Stoesser Stopper: Rebels on a roll as season long six game homestand begins

From the Red Deer Rebels

REBELS THIS WEEK

REBELS RECAP

SAT. NOV. 18 – Rookie Matthew Gard scored his first two WHL goals, including the game winner, as the Rebels edged the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 at the Peavey Mart Centrium to sweep the weekend home-and home series between the two clubs. Kai Uchacz scored his team leading 12th goal of the season while Rhett Stoesser made 26 saves. Red Deer had a season high 46 shots on goal.

Both teams came up empty on the power play with the Rebels going 0-for-5 and Calgary 0-for-3.

FRI. NOV. 17 – Rhett Stoesser turned aside 40 shots as the Rebels blanked the Calgary Hitmen 3-0 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Carson Latimer scored twice, once on the power play and once shorthanded. Talon Brigley scored an empty netter with 11 seconds left to play.

Calgary outshot Red Deer 40-30 and was 0-for-3 on the power play while the Rebels were 1-for-2.

UPCOMING GAMES

The Rebels continue their season-long six-game homestand with two more games at the Peavey Mart Centrium. The Brandon Wheat Kings come to town Friday followed by the Regina Pats on Saturday (Nov. 24 and 25).

Both games go at 7 p.m. Tickets are available through ticketsalberta.com.

All Rebels games home and away are broadcast exclusively on 106.7 Rewind Radio and CHL TV
(watch.chl.ca).

STONEWALL STOESSER

The Western Hockey League announced Monday that Rebels netminder Rhett Stoesser is the WHL Goaltender of the Week. The 18-year-old Carstairs puck stopper earned his second shutout of the season and rode a 1.00 goals-against average and .971 save percentage to snatch back-to-back wins over the Calgary Hitmen this past week.

Stoesser stopped all 40 shots he faced in a 3-0 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome on November 17, locking up first-star honours. He continued the dominant performance the next night at Peavey Mart Centrium, where he turned aside 26 of 28 shots to deny Calgary’s comeback attempt and be named second star of the game.

Stoesser (4-4-0-1) sits fifth in the WHL with a tidy .912 save percentage and sixth with a paltry 2.37 goals-against average and is heating up with points in four of his last five starts.

MATS THE BEST

Defenceman Mats Lindgren has won the Rebels Mitchell and Jewel Player of the Month Award for October. The Buffalo Sabres prospect recorded 10 points (1 goal, 9 assists) in 10 games last month. Lindgren has 15 points in 18 games so far this season and is tied for 16th in scoring amongst all WHL defencemen.

SMITH IS SMART

Rookie forward Evan Smith is the team’s TELUS Scholastic Player of the Month Award for October. The Kamloops, BC native is carrying an outstanding 96% grade average so far this season. On the ice, Smith scored his first WHL goal Nov. 10 at Prince George.

ON GARD FOR THEE

With his two-goal performance Saturday, rookie Matthew Gard became the first Rebels player to score his first two WHL goals in the same game since D-Jay Jerome on September 24, 2016 (2 goals, 1 assist vs. Edmonton).

TOQUE AND TEDDY BEAR TOSS

It’s one of the most highly anticipated games of the year as the Red Deer Rebels are holding their annual Toque and Teddy Bear Toss in support of the Red Deer Christmas Bureau on Saturday, December 2 at the Peavey Mart Centrium when they host the Everett Silvertips at 7 p.m. When the Rebels score their first goal, fans are invited to toss their winter items onto the ice!

There will be items available for Epurchase at the game for $5. The Christmas Bureau is looking for new toques, mittens, gloves, scarves, and socks to keep Red Deerians warm this winter!

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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.