(Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

Season Recap

‘At times, we were too soft’: Sutter on Rebels missing playoffs for first time in over a decade

Mar 26, 2025 | 1:07 PM

The fact the Red Deer Rebels are on the outside looking in as the WHL playoffs begin this Friday is disappointing in the eyes of Red Deer Rebels owner Brent Sutter.

The club missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 season, which has become a rarity over the years.

Since the team’s inaugural season in 1992-93, they’ve only missed the postseason six times including this year. That’s 27 years of making the playoffs.

“The reality of it is I’m not happy the fact we’re not in playoffs,” Sutter said on Tuesday in his season-end interview. “I get the injuries, when you’ve been around the game a long time you know what injuries can do to affect your team… There were things that internally we could have been a lot better at that would have given ourselves a better chance to win more games.”

They struggled in a lot of areas including winning on the road where they had a 9-22-1-2 record, a massive difference compared to their 17-12-5-0 record at home.

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They were near the bottom of the WHL with only 174 total goals scored, second to the Regina Pats, who only scored 170. They were also dead last in the league with a 15.6 per cent powerplay and in the bottom three with a 72.9 per cent penalty kill.

“Why are you a different team on the road than you are at home? And to only win nine games of 34 on the road, that’s just simply not good enough,” Sutter added.

To put it bluntly, Sutter said both individually and in overall team game, they underachieved. As a result, next year they’ll have to overachieve.

Injuries did play a part in the down year. Some of their top players were out of the lineup for extended periods of time, some of which at the same time.

Kalan Lind missed just under half of the season. Meanwhile, Jhett Larson and captain Ollie Josephson both missed 20 games.

Import forward Kasper Pikkarainen, who was released from the team, missed all but one game with a knee-injury, which required significant surgery. He won’t be back with the Rebels, in fact, they don’t know if he’ll play hockey again.

Sutter said it was one of the worst years injury-wise that the team has gone through since he purchased the franchise in 1998.

However, he’s not using it as an excuse.

“Injuries don’t have any bearing to do with the identity of your hockey team,” he said. “I’m a big believer in this. I’ve played for some great coaches that have won championships and been in organizations that have won championships… it’s imperative that you have a strong identity in your hockey team right from the start.”

Championship winning teams win even when they have multiple injuries throughout the lineup because they have a strong base and culture.

They continue to find ways to win because the players believe in the foundation of how the team has to play.

Sutter couldn’t say quite yet if the coaching staff, led by head coach Dave Struch, would be back next season. He’s going to meet with them individually before making a decision.

In the meantime, he’ll prepare for a busy summer that includes four drafts including an expansion draft for the Penticton Vees, who will join the WHL next season. Details have yet to be released on how many players each team can protect, however, every team will lose a player.

The Rebels will pick at least sixth overall in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft but could move up a spot or two in the draft lottery. For the CHL Import Draft, there’s also talk that teams in the WHL could be allowed up to three roster spots for European players instead of two.

In terms of his priorities for the offseason, he explained trading for high-end goal scorers doesn’t happen like it does in the NHL but will see what the summer brings personnel-wise.

Heading into next season, Sutter said there has to be a willingness to change in how they do things because being out of the playoffs, to him is unacceptable.

He wants his team to be one that’s hard to play against every shift.

“I’m not afraid to admit it, I just thought at times we were too soft,” he said.

The bright side is they have a few great young players coming in next year including defenceman Graeme Pickering, who went in the first round of the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft.

“We’ve got some good young players that are coming in next year that may push others out, so it’s just the way it works.”

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