(Red Deer Rebels/ Taylor Lachance)

By Ian Gustafson

8-game skid

Rebels shut out at home by Tigers

Dec 30, 2025 | 10:22 PM

The Red Deer Rebels’ losing streak was extended to eight games following an 8-0 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday evening.

The shorthanded Rebels struggled to find the back of the net and got outshot by the red-hot Tigers 41 to 23. The Tigers are now riding a 13-game winning streak and showed their dominance in Red Deer, scoring two shorthanded markers and three power-play goals.

Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid said it was a difficult game.

“We were shorthanded, and I thought our guys competed as hard as they could. They battled, they stuck together, and that’s the way it is. I could comment on a lot of things right now. The antics on the other side and the soft calls in a game like this, but it’s the way it is.”

The antics Habscheid is referring to are the numerous scrums and fights that occurred in the third period, following a period of escalating tensions between the two clubs. As a result, 178 minutes of penalties were handed out to the Tigers and Rebels, including seven 10-minute game misconducts to Red Deer players Luke Vlooswyk, Beckett Hamilton, Ty Coupland, Aleksey Chichkin, Patrick Sopiarz, Keith McInnis, and Talon Brigley.

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Habscheid reiterated that the team struggled because they had less players than they typically do. Currently, Matus Lisy and Samuel Drancak are away at World Juniors; meanwhile, Kohen Lodge is out week-to-week with an injury.

Forward Matthew Gard also missed Tuesday’s game, and when asked why, Habscheid said Gard “just didn’t play.”

“We are just undermanned right now. We asked our guys to compete, stay together, work hard, and battle. They tried,” Habscheid added.

The Tigers scored their first goal with 4:56 left in the opening period off the stick of Liam Ruck while shorthanded. The Tigers forced a turnover in their own end, which gave them a two-on-one opportunity finished off by Ruck on a one-timer from the slot, assisted by his brother Marcus Ruck.

Just under a minute later, the Tigers extended their lead to 2-0, scored by Marcus Ruck, who capitalized on another turnover near the left circle.

In the second period, the Tigers blew the game with four straight goals from Jonas Woo, Noah Davidson, Kadon McCann, and Kade Stengrim.

Woo and McCann’s markers came on two separate power plays.

In the third period, Medicine Hat added two more goals from Misha Volotovskii (shorthanded) and Liam Ruck (power play) to seal the deal.

Next up for the Rebels, they’ll head to Edmonton on Thursday before welcoming the Seattle Thunderbirds to town on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We are not happy losing at home 8-0, but we want our guys to compete, and they tried, so it’s hard to get upset at them,” Habscheid said.