The Red Deer Rebels have had a tough start to the Western Hockey League preseason.

Red Deer lost decisively to the Calgary Hitmen in a pair of games this weekend to kick off the preseason. First the Rebels were defeated 5-0 on the road on Friday, Sept. 5, and followed that up with a 6-1 home loss at the Marchant Crane Centrium on Saturday, Sept. 6.

In Red Deer, the Hitmen opened the scoring when Kale Dach fired a shot past Rebels goaltender Peyton Shore just a few minutes in the opening period.

Red Deer tied the game about three minutes later by cashing in on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Rebels forward Talon Brigley whipped a cross-crease pass to Landon McSwain, who hammered a shot past sprawling Calgary goaltender Eric Tu. Red Deer native Keith McInnis picked up a secondary assist on the goal.

See Full Page