more than one or two guys. You have to do it as a unit. The guys have to be aware of who they're playing against. We also had some scoring opportunities we didn't capitalize on, but we'll take the 2-1 win and keep going."

The Rebels opened the scoring at 4:53 of the second period when Smith back-handed a shot under netminder Brent Krahn while parked on the edge of the crease.

With Red Deer defencemen Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch in the penalty box, Calgary pulled even at 11:32, Jordan Krestanovich deflecting a point pass from Matt Kinch past Bendera.

But Vandermeer killed the Hitmen momentum just 63 seconds later, moving in from the point and flipping the puck over Krahn after a great set-up by Boyd Gordon.

The short-handed goal provided the Rebels with a long-overdue victory.

"The guys who have been here a couple of years have been looking forward to this," said Vandermeer, who was the best player in the ice.

"It seems that every time we've come here in the last couple of years the games have been tight, but to actually get the two points feels pretty sweet."

Vandermeer was assessed what could have been a costly double minor with just six minutes to play in the game, but the Rebels — led by penalty-killers Andrew Bergen and Justin Wallin — calmly held the Hitmen at bay and in fact created a handful of scoring chances themselves.

"We know Calgary's a strong team with most of their guys back and we knew it would be a tough game," said Vandermeer.

"But we've been playing with a lot of confidence the last four or five games."

While Sutter was praising his troops, including the likes of Gordon, Joel Stepp, Diarmuid Kelly, Devin Francon and Czech imports Ladislav Kouba and Martin Vymazal, Hitmen coach Dean Clark said the game was a good lesson for his team.

"I think they were feeling pretty good about themselves after the weekend and now they know what level they have to play at in order to compete with the top teams like Red Deer and Kootenay," said Clark.

"The Rebels are ranked No. 4 in the country for a reason. They play hard, they're quick and they make it tough for you to get to the net.

"We had some chances and we probably didn't execute as well as we did on the weekend. But this was a good test for us to see how we stack up against a good club."

The Rebels return to action Friday, hosting the Portland Winter Hawks at 7:30 p.m.