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Xtreme crushes Red Deer Rebels Black 7-0

Before the puck was even dropped, the Red Deer Rebels Black was already in tough. The visiting Bantam AAA hockey team took an unusual pre-anthem 10-minute misconduct penalty after its non-starting players stayed on the ice too long.
Xtreme centre Tyler Wong looks out from behind Red Deer goalie Brody Dirk’s net during Airdrie’s 7-0 blowout win over the Rebels Black at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on
Xtreme centre Tyler Wong looks out from behind Red Deer goalie Brody Dirk’s net during Airdrie’s 7-0 blowout win over the Rebels Black at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Oct. 24. Wong had two goals in the game.

Before the puck was even dropped, the Red Deer Rebels Black was already in tough.

The visiting Bantam AAA hockey team took an unusual pre-anthem 10-minute misconduct penalty after its non-starting players stayed on the ice too long. The team never recovered.

Kyle Pauls’ four-goal effort and netminder Malcolm Walilko’s 21-save shutout led the Airdrie Xtreme to a convincing 7-0 win over the Rebels Black at the Ron Ebbesen Arena on Oct. 24.

“The ref blew the whistle once and told the guys to get off and they still played around, so he was somewhat justified in making the call,” said Xtreme head coach Terry Keogh.

“It can either upset them to the point where they lose their focus of what they’re trying to achieve in the game, or they can use it to get them upset and fuel some energy to comeback. Obviously, it upset them and got their game off.”

Pauls opened the scoring at the 17:05 mark, when he tucked a backhand between the legs of Rebels’ goalie Brody Dirk.

Pauls made it 2-0 at the intermission when he finished a breakaway, with two seconds left on the clock, after Tyler Wong won a key faceoff in the Xtreme’s end.

Wong found the net 40 seconds into the second period, and Ben Kriwokon made it 4-0 on a top corner shot from the top of the circle three minutes later.

Pauls would complete the hat trick at the 4:16 mark, and Wong added his second, on a great individual effort, at the 9:07 mark to give Airdrie a 6-0 lead after two.

Pauls scored his fourth, shorthanded, at the 3:28 mark of the third.

“We did a lot of talking in the dressing room at the second intermission and the players know that we’re learning and developing that 60-minute game,” Keogh said. “We took it to them and when we did get the lead up, we didn’t get comfortable.”

Walilko was solid in net when he was needed, to earn the shutout, but faced plenty of time between shots as the Xtreme controlled play in Red Deer’s zone.

“The toughest part for a goaltender, when they’re not seeing a lot of action, is to stay focused,” Keogh said.

“The mental part of his game is coming along really well and he made a couple of really nice saves toward the end to preserve the shutout.”

The Xtreme (6W-3L) remains second in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League’s Ram South Division. The team was dealt its third loss of the season a day earlier, when Airdrie fell 3-2 to Spruce Grove on the road.

“Two very evenly matched teams. It was a really good game, but unfortunately the ref took the flow out of the game by calling a number of penalties,” Keogh said. “We out-shot them, out-chanced them. I look forward to facing them again, because it’s going to be some really good hockey.”

The Xtreme will now depart on a five-game road trip before returning to play in Airdrie Nov. 27.

“We really need to stay focused with the off-ice things,” Keogh said.

“It’s a little bit tougher on the road to keep their mental game focused, but we’ll do our best to make sure they’re rested and make sure they’re hydrated.”

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