The WHL at its best

Rebels and Pats have delivered a spectacular series

Adam Brooks (#77) of the Pats battles Rebels captain Luke Philp.

    It is almost sad that the WHL playoff series between the Red Deer Rebels and Regina Pats has to end.

    While the Victoria Royals and the Kelowna Rockets have been engaged in a thrilling second round series played in front of the Shaw TV cameras out west, the series out east between the Rebels and Pats has been the WHL at its best.

    The Rebels lead the best-of-seven set 3-2 with Game 6 set for Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina. Game 6 sold out on Saturday afternoon. From a pure hockey fan standpoint, you almost hope a series deciding Game 7 would be needed, which would be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer.

    The Rebels versus Pats series has had everything. You have seen the odd tight defensive game, a lot of stellar offence, red hot work on the power play, great goaltending and the odd interesting storyline. You also have two buildings that have been rocking, which has added to the overall atmosphere.

    With all the action that has taken place, you almost wish the series could go on forever.

Haydn Fleury is strong in all situations.

    The main storyline that has come out of the last two games has been the return of Rebels starting goaltender Rylan Toth, who had been out with a lower body injury since the middle of February. He was in a walking boot just before playoffs started.

    Trevor Martin took over the starter’s role and ran with it. During the playoffs, the Ardrossan, Alta., product started out playing like a money goalie, and he was a key reason the Rebels took Games 1 and 2 against the Pats.

    The Pats, who have a lot of gifted players, started to get more and more pucks past Martin, when the series shifted to Regina. “The Queen City Kids” took Game 3 by a 6-3 score and Game 4 by 6-4 count.

    In Game 4, the Rebels pulled Martin at the 12:18 mark of the second period after he stopped 18 of 22 shots. Toth entered in relief stopping nine of 10 shots fired his way before the Pats added an empty netter.

    The Rebels started Toth for Game 5 on Friday in Red Deer and the Saskatoon product turned away 28 of 29 shots fired his way in a 5-1 victory. Now the question becomes can Toth continue to deliver.

    During the series, a lot of players have delivered. Rebels captain Luke Philip has two goals and five assists to top his team in scoring for the series. Brandon Hagel has delivered too with a goal and five assists for Red Deer.

    Others like Adam Musil have come through at key times, like when Musil tipped home the power-play game winner in the Rebels 4-3 victory in Game 2.

    Defenceman Josh Mahura, who missed 70 regular season games with a serious knee injury, has been a force recording two goals, two assists and a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department. He has shown signs of being an elite player.

Connor Hobbs has been a rock on the Pats back end.

    Mahura's play has almost overshadowed the fact that Rebels star rearguard Haydn Fleury, who has been a member of Canada world junior team, has continued to handle himself well playing in all situations.

    For the Pats, Adam Brooks and Cole Sanford have been the offensive stars they have always been. Brooks, who led the WHL in scoring during the regular season, has a goal and seven assists, while Sanford has three goals and four assists.

    Overage captain Colby Williams and Connor Hobbs have been dynamite on the back end for Regina. Williams, who is from Regina, has a goal and four assists, while Hobbs, who is from Saskatoon, has two goals and three assists.

    Pats centre Jake Leschyshyn, who is in his 16-year-old rookie season, has come through in key gritty moments in Regina picking up a goal and two assists in the series.

    The power play success for both sides has been off the charts. Red Deer has connected on 7-of-19 chances for a 36.8 per cent success rate. Regina has cashed in on 11-of-30 chances for a 36.7 per cent success rate.

    In the stands, the Rebels have drawn crowds of 5,845, 4,802 and 6,185 in their three home dates. The Red Deer fan base is loyally behind Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter, who has always been a strong community minded person in that centre. Sutter and his family are enduring figures in the hearts of the Rebels faithful.

The Pats and Rebels battle for the puck along the boards.

    The Pats have drawn crowds of 6,247 and 6,171 in their two home games. As the oldest junior hockey franchise in the world dating back to 1917, the Pats have an entrenched and loyal following in Regina. The passion gets cranked up a few notches in the post-season making the Brandt Centre a tough place to play for the opposition.

    This series has been one to remember, but someone has to win it and advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series to face the defending conference champion Brandon Wheat Kings.

    For now, fans in both Red Deer and Regina should enjoy the present and the remaining action of this series while it lasts.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Rebels rally past Pats

Nelson Nogier (#6) and goalie Trevor Martin protect the Red Deer net.

    RED DEER, Alta. - It wasn’t a textbook victory by any stretch for the Red Deer Rebels, but when it comes to the WHL playoffs, all that matters is finding a way win.

    On Saturday night at the Enmax Centrium, the Rebels stumbled out of the gate falling behind 2-0 on a pair of power-play goals scored by the visiting Regina Pats. The Rebels netted a pair of power-play goals of their own in the second to tie things up at 2-2 and bring to life the crowd of 5,845 spectators.

    In the third, Evan Polei roofed home the winner at the 7:51 mark to give the Rebels a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of a best-of-seven second round playoff series with the Pats.

    “It was a game of speciality teams probably on the positive and negative side,” said Rebels head coach, general manager and owner Brent Sutter. “There were too many penalties.

    “We took some bad penalties in the first period that put us down. We took a couple of penalties 200 feet from out net. They capitalized on two power plays, and then our penalty killing was good after.

Cole Sanford had a big power-play goal for the Pats.

    “We got a break there in the second, where they took two minors in one shift, and we capitalized on both of those. It seemed to give us some momentum and got us thinking the right way and we started skating and getting a feel for the game.”

    Red Deer committed four minor infractions in the opening 20 minutes, which helped tilt the ice in favour of the Pats. At the 2:14 mark, Pats overage defenceman Colby Williams slipped home a point shot on a power play to give Regina a 1-0 lead.

    The Pats proceeded to go up 2-0 on their second power-play chance, when Sam Steel and Adam Brooks worked the puck over to skilled sniper Cole Sanford, who made no mistake burying his fourth of the post-season into an open cage.

    The Rebels defencemen also committed a handful of bad giveaways in the first and missed a few big hit attempts, which allowed Regina to have a couple of extra odd-man rushes. The Pats held a 10-4 edge in shots going into the first intermission.

    Red Deer started carrying the play more in the second and caught a break at the 12:04 mark, when Pats left-winger Robbie Holmes and Williams were both sent off for hooking and slashing minors respectively at the same time.

    On the ensuing two-man advantage, the puck slid over to Rebels left-winger Adam Helewka at the right side of the Regina goal during a net scramble situation. Helewka lifted home a shot over fallen Pats goaltender Tyler Brown to cut Regina’s lead to 2-1.

Colton Bobyk had a goal and an assist to power the Rebels comeback.

    Just 28 seconds later, Rebels defenceman Colton Bobyk fired home a shot from the point for another power-play goal to pull Red Deer even with Regina at 2-2.

    Sutter said the Rebels focused on coming out with more intensity in the second period.

    “I just think the emotion level had to pick up,” said Sutter. “I think that we were playing on our heels, and that is not taking anything away from Regina, because I thought they had a heck of a first period.

    “I thought we needed to get ourselves into the game.”

    In the third, the Rebels netted the winning goal, when Bobyk fed the puck down the right wing to Polei putting him in the clear. Polei drove to the net and fired home a shot to the top right corner of the Regina goal.

    “It was a good play by (Colton) Bobyk giving me the puck there, and I got an opportunity and it was nice to capitalize,” said Polei. “I was thinking about cutting to the middle and putting it low blocker.

    “Then I decided he was going to be cheating that way, so I just had a quick shot and put it upstairs.”

    The Rebels, who host the Memorial Cup in May, still had to kill off a couple of late minor penalties in the third, which resulted in Regina having a two-man advantage for 48 seconds. The penalty killing trio of Adam Musil, Grayson Pawlenchuk and Nelson Nogier did a great job collapsing down low around the goal to keep the Pats at bay and preserve the win.

Evan Polei (#10) fires home the winning goal for the Rebels.

    Red Deer still made some big giveaways after going ahead on the scoreboard, but the Pats could turn those chances into an equalizing tally.

    Trevor Martin made 20 saves to earn the win in goal for the Rebels. Brown turned away 28 shots to take the loss in the Regina net.

    As the series moves forward, Polei said his side can’t continue to play from behind like in Saturday’s series opener.

    “We definitely need to start better to beat this team in the upcoming games for sure,” said Polei. “They (the Pats) are a great hockey team. They play hard and physical every game every night.

    “We need to be on the ball for the start of the game.”

    Game 2 of the series is set for Sunday at 5 p.m. Red Deer time at the Enmax Centrium.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.