NHL Central Scouting identifies Josephson and Drancak as ‘players to watch’

News release from the Red Deer Rebels

Two Red Deer Rebels have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s ‘Preliminary Players to Watch’ List for the 2024 NHL Draft.

The full list, which includes 63 WHL players, was released Wednesday.

Centre Ollie Josephson (’06, Victoria, BC) has been given a ‘B’ rating as a potential 2nd or 3rd round 2024 NHL Draft pick.

Josephson was selected by the Rebels in the first round, fifth overall at the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. The 17-year-old has 27 points (7 goals, 27 assists) in 80 career games with the Rebels, including 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 11 games this season. Josephson was a member of Team Canada that won gold at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Czechia and Slovakia.

Forward Samuel Drancak (’06, Strakonice, CZE) has been given a ‘C’ rating as a possible 4th or 5th round 2024 NHL Draft pick.

Drancak was Red Deer’s lone selection, 54th overall, at the 2023 CHL Import Draft and has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in his first 11 games with the Rebels. The 17-year-old played the 2022-23 season with HC Motor České Budějovice in the Czech U17 league and was the league’s second leading scorer with 65 points in 34 games. He played nine games at the U20 level, racking up 12 points, and suited up for two games with HC Motor České Budějovice in the Czech professional league. Drancak played at last year’s World U17 Hockey Challenge in Langley, BC and won silver at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

The 63 WHL players listed leads the entire Canadian Hockey League. In total, 161 CHL players are listed including 62 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and 36 from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

Related Topics:#OllieJosephson #PlayersToWatchFor2024NHLDraft #RedDeerRebels #SamuelDrancak feature

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Red Deer Rebels

Rebels hire two-time league champion Marc Habscheid as Head Coach

Published on June 5, 2025

Todayville

Red Deer Rebels Owner, President and General Manager Brent Sutter today announced the hiring of Marc Habscheid as the club’s new head coach.

The native of Swift Current, SK, becomes the tenth head coach in team history.

In 18 years as a head coach in the Western Hockey League with Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack/Victoria, and Prince Albert, Habscheid has 582 wins (6^th most in league history) in 1166 regular season games (6^th) for a .544 winning percentage. Habscheid has coached 139 WHL playoff games with 75 wins (8^th) and a .540 winning percentage.

Habscheid has won two Western Hockey League championships as a head coach – 2003 with the Kelowna Rockets and 2019 with the Prince Albert Raiders – and guided the host Rockets to a Memorial Cup championship win in 2004.

Habscheid won the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and 2018-19 and was CHL Coach of the Year in 2003. Habscheid served one season as an Assistant Coach with the Boston Bruins in 2006-07 and recently coached two seasons of pro hockey in Austria.

As a player, Habscheid suited up for 148 WHL games for Saskatoon and Kamloops between 1979-83, compiling 276 points. He went on to play 345 NHL games with Edmonton, Minnesota, Detroit, and Calgary.

Habscheid has the rare distinction of having both played and coached for Canada at the World Junior Championship, World Men’s Championship, and Olympic Winter Games.

Red Deer Rebels

Red Deer Rebels tied for first after weekend split. First place showdown Saturday!

Published on October 28, 2024

Todayville

From the Red Deer Rebels

REBELS THIS WEEK

October 28-November 4, 2024

Mixed results again for the Rebels over the weekend with a home-ice win followed by a road loss.

Oct 25 – The Rebels downed the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-2 at the Peavey Mart Centrium for their fourth win in five tries versus their southern rivals this season. Carson Birnie scored the eventual game winner and added an assist. Jhett Larson, Jaxon Fuder (power play) and Ollie Josephson (empty net) also scored. Chase Wutzke made 40 saves.

Oct 26 – The Rebels held a 3-2 lead late in the third period only to see the Lethbridge Hurricanes come back for a 5-3 win at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Ollie Josephson (power play), Hunter Mayo (power play) and Jhett Larson (shorthanded) scored for Red Deer.

The Rebels remain tied with Lethbridge for the most points in the Central Division heading into this week’s games. Though only four points separate all five teams in the division.

GP W L OTL SL PTS PCT

Lethbridge Hurricanes 11 7 3 1 0 15 0.682

Red Deer Rebels 13 7 5 1 0 15 0.577

Medicine Hat Tigers 13 7 6 0 0 14 0.538

Calgary Hitmen 12 5 5 2 0 12 0.500

Edmonton Oil Kings 11 5 5 0 1 11 0.500

Upcoming

The Rebels and Hurricanes meet again this Saturday, November 2 at the Peavey Mart Centrium at 7 p.m. Visit reddeerrebels.com for ticketing information. Red Deer is 0-1-1-0 versus Lethbridge this season.

Then next Monday, November 4, the Rebels visit the Calgary Hitmen for a 7 p.m. tilt at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Red Deer is 2-0-0-0 versus Calgary so far this season.

On the Radar

Two Rebels are on NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2025 NHL Draft:

Matthew Gard (F, ’07) – B-rating Luke Vlooswyk (D, ’07) – C-rating

A ‘B’ rating indicates a potential 2nd/3rd round draft candidate while a ‘C’ rating indicates a potential 4th/5th round candidate.

Big Night for Bains

Congratulations to former Red Deer Rebels forward Arshdeep Bains who scored his first NHL goal Saturday night for the Vancouver Canucks. Bains joined the Rebels as a listed player in November 2017 and went on to play 257 regular season games with the team, compiling 209 points (sixth-most in team history). His 132 career assists are fifth-most in Rebels history. During his final season with the Rebels in 2021-22 he won the WHL scoring title with 112 points. He signed with the Canucks as a free agent in March 2022 and made his NHL debut with them in February 2024.

Design a Rebels Jersey

There’s still time to win a chance to see your child’s jersey design on the ice! Entries are pouring in for the CHL Jersey Contest! Submit your Rebels jersey design by this Thursday, October 31. Full contest details and template from jerseydesigncontest.chl.ca.

WHL Cup

Alberta downed Manitoba 8-1 to claim gold Sunday afternoon at the WHL Cup at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Saskatchewan won bronze with a 8-5 win over BC.