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WHL Red Deer Rebels

Sutter Praises Central Division Teams for Handling COVID Situation and Completing Season; Rebels Boss Saw Gradual Improvement from Team

May 10, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


Sutter praises Central Division teams for handling COVID situation and completing season; Rebels boss saw gradual improvement from team May 10th 2021, 22:38

The Red Deer Rebels didn't experience much in the way of success during the abbreviated and just concluded WHL Central Division season, but the fact there was a season at all was something to celebrate.

The five Central teams were tested on a regular basis and only one case of COVID was detected over the two plus months, that being within the Calgary Hitmen cohort.

"It's a credit to all the organizations for doing what they did and our league office as well . . . how all the protocols, with the health authorities, were put in place. Everyone did a really, really good job of it, just the way they managed it all," Rebels president and general manager Brent Sutter said on Monday.

"Everyone trusted the protocols that were put in place, abided by them and did what they were supposed to do to give us the best chance to get through.

"All five teams did a great job with that."

For their part, the Rebels players lived inside the Centrium throughout the season. They practised, took their meals and slept in the facility.

"Certainly credit has to go to a lot of different people who made it work the way it did," said Sutter. "It was as good as you could have imagined it to be from just the way it worked."

However . . .

"It was a lot of time together for the players, for sure, and it probably hurt us in some ways on the ice, just being together all the time," Sutter added. "For the most part the players did a great job with it and the whole staff was outstanding . . . just everyone that was a part of it.

"The biggest thing for me was health and safety and this was as good a situation we could be in to make it work. That being said, I certainly hope we never have to do that again. Our whole society is at the point where we're hoping we can get back to some normalcy.

"Hopefully in time that will take place."

The Rebels showed some definite improvement over the final month of the season, something Sutter, who resigned as head coach on April 10, said was at least partly due to improved goaltending and special teams.

Rookie Chase Coward looked great in his first start of the season, April 19 in Medicine Hat, then got the call in three of the team's last four outings and never had a bad game.

"The key to it was the way Coward played. That was significant," said Sutter. "Goaltending gives confidence to the group."

The coaching staff had to deal with the mindset some players brought into the season - the belief that it was more important to showcase themselves over a short season that it was to play as a team.

"Through the first six or seven weeks we just had some players not in the right mindset. It took us some time to get through that," said Sutter.

"You can't blame anybody for it - this whole year was been a real shake-up for everybody. You get back to playing and you see a condensed 24-game schedule and the players get the mindset that it's about them, not what's best for the team.

"It was no one's fault, but we had to readjust those attitudes and get them back on the path they needed to be."

And then the team was hit with a slew of injuries, some that were season-ending. Top-six center Jayden Grubbe was lost for the season, as were defencemen Chase Leslie and Trey Patterson.

"That impacted us. We didn't have a 19- or 20-year old defenceman either so we knew with all of that our goalies would have to play lights out," said Sutter.

Veteran netminder Ethan Anders and Byron Fancy were both somewhat inconsistent, but Sutter didn't blame either one.

"In all fairness, they were like everyone else - they hadn't played hockey for a year," he said.

"So it was a tough situation, but I thought the team certainly showed progress, no question. It was just getting over all the injuries and the young players being put in positions they weren't used to playing."

Neither the Rebels' power play nor penalty killing units were productive through the majority of the season, but the specialty teams looked better down the stretch.

"We discussed putting some different guys on the penalty kill and that worked," said Sutter. "Once the special teams got better and the goaltending got better, it seemed to settled everyone down."

Sutter was in hurry to get Coward his first start, particularly since the youngster struggled mightily in his first appearance on home ice, back in November of 2019 when he was summoned from the midget AAA level due to an injury to Fancy.

"I didn't want to put him in a situation this year where he could fail," said Sutter. "He wasn't ready for this level a year and a half ago.

"I felt that coming in here he had to spend a lot of time with Kraymer (goalie coach Barnstable) and at the right time we would put him in.

"I told the coaches when we needed to play him and he played great in Medicine Hat and three of the last four games. We as a staff thought he played well and it's certainly encouraging moving forward."

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