And that's a wrap...

Living in Red Deer, I've had the chance to follow the WHL in much closer detail than I ever had before. Although my work hours, ironically, prevent me from attending a lot of Red Deer Rebels game, I did listen to most of them on the radio and read every inch of copy about them in the Advocate. Over the course of the season I even had the chance to ask every single player what animal best represents there playing style on the ice. Answers ranged from badgers to wolverines toClydesdale horses.

Anyway, their season came to an end tonight in Medicine Hat. It was great to see major junior playoff action live again, and it brought back some fond memories of Ottawa 67s games of years past.

The big differences between the two game night productions:

In Ottawa they shoot subs into the crowd, in Red Deer it's official Red Deer Advocate T-shirts and wiffle balls redeemable for golf merchandise.

In Ottawa they turn the lights off in the rink before the players come on the ice and place carpets to strategically on the ice to trip up the visiting players. In Red Deer the fans yell "(Insert visiting goalie's name) SUCKS" right before the national
anthem.

In Ottawa there are cheerleaders. In Red Deer they have a Wolly Bully

One thing they both have in common: They lost to a hated division rival in the first round of the playoffs this year.