By rdnewsNOW Staff

Let The Playoffs Begin!

Rebels This Week: April 18-24, 2022

Apr 18, 2022 | 1:15 PM

PLAYOFFS BEGIN!

The Red Deer Rebels face the Brandon Wheat Kings in the opening round of the 2022 WHL Playoffs.

The best-of-seven series begins in Red Deer at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m., with Game Two slated for Saturday, April.

Playoff pack ticket cards are available for pickup at the Rebels office (Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

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GAME 1 BRANDON @ RED DEER FRI, APRIL 22 7PM

GAME 2 BRANDON @ RED DEER SAT, APRIL 23 7PM

GAME 3 RED DEER @ BRANDON TUE, APRIL 26 6PM

GAME 4 RED DEER @ BRANDON WED, APRIL 27 6PM

GAME 5* BRANDON @ RED DEER FRI, APRIL 29 7PM

GAME 6* RED DEER @ BRANDON SUN, MAY 1 4PM

GAME 7* BRANDON @ RED DEER TUE, MAY 3 7PM

*IF NECESSARY

Prior to Game One this Friday, you can join the Rebels for the “Playoff Plaza Pregame Party” in front of the Peavey Mart Centrium starting at 5 p.m. featuring food and drink, live music and prizes.

The Rebels and Wheat Kings split their four-game season series as each team won twice. The Rebels and Wheat Kings have met in the playoffs five times previously with Red Deer winning in 1999, 2002 and 2003 and Brandon in 1996 and 2016.

Tickets for all Rebels home games at the Peavey Mart Centrium are available at ticketsalberta.com. All Rebels games home and away can be heard live on 106.7 REWIND Radio and viewed on WHL Live.

LAST WEEK

Wed. April 13 – The Rebels trekked to Calgary and picked up a big 8-3 win over the Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Arshdeep Bains solidified his hold on the WHL scoring title with two goals and two assists on the night. Ben King also scored twice to boost his league-leading goal total to 52. Dallon Melin also scored twice in the win.

Sat. April 16 – A third period comeback bid came up just short as the Rebels finished their regular season with a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Edmonton led 3-0 through two periods before Red Deer scored twice in the third. Liam Keeler and Arshdeep Bains scored for the Rebels, who split their season series with the Edmonton Oil Kings (5 wins, 5 losses).

RECORD

The Rebels finished the 2021-22 WHL Regular Season with a 45-19-2-2 record (94 points – fifth best in team history), good for second place in the WHL Central Division and third overall in the Eastern Conference. It’s the seventh time in the team’s 30-year history that the Rebels have reached the 40-win mark in a season.

PLAYER AWARDS

On Saturday, the Rebels handed out their team awards for the 2021-22 WHL Regular Season.

Ben King accepted the Bearcom Most Valuable Player Award and the team’s Three-Star Award. Christoffer Sedoff won Defenceman of the Year honours, while Jace Weir was named the Pattison Media Rookie of the Year. Blake Gustafson was presented with the Rob Rae Clothiers Plus/Minus Award, while Arshdeep Bains was the Hampton Inn and Suites Leading Scorer Award winner and shared the Rebels Players’ Award with Keeler. Kai Uchacz was the recipient of the Darcy Robinson Most Underrated Player award and Joel Sexsmith picked up the ATB Financial Humanitarian Award.

NOTABLES

Arshdeep Bains won the WHL scoring title and the Bob Clark Trophy by racking up 112 points (43 goals, 69 assists) in 68 games. Bains finished the campaign riding an impressive 14-game point scoring streak, tallying 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points. Bains, a native of Surrey, BC who recently signed with the Vancouver Canucks, is the first player of South Asian descent to lead the league in scoring. The last Rebels player to win the WHL scoring title was Justin Mapletoft in 2000-01 (120 points).

Ben King led the league with 52 goals in the 2021-22 WHL Regular Season, including a league leading 24 power play tallies. The Vernon, BC native netted 15 game winning goals, just one shy of the WHL single-season record (16 – Brian Propp, Brandon, 1978-79). King is the first Rebels player to lead the WHL in goals in a season since BJ Young (58 in 1996-97).

Bains (112 points) and King (105) are the first Rebels players to finish one-two in league scoring.

On Sunday, the Rebels announced that defenceman Quentin Bourne, the club’s 8th overall selection at the 2021 WHL U.S. Priority Draft, has signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement. A native of Torrance, California. The 5’8”, 150 lb. left-shooting blue liner had 25 points in 54 games this season with Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15U. The 2006-born blue liner previously played with Los Angeles Jr. Kings 14U AAA. Bourne is now eligible to join the Rebels roster for the 2022-23 WHL Regular Season.