Memorial Cup: Former Telus Cup champ contributes in Rebels win

RED DEER, AB – Falling into an early hole at the MasterCard Memorial Cup is never an easy thing but the Red Deer Rebels rebounded from exactly that on Sunday night.

After dropping a 6-2 decision to the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights on the opening day of the tournament, the Rebels rebounded for a 5-2 win over the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies at the Enmax Centrium.

The Rebels scored three times in the second period to erase a 2-1 Huskies lead after 20 minutes and pick up the victory to improve to 1-1.

“We had to win this game and we treated it like a game seven, like we are with all of them,” said Red Deer defenceman Colton Bobyk. “We didn’t start as well as we wanted but after that we regrouped and played well the rest of the game.”

Rebels Coach Brent Sutter said that a goal shortly after killing off a penalty midway through the opening period gave the team some life.

“It was huge,” Sutter said “It give the kids some life and some momentum. Then we got back to playing like we can play.”

For Bobyk, national championships are familiar territory as the 20-year-old Red Deer native was a part of the AAA midget Red Deer Chiefs team that won the 2013 TELUS Cup title in Sault Ste. Marie.

Bobyk said the approach to the Memorial Cup is similar to that of preparing for the TELUS Cup considering the importance of each game.

“You have to treat those games like they’re game sevens too even though it’s midget hockey,” Bobyk said.

A member of the Huskies was also in that 2013 TELUS Cup.

Rouyn-Noranda forward Julien Nantel was a skilled forward with the Laval-Montreal Rousseau Royal, who won bronze at the event.

Nantel picked up a goal for the Huskies in Sunday’s loss.

Adam Halewka had two goals and an assist for Red Deer while Jake DeBrusk chipped in with a goal and two assists. Defenceman Haydn Fleury added a goal and an assist. Evan Polei also scored.

Goaltender Rylan Toth stopped 22 shots.

Sutter joked that during a timeout in the first period while the team was off to a tough start that he told the players “he loved them.”

“We just had to get to playing like we can play and don’t let the emotion of what’s going on in the game be a negative impact,” Sutter said.

Timo Meier had Rouyn-Noranda’s other goal.

Huskies goaltender Chase Marchand stopped 33 shots.

Huskies General Manager/Coach Gilles Bouchard said the back-to-back games wasn’t an excuse for an effort that wasn’t up to par.

“We didn’t play the game we wanted to play today,” Bouchard said. “The first period was ok but after that in the second period, we watched (Red Deer). This kind of game can happen. We have to learn about the situation. It’s a short tournament so it’s a learning process for the players. It’s a new experience.”

The Huskies coaching staff includes Sault Ste. Marie native Jason Fortier

The opening two games mark the first time since Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 that Rouyn-Noranda has been outshot in back-to-back games.

Tournament action continues on Monday as the London Knights meet the Brandon Wheat Kings before the Knights wrap up its round robin schedule on Tuesday night against the Huskies.