Red Deer Rebels netminder Chase Wutzke vs the Saskatoon Blades at the Peavey Mart Centrium Jan. 17, 2024. (Red Deer Rebels)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Week Ending Jan. 21, 2024

Rebels Wutzke named WHL goaltender of the Week, again

Jan 22, 2024 | 4:30 PM

The Western Hockey League announced Monday that Red Deer Rebels rookie Chase Wutzke has been named WHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending January 21, 2024.

League officials note, it’s the second week in a row the 2024 NHL Draft-eligible netminder has earned the honour and the third time this season.

Wutzke went 3-0-0-0 on the week, registering a 2.00 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.

WHL officials say the Rebels’ week started with the daunting task of hosting the league-leading Saskatoon Blades. With Red Deer leading 5-4, Wutzke sealed off the Red Deer crease from a furious storm of shots from the high-powered Saskatoon offence. Alexander Suzdalev came within inches of finding the game-tying goal with a wrist shot from below the faceoff dot, but Wutzke stretched out to tip the puck off his glove and reign it in with his sprawling right leg. Wutzke’s 31-save performance sealed the win for Red Deer and snapped Saskatoon’s remarkable 18-game point streak.

The 17-year-old Debden, Sask. product is heating up in his first WHL season, posting a 13-2-1-2 record to go along with a 2.16 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.

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League officials point out, the challenges kept on coming as Wutzke was called upon two nights later to backstop the Rebels against the Medicine Hat Tigers- the highest-scoring team in the WHL. Despite being outshot once again, Wutzke stopped 30 of 31 shots to seal a 3-1 victory over the division rivals and earn third-star.

One night later, Wutzke was back in the net to kick off a three-game homestand against the Prince Albert Raiders. The netminder gave the fans at Peavey Mart Centrium a reason to cheer when he denied Brayden Dube on a slick shot in the slot. This time, Wutzke was called to the ice as the first star with a 26-save effort.

Wutzke has now won six straight matches for the streaking Rebels.

NHL Central Scouting has ranked Wutzke 13^th among North American goalies in its midterm draft rankings. The 6-foot-2 netminder was originally selected by Red Deer in the second round, 40^th overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.

The Rebels sit four points behind the Central Division-leading Medicine Hat Tigers with two games in hand. Red Deer is on a seven-game winning streak with an 8-0-1-1 record in its past ten outings.

Red Deer (25-13-1-4) continues its three-game homestand with matches against the Edmonton Oil Kings (15-25-1-1) on January 26 and the Brandon Wheat Kings (22-16-4-1) on January 27.

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