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JAMESTOWN – After a strenuous season the Jamestown Rebels Hockey Team has clinched the playoffs placing third overall.
For the first time since the pandemic shutdown, the Rebels took to the ice this year, as a team of rookies, a difficult challenge Head Coach Joe Coombs tells us.
“Getting to where we are today, it’s been really good,” explained Coombs. “There’s been some trying times for everybody involved, but all-in-all we are here and this is what you play for all winter long.”
How the team was able to make the playoffs, was due to the players themselves, and a little bit of luck, with how the other teams played.
“Us as coaches, we don’t play,” stated Coombs. “It’s the players that play, I know some players that have gotten better, that’s number one in why we’re here.”
While Coombs touts the players, Forwards like John Lundy, believe it is the community support that makes them play to the best of their abilities.
“I think we have the best fans in the league,” explained Lundy. “They did a great job supporting us, especially down the stretch, which made it a lot easier on us to come here and play every game as hard as we can.”
The Jamestown Rebels are part of the North American Hockey League, which spans across the whole country from Alaska to Texas. The Rebels are in the east division, and is the only hockey team in New York, according to Rebels Manager Jason Rent.
“It’s been really exciting to see the growth, not only of the team, but of the fan base,” stated Rent. “We’re a very young team and these guys struggled through it, and now they’re learning, and coming together, and ready to make a playoff run.”
The team was on a hot streak, winning 10 of their past 11 games securing their position in this year’s playoffs.
This weekend the Rebels face the Johnstown Tomahawks, and return to Jamestown next weekend with a potential fifth game at Johnstown, to determine if they move on in the competition.
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