(Image Credit: Taylor Lachance/Red Deer Rebels)

By Ian Gustafson

divisional matchup

Calgary Hitmen score five unanswered goals in convincing victory over Rebels

Jan 23, 2026 | 10:11 PM

As the famous former head coach of Duke University’s men’s basketball team, Mike Krzyzewski, once said, “You can’t win every game, but you can learn from every game.”

That’s exactly the approach that the Red Deer Rebels are taking after they fell to the Calgary Hitmen 5-1 on Friday night in front of 3,735 fans at the Centrium.

The Rebels had the lead early in the first period, but Calgary scored five unanswered goals in the Central Division matchup.

Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid said once the Hitmen scored their first goal, the game got away from them.

“It seemed like we had a tough time handling them down low. They were quicker than us, and we spent too much time in our own end,” Habscheid said.

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Rebels 20-year-old forward Tyson Yaremko opened the scoring five minutes into the first period. His marker on the power play made it past the goalie after he tipped a shot from Beckett Hamilton in front of the net.

Powerplay magic! 🪄#RDREBELS #WHL https://t.co/FB5aUQIG95

— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) January 24, 2026

However, the Hitmen answered exactly five minutes later with a goal from Ethan Moore, followed by another from Andrei Molgachev on the power play 43 seconds after that.

The Hitmen’s second goal came following a controversial icing call, which shifted the momentum of the game, according to Habscheid.

“It’s a tough icing call,” he said. “We were going and then bang, they get one, then bang, they get two. That changed the momentum and everything from there. I didn’t like the call. They think it’s a little call, but it’s a big call that can change the momentum of the game. They get one on us right away, and then the puck over the glass and then all of a sudden it’s 2-1. We were chasing the game ever since. They were better than us tonight… They were more determined than we were, and that’s the way it went.”

In the second period, the Hitmen continued to apply pressure until they took a 3-1 lead with 3:43 left in the middle period, thanks to a goal from Blake Vanek, who tipped the puck past goaltender Matthew Kondro.

Calgary carried that momentum into the third period and potted their fourth straight tally off a shot from Wyatt Pisarczyk with 15:33 remaining.

The Hitmen added an empty net goal after the Rebels pulled their goalie late in the game to seal the deal.

Both goalies were excellent in net, including Rebels Matthew Kondro, who made 36 saves and Hitmen Aidan Hesse, who made 35 saves.

Despite the loss, the Rebels remain tied with the Regina Pats for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 36 points.

The Pats lost to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday, and the Moose Jaw Warriors, who are three points ahead of the Rebels in seventh, also fell in a 3-2 setback to the Victoria Royals.

Next up, the Rebels will head on a six-game road trip through B.C., beginning in Penticton on Sunday against the Vees at 5 p.m. mountain time.

They’ll then face the Kelowna Rockets on Jan. 27, Kamloops Blazers on Jan. 28, Victoria Royals on Jan. 31, Vancouver Giants on Feb. 1, and Prince George Cougars on Feb. 3, before returning home.

“We’ve got a young group, and it’s good to get out on the road together,” Habscheid said. “We’ve played some pretty good games recently. It wasn’t our best game tonight, but we’ll move on. We have a bus trip tomorrow to Penticton, so that’ll be a good day for the guys just to be together.”