Blades 7
Rebels 0
It was an unfortunate ending to a well-fought series for the Red Deer Rebels.
On Wednesday they were eliminated from the WHL playoffs after getting swept by the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
They fell 7-0 in Game 4 in front of 4,415 fans at the Peavey Mart Centrium. With netminder Chase Wutzke still out with an upper-body injury, rookie Taylor Tabashniuk was slotted in net for the second game in a row.
Interim Head coach Dave Struch, who was emotional in the postgame interview, said it was a sad ending for the whole team.
“For us to go through what we’ve gone through for the last six weeks and the effort that the guys have put in, for anything to end when you love the game as much as these guys do, it’s an emotional finish,” he said.
“You expect and you want more but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Despite the score, Struch said his team never quit, which seemed to be a common trend this postseason.
“I know we got behind early in the game and it could have been easy for us to let down but we got better as the game went on,” he said. “I think that’s the important thing about it.”
Tabashniuk, who played in just his second WHL game, made 24 saves on 31 shots. Struch thought he played a lot better on Wednesday.
“It’s a difficult situation for him to come into and as he got into the game yesterday he got better and I thought he did well for us again tonight.”
Forward Steven Steranka also made his WHL debut on Wednesday. The youngster had a few quality scoring chances but couldn’t convert.
“He did a great job for us. When you give a guy an opportunity like that you expect him to take advantage of it and he did at an elite level tonight. You can see the future’s bright for him.”
Saskatoon opened the scoring 3:12 into the first period off the stick of Egor Sidorov. He circled the net before firing a shot through traffic that beat the goaltender.
Three minutes later the Blades forward Rowan Calvert scored a shorthanded goal on the breakaway to lead 2-0.
Later in the opening frame, Sidorov scored his second of the game off a backhand attempt following a spin move while charging the net.
In the final two minutes of the first period, Brandon Lisowsky split the defence before beating Tabashniuk through the five-hole.
In the second period, the Blades scored a pair of goals to extend their lead to 6-0.
Sidorov completed the hat trick with another highlight-reel goal. While on the offensive rush, the puck bounced out in front of the net off the end boards and Sidorov knocked it in with his stick between his legs.
Just over 10 minutes later, Fraser Minten potted his fifth of the playoffs off the feed from Sidorov.
In the third period, the Blades extended their lead to 7-0 following a powerplay goal from Alexander Suzdalev.
Struch was hired as interim head coach by the Rebels following the departure of former bench boss Derrick Walser in March. He said it’ll be up to management if they want to hire him but added if they do want to, he has a desire to return.
“I just said to them what a unique situation it is. It’s hard to come in and say I’ve enjoyed being with them all year and the hardships that they’ve gone through,” he said.
“I’m a very emotional person and I take a lot of pride in what I do and for the guys to work as hard as they did for us was the most important thing for me to take away. As a coach, as a person, as a father, as a mentor, and as a leader it was really special for me. I can’t thank the guys enough.”
