The Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Red Deer Rebels and Calgary Hitmen faced off in a preseason matchup at the Ron Ebbesen Arena in Airdrie Sept. 8, with the Rebels shutting out the Calgary squad 3-0.
Both WHL clubs are in the midst of selecting a final roster for the 2010-2011 season, and used the preseason game to evaluate certain players in a real situations.
With much of the crowd going for the Calgary Hitmen, a small contingent of Airdronians came out to see former Airdrie Xtreme player Mason Burr don a Rebels jersey for the first time.
Scoring opened in the second frame as Saskatoon’s Lane Scheidl found the mesh on a rebound from a Burr shot with only three minutes left in the period, on a 5-on-3 powerplay.
Both teams tested a pair of goalies, with Hitmen veteran Michael Snider stopping all 17 shots he saw in the first period and a half. Slovakia’s Juraj Holly stopped 10 of the 12 shots he saw.
Both Red Deer netminders wrapped up the game with shutouts, with 34 shots on goal between Kelowna’s Kraymer Barnstable and Calgary’s Bolton Pouliot.
Also recording tallies for the Rebels were Adam Kambeitz, from Coaldale and an empty netter for Tyson Ness from Grande Prairie.
Both teams will continue their preseason tour of southern Alberta, and work to set that final roster to try and capture the Memorial Cup next year. The Hitmen will take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes, in the final exhibition game before the regular season starts, at the Kyle Stewart Memorial Arena at the Edge School in Springbank, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.
The Calgary Hitmen kick off its season Sept. 24, at the Pengrowth Saddledome against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
