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Rebels ready for playoff battle with heavily-favoured Raiders

Mar 20, 2019 | 6:21 PM

The Red Deer Rebels are fully aware they are heavy underdogs heading into their playoff series versus the juggernaut Prince Albert Raiders.

And they are just fine with that, thank you very much.

The Rebels are embracing the role of “David” as they prepare to take on the “Goliath” Raiders in the WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals starting Friday in Prince Albert.

 

 

“I’m excited about it. It’s easier to play when there’s less pressure,” said Rebels forward Jeff de Wit, who is entering his final playoff season in the WHL.

“We’ve had solid games with them all year. We know in the room (that) we have the capabilities of beating them. We’re excited. It’s going to take everyone– it’s not just one guy. It will take the whole team effort and I think we’ve got the horses to do it.”

“We’re definitely an underdog and we know that,” defenceman Dawson Barteaux said. “We don’t mind that at all. We’re excited; they’ve got all the pressure on them. It’s up to them to make the mistakes and we’re just going in there to play our hearts out.”

The tale of the tape favours Prince Albert in pretty much every way.

The Raiders cruised through the record season on their way to piling up a league leading 112 points (54-10-2-2), 40 more than Red Deer. They scored a league high 307 goals, had the number ranked penalty kill unit (scoring 23 shorthanded goals, too) and a top ten power play.

The Rebels, meantime, scored 223 goals and allowed 225 in posting a 33-29-4-2 record for 72 points. Their penalty kill ranked 16th and their power play 17th.

But in their head-to-head season series, the Rebels pushed Prince Albert to the limit each time out. The Raiders won three of the four games, but each victory was by just one goal, and one of them was in shootout. The Rebels allowed just one goal against in each of their two visits to the Art Hauser Centre.

Games one and two of the first round playoff series go Friday and Saturday in Prince Albert (7 p.m. on 106.7 THE DRIVE). Games three and four will be played at the Westerner Park Centrium on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27. 

On Wednesday, Rebels forward Brandon Hagel was named to the WHL Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. The 20-year-old Morinville, Alberta native, who signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, led the Rebels with 102 points during the regular season and became the second-highest scoring player in team history.