(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

rebounding from season of covid

Veteran leadership key as Rebels start training camp

Sep 4, 2021 | 6:02 PM

Veterans are taking on an important role to start Red Deer Rebels training camp.

Camp began Friday and rolls through Sept. 8 (more details on attendance below).

The club is coming off an extremely abnormal COVID-hampered season where 23 games were played and just four were won. There were no playoffs and certainly no Memorial Cup for the Rebels or the entire WHL and CHL.

Red Deer was outscored 106-59 in those 23 match-ups, finishing last in the Eastern Conference, whilst the team lived in the Centrium.

But it’s perhaps not fair to put too much stock into a season so bogged down by delays and uncertainty.

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Assistant Coach Ryan Colville says all areas of performance need improvement if the team wants to be competitive this season, and returning players will have a big say in that.

“At this level, you’ve got younger guys who are 16, sometimes 15, coming in, and that’s a really young person. It is good to have those older guys around who know how things work, know how to be professional, and how to act in and outside of the arena,” says Colville.

“It is very similar, and hockey’s not that different from coach to coach,” says Colville on the transition from Brent Sutter to Steve Konowalchuk behind the bench. “With Steve, he’s very big on details, and it’s important our guys early on understand that we expect things to be done the right way, on and off the ice. The passes need to be crisp, they need to be ready to go at the start of practice, and they need to compete the entire time.”

Zak Smith, who’s entering his fifth season with the Rebels, says Konowalchuk, akin to Sutter, demands hard work and a well-conditioned roster.

“With COVID, and living in the rink, it was a different experience and we didnt have a great season. It felt good though at the end when we won our last couple games,” says Smith, 20. “So far, even just with one practice, it’s been pretty intense. Everyone’s pushing and fighting for a spot.”

Being in his final year too, Smith knows he’ll be an influential voice wherever the team goes.

“We have a lot of returning forwards, so we’re definitely going to have to rack up some more goals. But we also have to work on defence; we can’t be giving up six goals a game,” admits Smith, who has 27 goals and 26 assists in 163 career games with the Rebels.

Giving up 6+ is something Red Deer did six times last spring. They gave up exactly five on another six occasions.

“Right before I left for camp, my dad reminded me that when I was 16, he’d told me that time would fly by. Now I’m here in my last year and it has definitely flown by, so I have to take it all in,” the left-winger from Austin, MB says. “But a big part of it for me is helping with younger guys, teaching them what Red Deer Rebels culture is, and how to be professional.”

Red Deer Rebels training camp runs Sept. 3-8 at the Peavey Mart Centrium, with fitness testing having taken place on Sept. 3 at Red Deer Polytechnic.

Practices run daily at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., with scrimmages at 4 p.m. All are open to the public. The annual black and white game goes at 7 p.m. on Sept. 8 with admission by donation to the Red Deer Firefighters Children’s Charity.

Masks are required while inside the Centrium.

The Red Deer Rebels begin their regular season Oct. 1 against the Oil Kings in Edmonton, and return to the Centrium for the rematch and home opener the following night, with puck drop at 7 p.m.