Red Deer Rebels play against the Portland Winterhawks at the Peavey Mart Centrium Friday night. (Red Deer Rebels)

By Alessia Proietti

And the crowd goes wild!

Rebels conquer CHL top-ranked Winterhawks

Oct 27, 2023 | 10:23 PM

The Peavey Mart Centrium was far from quiet on Friday night when the Red Deer Rebels beat the Portland Winterhawks in a 2-1 result.

In a free televised game on CHL TV and TSN+, the Winterhawks, currently ranked the #1 team in the Canadian Hockey League, returned to Red Deer for the first time in four years.

With more power play opportunities for the Winterhawks than the Rebels in the first period, neither team took advantage, leaving the game tied at zero. Portland also outshot Red Deer 13-10.

In the second period, the Winterhawks’ Kyle Chyzowski scored early in the period at 2:21 on Rebels netminder Kyle Kelsey. The visitors ledened the scoreboard 1-0.

But with Portland’s Luke Schelter sent to the box for slashing, Red Deer’s Kai Uchacz tied the game with a power play goal just over the pad of Winterhawks goaltender Jan Špunar. Halfway through the period, his fifth goal of the season was assisted by Kalan Lind and Mats Lindgren, and the game was tied 1-1.

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The Rebels found some repeated chemistry when at 14:49 the Winterhawks’ Josh Davies was given a holding penalty. Standing in front of the crease, Red Deer’s Lind tipped the puck in for his second goal of the season. With Lindgren and Carson Latimer getting the apples, the home team was now in the lead 2-1.

Although behind, Portland still outshot the Rebels in the middle frame 12-8.

The final period went like the first, with no goals on either side, the Rebels holding them off until the final buzzer. The Winterhawks again outshot the Rebels in the final period 11-6.

The Rebels are now 5-6-0-1 in the season while the Winterhawks are 8-2-0-0.

Shots on goal

POR: 36

RD: 24

Power play

POR: 0/6

RD: 2/3

Three stars

1^st: Kai Uchacz (RD) – 1G

2^nd: Kalan Lind (RD) – 1G, 1A

3^rd: Mats Lindgren (RD) – 2A

Rebels Coach Derrick Walser said the team’s success was a complete buy-in, from staff to player, but gave a special shout-out to goaltender Kyle Kelsey, describing him as “rock solid.”

“He gave us a chance to win; that’s all you ask from your goaltending and today he was definitely our first star,” he said.

With Portland maintaining puck dominance throughout the game, Walser said the Rebels spent lots of time preparing beforehand for such a scenario.

“The guys did a good job staying on the inside on the D-side of it and gave a clear lane so Kelsey can see the puck,” he said.

Having beat the #1 ranked team in the CHL, the head coach remained unphased and focused on the game Saturday.

“It’s a new day tomorrow. We’ve got to worry about Calgary; it’s over and done with [tonight],” he said.

Rebels Captain Kai Uchacz echoed a similar sentiment about beating the Winterhawks.

“It feels good. Just with the group we have, we believe we could be a competitor for the top. We didn’t have the start we wanted to the year, a little slow, but we had a little meeting, a little regroup; that’s the way we’ve got to play every night. That’s just one win so we’ve got to come out and do the same thing tomorrow and for the rest of the year,” he said.

Complimenting their goalie, he also gave props to their special teams, noting they spent too much time in the penalty box at the beginning before capitalizing on their own power play opportunities.

“We wanted to reset as a group and kind of have a fresh start, so we did that and came out with the mindset just to compete and outwork them [Winterhawks],” he said.

The Rebels begin their three-week, seven-game road trip Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with the broadcast live on 106.7 REWIND radio starting at 6:50 p.m.