A former Castlegar Rebels defenseman is returning to help the team strengthen its blueline depth in anticipation of this year’s playoff run.
Ren Mason played for the Rebels for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, then played a season for the Leafs before taking a hiatus from hockey.
Mason played 20 games in his first year with the Rebels, 24 games in his second and had a plus/minus of zero for both.
Head coach and general manager Bill Rotheisler and his staff decided to sign Mason after he’d come out to skate with the team for a week.
“He had a very hard week in practice, five days, and after that, we decided we were going to go ahead and sign him,” said Rotheisler. “He was tremendous, he was awesome. For a guy that’s been out for two years, I thought he did a great job.”
“We’re hopefully going to be playing for a long time this year and he’s just going to get better as well,” he added.
To make room for Mason, the Rebels sent 18-year-old defenseman Matthew Cooper to the Fernie Ghostriders.
“We had to make room for him [Mason] so Cooper was the option there, but we’re excited about getting Ren in the family,” said Rotheisler.
Mason is 20 years old and fills the last of the Rebels’ five 20-year-old slots.