By Troy Gillard

COVID forces schedule change

Change of plans as Rebels take on Lethbridge this weekend

Apr 9, 2021 | 1:21 PM

The Red Deer Rebels are finally set to take on a team not named the Edmonton Oil Kings.

After dropping six straight to their dominant rivals from the north, the Rebels take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes this weekend starting tonight at the Westerner Park Centrium (7 p.m. on 106.7 REWIND Radio).

The Rebels were to be playing the Calgary Hitmen this weekend, but a positive COVID-19 test with a player within the Hitmen team cohort has led to their activities being suspended.

When it comes to their tough stretch versus Edmonton in which they outscored 33-7, Rebels Assistant Coach Ryan Colville says there were plenty of takeaways for his young team.

“We thought we could play with that team, and it’s just a matter of playing a full 60. I think there were stretches where it didn’t matter who was in our lineup; there stretches in those games we could play with them,” said Colville.

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“It’s a measuring bar for us. A lot of our young guys, because of injury, got to play against the Oil Kings the last six games. They got to see what a top team at this level looks like, and now they can sort of gauge for themselves where they are and where they need to get to.”

The Rebels have had a tough time scoring goals this season regardless of their opponent. Colville says it’s just a matter of bearing down just a bit more in order to have more success.

“I feel like we generate chances. Obviously, you want to generate more, but we have to get better at burying the chances we get. We get odd-man rushes and don’t get shots off and two-on-ones but were not finishing on them.”

Red Deer is 1-1-1 versus Lethbridge this season with the Hurricanes winning by scores of 7-4 on March 12 and 4-3 in overtime on March 13 before the Rebels won 5-1 on March 14.

The Rebels are 4/11 versus Lethbridge on the powerplay this season, while the Hurricanes are 7/18 versus Red Deer.

After tonight’s game the two teams play tomorrow and Monday in Lethbridge. Both games start at 7 p.m.