Local news delivered daily to your email inbox. Subscribe for FREE to the rdnewsNOW newsletter.

Rebels select Reichel in CHL Import Draft

Jun 28, 2017 | 10:58 AM

For the second time in as many years the Red Deer Rebels have used their selection at the CHL Import Draft on the son of a former NHLer.

The Rebels selected Czech forward Kristian Reichel in Wednesday’s draft.

Rebels Asst. GM Shaun Sutter discusses selecting Kristian Reichel in the CHL Import Draft

Red Deer came into the draft with the 27th pick but chose Reichel 22nd overall after several teams passed on their selections.

Reichel played professional hockey last season with HC Litvinov in the Czech Extraliga, playing in 41 games scoring 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. Reichel also represented Czech Republic in the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Reichel, who turned 19 on June 11, is listed at 6’1” and 180 lbs.

His father, Robert Reichel played in 830 NHL regular season games with Calgary, New York Islanders, Phoenix and Toronto, collecting 252 goals and 630 points. He was a key member of the Czech Republic team that won gold at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. With 40 points over three tournaments, Reichel is the second all-time leading scorer in World Junior Hockey Championships history, trailing only Peter Forsberg.

Kristian has played for his father, a coach with the Czech national program, on several occasions.

Last year at the CHL Import Draft the Rebels selected Russian defenceman Alexander Alexeyev, son of former NHLer Andrei Alexeyev, who won the team’s Top Defenceman and Rookie of the Year awards despite having his season ended early by a knee injury. Alexeyev is eligible for the 2018 NHL Draft.

===

The Rebels released their 2017-18 season schedule on Tuesday.

The club will open the new campaign at home on Saturday, Sept. 23 versus Edmonton.

Two lengthy home stands highlight this year’s schedule, a six-game stint in October (Rebels will actually nine of 11 games at home during that stretch) and a mammoth seven-game home stint in January.