2014-2015 roster

[SectionNDeserter]

Yeah, I know. That's what I just said, but glad we are on the same page.

Not really, 40-45 points is good numbers for a second line player on a team like the Rebels is what I am saying, getting them on the third line is a pretty decent season for Kopeck. If every player on your 2nd line put up those numbers, while playing sound defensively, you would have some pretty good success in this league. He is not an impact player by any stretch, but was a great return for 20-30 games of Dumba, and would make that deal again with Fleury in a heartbeat, if they weren't hosting the Memorial Cup next season.

If he rights the ship, he will absolutely blow away the value that could be had getting a Dumba-like return for this team. To me the risk to reward here is acceptable.

I guess what really bothers me, is that WHL teams have absolutely no recourse when it comes to these players. As far as some of these players are concerned, regardless of what they say, they are now a part of a new team, a team that doesn't compete in the WHL. Sutter can't tell them what to do, he can't cut their ice time, he can't strip them of their letters, he can't stick them in the pressbox, they have absolutely no fear of being reassigned to the AJHL or the like. All of these factors contribute to what we are seeing with players like Dumba and Fleury. All Sutter can do is continue to spoon-feed him ice time, while the players that actually still care are watching them from the stands.

[calcheyup]

What bothers me is that Dumba's apathy resulted in 42 points in 62 games and a plus-10 rating on a significantly less talented team. When you put Fleury in that light, Dumba looked like Paul Coffey his last Rebels season. How pathetic is that?

[SectionNDeserter]

What bothers me is that Dumba's apathy resulted in 42 points in 62 games and a plus-10 rating on a significantly less talented team. When you put Fleury in that light, Dumba looked like Paul Coffey his last Rebels season. How pathetic is that?

Dumba is a far more offensive defenseman, and he was playing in front of Patrik Bartosak and his 2.26 GAA and .935 save%. If the 2012/13 version of Dumba were playing in Red Deer this season in front of the two rookie goaltenders, he would be about minus-40.

Most defensemen in the WHL start out with a limited role, playing a more conservative and defensive game, and develop the offensive part of their game from there. Dumba never really developed the defensive side of his game at all, and was all about the rushes up the ice, the big hits, and the big point shot. He also played considerably better under Wallin than he did under Sutter. I wouldn't say that Dumba was really challenged offensively during his last season here, but he probably would have had to nearly double his point total for anyone to forget about all the scoring chances he generated for the other team.

Fleury is a completely different defenseman, and in both his 16 year old season and his 17 year old season, he was great at both ends of the ice, with a bit more offense thrown in during his draft year. This season, it is all about dreadful passes, sloppy play in his own end, and just general indifference about checking his defensive assignment. From an offensive standpoint, he rarely one-times the passes coming his way, and is content to stop the puck, look, then blast it into the defender's legs, and out of the zone.

If Fleury was actually generating offense with all his bad pinches, and terrifying passes, it would probably be a lot easier of a pill to swallow. On the plus side, I have yet to see Fleury coast to the bench, or coast a little bit with his stick across his knees after a big turnover that sends the play the other way, like Dumba did many times in his last season here.

[calcheyup]

It was a sarcastic remark mocking the "trade or bench Fleury now" sentiment, which I feel at this point is a complete overreaction. Maybe next year you will be able to look back and say you were right all along, but I'm willing to take that chance on a talent like Fleury. I suppose we will just have to disagree on that, and we'll see what happens with him.

[calcheyup]

Down 4-0 to Regina after two.

As bad as the start of the season was, this feels like rock bottom for this club right now.

If this doesn't change soon, it's going to be a quiet first-round exit followed by a pretty desperate offseason spent trying to figure out how to get this team to a point where they won't humiliate themselves next year in the Cup.

[Moonergroupie]

The bright side, they finally figured out how to score on the power play. Put 5 defensemen out.

Absolutely brutal. When you are going through a slump like this, you need your 19 and 20 year olds to take the team on their backs and show them what is required to win. Was looking like it was going to be a tough decision on who doesn't make this team as a 20 year old. Now you have to wonder what they are going to have to trade to get some quality 20 year olds on this team for next year.

25 games ago I came home after a game and said to my wife how I hadn't seen the Rebels play for one another and celebrate the wins like they actually liked one another like this years team in a lot of years.

This team now is obviously not liking and playing for each other. I don't know which trade it was that brought some cancer into the room but one of them must have. It is looking an awful lot like this team needed the true team guys like Fafard and Dixon.

At a loss for how this is again happening to this team with the line up that they are able to put on the ice. Next year could be a more embarrassing Memorial Cup than it was for Saskatoon.

[Newice14]

One thing I did notice is the fact that players who got traded away to other teams seem to be doing very well on their new teams. Faffard has an "A" on his chest and contributes to the scoresheet for Lethbridge, Burke was injured when still in RD , so that is not a fair comparison, but he is excelling, Cory Millette was sent down to Jr. A when still on the roster and has since played the best hockey of his life in Saskatoon and especially now in Seattle. Gay is a high scoring player who struggles with Sutter's defensive way of coaching. Sheen is the exception, he is a great player who appears to have enough experience to fit in on any team. Agreed, the chemistry and team spirit seem to be missing after the trades took place. What kind of communication takes place to prepare players for the changes in the dressing room? Probably none. Look at the bench, the players look drained, they look tired of the screaming and yelling. They are after all just kids and they are missing key players. Still time left to turn it around, let's hope for the best.

[SectionNDeserter]

This team now is obviously not liking and playing for each other. I don't know which trade it was that brought some cancer into the room but one of them must have. It is looking an awful lot like this team needed the true team guys like Fafard and Dixon.

They played fantastic for a month after Fafard was gone, and for a few games after Dixon was gone. While they may have lost some element with all the trades, I think that saying a cancer has been introduced to the dressing room may be sensationalizing things a little.

I see their slump defined by two moments;

The injury to Polei, and the injury to Bleackley. When Polei went down with his injury, it was the very moment that they went from playing above average hockey, to average hockey. He isn't really a prototypical 'sparkplug' player, but the lack of his presence appears to be the first blow to the team.

When Bleackley went down with injury, they went from playing average hockey, to below average hockey. He does score a good percentage of the team's goals, but some of the secondary scoring on this team that was so good in 2014 has not stepped up their games to compensate for the loss of Bleackley's scoring. Feser, Maxwell, Musil and Pawlenchuk all need to start putting up points again, and fast--before they have a quiet first-round exit as calcheyup says.

One thing I did notice is the fact that players who got traded away to other teams seem to be doing very well on their new teams. Faffard has an "A" on his chest and contributes to the scoresheet for Lethbridge,

Farard has one more point and minus-16 in a comparable sampling of games with Lethbridge, and must be getting four times as much ice time there. Not really sure what it is you are noticing here

Burke was injured when still in RD , so that is not a fair comparison

Burke has done quite well so far in Lethbridge. Cooled off a bit as of late, but he could be one of those late bloomers. Will be interesting to see what him and a few others on that team do next season with a clean slate.

Cory Millette was sent down to Jr. A when still on the roster and has since played the best hockey of his life in Saskatoon and especially now in Seattle.

Millette played average hockey in Saskatoon and below average hockey in Prince Albert. He has played the best hockey of his life in a small sampling of games in Seattle so far, but that is three seasons and four teams later. This would be the polar opposite of a success story for what was a highly-touted second round pick.

Gay is a high scoring player who struggles with Sutter's defensive way of coaching.

He skates hard, has good hockey sense, and while he is struggling a bit to change his game to be more defensive, is doing it. He is putting up a respectable amount of points, but I for one though that he would be getting more goals than assists.

Sheen is the exception, he is a great player who appears to have enough experience to fit in on any team.

He has a great skillset, but even that is eclipsed by his work ethic. This is his last shot, and he is making the most of it. He spent the last three seasons on some terrible Seattle and Lethbridge teams, and this is the closest thing to a competitive team that he has played on since his rookie season in Medicine Hat. Would have loved to see them rip the 'A' off of Fleury's jersey and stuck it on Sheen's after Sheen's 10th game or so.

Look at the bench, the players look drained, they look tired of the screaming and yelling.

You must be going to different hockey games than I am. When especially compared to previous seasons, there is little to no screaming and yelling on the bench, at least directed towards the players. It has been replaced with Sutter, and especially Truitt calmly talking to the players after they make a really big mistake on the ice. Maybe there isn't enough yelling and screaming? The players do look drained, but that is not uncommon with teams that are not performing to expectations.

They are really struggling with leadership right now. Their captain is out, and some of the third year guys that the rest of the players look to for leadership (Fleury, Feser), are playing like they could care less if they are still on this team.

I realize the politics involved with handing out the letters on a team, and I am going to take some flak for this, because I have really given him the gears the last few seasons, but Doetzel should have been made the Captain, with Bleackley, Johnson and Sheen the alternates this season.

[Moonergroupie]

I would be absolutely amazed if the reason behind this drop in winning has anything to do with the injury to Polei. I know he picked up the odd goal by going to the net and having somebody find him in the slot, but as a teammate, watching the lack of back checking, lack of taking the body, and overall general floating around, I can't see how you say to yourself, Polei is out now so there is no point in playing anymore as we don't have a chance of winning.
I certainly agree that having Bleackley out hasn't helped things get back on track, but they were quite a few games into this slump before Bleackley went down. When Bleackley was playing awful at the start of the season, others picked up the slack. When they were winning it was a different line that was leading the team every night. Bleackley was only on one of the lines. So something more has happened to this team. I would like to say they have lost confidence in their goaltending, but the goaltending has been the only thing holding them in some of these games. Has to be more to it than a third line forward going down. This is not a young team, there should easily be enough experience and leadership on this team to pull them through the adversity.

You look at Brandon who have had some significant injuries in their lineup and they continue to play the system and win games. Compared to what they showed they were capable of, most of these Rebels players have lost interest.

[calcheyup]

The best point SectionN brought up is how disappointing Pawlenchuk and Musil have been for most of the year. Those are two guys that I didn't think 40-50 points was an unrealistic expectation from this year, especially Musil. Apart from
Fleury, both of them have been the biggest disappointments for me this year.