This Week in History, May 24-30, 2001 ̢̮=80" Rebels Memorial Cup Run
May 27, 2020 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release
Pats 5 Rebels 2
The Rebels, after winning their first two of three round-robin games in the Memorial Cup tournament, fell 5-2 to the host Regina Pats in front of a sold-out throng of 6,995 at the Agridome.
It was not, however, a shattering setback for the Rebels, who were already guaranteed of a berth in the final set for three days later.
Red Deer was never really in this game, falling behind 4-0 before the midway point.
Garth Murray opened the scoring at 12:49 of the first period before Kevin Korol, Jeff Feniak and Brett Lysak (short-handed) blew the contest open with early second-period snipes.
Justin Mapletoft and defenceman Doug Lynch (pictured above) replied for the Rebels before the period concluded, but Karel Mosovsky sealed the deal for the hosts at 13:41 of the final frame.
Chad Davidson stopped 24 shots as the winning netminder. At the other end, Shane Bendera surrendered four goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Cam Ondrik, who blocked 10 of 11 shots.
May 27
Rebels 6 Foreurs 5 (OT)
While the Rebels were coming off a loss, the Val-d'Or Foreurs entered the championship final on somewhat of a high.
The Quebec champions had momentum on their side after scoring in the final minute of the third period and then in overtime to edge Regina 5-4 in a semifinal 24 hours earlier.
But the Rebels were well rested and it showed as defenceman Derek Meech and forward Kyle Wanvig, on the power play, scored unanswered first-period goals.
Simon Gamache responded for Val-d'Or just 45 seconds into the second period and Brandon Reid made it a 2-2 game just under four minutes later.
Then came a run of five more goals before the period ended.
Defenceman Ross Lupaschuk restored Red Deer's lead at 8:05, but Jerome Bergeron connected back-to-back (the second with a man advantage) for the Foreurs and the Quebec champs assumed a 5-3 lead on a short-handed tally by Stephane Veilleux at 19:25.
Just as it appeared that the Rebels would be two down heading into the third period, second-year forward Joel Stepp, with assists from Lupaschuk and captain Jim Vandermeer, scored on the power play at 19:59 of the second.
The Rebels carried the impetus of that clutch goal into the third and pulled even on Wanvig's second of the game - again with a man advantage - in the first minute.
It was end-to-end for the remainder of the period with neither team able to break the tie.
The contest went to overtime and the Rebels were the team celebrating when Lynch beat Foreurs' netminder Maxime Daigneault with a shot that found its way through a maze 13:16 into the extra frame.
Bendera made 38 saves for the Memorial Cup champs, while Daigneault turned aside 36 shots.
Wanvig, a Boston Bruins third-round pick in the 1999 NHL entry draft, was named the tournament's most valuable player and along with Washington Capitals prospect Lupaschuk was selected as an all-star.
Western Hockey League Stories from May 27, 2020
- WHL Alumni Jake Bean Named Recipient of Eddie Shore Award - Tri-City Americans
- This Week in History, May 24-30, 2001 ̢̮=80" Rebels Memorial Cup Run - Red Deer Rebels
- Kelowna Rockets Alumni Leon Draisaitl wins Art Ross Trophy as NHL Scoring Champ - Kelowna Rockets
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