SIX NATIONS – The Six Nations Jr. B Rebels were quick out of the shoot Saturday night in their home opener at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) before walking to a 15-4 win over the London Blue Devils.
It was also the first win for new head coach Miles General.
“It really felt good,” said General. “I got to coach my two sons, Miles Jr. and Kahn, just like my dad (Dave General) coached me.”
Dad has been watching from the stands in an unofficial capacity, as Miles’ “eye-in-the-sky” adding his learned input from that vantage point.
The 2017 edition of the Rebels seemed to be spring-wound in anticipation of the new season and let go with a recorded 70 shots on Owen Dew and Chris Wood who shared a very long night in the Devil’s goal.
“We were a bit nervous in the first period,” says coach General. “I think we played down to London’s level in the first period but we got it going in the second.”
Leading the Rebels’ bombardment were Layne Smith with five goals and two assists and Wes Whitlow with two goals and five assists.
The Blue Devils caught the Rebels maybe a little over-pumped when the game began allowing London to score a short-hander and a powerplay goal to take an early 2-0 London lead.
Layne Smith’s unassisted goal scored at 9:32, switched on the Rebels power switch and Kahn General, Smith, with his second, Chayton King and Smith’s third of the period built a 5-3, first period lead.
The Rebels completely breached the Devil’s defence in the second period after Smith made it four for the night at 1:54.
Daylen Hill, Josh Miller, Wes Whitlow with two, Daylen Hill also with two, Riley Miller and Wake:Riat Bowhunter added eight second period goals for a 13-4 two period lead. Smith opened the third the way he opened the first and second, with his fifth of the game and Riley Miller’s second of the night totaled the Reb’s 15-4 win.
“I told the guys that this year’s goal is to keep out opponents to single digits,” says General. “And we did that.”
There were considerable extra-curricular activities in the third period as things got a bit rough for the while. Rebels’ Wes Whitlow and Gates Abrams each had a go with London’s Matt Pattyn at 18:20 of the third. Whitlow also attracted three separate unsportsmanlike conduct penalties during the same stoppage of play.
Devils opinion of the refereeing resulted in four Bench penalties all for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The whole unravelling of the referee’s control of the game began with back-to-back, five-minute majors for high sticking against the Rebels. From there, it got worse, but as far as the game itself is concerned, it was an impressive show against an unworthy foe.
The Elora Mohawks opened their 2017 season with a 13-6 win over the Guelph Regals, Saturday night in Elora. Guelph put up a good battle in the first period which ended with the Mohawks leading 5-4 thanks to an Elora goal, scored with less that a minute remaining in the period.
The Regals all but disappeared in the second period while Elora added four unanswered goals to hold a 9-4, second frame lead.
This Friday night, April 21, the Owen Sound North Stars visit the ILA for an 8 p.m. start.
