SIX NATIONS – It goes without saying, but the Rebels are undoubtedly the favourites to make double history and turn their unprecedented four straight Founders Cups into a ridiculous five in a row this year.
The Hamilton Bengals, London Blue Devils and the Welland Generals can attest to the awesome power of the defending champions after back-to-back-to-back blow-out wins this past weekend, which saw Six Nations outscore their opponents 53-17.
The demolition weekend run began Thursday night at the Dave Andreychuk Arena in Hamilton were the Rebels tamed the Bengals 21-6, followed by Friday night’s 23-2 embarrassment of the Blue Devils and Sunday night’s 13-9 win in Welland.
Second year Rebel Layne Smith is off to a start that threatens to surpass his 79-point rookie season last year. Thanks to his 14 goals and two assists in this week’s games alone, Smith is cruising along with 35 points in nine games so far this season with 26 goals and nine assists.
Thursday night he scored six and assisted on two more for an eight-point performance against the Bengals, then followed that up with four goals Friday night against London and another four against Welland Sunday night.
Team Captain Mitch Green seemed to score at will Friday night with four goals and six assists for a 10-point game in the 23-2 mismatch at the ILA.
Travis Longboat was the points leader Sunday in Welland, with three goals and four assists in the Rebels 13-9 win, which was not as close as the score may indicate.
The Rebels took a 9-1 first period lead and rode that through the second to 11-1, but took off the second half of the game, allowing the next eight goals to close the gap to 11-9 before Travis Longboat and Layne Smith scored two late goals for the Rebels.
It seems the Rebels sweat more at practice than they have had to in recent games, but Coach Derek “Chico” General believes that letting up on any opponent dulls the killer instinct he wants his team to carry into the playoffs, which are still a long way off.
Friday night, the Rebels recorded 71 shots on the London goal, while Briley Miller and Daniel Hill fought to stay awake with only 13 shots to handle between them.
There was a little more resistance shown Thursday night in Hamilton, but not enough to avoid the 21-6 route at the hands of the Rebels.
The Rebels are 13-0 and top the division and the league with 26 points.
This week, the Orangeville Northmen will be the guests at the ILA Friday, June 5th in what is probably the toughest matchup to date this season. The Northmen top the Midwest with a 12-2 record.
Then Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., the Rebels will be in Owen Sound visiting the North Stars.
