REBELS PARTICIPATE IN THEIR 1ST EVER JUNIOR B DRAFT!

It was a big night for the Junior B Rebels. Their first ever Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League draft was set for February 9th and they were ready to go. Needs captured, player list prepared, mock drafts run through. Armed with the first overall pick, the Rebels new that all eyes would be on them and they didn’t disappoint.

With their first selection, the Rebels proudly selected Zach Yopek-Stabel from the South Edmonton Warriors! Zach is fantastic young goaltender. He is a four time Team Alberta member and was seen by many as the prize of the draft. With the one of last year’s goalies, Lee Westwood, aging out and Junior A potential for returnee, Brady Johnson, the coaching staff knew this was an area that needed attention.

Co-Coach Kevin Parker is very pleased with this selection. “I have seen Zach playing against my kids for a long time and I know him and his family from playing together in field lacrosse in Edmonton. He is a great kid! He is highly skilled and comes from a great family. He fits our needs moving forward.”

With their second pick, the Rebels filled another hole, selecting Jordan Diewert from the North Edmonton Wizards. “We have a shortage of left handed offensive players and Jordan has the potential to fill that need for a long time. We were a bit surprised that he was available in the second round, so we jumped at the chance,” explains Co-Coach Trevor Mark.

The draft continued with the Rebels selecting Tanner Marouelli from the Warriors in the third, Nolan Yaremko (West Edmonton Blues) in the fourth, then Spencer Milne (Wizards) 5th, Liam Potgieter from the (Parkland Posse) 6th, Noah Jackson from the (Warriors) 7th, Jordan Hinteregger from the (Wizards) 8th, Jarrett Eyben from the Vermillion Roar 9th, Hayden Protsch from the Vermillion Roar 10th, Brayden Rocque (Rebels) 11th, Izaac Momoka (Rebels) 12th Joshua Ilkuf (Titans ) 13th, Dillon Burak (Titans ) 14th, Justin Blaze (Posse) 15th, Luke Samson (Rebels) 16th,  Brayden Stelmack (Rebels) 16th

The Rebels worked a post draft trade sending their 2nd round pick in the 2017draft to the Titans for Ethan Wong (Wizards)

General Manager Dave McGarva says “our draft strategy was pretty sound. We knew that we wanted the Midget “A” league’s top goalie from last year, players off the Wizards Midget “A” City Championship team and some solid character players from the Warriors, Blues, Posse and Titans. We suspected that our Rebels Midgets would fall under the radar because they played in the less scouted B division. We were right on all counts except we left the Rebels players one pick too late.” The Juniors were able to draft all of the graduating Fort Saskatchewan Midget players with the exception of Drayden LaFramboise, who went to the Warriors. “He was our next pick. We were just a bit late.”

“With our base of players from last year’s Junior B Tier II Provincial Championship team we are looking to bring these young players into the fold as quickly as possible. Many of them bring the experience of winning with them, fitting our culture and will add some new dimensions to our playing style”, adds Co-Coach Trevor Mark.

Background

After four provincial championships and a runner up finish in their eight seasons of play at the Junior B Tier II level, the Fort Saskatchewan Junior Rebels are taking the next step. On November 22, 2015, the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League voted unanimously to make the Rebels part of the 12 team Pan-prairie league. The Tier II Rebels have enjoyed the greatest success of any club in any division in Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) history, sporting a 120-23-1 record since the clubs inception in 2006.