Red Deer Rebels head coach and general manager Brent Sutter addressed the media one final time this season and said he was proud of how the team managed to claw into the WHL playoffs despite long odds.

“If I would have told somebody in January (when) we were 12, 13 points out, that we’re going to get to the third spot in our division, we’re going to be in the playoffs, you guys would’ve all thought I was absolutely out of my mind,” Sutter said.

“I kept telling the kids … you pick away at it. Next thing you know, you’re going to be two (points out) and then you’re going to be tied, and then you’re going to move ahead, if you stay doing things right and we did. We got to that spot.”

However, he said the team was hurt when it missed out on home ice advantage for the playoffs, losing the penultimate game of the regular season at home.

“We lost that game and our team didn’t really recover from that point on. And that’s how fragile … your season can sway from one point to another.”

The Rebels finished with a 27-32-10-3 record in the regular season, third in the WHL’s Central Division.

Two of the team’s forwards saw their Major Junior careers conclude this year: Mason McCarty, who led the team in scoring this season with 38 goals and 36 assists; and Grayson Pawlenchuk, who has been with the team since 2012, playing in 282 regular season and 28 playoff games.