Opening Night

[SectionNDeserter]

Some thoughts about the opening night game, and the Rebels in general after two games.

The new scoreboard is Awesome, and was more utilized than I would have ever imagined it would be. A lot of time and money has gone into not only it's installation, but the game night operation of it.

The Rebels defense are for the most part moving the puck to the neutral zone effectively, and the forwards are going with it and aggressively attacking the other team's net, and it is paying dividends in the shots/goals department. And add to that, our defense have been taking shots on the goal from the point, on and off the powerplay!

At 6/14 on the PK after 2 games, the Rebels penalty kill hasn't been bad, it has been flat out non-existent. Failure to block the high-percentage cross-ice passing lane in front of the net is killing them so far this season.

Can anyone tell me at what level of European hockey did Tommi Kivisto learned to throw a BOMB like that? Right on the jaw, and I think it even left a few of that guy's teeth on the ice. He definitely sent a message with that fight, and really seemed to endear himself with a lot of the Red Deer faithful with it.

Polak has looked much improved over last season, and even better than he did in training camp. He isn't backchecking as hard as he could be, but he is going to all the tough places that you need to in order to score.

Archer and Wray looked fantastic on the back end last night, especially in the 3rd period, making an array of game saving defensive plays.

I am not sure if I missed any of them, but I am pretty sure that Steve Oursov won every faceoff that he took. His speed and skill level aside, this is a dimension that we have been lacking the past few seasons as well.

I thought Clark looked shaky on the one goal (unscreened average shot from the point that he went down waaaay too soon on), but played well enough to keep them in the game.

And to close this off, I have to give credit where it is due, Luke Egener has looked fantastic so far. He is skating well as always, logging a lot of minutes, and I have even seen him jump into the slot wide open a few times (even though the Rebel forwards never fed him the puck). Most importantly, he hasn't directly caused any goals against that I have seen so far, good work!

[Hitmen1]

It was a fairly entertaining game. It had alittle of everything. That shot to the jaw was unreal. The one thing the Rebels better improve is the penalty killing. I believe that is 8 power play goals allowed in 2 games. I like the scoreboard as well, it is a great addition to the rink. Being in Red Deer now, I bought season tix and my boy is already a big rebels fan, I am not sure what I am going to do with him ;)

[3rebels]

Learn to love them !!
And besides, we are going for a second cup, cause the FIRST one was sooooo sweeeeeeet !!
lol
Welcome to Red Deer. punk rock
clrkth 3

[SectionNDeserter]

We converted Rebel Tiger, and we will convert you! haha

[hockey4]

yah wow, i almost jumped out of my seat when they set those fireworks off. and yah the scoreboard looked great, that kivisto fight looked even better on the replay.

the pk has to improve, as does the power play, but 5 on 5, we have been the better team for two games. Like andrew walker said on the postgame show, not one minus player on the team.

[Hitmen1]

Sorry guys, there will be no converting this Hitmen fan!

[Red celtic]

Hitman1 you will have to come by and say hello. We usally hang around right by the two leather chairs at the entrance.

[Tinner]

if there was a "downer" to the whole night, it was the penalty killing. My 2 cents says that we looked liked we wanted to watch what they did rather than being aggressive and attacking. The most noteable thing to me was the fact that the forwards were too far back in the zone, which allowed their D to control the play from the back end. Cross ice passes to set up the 1 timer happened consistantly. An adjustment there may solve some of the problem. I was looking forward to seeing Kivisto play, but his "haymaker" may have been the best one-punch since the Peat/Parker tilt. At any rate, any time you can take 4-5 good ones and still drop a guy, you win that battle. I sure hope that Ferraro/Mappin/Polak stay heathly because it gets a little thin after that.

The score clock was the highlight, especially being able to see the replays. I only wish they weren't censored. If you're showing replays, show them all, not just the good ones.

[Nature Boy]

The new scoreboard is Awesome, and was more utilized than I would have ever imagined it would be. It was awesome to see the replays. Especially the Kivisto fight. The punch that he landed was awesome to see on the replay.

The Rebels defense are for the most part moving the puck to the neutral zone effectively, and the forwards are going with it and aggressively attacking the other team's net, and it is paying dividends in the shots/goals department. And add to that, our defense have been taking shots on the goal from the point, on and off the powerplay!


He definitely sent a message with that fight, and really seemed to endear himself with a lot of the Red Deer faithful with it. Yes he caught my eye by fighting.

Polak has looked much improved over last season. He is going to all the tough places that you need to in order to score. He can skate better and has bulked up this year.

Archer and Wray looked fantastic on the back end last night, especially in the 3rd period, making an array of game saving defensive plays.

I am not sure if I missed any of them, but I am pretty sure that Steve Oursov won every faceoff that he took. His speed and skill level aside, this is a dimension that we have been lacking the past few seasons as well. I see a different style under Wallin. The players use their spped and get in on the forecheck. I like a lot of the young players we have this year and the new aqusitions.


And to close this off, I have to give credit where it is due, Luke Egener has looked fantastic so far. He is skating well as always, logging a lot of minutes, and I have even seen him jump into the slot wide open a few times (even though the Rebel forwards never fed him the puck). Most importantly, he hasn't directly caused any goals against that I have seen so far, good work! He made a lot of people eat their words when he scored in the shootout.