(Red Deer Rebels)

By rdnewsNOW staff

new role

Rebels new head coach Marc Habscheid says it takes everyone, including the city, to win a title

Jun 6, 2025 | 2:45 PM

Red Deer Rebels new head coach Marc Habscheid has won a lot in the Western Hockey League.

With 18 years of coaching experience, he’s recorded 582 wins, the sixth most in WHL history, in 1,166 regular season games. In 139 playoff games, he has 75 wins.

He led the Kelowna Rockets to a WHL title in 2003 before claiming the Memorial Cup Championship in 2004 as the host team.

Most recently, he won a WHL championship with the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2018-19 season.

Now with the Red Deer Rebels, he told local media Friday morning, to win in this league, it’s important to build a culture where everyone from players to staff enjoy coming to the rink.

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“We want our players to work hard, hate to lose, and love to win. Elliotte Friedman has a great saying, ‘We plan, God laughs.’ Did I think I’d be sitting here two years ago? Not a chance. But this is where I am,” he said.

“We had some success in Prince Albert but we had so much fun and the players did too. We loved coming to the rink and we were excited to have coffee in the morning.”

He also wants fans and the community to know he doesn’t want to just be part of the organization but also the city.

“To win in the end, it doesn’t take just one player, one line, one coach, one trainer, one owner, it takes everybody and that includes the city,” he said. “Everybody in Red Deer and area is important if we’re going to win in the end and be successful. I want the city and the fans to know that they’re going to be a part of it and we need their support.”

Rebels owner Brent Sutter said there were a lot of candidates he was interested in but the success Habscheid has had as a coach stood out.

Not only that but his knowledge of the game.

“We coached against eachother, we’ve both had success as coaches, and one thing that always stuck out with me that I kept going back to was I knew when I had to coach against him that his team was going to be very well prepared,” Sutter said.

“I’m thrilled that Habby wanted to be in Red Deer and wanted to coach the Red Deer Rebels. There’s an identity that we have here and his teams played with the same identity.”

Habscheid has won plenty of awards including the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and 2018-19, as well as CHL Coach of the Year in 2003.

The Swift Current, Sask. product also served one season as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins in 2006-07 and recently coached two seasons of professional hockey in Austria.

This past season, he took a year off to have surgery on both of his hips. He also travelled a lot and bought a house in Spain.

Despite that, the 62-year-old missed coaching, including the laughs, winning, losing, and everything in between.

“I don’t ask for much when I coach. I have one little board where I can throw some reminders on and then the sign that’s followed me around since I’ve started coaching, it says this is a privilege not a right,” Habscheid said.

The veteran coach admits he still has plenty to learn including getting to know his new roster of players. He’s here to ask more questions then give answers but what he does know is what the Rebels are all about.

The expectations and desire to win are there. He knows the goaltending and defensive group are strong but his new team will work to improve their scoring.

“When I played I loved the offensive side of it and the creativity but there has to be creativity within structure,” he said. “That doesn’t just happen, there’s a process to that. I want the players to play together, not because they have to but because it’s a choice. That’s a big difference because they want to do it for the right reasons.”

This week he became the Rebels fourth head coach in four years. Both Steve Konowalchuk and Dave Struch left the team because of personal and family reasons which highlights concerns of stability at the position.

When asked if he plans to be here long term, Habscheid said he’s taking it one day at a time.

“I got a call one day that said my dad was dying and then I got a call Christmas Day, my brother said he had three months to live,” he said. “I’ve learned to just enjoy the day… I’m here today and I’m appreciative of the opportunity. I’m going to have the best day possible and tomorrow is a gift.”

The Rebels are still searching for an assistant coach after Clayton Beddoes stepped down from his role. Sutter explained they’re going let Habscheid settle in for a bit before they make a decision at the appropriate time.