(Red Deer Rebels/Taylor Lachance)

By Ian Gustafson

On to the next one

Controversial penalty call sinks Rebels in loss to Spokane Chiefs

Oct 18, 2025 | 9:46 PM

The Red Deer Rebels were in a position to tie the game in the third period on Saturday night, but a controversial penalty call may have halted any momentum gained.

In the third period, the Rebels were on a power play near the midway point of the frame when the Spokane Chiefs forced a turnover that led to a breakaway.

The Chiefs’ efforts earned them a penalty shot on the play, a controversial call to the Rebels fans in attendance, and they certainly had a strong case to be upset.

Regardless, forward Sam Oremba converted on the penalty shot with a nifty move to his backhand that forced goaltender Chase Wutzke to go down.

The unfortunate turn of events suddenly had the Rebels down 3-1 in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Chiefs at the Centrium.

get in the car!

Maps for 2025 Red Deer Christmas Lights tour

1h ago

predictable taxation

Chamber calls Red Deer County's draft budget 'disciplined'

1h ago

firefighters union in support

City of Red Deer announces change in approach to dynamic staffing

1h ago

Head coach Marc Habscheid said he didn’t like the call.

“I didn’t think that was a penalty shot, maybe possibly a penalty, but you look at [Ty] Coupland’s when he got his stick knocked out. He was probably more in the clear than that guy, so when our players are good, you’ve got to defend them. I defend my players, and they deserved better tonight,” Habscheid said.

The penalty shot certainly could have taken the wind out of Red Deer’s sails, but on a six-on-four power play late in the game, captain Talon Brigley brought his team within one of tying it.

His tally came with 22 seconds remaining, and with limited time to find the equalizer, they were unable to send the game to overtime.

Despite that, Habscheid liked his team’s response to the adversity.

“I liked the resilience. After we collected ourselves, we carried the play again and pulled the goalie and got one. The urgency at the end almost got the tying goal… The care is there, the effort is there. We’ve just got to keep believing we’re on the right path and eventually we’ll get it going in the other direction.”

The goal from Brigley was the captain’s 100th career point in the Western Hockey League.

He said after the game, it felt nice to hit the milestone, but he is disappointed in another loss.

“That’s a good team over there, and I thought we outplayed them most of the game,” Brigley said. “It’s a good step for our group, and we’ll try to keep it going on the road.”

He added that the resiliency of the team at the end is something they can continue to build on.

“We’ve got no quit in us. It’s been a tough start so far, but we’ve got a good group in there and we know that. It just comes down to closing out games, and we’ve just got to get a little bit better at that… With the exception of last night, I think we’ve played three really good games.

With the loss, the Rebels now have a 2-8 record and sit last out of 12 teams in the Eastern Conference standings.

Despite that, Brigley feels they have the team to turn their season around.

“You’re never out of it. I think that was our 10th game of the year, so it’s really early. You never want to start from behind; it’s a lot harder to get up when it comes to the end of the year, but we’re OK. We’re not falling apart here… We’re going to stay resilient and play a bit harder. The wins will come.”

The Chiefs got on the board first, just over nine minutes into the opening frame. Shortly after the Chiefs’ power play ended, a shot from Mathis Preston trickled through the crease past the Rebels’ goalie and forward Sam Oremba was there to knock in the loose puck.

The Rebels responded with 15:03 left in the second period, scored by forward Landon MacSwain on the power play.

The rookie from Anchorage, Alaska, scored his third of the season, parked in front of the net when the rebound redirected off him and in following a hard shot by Jaxon Fuder.

Spokane regained the lead with over five minutes left in the second period off the stick of Chase Harrington. The forward was left wide open in the slot and beat Wutzke, who was screened on the play.

The Chiefs then added the knockout punch in the third period, scored by Oremba for his second of the game.

Habscheid added that despite the loss, he felt his team had an improved effort from their loss to the Portland Winterhawks on Friday night.

“If we played like this last night, it probably would’ve gone either way. I liked everything about it besides the score,” he said.

The Rebels will now head on a brief road trip through Saskatchewan early next week. They’ll face the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday, followed by a matchup with the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday. Puck drop for both games is at 7 p.m.

They’ll then return home for a pair of games at the Centrium on Friday and Saturday against the Regina Pats and the Calgary Hitmen.