Red Deer Round-up with Troy Gillard

Conner Bleackley

To call the last few weeks in the life of Red Deer Rebels forward Conner Bleackley “eventful” would be a gross understatement of fact.

In a huge off-season when it comes to his future as a hockey player, Bleackley’s hockey efforts were abruptly put on hold when his hometown of High River was devastated by June’s massive floods.

Thankfully for Bleackley, he and his family made it through the traumatic experience relatively unscathed compared with many others.

“We got all of our valuable stuff out of the basement but it was devastating to see the rest of the damage in and around High River,” Bleackley told me over the phone today. “All the houses on our street, some of the families won’t be able to recover from the flood which is sad to see. We were fortunate that all we lost was some stuff and that everyone was out ok and all my friends and family were not hurt.”

Pic from Conner's Twitter account
@Bleacks9 - June 20

Bleackley admits the flood has created plenty of adversity but says he’s getting through it one day at a time. “It’s the support that everyone has received from surrounding communities that is great to see. It puts a smile on everyone’s faces in High River.”

As his family and the rest of High River’s residents move forward with their recovery efforts, Conner Bleackley moves forward with his attempt to represent his country. Bleackley, along with Rebels teammate Haydn Fleury, is one of 42 players invited to try out for Canada’s entry at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament, August 5-10. The selection camp takes place Friday through Monday in Toronto.

Bleackley has donned the maple leaf before as he was a member of Team Pacific at last year’s World U-17 Challenge. But with this being a tryout for Team Canada Bleackley admits that the stakes, and nerves, involved are much higher.

“Especially in the last few days I’ve been getting really nervous,” Bleackley admitted. “It’s just kind of setting in that I’m trying out to represent my country. That’s something you dream of as a kid. Nerves are definitely beginning to set in.”

For a guy who seemingly never lacks confidence on or off the ice, it says a lot that Bleackley says he is nervous heading into the selection camp. That being said, he feels that he is well-prepared to do his best and earn a spot on the Team Canada roster.

“I feel good. I think about all the preparation I’ve put into it and I think I’ve done everything I can to be ready. Obviously, with the flood, it’s been a bit tougher but I feel I’m in the best shape of my life going into camp. So, hopefully that shows.”

Bleackley has managed to find some valuable time on the ice as he recently attended his third camp hosted by his agency, CAA Sports, in Los Angeles. With players from North America and Europe taking part, Bleackley says the camp has helped him work on his skills and take them to the next level.

When it comes to this week’s Team Canada U-18 camp, Conner says he’ll enjoy having Fleury along for the ride. It’s the start of what will be a huge year for the pair who will both be NHL Entry Draft eligible in 2014. “He and I are both on the draft radar so it’ll be up to us to stay on that radar and maybe even improve our positioning.”

Conner’s excitement extends not only to his chance to play for Canada but also to his club team. Bleackley is well aware of the buzz surrounding his Red Deer Rebels and is anxious to get going with the 2013-14 WHL season.

“Yeah, we lost some key aspects to our team in Turner [Elson] and Brandon [Underwood] and [Jordan] DePape and maybe Matty [Dumba]. But everyone else is a year older after being a younger team last year. The future is really bright in Red Deer. This year is gonna be a huge year for us. Especially with Patty [Bartosak] back. He was the best goalie in the league last year and probably is not going to be beat this year. It’ll be really exciting to see what this team can do this year.”

As for his role, Bleackley knows the Rebels will not only count on him for more scoring in his second full season, but also more leadership.

“That’s something me and Brent have discussed. It’s a challenge that I really want to take on. I’m only 17, still a young guy on the team, but I’ve played a lot of games and it’s [leadership] something that I really want to take on this year.”

TG

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With the web editor for my sports page at 1067thedrive.fm down for maintenance... here is my usual weekend wrap from the local sports scene...

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The Red Deer Rebels wrapped up preseason play with a pair of wins over the weekend. The Rebels finished with a 3-3-0-0 preseason record.
Friday, the Rebels used a five-goal third period comeback to beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 7-5 in Lacombe. Conner Bleackley led the offensive attack with three goals while Scott Feser scored the game winner.

Saturday, Rhyse Dieno authored a hat trick of his own in the Rebels' 8-5 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Stettler.

Today, the Rebels reassigned recently acquired forward Kailum Gervais to the Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL where he has played the last two seasons. The club now sits with 29 players on its roster.

Goaltender Patrik Bartosak arrives back in Red Deer today after attending camp with the Los Angeles Kings. Defenceman Kayle Doetzel is still at camp with the Nashville Predators. Forward Lukas Sutter was cut by the Winnipeg Jets and will be on his way to Red Deer. Defenceman Mathew Dumba is still at camp with the Minnesota Wild and will be for the foreseeable future.

Regular season play for the Rebels opens Friday night in Cranbrook versus the Kootenay Ice (7pm. 106.7 The Drive) followed by the home opener at the Enmax Centrium, Saturday at 7pm also versus the Ice.
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BMO CHL Top 10 Rankings – Pre-season

1. London Knights

2. Baie-Comeau Drakkar

3. Portland Winterhawks

4. Rimouski Oceanic

5. Guelph Storm

6. Prince Albert Raiders

7. Quebec Remparts

8. Edmonton Oil Kings

9. Kingston Frontenacs

10. Kootenay Ice

Honourable Mention:

1. Barrie Colts

2. Gatineau Olympiques

3. Kelowna Rockets
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The reigning back-to-back national champion Red Deer Optimist Chiefs had a strong showing at a tournament in Strathmore. They tied the UFA Bisons 5-5 and the Calgary Buffaloes 4-4 then beat the Calgary Northstars 4-1 and the Bisons 3-1. Red Deer then beat the Buffaloes 4-1 in the tournament final.
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Red Deer Bantam AAA Rebels Black played the Southeast Athletic Club Tigers to a 2-2 tie on Sunday. Brad Hellofs and Levi Glasman scored for the Rebels while Shae Herbert was in goal.

Saturday, Rebels Black, in their season opener, defeated the Lethbridge Val Matteoti Goldenhawks 4-1. Braden Westin, Brendan Davidson and Quinn Justinen scored for the Rebels Black. Justin Travis was goaltending, finishing with 20 saves.

Next home game is Saturday at 1:15pm at the Red Deer Arena where the Rebels Black will take on Rebels White, who beat Lethbridge 5-4 on Sunday.
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RDC Athletics – weekend results

Men's Hockey (exhibition)
September 13 – RDC 3, SAIT 2
September 15 – SAIT 5, RDC 2

Women's Hockey (exhibition)
September 14- Saskatchewan Huskies 5, RDC 3
September 15 – Huskies 4, RDC 0

Women’s Soccer

September 13 – SAIT 1, RDC 1
September 11 – RDC 1, Olds 0

Men's Soccer
September 13 – RDC 3, SAIT 2
September 15 – RDC 3, Olds 1

Kyle Morrison won the men's individual championship at the ACAC North Regional at Lacombe Golf and Country Club this weekend. Teammate Darren Windle finished third. Kim Swain finished second in the women's division. The RDC men's and women's teams each finished second overall and will compete at the South Regional next weekend at Lethbridge.

ACAC Cross Country Running Grand Prix Race #1

RDC's Devin Woodland and Jordanna Cota placed fourth and sixth respectively amongst College runners (twelfth and thirteenth overall) in the College and Open Men's 7.5 km and Women’s 5.0 km races which were part of the Lightning Invitational XC Running Races hosted by Hunting Hills High School on the Riverbend XC Ski Trails yesterday (Sat., Sept. 14). Jodi Sanguin (now Nesbitt) won the Women’s race. The RDC Women’s team placed third amongst 11 ACAC Colleges and RDC Men placed fifth. These races were also the first in the Run Alberta Series and the level of competition was high.
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Football Alberta – Week 3 Top Ten Rankings

Tier II
2 - Hunting Hills Lightning (2-0), Red Deer, beat Sylvan Lake 40-7 (next vs. Camrose)

6-man (first week ever for provincial rankings)1 – Rimbey Spratans (1-0), Rimbey, beat L.Y. Cairns 75-1 (next vs. Breton)
---The Notre Dame Cougars Senior Boys Volleyball team competed at the University of Alberta Fog Invitational in Edmonton this past weekend. They had a very successful weekend, placing 4th out of 32 teams.

The Cougars were ranked 15th coming in, and during round robin beat the 2nd ranked Jasper Place Rebels (Edmonton) to advance to Tier 1. After a straight set win in the quarterfinals, the semifinals had the team up against the number 3 ranked Strathcona Lords (Edmonton). In a very exciting match they lost 23-25 25-23 16-18. In the Bronze medal match they faced the number 1 ranked Harry Ainlay Titans (Edmonton, and last year's Provincial Gold medallist) and lost another close battle 23-25 25-14 12-15.

Daimyn Biletsky was the tournament MVP for the team, as chosen by the officials and tournament organizers.
---The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is accepting nominations for the 2013/2014 Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Induction. Nominations for this prestigious honour will be accepted until January 31, 2014 by 4:30 pm.If you know of any man, women or team from Alberta that should be recognized for their achievements or contributions to sport, you should consider at this time to nominate them into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. The process is simple, with easy to follow guidelines, which can be found on the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum website or by calling 403-341-8614 and asking for Debbie.Visit the website today at www.ashfm.ca and get your sport hero recognized for their outstanding accomplishments and dedication to sport in our province!
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Football Alberta has authored a preview for this weekend's opening round of ASAA High School Football Provincials match-ups. Central Alberta is well-represented with games both here and away.

(The full schedule of Saturday's high school, bantam and pee wee provincial games is posted at our website.)
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TIER I (School Pop. 1250+) - Northern Semi-Finals

Lindsay Thurber Raiders vs #3 Salisbury Sabres

Sat. Nov. 9 - 11:30 a.m., Foote Field (Edmonton)Welcome back to the Raiders. It’s been 10 seasons since the Lindsay Thurber Raiders entered the Tier I Provincials. A strong season which saw them ranked #10 in Week #6, the Raiders were eliminated from the Central Alberta playoffs in the semi-finals and haven’t been ranked since but still qualified for the Big Dance by being the last standing Tier I team in their league. That’s the good news for them. The bad news is their prize for this accomplishment is a date with the Edmonton Champion Salisbury Sabres. The Sabres are full measure for their Championship in the tough Edmonton Division I with their average margin of victory being less than 10 point a game in their 8 victories. Still, the wins keep coming and Salisbury is looking to start a strong Provincial run this Saturday. The winner hosts next weekend.
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TIER II (School Pop. 750-1249) - Southern Semi-Finals
#1 Foothills Falcons vs. #4 Hunting Hills Lightning

Sat. Nov. 9 – 4:00 p.m., Great Chief Park (Red Deer)

Hunting Hills comes to this game as Central Alberta Champs for the second year in a row. Their only blemish came in an unexpected loss to Lindsay Thurber on October 4th but have rocked teams since then by an average score of 36-11. They also get to host their first ever first round game which is the good news but the bad news is they’ll have the #1 ranked Foothills Falcons bearing down on them. The Falcons are Big Rock League Champs and come into this game with a perfect 10-0 record and a very long history of Provincial competition being one of only five programs that have been able to win it all at Tier II in the past decade. The winner gets to host next week.
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TIER III (School Pop. 450-749) - Northern Semi-Finals

#7 Sylvan Lake Lakers at #3 St. Paul Lions Sat. Nov. 9 - 1:30 p.m., Lions Field (St. Paul)Second straight Wheatland title for the Lions and second straight berth in the Tier III Provincials. Last year they won their first ever game in the first round only to drop the North Final to St. Albert. This year their hoping for bigger and better things as they open Provincials at home. The Lakers have been all over the board Provincially, participating in Provincials at the Tier IV, III, and II levels in the past depending on their population. This year their back at Tier III which was the level where they last made it to a Provincial Final in 2008 losing a heartbreaker 7-5 to the Cochrane Cobras. The winner of this game hosts next week.
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TIER IV (School Pop. 449 or less) - Northern Semi-Finals #5 Cold Lake Royals at #8 West Central RebelsSat. Nov. 9 – 1:00 p.m., Curtis Field (Rocky Mountain House)These two teams had some pretty good dust-ups in the 1990’s when both were Tier III sized until the new divisions came in with the addition of Tier IV in 1999. Although constant representatives in Provincials they had pretty much been strangers since 1998 until last year. Cold Lake dropped to Tier IV last year and sure enough found themselves locking horns with the team from Rocky once again in Provincials. Last year’s game saw the Royals advance with a 43-20 win a home. This year with the game in Rocky Mountain House, it’s the Rebels who hope the home field advantage swings their way. The winner hosts next week.
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6-MAN - Northern Semi-Finals

#10 Holy Redeemer Rebels vs. #1 Rimbey Spartans
Sat., Nov. 9 - 4:00 p.m., MEGlobal Athletic Park (Lacombe)The Rebels from Edson make the trek to Lacombe to take on the undefeated and #1 ranked Spartans from Rimbey. The Spartans are looking to start their road to redemption having lost the 6-Man Provincial Title last year to Millwoods Christian. The highest ranked team left on the North side of the draw will host next weekend.
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With the spectacle that was the Subway Super Series now in the books, the focus for junior hockey fans in Central Alberta returns squarely on the exploits of the Red Deer Rebels.

The Rebels are coming off of what was perhaps their best home effort of the season thus far, definitely their best since their return from November’s ArgiTrade induced road trip. My question for Lukas Sutter on Thursday, what was the key to success that night?

“Our consistent work ethic,” Sutter told me prior to hitting the ice for practice. “It was the first night in a long time where we played the full sixty minutes. And when you look at our lineup, when we play a full sixty minutes we are going to beat a lot of teams. That wasn’t the case in the games leading up to that.”

That’s putting it mildly. Unfortunately, the Rebels, especially last Friday versus Regina, have not come close to playing a “full sixty minutes” at the Enmax Centrium. The club has earned just five wins in thirteen tries at home this season. Only Saskatoon and Lethbridge have worse home records this season.

But the 5-1 win over the Prince George Cougars last Saturday provided (finally) a glimpse of what this team is capable of doing. The next question for Lukas, can the game serve as the starting point for better things to come, home and away)?

“Absolutely. It’s something that we can use as a measuring stick for ourselves. We know that we are capable of it now and for us to take a step back would be unacceptable.”

So, what is the mood of this team right now?

“We’re confident but we can’t become complacent,” said Sutter. “We are still a .500 team and that’s not acceptable and we know that. This weekend is a big weekend for us when you look at the teams that we have, it’s a big four points in the standings that we need.”

It certainly is a big four points. Points the Rebels would absolutely love to earn to climb back into the top eight in the WHL Eastern Conference standings (they sit one point back of 8^th place Brandon). But, it sure as heck won’t be easy as the Rebels find themselves up against the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers and East Division leading Swift Current Broncos. Yup, the top two teams in the entire conference.

Says Sutter “These are games that shouldn’t be hard to get up for. When you look at the standings, they are two of the teams that everyone is gunning for. I think there’s going to be no shortage of inspiration for us.”

Lukas, I (and the entire Rebels fan base, no doubt) certainly hope you are right. If you’re not, well, things could get uglier than a Clark Griswold Christmas sweater.

Because I don’t have enough time to write it and you don’t have enough time to read, let’s keep our focus on Friday night’s game at Medicine Hat. The tabbies are good, real good. They bring a balanced scoring attack (13 players with 10 or more points, four are averaging a point per game or more, are solid in their own and have an outstanding goaltending tandem (both Marek Langhamer and Daniel Wapple sport a .916 save percentage).

Sutter is looking forward to the challenge of taming the Tigers.

“I grew up watching those playoff battles back in the day and I’ve seen some pretty wild things in the [Medicine Hat] Arena. I’ve played against them in the playoffs each of the last two years with Saskatoon and know how good of a team they are and how capable they are. If there’s anything extra I can bring, that what I want to do.”

Lukas, studiously, feels the Tigers are a team the Rebels should take a few notes on.

“You look at who they are getting scoring from, it’s not just the top end guys. They are getting it from everyone and that’s a team that we can look to emulate in some ways. It’ll be a good game for us for sure.”

While the Rebels are dealing with very few injuries heading into Friday’s game, the injuries they are dealing with long-term in nature. Grayson Pawlenchuk remains out with an elbow injury and is hopeful to return sometime in December. Christian Stockl remains out with an upper body injury for an indeterminate period of time. And, most recently, Matt Bellerive suffered a lower body (knee) injury versus the Cougars and is now out indefinitely.

The loss of Bellerive prompts a roster change in the form of Scott Feser. The Red Deer native has been recalled from Alberta Junior Hockey League where he now toils with the Okotoks Oilers. Feser has collected five assists in six games played with the Oilers since coming over from the Camrose Kodiaks, where he had amassed five assists in twelve games.

It will be interesting to see if lightning can strike twice for Feser. He played some pretty good hockey after being recalled by the Rebels at around this same time last year. Count Lukas Sutter among those who wants to see him succeed.

“He can be an emotional leader for sure. He’s a guy who has been through the battles with this team and hasn’t been dealt the best hand. We’re excited to have him back and it’s an opportunity he wants to take advantage of.”

So, there you have it. My first Rebels blog of the season. Sorry it took me this long to get back to it. Frankly, if I had the time and stamina I could have wrote another couple thousand words based on what I’ve seen from the club so far this season. But, I’ll stick with this much for now. Here’s hoping it won’t be another three months before I write another one.

Cheers,

TG

Red Deer Rebels fans, who were kept away from last night’s game due to this not-so-lovely blast of winter weather, or for whatever other reasons, are today all probably all thinking the same thing.

Doetzel did that? You gotta be kidding?!

It’s true, honest. The game changing offensive play was last night made by a stay-at-home defenseman who had not scored a single goal all season long.
With his team trailing 3-1 late in the second period, Rebels defenseman Kayle Doetzel channelled his inner Bobby Orr and went on an end-to-end rush and capped it off with a stunning goal.

36 seconds later Dominik Volek tied the game before the end of the middle frame. Haydn Fleury netted the game winner in the opening minute of the third period as the Rebels stunned the Prince Albert Raiders 6-3.

The goal came at the perfect time, with Doetzel’s team in need of a major spark. After Brady Gaudet had been banished to the penalty box for a (somewhat questionable) holding infraction the Raiders scored two goals just 27 seconds apart to take that 3-1 lead. As I had put on twitter the game had been “put on its ear.” A definite sense of shock had made its way into the Enmax Centrium.

But with a single, spectacular, very much unexpected play… Doetzel lifted his team’s spirits and provided the game with its marquee moment.

“Really, the turning point was Doetz’s rush,” noted GM and Head Coach Brent Sutter during his postgame scrum. “He scored a big goal there for us and we gained momentum off that we seemed to carry it right through from there on.”

Let’s be realistic about this moving forward. Is this goal likely to spark an offensive explosion for Doetzel? It’s about as likely as… But for now, let’s all enjoy the moment provided to us by Doetzel for both its sheer beauty and its impact.

Overall, in examining last night’s game, the Rebels put forth their second straight strong performance on home ice (after beating Prince George 5-1 on November 23). It was certainly much improved over their road effort just one night earlier.

“We needed as response [from Tuesday’s 5-2 loss in Calgary] and it certainly was a 180 from last night,” Sutter noted. “You know our effort, from start to finish, we had a pretty solid game, right from our goaltender right on out through our whole team.”

Doetzel provided the spark while Fleury notched the game winner, highlighting a great effort by the Rebels defence corps.

Said Sutter “Really, the difference though was the fact that I thought our defence, overall as a group, did a really good job of moving pucks, making the right plays, smart decisions with pucks. When you get pucks out of your zone, you’re able to make those stick-to-stick passes and get speed through the neutral zone. It creates stuff for you.”

“It was four on four,” Doetzel explained as he discussed the play with me this afternoon. “The puck popped out in front of the [Rebels] net where I was and I saw an opening so I put the hammer down. I beat the one guy and saw their d-men kind of flat-footed so I thought ‘what the heck’ and I tried to burn him wide. Then I saw an opening to the net so I took it to there and just tried to beat the goalie.”

Beat the goalie he did… with a sharp backhander lifted straight to the top-shelf.

“I surprised even myself a little bit,” said Doetzel regarding the spectacular shot. “It was just good to get it in there.”

Now that he’s done it once, is this something we can look forward to seeing again from Doetzel at any point?

“Yeah, it’s still kinda there. I’m more of a defensive defenseman but if there’s an opening…”

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Some great news today for Dominik Volek as he was named to the Czech Republic’s selection camp roster for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships.

It comes at a time when Volek, in the opinion of many, is playing his best hockey since coming to the Rebels at around this time last year in a trade from the Regina Pats (though Volek was playing professionally in Europe at the time).

“I’m gonna try everything,” Volek said regarding his attempt to crack the final team roster. “Bring everything that I’ve learned here because we have in our pool Canada and the US. So, I think it’s going to help that I’ve been here [WHL] three years now. I know the type of hockey and that Brent is coaching Team Canada, so it’s going to be fun to play against him.”

“The good thing about Dom,” explains Rebels Associate Coach Jeff Truitt “is that he has been very opportunistic. When he gets these chances in the offensive zone he’s starting to bury these things, and in a lot of different ways. There’s been some really nice plays off of the rush, he’s had a couple of long shots that have gone in, a bit fortunate that way. He’s shooting more than what he did last year. He was more of a playmaker last year and now he’s finishing and that’s great to see.”

27 players are on the selection camp roster. Volek says they plan to cut 2 of the 16 forwards who are invited. The plan is that he will be leaving the Rebels on December 11th for the Czech Republic and, should he make the team and play in the tournament, return January 8th and rejoin the Rebels for their game in Regina that night (meaning he would miss 9 Rebels games).

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As they move toward the end of what perhaps is their toughest week of the season, based on the strength of their opponents, the Rebels are showing they can indeed hang in there with the league’s best teams when the put their minds to it. The Rebels are 2-2 in this eight day stretch with wins over Medicine Hat and Prince Albert and losses to Swift Current and Calgary. This coming Saturday’s game versus the always strong Portland Winterhawks will be another bellwether test for this Red Deer Rebels club.

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Trade breakdown (as per whl.ca)

The Red Deer Rebels have officially parted ways with Mathew Dumba.

Today, the Rebels traded Dumba’s WHL playing rights, along with a conditional 2014 WHL Bantam Draft pick, to the Portland Winterhawks. In return, the Rebels get 18-year-old forward Presten Kopeck and conditional bantam draft picks.

While it has become quite clear that the Minnesota Wild have no interest in sending Dumba back to play for an on-the-fringe playoff contender (if they ever had any to begin with), the chance to send him out west to play for a league championship and Memorial Cup contender may be a much more enticing possibility. It is clearly a possibility that both Rebels GM / Head Coach Brent Sutter and Winterhawks GM / Head Coach Mike Johnston are banking on.

As of right now, the deal has no negative impact for the Rebels simply because Dumba is not playing here. It certainly looks like this deal guarantees that there will be a positive impact at some point.

In the meantime, it was time for the Rebels to move on.

“I gave it to December 1st,” Sutter tells Cam Moon in an interview that will air during tonight’s Rebels/Hurricanes broadcast on 106.7 The Drive. “I had a deadline on for myself and this team that if Mathew wasn’t returned [from Minnesota] to our organization that I seriously had to look at another avenue to be able to acquire some assets and perhaps a quality player.”

When it comes to the player Red Deer is getting in return, Kopeck is currently recovering from hernia surgery and is expected to be game ready early in the new year. He has 29 points in 88 career games played with the Winterhawks.

“He’s a character kid,” says Sutter. “I guess you might say you could put Brooks Maxwell and Wyatt Johnson into one player. He brings a little bit of what both of those guys have. We just feel that he can really contribute and be certainly a top nine forward and, in time, be a top six forward and, maybe a year from now, a top three forward for us.”

For Red Deer, they get ‘something out of nothing’ for their franchise defenceman. For Portland, they get an elite calibre WHL defenceman to step right in and replace Seth Jones, who now patrols the blue line for the Nashville Predators after they selected him 4th overall at last June’s NHL Entry Draft.

Meantime, for Dumba, should he actually suit up for the Winterhawks it would be a chance to play for a team we all assume will be right in the mix for the Ed Cheynoweth Cup again this spring.

On a personal note, now that Dumba once and for all is a former Rebel, I’ll miss him around here. He is the one player I have had the pleasure of getting know since the day he was selected by the Rebels in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft (1st round, 4th overall). It would only be a matter of weeks before Rebels fans would get a taste of how good Dumba would eventually become when he led Team Alberta to gold at the inaugural Western Canada U16 Hockey Challenge in Blackfalds.

Each and every time we have chatted in the four years since then, he has been great to deal with and has handled himself with the utmost of class. On top of that, his parents Charlie and Trina have been an absolute delight to get to know and younger brother Kyle will be making a push to be starting in net for the Calgary Hitmen someday.

Whether he was playing at his absolute best or, as we saw from time to time, his not-so-best, watching Dumba was never boring. I can’t see that being any different moving forward and I truly do wish him all the best as he pursues his professional career. I also look forward to seeing Mathew finally get his chance to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors later this month after being cut from the team each of the last two years. Whatever success Team Canada experiences at the event, you can be sure Dumba will play a large role in it.

[You can hear Mooner’s full interview with Brent during tonight’s game broadcast on The Drive. Game time is 7pm with the pregame show starting at 6:50pm. If you miss it, chances are we’ll post the full audio online tomorrow morning.]

Brent Sutter is right, absolutely 100% right.

His comments about grassroots hockey in our country, which were spat on by Don Cherry, are right on the mark.

Sutter’s contention is that our current focus when it comes to building hockey players is off the mark.

“There’s too much focus on winning and losing at such a young age, and not enough about the skill part of it,” Sutter said in articles published nationally over the weekend. “That’s truly where it starts. At 16, 17 when they hit the Canadian Hockey League, there should already be a standard of skill already in place.”

Brent has hit the nail on the head.

Disclaimer: I am not currently directly involved in minor hockey in anyway. I have no kids who play, I am not a coach and I no longer serve as a minor hockey official as I once did for 13 years. My thoughts on these matters come strictly from the point of view of an observer.

That being said, my opinion is based from listening to and chatting with people over the past few months who know more about hockey and sports science then I could ever hope to. Their findings, opinions and theories have helped form my “outsider’s opinions.”

If Brent were on an island when it comes to his thoughts, Cherry might have more ground to stand on when it comes to throwing poop at them. He’s not on an island. There are many who agree with him.

One of the sessions I was fortunate enough to moderate at last summer’s Alberta Hockey Summit in Banff focused on the “Dynamic Future of Hockey.” The keynote speaker for the session, George Kingston, gave an eye-opening comparison between how minor hockey players are developed in Canada and abroad. You can read an overview of his presentation by visiting Hockey Alberta’s website [HA will also soon be releasing a full report and action plan based on the outcomes of the Summit in the very near future].

George also joined me as an intermission guest on our Rebels vs. Hurricanes broadcast on December 14. You can listen to the full interview here.

“I think that we, in Canada, play too many games,” Kingston said, echoing Sutter’s sentiments. “We do not practice enough. The practices are something that the Europeans do much more than we do [the ratio of practices to games] and as a result the skill level is there.”

I wonder if Cherry, upon hearing these comments, would also accuse Kingston of throwing minor hockey coaches under the bus as he did Sutter.

Another one of the keynote speakers at the Alberta Hockey Summit, Dr. Steve Norris, also echoed some of Sutter’s thoughts during his presentation on long-term player development. Dr. Norris lamented the fact that one of the metrics stressed in minor hockey [coaches, parents, minor hockey associations, et al] has become “winning meaningless games” as opposed to developing the player. He expressed his concern over seeing 8-10 year old players doing relentless, difficult training exercises. Dr. Norris also made an interesting comparison between player development and Lego, saying both have gone from being very general and open to creativity to being specialized

A panelist at the Summit, Richard Monnette with ActiveforLife.ca, expressed his support for Brent’s comments in a blog post of his own this week.

Sorry, Grapes. The list of people who see flaws in how minor hockey develops players in Canada right now is longer than just Brent Sutter. Are the two hockey dads I work also throwing dirt by agreeing with him also?

In the end, even Cherry’s claim that Brent “Doesn’t sound like a Sutter” is wrong.

Sutter’s care about what’s best for the game hockey and have unwavering passion for the sport. Brent’s comments reflect just that.

The Red Deer Rebels split a pair of home games this past weekend, losing to the Calgary Hitmen 5-1 before beating the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2.

The Rebels head out for an important three games in four nights road trip that starts Wednesday night in Prince Albert. Game time is 6pm, Cam Moon has the broadcast here on The Drive starting at 5:50.
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ALBERTA MIDGET HOCKEY LEAGUE

Friday
Red Deer Optimist Chiefs 3, Calgary Royals 3

Sunday
Chiefs 6, UFA Bisons 5
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CHINOOK HOCKEY LEAGUE

Friday
Fort Saskatchewan 7, Bentley Generals 1

Saturday
Innisfail Eagles 8, Fort Saskatchewan 3
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HERITAGE JUNIOR B

Friday
Three Hills Thrashers 7, Red Deer Vipers 3
Stettler 6, Ponoka 1

Saturday
Airdrie Thunder 6, Red Deer 3

Sunday
Cochrane 5, Blackfalds 4 OT
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On Saturday, the Alberta Junior Hockey League released its list of their Top 50 Players of All-Time in celebration of the league's 50^th Anniversary. Broken down by decade, nine Red Deer Rustlers alumni made the list...

1984 – 1993

Dixon Ward
Glen Wesley

1974 – 1983

Brent Sutter
Darryl Sutter
Duane Sutter
Kelly Kisio

1964 – 1973

Brian Sutter
Doug Lindskog
Tom Lindskog
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RDC Athletics – Weekend Results

Queens Hockey

Jan 16 RDC 6 – GMU 0
Jan 18 RDC 3 – GMU 1

Queens Basketball
Jan 17 RDC 40 – CUCA 69
Jan 18 RDC 50 – GMU 85

Kings Basketball
Jan 17 RDC 98 – CUCA 73
Jan 18 RDC 92 – GMU 83

Kings Hockey
Jan 17 RDC 4 – GMU 5 (OT)
Jan 18 RDC 6 – GMU 3

Queens Volleyball
Jan 16 RDC 3 – UAA 1 (19-25,25-20,25-19,25-21)
Jan 18 RDC 3 – UAA 0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-16)

Kings Volleyball
Jan 16 RDC 3 – UAA 1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-14, 25-20)
Jan 18 RDC 3 – UAA 0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-18)

Players of the Week

Men: Jacob Cusumano, Kings Basketball
Hometown: Windsor, ON
Year/Program: 5th Yr. / Sociology

Women: Racheal Hoppins, Queens Hockey
Hometown: Trochu, AB
Year/Program: 4th Yr. / Bachelor of Nursing

Honourable mentions...
Clay Petrie, Kings Hockey
Sam Brisbane, Kings Volleyball
Karissa Kuhr, Queens Volleyball
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Central Alberta Amazons

Jan 18 – 5-2 loss at Banff

Next Game: Saturday, Jan. 25 in Penhold, 4:15pm vs. Calgary Titans

Following the game... the Amazons will be hosting their annual fundraiser night in Red Deer. Those wanting tickets can get them at the game or through the team's Facebook page. Tickets are $15 each and all proceeds go directly to the Amazons.
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The Central Alberta U16AA Sting Ringette team went undefeated at the Esso Golden Ring Tournament, the largest ringette tournament in North America, this past weekend in Calgary.

The Sting defeated Zone 5 Zeal 5-3, tied Calgary Koda 3-3, Calgary Edge 7-6, Edmonton Elite 7-2 and St. Albert Mission 9-4. The U16AA's then went on to meet Calgary Koda for the gold and came out on top with a 6-4 victory.

The Red Deer Grand Central Stitchin' U14A Elev8 returned home with a hard fought silver medal from the tournament. The Elev8 opened their tournament with an 8-5 victory over the Strathmore Ice and then disposed of the Calgary East Boom 8-1. They wrapped up the round-robin with a convincing 7-1 win over the Beaumont Fuego, securing first place in their pool.

In the quarter finals, they squared off with the South Calgary Rush, winning 11-2. They blanked the Vernon Rush 5-3 in the semifinals before falling to Leduc in the final.
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Central Alberta Buccaneers in action
at MEGlobal Athletic Park

2013 was a banner year for the Lacombe Athletic Park Association (LAPA).

The group, which operates and oversees events at MEGlobal Athletic Park, held its Annual General Meeting last night. They shared many of the facility's highlights from the past 12 months and set the stage for more exciting things to come.

If you're not familiar with the facility, check out this video from their new and improved website (It's a great video despite my cameo lol)

Among the event highlights from last year…

A number of improvements to the park were made including new sidewalks, landscaping, fencing and storage, new soccer nets, and improved access to the adjacent grass practice field
Two midget football teams called MEGlobal Athletic Park home for their 2013 seasons
In May, the park hosted a regional high school soccer tournament for the first time
The U of C Dinos hosted another successful camp for minor football players in June
The Central Alberta Buccaneers of the Alberta Football League used the park as their home for a second year
Central Alberta Field Lacrosse started up two teams that called MEGlobal Athletic Park “home”
“Football Day in Lacombe” in September was highlighted by generous donations from Richard Pioneer ($50,000), Lacombe Rotary Club ($15,000) and another $25,000 from the Gord Bamford Foundation, boosting their total donations to the park to $75,000
In November, the park was the setting as Lacombe residents gathered to set the new world record for the largest human Christmas tree

As you can see, the dream of having MEGlobal Athletic Park become a true multi-sport facility is coming to fruition. While football remains the most actively played sport at the facility, other sports such as soccer and lacrosse are also now using the park on a regular basis.

Financially, the park is doing quite fine according to the numbers shared by outgoing LAPA Board Chair Darren Gagnon.

The park generated nearly $176,000 in revenue over expenses for the year ending November 30. Combined with assets carried over from 2012, LAPA reported net assets of nearly a quarter million dollars.

That’s great news it shows the facility is on solid financial ground as LAPA officials continue fundraising efforts for the final phase of construction, the installation of a running track. The eight lane rubberized track is tagged at a cost of $1.2-million.

LAPA wants to replace the grass
surrounding their turf with a running track

Those fundraising efforts will receive a huge boost when the association hosts its annual fundraising gala on March 8th. Always a popular event, the gala raised over $30,000 for the park last year and hopes are even higher this time around. Gagnon says that once again the gala will have a number of well-known sports celebrity including Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos and NHL alumni. High profile current CFL players, who have attended the event previously, including Henry Burris and Jon Cornish, are also possible to attend again this year. In addition, the large and impressive variety of live and silent auction items at the event appeal to both sports fans and non-sports fans. The LAPA fundraising gala takes place on March 8th at the Lacombe Memorial Centre. I’ll have more details in the next little while. Feel free to call or e-mail me if you’d like to learn more.

The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks may be playing at the legendary hockey setting that is Dodger Stadium (nothing screams “Hockey” like palm trees). A true celebration of the game, however, takes place in Red Deer again this weekend.

The 4^th annual Tommy Gun’s Outdoor Winter Classic [@TGWinterClassic] is on at the Bower Community Rink this weekend. Eight midget teams hit the outdoor ice for games starting Friday afternoon and running through Sunday afternoon.

This year, four Red Deer midget teams are joined this year by squads from Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Claresholm and Kelowna.

“We just wanted to do a Midget ‘A’ tournament and there was never any ice to do it,” explains Tournament Organizer Al Sim. “We originally planned to do an indoor tournament but something got lost and we never got the indoor ice time. So we looked at the outdoor winter classic the NHL was doing and decided ‘Why don’t we do that too?’”

(more below)

One of the aspects of this tournament that truly show it is a celebration of the true spirit of the game is that it features teams at the Midget ‘A’ level as opposed to elite level teams. Sim says that’s no accident.

“The ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ kids get to ride the buses and get the second sets of uniforms and all of the accolades that come with elite hockey. We wanted to make something that is a lasting memory for the recreational divisions. These are the kids who play hockey their whole lives and never get to see those kinds of benefits.”

Photo from 2012
@TGWinterClassic

One of those benefits for the players will be getting a pretty cool jersey to take home. Each year, the tournament celebrates a theme when it comes to the jerseys each teams wears during games. In year one it was the Original Six plus the Flames and Oilers while in year two it was the 1967/68 Expansion Era. Last year honoured the 1920’s era NHL and this time around it is “Defunct NHL Teams” that are being honoured. Teams will be decked out in colours paying homage to the Atlanta Flames, Quebec Nordiques, Cleveland Barons, California Golden Seals, Colorado Rockies, Hartford Whalers and Winnipeg Jets (the classic 80’s version). The retro jerseys make for fantastic viewing for fans and great fun for the kids wearing them in action.

In addition to the eight midget teams, a pair of novice teams will hit the ice in a tournament “rivalry” that was added last year. They too will be donning out in special silks honouring the 1987 Canada Cup.

“We’ve copied those Team Canada and Russian CCCP jerseys and put all of those names on the back of them,” explains Sim. “Names like Gretzky and Lemieux, Tocchet and Sutter for Canada, Kasatonov and Khomutov and those guys for the Russians. It’s funny to see these seven year old players skating up and down the ice in these Cold War era jerseys.”

The atmosphere for the Tommy Gun’s Outdoor Winter Classic is unmatched by any other hockey tournament in the city. “Festival-like” would be the best way to describe the setting which includes an on-site concession, great silent auction items and entertainment. Having attended in the past, I can tell you it truly is something to behold.

A huge kudos goes out to all of the volunteers and sponsors who come together for this event each year. Sim says it costs over $90,000 to put on so the fact that they are putting it on for a fourth straight year says a lot about their great efforts.

Game action at the 4th annual Tommy Gun’s Outdoor Winter Classic gets underway at 5pm Friday at the community rink in Bower (on Boyce Street). Here’s hoping the weather isn’t so warm that it wreaks havoc on the ice conditions!

TG

Truth being told… I meant to write about Scott Feser on Tuesday but, as luck would have it, I simply didn’t get the time.

Thankfully, for me, this write up is timelier following Feser’s two point performance in the Rebels 4-3 shootout win last night over the Brandon Wheat Kings [GAME STORY] for which he was named as the game’s 1st star.

Feser worked a perfect give-and-go to set up Presten Kopeck for the game’s opening goal then later banged home a slick pass from Haydn Fleury for his 6th goal of the season (in his 24th game played).

It’s quickly developing into a great story. A hometown Red Deer kid comes back after being sent down to Junior A for the second time in as many seasons and makes the best of his opportunity.

In naming Feser as the 1st star in last night’s game, Rebels colour commentator Mike Moller says Feser has made great strides in stepping his game up at both ends of the rink.

“He has the offensive ability given the opportunity. But, on the other side, he helps kill penalties and defensively has really good positioning.”

“In overtime, there was a play where it was him against three Brandon Wheat Kings in the zone… to eventually get the puck in front of the net to Nick Charif, who had a scoring chance. That’s indicative of how he played tonight. He made plays with the puck and he made plays without the puck.”

For his part, Feser says he’s just been sticking with what he’s been trying to do all along.

“I always just wanted to keep working hard and keep getting better as an individual,” Feser told me during a pre-practice chat on Tuesday. “That comes with an opportunity to play and when given that opportunity you don’t want to pass it up.”

Confidence is definitely at an all-time high right now for Feser and that is translating into tangible results.

“I feel like I have a role here. When you have a role and you feel like you’re contributing it’s a lot more fun to play and it’s just that much more rewarding.”

Despite being assigned to the Camrose Kodiaks at the start of the season, again, Feser never lost faith that he’d earn another shot with the Rebels.

“When it’s happened before you just know that anything can happen. I knew there was a possibility of me coming back but I was still a little bit surprised [at being sent down]. But you always want to keep every door open because the hockey world is a crazy thing.”

Even when he was traded away by the Kodiaks, Feser didn’t allow his resolve to be broken.

“One morning, I came in for the pregame skate and I was told I was traded to Okotoks. Then I had to play the team I was traded from the next day. So yeah, it’s been a bit of a crazy year but I’m happy where I’m at now.”

After being brought in to fill out the roster in the wake of a series of injuries in late November, Feser has not only filled out the Rebels roster but has solidified his spot in the top nine forwards. His play on last week’s three game road trip in Saskatchewan reinforced that as Feser was used in pretty much every situation possible.

“Between guys going down [to injury] and we take penalties or there are powerplays you are always getting chances to play with different guys. I’ve been playing left wing, centre and right wing so you’ve just got to go out with whoever try and do your best.”

“I’ve tried not focusing on that not too much but it is obviously something you want to do. You want to score a few goals so it definitely feels good. But it’s not my number one role here… I just want to do the little things needed to help the team win.”

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With all due respect to Feser and his great effort, he was not the one who generated last night’s, to borrow from Chris Cuthbert, “Did you see that?!” moment.

Evan Polei first period fight versus Wheat Kings forward Kord Pankewicz started out as an evenly matched contest. That changed in an instant when Polei ended the bout with a devastating right cross to Pankewicz’s jaw.

While it may not have been the shot heard around the world, it will definitely be heard around the WHL once everyone sees the video evidence of Polei’s ferocious fisticuffs...

After seeing the fury unleashed by the 6’1” nearly 230 pound (17 year old!) Wetaskiwin native on his Drayton Valley counterpart, one has to think future combatants will think twice before entering the ring with this Polei bear (as per his twitter handle @polei_bear, not me).

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(Send us your results to sports@big105.fm to be included...)

A tough weekend for the Red Deer Rebels saw them earn just one of a possible four points at home. Friday, they fell 6-5 to Lethbridge (shootout) in a game in which they held a two goal lead in the third period. Saturday, the Rebels were bested 4-2 by the Tri City Americans. The Rebels find themselves in 8^thplace in the WHL Eastern Conference as they head out for a four game road trip that starts Tuesday at Vancouver.
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ALBERTA MIDGET HOCKEY LEAGUE

Saturday – Red Deer Optimist Chiefs 5, Calgary Flames 2
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CHINOOK HOCKEY LEAGUE

Friday
Bentley Generals 5, Okotoks Drillers 1

Saturday
Bentley Generals 4, Fort Saskatchewan 2 (Generals clinch 1^st place in regular season)
Innisfail Eagles 4, Okotoks Drillers 1
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Central Alberta Female Amazon Hockey Team

Rematch due to previous cancellation...
Friday Jan. 31, Fort Sask.6 vs. Penhold Amazon 3

Sat. Feb 1 Calgary Titans 0 vs. Penhold Amazons 2

Next games...
Saturday Feb 8 4:15pm @ the Penhold Multiplex vs. Banff Academy
Sunday Feb 9 12:30pm in Calgary Twin Arena vs. the Calgary Warriors
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RDC Athletics weekend results

Queens Hockey

January 30 - NAIT 3 Red Deer 2

January 31 - Red Deer 3 NAIT 1

Kings Hockey

January 31 - Red Deer 6 Keyano 2
February 1 - Red Deer 1 Keyano 6

Queens Basketball

January 31 - St. Mary’s 34 Red Deer 66

February 1 - Red Deer 86 St. Mary’s 41

Kings Basketball

January 31 - St. Mary’s 63 Red Deer 83

February 1 - Red Deer 83 St. Mary’s 58

Queens Volleyball

January 30 - Red Deer 2 SAIT 3

February 1 - SAIT 0 Red Deer 3

Kings Volleyball

January 31 - Red Deer 3 SAIT 0
February 1 - SAIT 0 Red Deer 3

The RDC women's curling team (Kaitlyn Sherrer, Julie Primrose, Courtney Smith, Jessica Newman and Taylor Eno) went 4-2 at the Winter Regional at the Avonair Curling Club in Edmonton. This left the team with an overall record of 6-4 and in a four way time for second. Based on tiebreakers, RDC finished in third overall and advances to the ACAC Championships at Lakeland College on February 21-23.

The RDC men's team (Ryan Dahmer, Jeff Ireland, Logan Oddie and Sean Carley) struggled to an 0-6 record.

New Balance SAIT Trojans Invitational Indoor Track Meet

Women’s Results (winners, RDC and Central Alberta runners):

- 800 m: 1. Lesley Koopman, GMU, 2:25.69; . . ., 6, Anna Duda (RDC), 2:46.29, 8. Jill Stewart, RD Titans and HHHS, 2:50.82.
- 1500 m: 1. Jamie Wigmore, GPRC, 5:53.96; . . ., 6. Jordanna Cota, RDC, 5:16.71; 8. Dina Iatrou, HHHS, 5:29.11, 16. Jill Stewart, RD Titans and HHHS, 6:00.27; Samantha Debree, RDC, 6:08.34.
- 3000 m: 1. Vanessa Trofimenkov, GMU, 11:45.88; . . . 9. Emily Maplethorpe, RDC, 13:05.55.

4 x 400 m Relay: 1. GMU, 4:27.44; . . . 7. RDC, 4:55.20

Points: 1. GMU, 48; 2. LCK, 28; 3. GPRC, 26: SAIT, 25: 5. RDC, 12; 6. CUCA, 8; 7. AUG, 6.

Men’s Results:

- 800 m: 1. Kenton Sportak, SAIT, 1:58.72; . . . 14th, Kevin Buckel, RDC, 2:39.61.

- 1500 m: 1. Hayden Hollowell, GPRC, 4:18.16; . . . 6. Andrew Jacobs, RDC, 4:44.63.

- 3000 m: 1. Solomon Ngetich, LCK, 9:45.45; no RDC runners.

- 4 x 400 m Relay: 1. LCK 3:42.60; no RDC team.

Points: 1. LCK 34; 2. SAIT, 29, 3. AUG. 22; 4T. GPRC, 19; 4T. CUCA, 19; 6. GPRC, 16, 7. RDC, 4.

Complete results should be available Monday on the ACAC web site: www.acac.ab.ca. RDC expects to have more runners competing at future meets with a full contingent for the March 7 and 8 ACAC Championships.
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Both the Central Alberta Sting U16AA and U14AA teams brought home the gold this weekend at the Pacific Ring Tournament in Richmond, BC.

The U14AA Sting lost only one game on the weekend in round robin play putting them in first and earning a bye into the finals. They met Lower Mainland from BC and won 4-1 to earn gold. Scorers in the final game were Reese Pollitt, Megan Conrad, Brianna Abell and Jamie Lalor.

The U16AA Sting were undefeated all weekend, finishing round robin in first, then defeating Burnaby, BC 6-1 in the semis and capturing gold in the finals over Lower Mainland 5-4. Scorers in the final game were Jillian Dreger with 2 and Shae-Lyn Baxter, Sydney Cherniak and Brenna Parent with one each. This is the third gold medal performance for this U16AA team. Earlier they captured their home Ice Breaker tournament in December and the Calgary Golden Ring tournament in January.

The U19AA team had 3 ties and 2 losses this weekend which kept them out of the medal games. They lost a hard fought battle against Lower Mainland 6-3 on Sunday. Goal scorers in the final game were Kelsie Caine with 2 and Ashlynn Morrison with 1.

All Central Alberta AA Sting teams will be gearing up for Provincials later in the month Feb 28-Mar 2nd in Calgary. The U16AA and the U19AA teams will then have the opportunity to compete at Nationals in Regina Saskatchewan April 5-13th.
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The Central Alberta Buccaneers are preparing for their upcoming 2014 season! New and returning players are invited to attend the Bucs 2014 AGM Registration/Information Night, held on Saturday, Feb. 22nd, at the Red Deer Lodge at 6pm.

At the AGM, interested players can meet the coaching staff, athletic therapists, and returning players. The team’s philosophy is explained, offensive and defensive schemes are described, and any important information regarding the Bucs is discussed. Any interested in the Bucs are encouraged to attend, whether or not they are potential players. All are welcome!
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SportChek Regional GS Race Feb 1 & 2, 2014 Red Deer Ski Club members results...
RDSC Men's Results	Placed	RDSC Men's Results	Placed
Feb 1 AM Final		Feb 2 AM Final
Jared Oakes	2nd	Owen Green	4th
Owen Green	6th	Kale Chessor	7th
Kale Chessor		9th
PM Final		PM Final
Jared Oakes	1st	Owen Green	4th
Kale Chessor	8th	Kale Chessor	6th
RDSC Women's Results	Placed	RDSC Women's Results	Placed
Feb. 1 AM Final		Feb. 2 AM Final
Jasmine Photinopoulos	5th	Jasmine Photinopoulos	6th
PM Final		Feb. 2 PM Final
Jasmine Photinopoulos	6th	Jasmine Photinopoulos	3rd

Final preparations at the Lacombe Arena
(photo from twitter @C_hodgy)

The Lacombe Arena will be rocking this week. (Sorry, I just had to haha)

A field of twelve teams, highlighted by two former world champions, hits the ice for the 2014 Albert a Boston Pizza Cup men’s provincial curling championship starting Wednesday.

And while the Kevin Martin and Kevin Koe rinks are the overwhelming favorites heading in, there is another team that will have the support of plenty of hometown Lacombe fans behind it.

The Charley Thomas team, hailing from the Glencoe Curling Club in Calgary, comes in as the #9 seed having taken the long way in qualifying for the tournament. They won the ‘C’ event at Southern Alberta qualifying last month. Skip Charley Thomas is a former world champion himself, winning world junior in both 2006 and 2007.

He brings to Lacombe a team that features two Lacombe natives, Colin Hodgson (@C_hodgy) and Matthew Ng, and Mike Westlund. Both Hodgson and Ng have ties to the Lacombe community that run deep.

“I’m trying not to put any pressure on myself this week,” Hodgson told me over the phone this morning. “For it to be in Lacombe I think it’s going to be a great experience to be able to share it with family and friends and people I grew up with… take all the pressure off and not get too caught up with how things are going.”

Hodgson has certainly been around his hometown long enough to know that this week will have a tremendous impact.

“I think it’s great. I think Lacombe needed this event and I think the people from out of town need to come and see what Lacombe is all about. I’m ecstatic to have my co-curlers and competitors come and see where I’m from and where I grew up.”

Hodgson was a star multi-sport athlete at Lacombe Composite High School (played senior ‘AAA’ baseball with the Red Deer Riggers) and his curling resume is already pretty darn impressive…

Four-time Juvenile Provincial Champion
2007 Canada Winter Games Champion
2008 Provincial and National Junior Champion
2009 ACAC 1^st All Star Skip and NAIT Most Valuable Player
Won his first World Curling Tour event in 2012 (MNP Charity Classic)

Having done all of that, Hodgson has a burning desire to have similar success at the men’s level.

“We’re certainly hoping to make some noise this week. Having success at the junior level doesn’t necessarily translate to the men’s game. We’re just going to do our best to put some shots together against the big boys and come out with a few big wins this week.”

Hodgson feels having to fight and scrap for their berth into this week’s provincials will serve his team well.

“Pretty much any curler out there will tell you to take the toughest road possible if you know you’re gonna get there. So, we’re happy to have come through the C event as it gave us more games together and got us in that ‘do or die’ mode that we needed coming into this event.”

As for being one of this week’s underdogs, Hodgson says his crew doesn’t mind that one bit.

Ice conditions at the Lacombe Arena should be absolutely top-notch thanks to the work of head ice make Jamie Bourassa and his crew along with the major upgrades to the arena (complete rebuild of the ice plant and rink floor and boards).

Team Thomas will take on Matthew Blandford’s rink from Calgary, the tournament’s #8 seed, in the opening draw Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. The rest of the draw features Robert Schlender (5) versus Greg Pasichnuk (12), Mark Johnson (6) versus Lloyd Hill (11) and Wade White (7) versus Ted Appleman (10).

The top four seeded teams in Kevin Martin (1), Kevin Koe (2), Jamie Kings (3) and Brendan Bottcher (4) will play the winners from the opening draw Wednesday night at 6:30.

The full draw for this week's tournament is available here.

The 2014 Alberta Winter Games get underway on Thursday in Banff and Canmore.

The 2014 Alberta Winter Games run from February 6-9th young athletes from eight zones will participate in 22 sporting competitions in both locations.

Below is the list of athletes representing Zone 4 from Red Deer and Red Deer County. For a list of the rest of our local Zone 4 athletes visit www. albertagames.com.

Aasman	Jayda	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Adkins	Ryan	Archery	Red Deer
Allin	Erin	Ringette	Red Deer
Beaudoin	Spencer	Ringette	Red Deer
Biletsky	Parker	Volleyball Male	Red Deer
Bilodeau	Shaelynne	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Boorse	Mikayla	Curling	Red Deer
Brown	Wade	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Bussard	Jade	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Butler	Ruby	Artistic Gymnastics	Red Deer
Carriere	Tye	Hockey Male	Red Deer
Colonna	Skylar	Hockey Female	Red Deer

Coutts	Tyra	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Cudillo	Lester	Boxing	Red Deer
Cudillo	Lowie	Boxing	Red Deer
Cundict	Elizabeth	Ringette	Red Deer
DeMale	Shae	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Domoney	Kaylee	Ringette	Red Deer
Evans	Tracey	Archery	Red Deer
Fairbrother	Keesha	Ringette	Red Deer
Farguson	William	Judo	Red Deer
Fitzsimons	Mandi	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Flanagan	Anthony	Judo	Red Deer
Freeman	Mya	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Frenette	Natalie	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Fuerbringer	Joshua	Speed Skating	Red Deer
Garbe	Janaya	Ringette	Red Deer
Graham	Christopher	Volleyball Male	Red Deer
Gray	Kieren	Speed Skating	Red Deer

Gray	Nolan	Speed Skating	Red Deer
Green	Owen	Alpine Skiing	Red Deer
Guthrie	Adam	Squash	Red Deer
Halford	Claire	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Hayes	Nina	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Heron	Matthew	Volleyball Male	Red Deer
Hovdestad	Amy	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Huddleston	Mackenzie	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Hurry	Devyn	Fencing	Red Deer
Jewkes	Lauren	Ringette	Red Deer
Johnson	Bailey	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Junck	Adam	Volleyball Male	Red Deer
Kopec	Bryce	Badminton	Red Deer


Kosack	Zachary	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Krause	Liam	Volleyball Male	Red Deer
Lamont	Kameron	Fencing	Red Deer
Laye	Sierra	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Lee	Daniel	Judo	Red Deer
Love Hollman	Eryn	Curling	Red Deer
Love Hollman	Mason	Curling	Red Deer
Macleod	Logan	Squash	Red Deer
Marshall	Luke	Hockey Male	Red Deer
Mast	Cody	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Meckling	Abby	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Metcalfe	Janelle	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Morlock	Justin	Curling	Red Deer
Mulder	Amy	Ringette	Red Deer

Nadon	Evan	Badminton	Red Deer
Nasewich	Maegan	Figure Skating	Red Deer
O'Connell	Brandon	Speed Skating	Red Deer
Oakes	Jared	Alpine Skiing	Red Deer
Ostrikoff	Megan	Fencing	Red Deer
Paarup	Jace	Hockey Male	Red Deer
Packard	Kallan	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Patrick	Mercedes	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Pimm	Owen	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Rodger	Logan	Judo	Red Deer
Sandquist	Chantelle	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Saunders	Brad	Biathlon	Red Deer

Saunders	Brad	Biathlon	Red Deer
Saunders	Brielle	Biathlon	Red Deer
Saunders	Devin	Biathlon	Red Deer
Schlachter	Alison	Ringette	Red Deer
Sikora	Genevieve	Freestyle Skiing	Red Deer
Sikora	Sydney	Freestyle Skiing	Red Deer
Sorokan	Hope	Synchronized Swimming	Red Deer
Sosnowski	Gina	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Spicer	Lauren	Speed Skating	Red Deer
Spicer	Stefanie	Speed Skating	Red Deer

St. Pierre	Isabel	Ringette	Red Deer
St.Pierre	Jenna	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Starratt	Bailey	Archery	Red Deer
Stecyk	Cale	Hockey Male	Red Deer
Suhalj	Anna	Volleyball Female	Red Deer
Tieken-Maerz	Kendra	Ringette	Red Deer
Towers	Talyn	Archery	Red Deer
Very	Jason	Hockey Male	Red Deer
Wiebe	Dahlin	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer
Wiley	Kaitlyn	Archery	Red Deer
Wlad	Carley	Hockey Female	Red Deer
Doyon	Joshua	Cross Country Skiing	Red Deer County
Flewell	Journey	Volleyball Female	Red Deer County
Janssen	Kendall	Volleyball Female	Red Deer County
Linnell	Kaitlan	Hockey Female	Red Deer County

MacDougall	Bryndelle	Speed Skating	Red Deer County
MacDougall	Connor	Speed Skating	Red Deer County
Sinnamon	Connor	Volleyball Male	Red Deer County
Weberg	Ethan	Hockey Male	Red Deer County
Wood	Adam	Freestyle Skiing	Red Deer County

As best as I could gather, here is the competition schedule for our local athletes competing at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia...

All times listed are MT (Alberta).

The channel carrying each event also listed where possible...
CBC, TSN, TSN 2, Sportsnet (SN), Sportsnet 1 (SN1),

Mellisa Hollingsworth (Eckville) – Skeleton
Thursday, February 13 – runs 1 (TSN) and 2 (CBC) starting at 12:30 a.m.
Friday, February 14 – runs 3 (CBC) and 4 (CBC) starting at 8:40 a.m.

Zina Kocher (Red Deer) – Biathlon
(subject to change based on which specific events Zina takes part in)
Sunday, February 9^th– 7.5 K Sprint, 7:30 a.m. (TSN)

Tuesday, February 11^th– 10 K Pursuit, 8:00 a.m. (SN1)
Friday, February 14^th– 15 K Individual, 7:00 a.m. (SN)
Monday, February 17^th– Women's Mass Start, 8:00 a.m. (SN)
Friday, February 21^st– 4 x 6 K Relay, 7:30 a.m. (SN)

Wednesday, February 19^th– (Mixed Relay), 7:30 a.m. (SN1)

Matthew Rowley (Red Deer) – Ski Jumping
Saturday, February 8^th– Individual Normal Hill qualifying, 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, February 9^th- Individual Normal Hill 1^stround (TSN) and medal round (CBC), starting at 10:30 a.m.Friday, February 14^th– Individual Large Hill qualifying, 10:30 a.m.

Lyndon Rush (Sylvan Lake via Humboldt SK) – Bobsleigh
Sunday, February 16^th– 2-Man runs 1 and 2, 9:15 a.m. (SN)
Monday, February 17^th– 2-Man runs 3 and 4, 7:30 a.m. (SN1, CBC)
Saturday, February 22^nd– 4-Man runs 1 and 2, 9:30 a.m. (SN, CBC)
Sunday, February 23^rd– 4-Man runs 3 and 4, 2:30 a.m. (CBC)

Danielle Wotherspoon-Gregg (Red Deer) – Long Track Speed Skating
Tuesday, February 11^th– 500 metres, starting at 5:45 a.m. (TSN, CBC)

Feel free to hit me up with any errors or omissions --> sports@big105.fm

TG

The Red Deer Rebels finished off their 4 games in 5 nights road trip with a 7-1 loss in Prince George on Saturday. The Rebels picked up just 1 one a possible 8 points on the trip. They return home this week for games on Wednesday (Medicine Hat) and Saturday (Saskatoon) sitting in 8^th place in the WHL Eastern Conference standings.

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Regular season play wrapped up in the Chinook Hockey League over the weekend...

Friday
Innisfail Eagles 1, Fort Saskatchewan 0

Saturday
Bentley Generals 6, Stony Plain 3

Final Regular Season Standings
1. Bentley 42 points
2. Innisfail 32 points
3. Fort Saskatchewan 31 points
4. Okotoks 15 points (not taking part in AAA Provincials)
5. Stony Plain 14 points

(PLAYOFFS INFO BELOW...)
Next up... the Senior AAA Provincial Semi-Finals...

BENTLEY GENERALS (1) VS. STONY PLAIN EAGLES (4)

Game # 1 Friday February 14 -8:30pm at Bentley

Game # 2 Saturday February 15 -7:30pm at Stony Plain

Game # 3 Monday February 17 ( Family Day ) – 2:00pm Red Deer Arena

Game # 4 Saturday February 22-7:30pm Stony Plain

Game # 5 Sunday February 23 – 2:00pm Bentley Arena

Game # 6 Saturday March 1 – 7:30pm Stony Plain

Game # 7 Sunday March 2 – 2:00pm Bentley Arena

INNISFAIL EAGLES vs FORT SASKATCHEWAN CHIEFS

Game # 1 Friday Feb. 14 8:30 pm Fort Sask. @ Innisfail

Game # 2 Sunday Feb. 16 7:15 pm Innisfail @ Fort.Sask

Game # 3 Friday Feb. 21 8:30 pm Fort Sask. @ Innisfail

Game # 4 Saturday Feb. 22 8:15 pm Innisfail @ Fort.Sask

Game # 5 Friday Feb. 28 8:30 pm Fort Sask. @ Innisfail

Game # 6 Saturday March 1 8:15 pm Innisfail @ Fort.Sask

Game # 7 Wednesday March 5 8:30 pm Fort Sask. @ Innisfail

This year's Senior AAA Provincial Champion will take on the Powell River Regals in the McKenzie Cup (AB/BC) regional final for a spot at the 2014 Allan Cup in Dundas, Ontario (April 14 – 19).

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ALBERTA MIDGET HOCKEY LEAGUE

Saturday
Red Deer Optimist Chiefs 3, Lloydminster 2

Sunday
Edmonton CAC 3, Red Deer Optimist Chiefs 1
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The Red Deer Vipers split a pair of Heritage Junior B games over the weekend, losing 4-2 to the Stettler Lightning on Friday and beating the Ponoka Stampeders at home Saturday 8-5.
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RDC Athletics – weekend results

Queens Hockey
February 6 - SAIT 3 Red Deer 2 OT
February 7 - Red Deer 5 SAIT 0

Kings Hockey
February 7 - Red Deer 3 SAIT 5
February 8 - SAIT 6 Red Deer 1

Queens Volleyball
February 7 - MacEwan 3 Red Deer 2
February 8 - Red Deer 0 MacEwan 3

Kings Volleyball
February 7 - MacEwan 1 Red Deer 3
February 8 - Red Deer 1 MacEwan 3

Boston Pizza RDC Athletes of the Week

Men: Chris Osborn, Kings Volleyball
Hometown: Scottsdale, AZ

Year/Program: 4th Yr. / BEd

Chris Osborn was an offensive and defensive monster all weekend for the Kings Volleyball Team. Chris was a huge reason for the Kings 3-1 victory on Friday night over GMAC who is currently ranked #2 in the country behind the Kings. He had 11 kills on 13 attempts with no errors and 2 blocks. Saturday at GMU he was named player of the match with another 11 kill performance and 5 stuff blocks. Unfortunately KVB lost in 4 sets on Saturday but Chris’ strong performance all weekend is a huge positive going into Conference Championships in two weeks.

Women: Karissa Kuhr, Queens Volleyball

Hometown: Fort McMurray, AB

Year/Program: 3rd Yr. / KNSS

In a weekend where the Queens struggled to find their game, Karissa provided effort and leadership. Offense was tough to come by but Karissa did finish the weekend with 19 kills, 3 aces, 32 digs and 2 stuff blocks. In her 3rd and final year with the Queens, Karissa is playing well down the stretch.

ACAC Women’s Hockey Semi-Finals: NAIT Ooks vs. RDC Queens

The winner of the best of three, home and home series will advance to the ACAC Championship against the first place MacEwan Griffins. NAIT finished second with 22 points in the regular season with 9 wins, 7 losses (2 overtime losses), and 2 ties. RDC Queens finished in third place with 9 wins and 9 losses (1 overtime loss) for 19 points.

Friday, February 14/14 7:00 PM RDC @ NAIT NAIT Arena
Saturday, February 15/14 5:00 PM NAIT @ RDC Red Deer Arena
Sunday, February 16/14 6:30 PM RDC @ NAIT NAIT Arena

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CENTRAL ALBERTA AMAZONS

Sat. Feb. 8 in Penhold - Amazons 5 VS Banff Academy 3
Sun. Feb. 9 in Calgary - Amazons 4 VS Calgary 5

Last two games in the regular season are:
Sat. Feb 15 @ 4:15pm in the Penhold Multiplex - Amazons VS Lethbridge
Sun. Feb 16 @ 6:15pm in Edmonton KEA Kenilworth - Edmonton VS Amazons
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Zone 4 (Central Alberta) athletes won a total of 28 medals at the 2014 Alberta Winter Games in Banff and Canmore (11 Gold, 9 Silver, 9 Bronze). The full list of results is posted at www.albertagames.com.
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Kevin Koe is the 2014 Alberta Men's Provincial Curling Champion. Koe and his rink (Nolan Thiessen, Carter Rycroft, Pat Simmons) came from behind to defeat Kevin Martin (Ben Hebert, Mark Kennedy, David Nedohin) 7-5 in the final of the 2014 Boston Pizza Cup in Lacombe.
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Red Deer's Matthew Rowley competed in his first ever Olympic event over the weekend. Rowley competed in the Ski Jumping Men's Normal Hill qualifying round, placing 41^stoverall.

Zina Kocher of Red Deer finished 32nd in the Women's 7.5 K Sprint Biathlon event.
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This month the Red Deer Rebels and the Lethbridge Hurricanes take the battle from the rink to the clinic to see who can bring in the most blood donations in February. The teams have partnered with Canadian Blood Services in a Blood Battle to save lives.

We’re asking Rebel fans to get into the game and give blood. Every minute of every day someone in Canada needs blood. Book an appointment in February and help everybody win!

Support your Team and give blood today!

Call 1 888 2 DONATE to book your appointment.
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The Red Deer Rebels solid grip on a WHL playoff spot is now rather tenuous.

The Rebels sit just two points ahead of Prince Albert for 8th in the Eastern Conference after a 7-1 drubbing in Calgary on Monday. The Rebels also fell 4-1 at home to Saskatoon on Saturday, one night after their 3-2 overtime win in Edmonton.

The Rebels host the Oil Kings for their first of five straight games at the Enmax Centrium.
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Senior AAA Provincials

The Bentley Generals beat the Stony Plain Eagles 3-2 in overtime on Monday at the Red Deer Arena. The Generals have a 3-0 lead in the provincial semi-final series with game four coming this Saturday at Stony Plain.

The Innisfail Eagles and Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs are tied 1-1 in the other semi-final series, game three goes Friday night in Innisfail.

--- MORE BELOW ---

Alberta Midget Hockey League

The Red Deer Optimist Chiefs lost 2-1 to Grande Prairie on Sunday in their final regular season game. On Saturday, the Chiefs doubled up on Edmonton MLAC 6-3. Red Deer finished 1st in the Chrysler Division with 50 points and 2nd overall (Leduc 51 points).

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The Red Deer Vipers finished the Heritage Junior B regular season on a sour note losing three games in 3 nights. They lost 4-2 in High River on Friday, 8-5 at home to High River on Saturday, and 6-3 to the Banff Bears on Sunday in Banff.

The Vipers will battle Three Hills in the elimination round of the North Division playoffs:

Game 1: Wednesday, February 19th in Red Deer (8:15pm)
Game 2: Friday, February 21st in Three Hills (8:00pm)
Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, February 22nd in Red Deer (8:00pm)

The series winner advances to play Blackfalds. Stettler takes on Mountainview in the first round with the winner moving on to play against the winner between Blackfalds vs. Red Deer / Three Hills.

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Central Alberta Amazon Female Hockey Scores From Penhold

Sat Feb. 15 in Penhold, Amazons 3 VS Lethbridge 0

Sun. Feb. 16 in Edmonton, Edmonton 2 VS Amazons 1

Next up... playoffs. Updates will be available through AJFHL website.

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All three Central Alberta Sting AA ringette teams played exhibition games against Calgary AA squads this weekend.

The U14AA Sting played the Calgary U14AA, losing 9-5. Scorers for Sting were Reese Pollitt with 2, and singles from Brianna Abell, Saxon Anderson and Hannah Morrison.

The U16AA Sting met the Calgary Edge U16AA squad, battling to a 9-8 win. Scorers for Sting were Gillian Dreger with 3, Brenna Parent and Sydney Cherniak with 2 each and singles from Shae-Lyn Baxter and Rylee Frank. The team then travelled to Calgary to play a double header against the Calgary KODA U16AA team resulting in two ties: 5-5 and 6-6. Scorers for Sting were Gillian Dreger with 2 and singles from MacKenzie Lindholm, Rylee Frank and Sydney Cherniak in the first game and Dreger with 2 and singles from Parent, Frank, Lindholm and Bryn Lunn in the second.

The Central Alberta Sting U16AA's are ranked first in the province going into Provincials with Calgary KODA ranked second and Calgary Edge ranked third.

The U19AA Sting played Calgary's U19AA squad, falling 11-5. Scorers for Sting were Emma West with 3 and singles from Kelsie Caine and Cheyenne Coon.

The Central Alberta AA teams will be competing at Provincials at the end of the month, Feb 28-Mar 2nd in Calgary.

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RDC Athletics

The season is over for RDC Queens Hockey after they were swept by NAIT (1-0, 3-2) in their best of three ACAC Semi-finals series.

RDC Kings beat Briercrest this weekend by scores of 5-3 and 8-1.

Queens Basketball
February 14 - Red Deer 31 Lethbridge 74
February 15 - Red Deer 78 Lethbridge 90
Queens record falls to 9-11 on the season

Kings Basketball

February 14 - Red Deer 66 Lethbridge 80
February 15 - Red Deer 103 Lethbridge 102

Results of the Nike Indoor Challenge (ACAC Meet #1), Sat., Feb. 15

The meet was held at the Edmonton Garrison Military Fitness Centre Fieldhouse.

Emily Maplethorpe was the best placed RDC runner amongst College runners with a 5th in the 1500 m. Emily improved her Personal Best 1500 m time by 0.24 seconds, which is tough to do because the Edmonton Garrison indoor track is considered slow by many runners. The RDC women’s relay team placed 6th amongst ACAC Colleges. RDC also had four 8th place College finishes, Anna Duda (800 m), Laura Friesen (1500 m), Samantha Debree (3000 m), and Andrew Jacobs (3000 m).

Complete results should be available Tuesday on the ACAC web site: www.acac.ab.ca

Upcoming Events...

HOME

• Men’s Volleyball ACAC Championships, Feb 21-23 - RDC Main Gym
Kings’ first game vs. Briercrest is Friday, February 21 at 6 PM

AWAY

• Women’s Volleyball ACAC hosted by GPRC, Feb 21-23

Queens first game vs. Lakeland is Friday, February 21 at 3 PM

• Curling ACAC Championships hosted by Lakeland College, Feb 21-23

Women’s Team first game vs. GPRC at 8 PM

Boston Pizza RDC Athletes of the Week

Men: Matt Johnson, Kings Basketball
Hometown: Calgary, AB

Year/Program: 2nd Yr. / BADM

Matt looked extremely sharp and playoff ready as the Kings faced the Lethbridge Kodiaks in their final regular season games. On Friday, Matt led all Kings scorers with 15 pts and collected 8 rebounds. Matt also dished out 3 assists and was awarded player of the game.

Women: Dedra Janvier, Queens Basketball

Hometown: Cold Lake, AB

Year/Program: 2nd Yr. / KNSS

Dedra Janvier was named player of the game on Saturday scoring 17 points and collecting 5 assists on Saturday night. She was 4 of 6 from 3 pt. range and 5 of 6 from the line mixing in an attacking style with her usual long range game and solid defensive play.

Breathing Room Team of the Week – Kings Volleyball

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ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship - Hosted by Red Deer College

Edmonton, February 18, 2014 – Red Deer College is honoured to host the 2013-14 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men’s Volleyball Championships on February 21-23, 2014. The top teams from Northern and Southern Alberta will converge on Red Deer College to determine who this year's top volleyball team will be. It's going to be a weekend tournament filled with tough competition!

Friday, February 21
1:00 PM Game 1 GPRC (#6) vs. SAIT (#3)

3:00 PM Game 2 NAIT (#7) vs. GMU (#2)

6:00 PM Game 3 BC (#8) vs. RDC (#1)

8:00 PM Game 4 UAA (#5) vs. MHC (#4)

Saturday, February 22
1:00 PM Game 5 LG2 vs. LG1

3:00 PM Game 6 LG4 vs. LG3

6:00 PM Game 7 WG1 vs. WG2

8:00 PM Game 8 WG3 vs. WG4

Sunday, February 23
11:00 AM Game 9 WG5 vs. WG6

1:00 PM Game 10 LG 7 vs. LG8

3:30 PM Game 11 WG7 vs. WG8

ALL GAMES AT RDC MAIN GYM

ACAC Women’s Volleyball Championship - Hosted by Grande Prairie Regional College

Friday, February 21
1:00 PM Game 1 King’s (#5) vs. BC (#4)

3:00 PM Game 2 LAKE (#8) vs. RDC (#1)

6:00 PM Game 3 OC (#6) vs. GPRC (#3)

8:00 PM Game 4 NAIT (#7) vs. GMU (#2)

Saturday, February 22
1:00 PM Game 5 LG2 vs. LG1

3:00 PM Game 6 LG4 vs. LG3

6:00 PM Game 7 WG1 vs. WG2

8:00 PM Game 8 WG3 vs. WG4

Sunday, February 23
11:00 AM Game 9 WG5 vs. WG6

1:00 PM Game 10 LG 7 vs. LG8

3:30 PM Game 11 WG7 vs. WG8

www.acac.ab.ca

Both the RDC Kings and Queens Volleyball squads lived up to expectations over the weekend in winning their respective ACAC Championships.

The Kings, playing on their home court at RDC, swept Grant MacEwan in Sunday's final by hard fought set scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 26-24. Kings Setter Sam Brisbane was named Tournament MVP while Tim Finnigan and Braden O'Toole were named as Tournament All-Stars. Prior to the tournament, Finnigan was named ACAC Player of the Year and Aaron Schulha was named Coach of the Year.

The Queens, playing at Grande Prairie, also swept their final match at provincials by set scores of 25-17, 25-12 and 25-19 over the host Wolves. Queens Power Hitter Amber Adolf was named Tournament MVP while Brooke Sutter and Bronwyn Hawkes were named as Tournament All-Stars.

MORE BELOW...

The Kings, who settled for silver last year, are now ranked #1 heading into this year's nationals next week at Briercrest (Moose Jaw)...

1	Red Deer Kings	ACAC	champ	Red Deer, AB
2	Mohawk Mountaineers	OCAA	champ	Hamilton, ON
3	Douglas Royals	PACWEST	champ	New Westminster, B.C
4	Humber Hawks	OCAA	wildcard	Toronto, ON
5	CBC Bearcats	PACWEST	wildcard	Abbotsford, BC
6	Briercrest Clippers	ACAC	host	Caronport, SK
7	St Thomas Tommies	ACAA	champ	Fredericton, NB
8	St-Jerome Cheminots	RSEQ	champ	Saint-Jerome, QC

More details, including the match schedule, are posted here...
http://www.ccaa.ca/seeding-revealed-for-2014-ccaa-men-s-volleyball-national-championship-p190537

The Queens are the #3 ranked team for nationals at Seneca College in Toronto...

1	Garneau Elans	RSEQ	champ	Quebec, QC
2	VIU Mariners	PACWEST	champ	Nanaimo, BC
3	Red Deer Queens	ACAC	champ	Red Deer, AB
4	Humber Hawks	OCAA	champ	Toronto, ON
5	Grande Prairie Wolves	ACAC	wildcard	Grande Prairie, AB
6	Capilano Blues	PACWEST	wildcard	North Vancouver, BC
7	MSVU Mystics	ACAA	champ	Halifax, NS
8	Seneca Sting	OCAA	host	Toronto, ON

More details, including the match schedule, are posted here...
http://www.ccaa.ca/team-seeding-for-2013-ccaa-women-s-volleyball-national-championship-p190536

Meantime... The RDC Women’s Curling team won bronze at the ACAC Championships in Vermillion this past weekend. RDC stole one in the eighth end to defeat Lakeland College in the bronze medal match. The team will now join MacEwan University and NAIT at Nationals in Sault Ste Marie March 18-22. The team consists of Kaitlyn Sherrer, Julie Primrose, Courtney Smith, Taylor Eno and Jessica Newman.---

The Red Deer Rebels, in a heated battle for the final playoff spot in the WHL Eastern Conference, split a pair of home games over the weekend.

Friday, the Rebels ended a five game home losing streak with a 5-3 triumph over the Vancouver Giants. 24 hours later, the Rebels lost by that same 5-3 score to Swift Current. Taz Burman was a last minute starter in net for the Rebels in place of Patrik Bartosak (illness).

The Rebels have two more home games at the Enmax Centrium this week... Wednesday vs. Kamloops, Friday vs. Medicine Hat.
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Senior AAA Provincials – semifinals

Saturday - Bentley Generals 2, Stony Plain Eagles 0
- Generals sweep series 4-0

Friday - Innisfail Eagles 4, Fort Saskatchewan 1
Saturday - Innisfail Eagles 4, Fort Saskatchewan 3 OT
- Eagles lead series 3-1

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Heritage Junior B

The Red Deer Vipers fell 3-1 to the Three Hills Thrashers on Saturday night. The Thrashers take the elimination playoff series 2-1 and will take on the Blackfalds Wranglers in the North Division Semifinals.

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Alberta Midget Hockey League

After an opening round bye, the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs will take on the UFA Bisons in the AMHL Playoffs...

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Two Red Deer Minor Hockey alumni have won major awards from the Alberta Junior Hockey League...

Forward Chris Gerrie of the Olds Grizzlys is the 2013-2014 AJHL Rookie of the Year. Gerrie leads all AJHL rookies in goals, assists and points (18G, 25A, 53 PTS) and is second in team scoring with an average of 0.9 points per game. He is currently tied for 18th overall in the AJHL Scoring Race. His 19 powerplay assists place him among the Top 3 AJHL Scorers.

During the opening months of his rookie campaign, the 17 year-old committed to Michigan Tech University for the 2016-2017 season. Gerrie made an immediate impact to the line-up with 27 points in his first 28 AJHL games.

Gerrie (Red Deer, AB) has been selected as the Pro Hockey Life Player of the Game five times in his rookie season. He becomes the fourth player in franchise history to earn the AJHL Rookie of the Year Award.

Tanner Jaillet of the Fort McMurray Oil Barons is the winner of the 2013-2014 Top Goaltender Award and recipient of the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey League Trophy. The Top Goaltender Award is awarded to the goalie who demonstrated the greatest ability in his position throughout the season as voted on by the league’s General Managers and Coaches.

Jaillet opened the 2013-2014 season with 10 consecutive wins, and 13 games without a regulation loss. He is tied for 1st overall with a .933 save percentage and 2nd amongst all league goaltenders with a 2.01 GAA. Jaillet has recorded a league leading 6 shutouts and is 29-9-3 in the regular season.

Jaillet (Red Deer, AB) was selected as the Pro Hockey Life Player of the Game nine times in the regular season. Jaillet also received the honour of Alberta Dodge Dealers AJHL Player of the Month and the Canalta Hotels AJHL Player of the Week in September 2013. The Canadian Junior Hockey League selected Jaillet as the 1st Star of the Month for September 2013 in recognition of the goaltender’s remarkable start to the season. Tanner was also a finalist for the 2013-2014 AJHL MVP Award.

The 20 year old goaltender is in his third season with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons and has committed to the University of Denver. Jaillet becomes the fifth Oil Barons goaltender to receive the Top Goaltender Award.

The full list of AJHL 2013-14 Player Awards winners is posted here.

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Here is schedule for the upcoming, and very much anticipated, Chinook Hockey League / Alberta Senior AAA provincial hockey final series.

Of course, I need not remind you of all the story lines that litter this series. If the action on the ice matches the hype and excitement amongst fans, then we're all in for a real treat.

Note: The Generals home games will be played at the Red Deer Arena.

Gm#1- Saturday March 8, 8:00pm start @ RDA

Gm#2- Friday March 14, 830pm start @ Innisfail Arena

Gm#3- Saturday March 15, 8:00pm start @RDA

Gm#4 - Friday March 21, 8:30pm @ Innisfail Arena

Gm#5- Saturday March 22, 8:00pm start @RDA

Gm#6- Sunday March 23, 7:30pm @ Innisfail Arena

Gm#7- Thursday March 27, 8:30pm @RDA

Tickets will not sold in advance, they will be available at the door.

Rebels: Bleackley Excited About Future After Eventful Month

Weekend Wrap - Sept 16

Football Provincials Preview

REBELS: Big Weekend Ahead

REBELS: Doetzel Provides Spark, Volek Gets World Juniors Invite

REBELS: Dumba Dealt To Portland

Sutter Said What Many Are Thinking: Change Is Needed

LOCAL SPORTS: JAN 21

Lacombe Athletic Park Continues To Score Big

Tommy Gun's Outdoor Winter Classic - A True Hockey Celebration

Faze Times Pretty Good These Days, Polei Express Send Shockwaves

Local Sports Weekend Recap

Lacombe's Hodgson Ready To Rock At Home

Local Athletes Head To Alberta Winter Games

Sochi 2014: Local Olympians Schedule

Feb 10: Local Sports Recap

Local Sports: February 18

RDC Kings, Queens Ranked #1 Heading Into Volleyball Provincials

LOCAL RECAP: Kings and Queens Volleyball Win Gold, Rebels Split Pair

SKED: Generals and Eagles