WHL Red Deer Rebels

Emphasis on Defence Is Making Douglas a Better Offensive Player

Published on November 15, 2018 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


Now in his second full year in the Western Hockey League, Red Deer Rebels forward Chris Douglas is confident he's on the verge of becoming a dependable two-way threat.

The 18-year-old was listed by the Rebels in the fall of 2016 after coming off a 37-point (13g,24a in 26 games) season with the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians.

He produced two assists in 24 games with Red Deer after being called up during the '16-17 season, then last winter scored nine goals and collected 16 points in his first full major junior campaign.

Flash forward to the current season and he's nearly half-way home to his 2017-18 numbers with four goals and seven points in 19 outings.

For the six-foot-one, 179-pound native of Richmond, B.C., learning to play without the puck was the biggest adjustment he had to make upon stepping up to the WHL.

"Coming from midget to this level, it's a huge jump and the biggest part is learning to play defensively," he said Thursday, prior to a practice session in preparation for Friday's contest against the visiting Kelowna Rockets.

"Just being dependable in your own zone, being a guy the coach can depend on to play in the last couple minutes of a game . . . I think I've really learned that part of the game. Hopefully I can reach my goal of being a 200-foot player and keep producing more and more offensively as the season goes on.

"First off, it's about playing on the defensive side of the puck, which is kind of what I learned my first year and a half here, and now I think it' time for me to slowly start taking more responsibility offensively. We want to make sure that our scoring is not just on our older players, on our top guys, but that it's spread out among the whole team."

Douglas had a big night last Saturday in Moose Jaw, where he was selected as the game's third star after sniping a pair of power-play goals in the Rebels' 4-3 shootout over the Warriors.

While he boosted his goal total to four with his output, he was particularly pleased that both were special teams tallies.

"It's huge in this league . . . special teams win and lose games, and our penalty kill was good last weekend as well," he said. "We have to make sure we continue to score power-play goals, and it's can't be just the first unit, it has to be both units."

Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter said its imperative for Douglas to realize that he can be an effective two-way player without putting too much emphasis on scoring.

"These young guys, and he's only an 18-year-old player, they put a lot of pressure on themselves. They want to sometimes put the cart ahead of the horse and get away from what their DNA is as a player and build from that," said Sutter.

"They get away from that element and they're trying to find their way, and then it becomes something that frustrates them. But I think he's settled into his game now."

Indeed, Douglas appears to be gaining momentum week to week.

"Dougie came in and had a decent camp but then had a slow start to the year," said Sutter. "Frustration set in with him and he started lacking some confidence.

"Him and I have had a couple chats in the last month and I think he's finding his way again, which is good. The last half dozen games have been the best hockey he's played."

Douglas admitted his development has been aided by Sutter's insistence that a player's offensive opportunities will come - often via turnovers - if he puts a strong focus on defence.

"He stresses that with the whole room, and if you're not scoring goals you have to make sure you're still doing your part in the defensive zone, winning faceoffs and playing well all over the ice," said Douglas, who is plus-3 in the plus/minus category. "That's a huge part of everyone's game, mine included."

The late-October, early-November portion of the Rebels' schedule has been sketchy in terms of games played.

Prior to their three-in-three trip last weekend, the team endured a stretch where they played only two games in a 13-day span.

"Everyone is itchy to play again. We've been treating practices like they're games, we've been preparing the same way," said Douglas.

"We've had a good week of practice and hopefully we can transfer that into the weekend."

The Rebels also host the Kootenay Ice Saturday.

Notable: Rebels forward Alex Morozoff has been identified as a 'C' prospect for next year's NHL entry draft via Central Scouting's latest 'Players to Watch' list. Goalie Ethan Anders remains a 'C' prospect - a prospective fourth-to-sixth round pick - and forward Oleg Zaytsev remains a 'B' prospect (second to third round).

Scouting Report

Rebels vs.Kelowna Rockets

Friday, 7 p.m., Centrium

Kelowna is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss Wednesday at Prince George and with an 8-12-1-0 record sits fourth in the B.C. Division and ninth in the Western Conference. The Rockets, however, are on an upswing with a 6-3-1-1 record in their last 10 games . . . C Kyle Topping (9-18-27), RW Leif Mattson (8-14-22) and LW Nolan Foote (11-6-17 in 19 games) are pacing the Kelowna offence up front, while D Lassi Thomson has scored seven goals and collected 16 points . . . No. 1 goaltender Roman Basran possesses a 3.27 goals-against average and .894 save percentage . . . Former Rebels forward Lane Zablocki, a third-round selection of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2017 NHL entry draft, was acquired from the Victoria Royals in September and has contributed two goals and five points in seven games . . . Former NHL defenceman Adam Foote, the father of Nolan Foote, replaced Jason Smith as the Rockets head coach late last month . . . Kelowna's six-foot-seven D Brayden Chizen was a seventh-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2016.

Injuries: Kelowna - None to report. Red Deer - None to report.

Special teams: Kelowna - Power play 23.8 per cent, eighth overall; penalty kill 75.8 per cent, 14th. Red Deer - Power play 21.9 per cent, 10th overall; penalty kill 75.6 per cent, 16th.

Check out the Red Deer Rebels Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from November 15, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central