There is always a little more in it for athletes when facing their hometown teams. Red Deer Rebels captain Ollie Josephson, an NHL draft pick of the Seattle Kraken, had to have had Saturday evening’s Western Hockey League game against the Victoria Royals circled on the calendar.
Josephson is the son of former Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL pro Mike Josephson and is a product of the Spectrum Secondary hockey academy, South Island Royals and the Langford-based Pacific Coast Hockey Academy Sea Devils. A gold medallist with Canada in the 2023 Under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the six-foot centre plays a complete and physical game, and was also a star in lacrosse with the Juan de Fuca Whalers.
The Royals ran into more than just a whirling snowstorm in Red Deer — an ornery Josephson and Rebels team (10-9-3) that was home for the first time since Nov. 2 and going winless at 0-4-2 in their six-game road trip through the U.S. Division. Josephson had a goal and assist, and Jaxon Fuder two goals, as Red Deer scored four unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Royals 7-3 before 5,054 fans at the Centrium.
Forward Hayden Moore, scoring short-handed, had Victoria still hanging in the game trailing 3-1 in the second period. Royals forwards Caleb Matthews and Finnish-import, and Winnipeg Jets’ NHL draft pick, Markus Loponen, tied it 3-3 heading into that disastrous third period.
“It was a real good effort through two periods,” said Royals head coach James Patrick.
“Then came the third period and we made some costly mistakes. Every mistake we made ended up in the back of the net pretty much. The breakdowns became very costly.”
The Royals pelted the Red Deer net but Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke parried 41 of the 44 shots. Spencer Michnik made 27 saves for Victoria.
The Royals (12-8-4) went to 3-3-1 on their eight-game road trip, the longest of the season. The extended trip concludes Wednesday night in Everett, Washington, against the Silvertips (18-3-1) and prodigy rookie defenceman Landon DuPont, only the second player after current Chicago Blackhawks sophomore forward Connor Bedard to receive exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old.
Meanwhile, the Royals’ Cole Reschny, ranked by Central Scouting for the first round of the 2025 NHL draft, will miss the game in Everett. The play-making centre will be with the Canadian Hockey League team that will play the centralized United States Under-18 program in the first-ever CHL-USA Prospects Challenge series Tuesday in London, Ont., and Wednesday in Oshawa, Ont.
