About

The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top three ideas from the over 1000 entries were "Rebels", "Renegades", and "Centurions". Rebels management chose the name "Rebels". On February 5, 1992, the Rebels selected Mike McBain as their first player in the Bantam Draft. The Rebels' first game was on September 25, 1992 in Red Deer against the Prince Albert Raiders (the Rebels won 6 to 3 in front of 5240 fans). The original owner of the team was Terry Simpson, the original General Manager was Wayne Simpson and the original Coach was Peter Anholt. The Rebels had their first sell-out game at the Centrium on January 9, 1993 (6476 in attendance). Goalie Jason Clague was credited with a goal on March 28, 1994 during a playoff game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. David Hruska scored 5 goals in one game on October 20, 1995 in a game against the Medicine Hat Tigers. BJ Young set a team record for fastest goal at the start of a game at 0:06 of the first period on December 6, 1995, against the Medicine Hat Tigers. On May 28, 1997, the Rebels changed their logo to the current one used. On May 11, 1999, Brent Sutter purchased the team from Terry and Wayne Simpson. The Rebels were a very successful team in the early 2000s winning three consecutive division and conference titles between 2000–01 and 2002–03. This period began with a WHL and Memorial Cup championship in 2001 when Jeff Smith scored the overtime winner against the Val-d'Or Foreurs. The Rebels were unable to duplicate this feat, however, falling in the league championship series the next two seasons. President and owner Brent Sutter was also highly successful while serving as Team Canada's coach at both the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships. His older brother, Brian, took over the reins of the team for the 2007–08 season. Brent Sutter was named as the new head coach on November 14, 2012. The Rebels had the first overall pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft, choosing Burnaby, British Columbia native Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was also selected number one overall at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Other notable first round draft picks include Cam Ward, Dion Phaneuf, Mathew Dumba and Jesse Wallin. The Rebels were the host team of the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament.