Young hockey squad plays like veterans

The Las Vegas Tour Rebels youth hockey association is only in its first year of existence, but its Bantam AA (ages 13-14) squad played like veterans in the recent state tournament, topping the well-established Las Vegas Outlaws two games to one to advance to a regional event in San Jose, Calif.

"We're a new organization and the Outlaws have been around a while, so for us, in our first year, it was great to be able to win," said Rebels head coach Paul Hurst. "We expected state to be a tough series and it was. The Outlaws are a good organization and they have quality players."

The Rebels, who feature players from across the valley, went 17-16-2 overall this season, practicing 10 times a month and traveling to tournaments in Arizona and California about once a month.

They lost the first game of the best-of-three state title series, 6-3, but fought back to win the next two contests, 7-4 and 8-5.

"They were able to suck it up and do what they needed to do in the next two," Hurst said. "The kids did a great job of bouncing back and took what they learned in the first game and applied it."

Chris Francis and Robbie Silvernail scored two goals apiece to spark the Rebels to the 7-4 win and goaltender Steven Bolton stopped 36 of 40 shots.

Francis leads the team with 73 points, scoring 49 goals and dishing out 24 assists. Silvernail is third on the team with 46 points.

Ray Leroux added a goal and an assist and Bryce Reddick also scored a goal in the win.

Reddick, whose father Pokey Reddick, an assistant coach with the Rebels, earned a Stanley Cup ring while playing for the Edmonton Oilers, is second on the squad in scoring, with 22 goals and 29 assists for 51 points.

In the state title game, Reddick twirled the twine twice, and Kyle Clay and Ryan Townsend also scored two goals apiece, with Francis and Silvernail adding one each.

Clay is fourth on the squad in scoring, with 42 points, and Townsend is fifth, with 32 points.

Cutter Hurst saved 29 of 32 shots to preserve the victory.

"Our team is composed predominantly of second-year Bantams, who were born in 1989. The Outlaws had more kids who were born in 1990, so we were a little bit bigger and more experienced," Hurst said. "At the end of the day, I think our size and physical capacity kind of wore them down."

The Rebels will have to pick it up a notch to win the regional event in San Jose, as they'll face three teams from talent-rich Southern California, three from Washington state, and one from Oregon. The winner will advance to nationals in Vermont.

"I think we'll be competitive and have a shot, but everybody has to play at the top of their games," Hurst said. "Typically, a California team ends up going to nationals. They have way more kids to draw on than we do."

Hurst said ice hockey continues to grow and improve in Southern Nevada, though.

"This is the first year there's even been two teams at this level (Bantam AA), which is kind of neat," he said. "It's an indication that hockey is starting to grow here."

The Rebels, who were formed last summer (lasvegasrebels.com), also feature Liam Ayoub, Steven Birt, Kevin Dwyer, Tyler Fikes, Chris Fildes, Mike Fildes, Travis Kerr, Jordan Mlynarczyk, Brandon Nestor and Ray Teichman.

Hurst credits his coaching staff for helping mold the squad into champions, and his assistants included Dan Leroux, Jeff Mlynarczyk and Reddick.


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