Chase Coward made an impressive return to the Western Hockey League with a winning performance for the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday.
In his first WHL appearance since May 7, 2022, the Swift Current native made 20 saves to lead the host Rebels to 2-1 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
He was only 17 seconds away from his third WHL shutout when Chase Pauls scored for Lethbridge, a goal that was assisted by Dinsmore’s Joe Arntsen.
Coward broke out last season with a 22-10-0-2 record with the Rebels. He was seventh in the WHL with a 2.51 goals against average.
The Rebels announced in August that Coward would not attend training camp due to a ‘congenital defect in his lower body.’
The Rebels clinched the Central Division title with a 40-17-2-3 record with only six games remaining in the regular season.
