With a pair of St. Albert players in their line-up, the Red Deer Rebels swept the Edmonton Oil Kings in the opening round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.
The Rebels posted an 18-6 goal differential in the four-game series after Thursday’s decisive 5-1 victory at Rexall Place.
“It shows other teams that we’re ready for these playoffs. We’re a strong team and we mean business,” said local product Turner Elson, a left winger who picked up two assists and was plus four in the series.
Besides winning the game on the scoreboard on the strength of four unanswered goals in period two, the Rebels also made their presence known on the ice with strong physical play. One of those hard-hitting checks landed St. Albert’s Colten Mayor in hot water with the Oil Kings, leading to a fight with Michael St. Croix.
While the scrum was an unusual event for the seemingly good-natured Rebel, Mayor believes you can’t even call the event a fight due to its nature.
“I turned around and it was like, ‘OK, I guess I have to fight,’ but we never really took our gloves off,” said the 17-year-old left winger.
The series sweep will also give the Rebels much needed time to replenish and heal the wounds sustained throughout the course of the season.
“Prince Albert tied Saskatoon [in their series] so they have to go two more game at least, so we have the longest rest compared to the rest of the conference,” said Elson. “I don’t think it will be a bad thing because we will still be practicing every day and engaged in the game, so it’s actually beneficial.”
The time off will also give Elson extra time to work on his offensive game, which has seen considerable growth from a respectable first-year total of 17 points in 66 games to a current total of 31, on 16 goals and 15 assists in 68 games. The growth in production is a result of the rugged forward (218 PIM in two seasons) using his assets more to his advantage this season.
“It’s my second year so I should be better,” said Elson. “I’m using my speed a lot more and using my hands and just adapting to the WHL game more then last year.”
The Rebels will now play the waiting game to see who their next playoff opponent is. Regardless of who they play, Mayor is confident the Rebels will be successful if they just focus on their own game.
“We just have to keep playing the style we are playing and stick to what works for us,” said Mayor, who registered eight goals and 11 assists in 65 games after going 2-3-5 in 40 games in last season’s WHL debut.
An area of Red Deer’s game that needs fine tuning is turning the puck over, which played a role in the Rebels giving up 159 goals this season.
“If we lower our turnovers, it lowers our chances to get scored against, so limiting turnovers is a big key to our success,” said Elson.
