Rebels ‘togetherness’ key in shutout victory over Canes

“We know its exhibition but it’s a new group, new coach, and we’re building. We did a lot of teaching this week about togetherness. That part of it, that’s more important than anything,” he said.

“You could see tonight they were just connected. The energy was really good and I was happy for them. They deserved that because they put a lot of work in this week not so much physically but just being a team, caring about one another, learning about those types of things, and they did that tonight.”

That hard work showed through on the ice with an improved defensive effort.

“That comes with connection,” Habscheid added. “You can have whatever structure you want but if you don’t care about your teammates and you’re not connected, nothing happens. They spent a lot of time together and they had a fun week and enjoyed spending time together. You could see that out on the ice.”

The first goal of the game didn’t come until early in the third period.

Hamilton gathered the loose puck after a Hurricanes defender misplayed it in the Rebels end to take off on a shorthanded breakaway.

In alone, he picked the top right corner of the net with a perfectly placed shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Leif Oaten to break the tie less than a minute into the frame.

Hamilton said after the game it felt great to get his first goal of the season.

“It was really nice to get one there to start it off. I felt good about that,” he said. “I think we played great as a team. We gelled together a lot better now after being here for about four weeks now. You can se it coming together on the bench and even in the room together. It was great to see the guys get a win all together.”

The Rebels built on their lead with 13:54 remaining off the stick of Yellowaga, who powered in a one timer from the blue line off the pass from forward Nolan Schmidt.

@rdnewsnow Rebels earn a 2-0 shut out victory over the Hurricanes. Hear from head coach Marc Habscheid in an interview after the game. Read more on rdnewsNOW.com #WHL #reddeerrebels ♬ original sound – rdnewsNOW

The Rebels seemed to control the game from then on and it certainly didn’t hurt to have stellar play in net by Kondro.

“He’s a good goalie, he really is,” Habscheid added. “He moves well and we’re fortunate we have three really great goaltenders… [Goalie coach Ian Gordon] does a great job with them.”

Next up, the Rebels will wrap up preseason play on Sunday when they visit the Edmonton Oil Kings at 2 p.m. in Westlock, Alta. at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.

After that, the Rebels will announce the final roster early next week before the home opener on Friday, Sept. 19 against the Oil Kings.

by Ian Gustafson

Rebels ‘togetherness’ key in shutout victory over Canes

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