Rangers Rap

Goon show

By Jeff Hicks

Record staff

KITCHENER –

You wanna goon the Kitchener Rangers?

They’ll bury you on the power play. Ask the Guelph Storm.

“They got a little out of control but we punished them for it,” said Rangers defender Jamie Doornbosch after scoring two power-play goals in Tuesday’s 7-1 Ontario Hockey League victory over the Storm before 6,047 at the Aud.

“We showed them who’s mentally tougher and we won the game.”

The Rangers, winners of seven straight, scored on their first four power plays.

The rap sheet against the imploding Storm on Tuesday was long.

Storm captain Tyler Carroll ran Doornbosch, who has six goals in the last six games, into the boards head-first. Right around the beef jerky and Mr. Lube signs.

Dan Maggio drove concussion-prone Rangers centre Mike Catenacci into the end boards leaving Catenacci to be helped off the ice.

Mike Latta spun around goalie Brandon Maxwell and left him in a heap.

Chris Van Laren skewered Ben Thomson in a tender area.

“Between the legs,” said Thomson, who had a goal and assist.

Catenacci looked fine afterwards but declined to talk.

So did plank-walking Storm coach-GM Jason Brooks, whose team looked eager for the guillotine to severe the professional vochal chords of their speechless coach.

The Storm hurried to their bus afterwards. A reporter asked to speak with Guelph goalie Brandon Foote. Storm assistant coach Brad Maxwell, the father of the Rangers goalie, at first ordered Foote not to talk.

“No, let’s go,” Maxwell said before relenting.

“Hurry up then.”

With the Maggio and Van Laren transgressions coming in the final minute, Spott sent his big guns out for the two-man power play.in the final seconds.

“He definitely got his bell rung,” Spott said of Catenacci.

Spott also spoke of a Storm player taking a “baseball swing” in the second period. Tapes are being couriered for OHL head office inspection.

“I think there were some messages trying to be sent,” Spott said.

“For me, it became a safety issue.”

OHL scoring leader Jason Akeson had a goal and three assists. Ditto for OHL top-scoring defender Ryan Murphy. Rookie Matia Marcantuoni had a goal and two assists. Gabriel Landeskog also scored.Latta scored for Guelph.

The Storm have been outshot in 18 of 20 games, including 52-32 on Tuesday.

The league could suspend Brooks for his team’s thuggery but why bother?

Brooks may not be coach of the Storm much longer.

The Rangers host Kingston on Friday.

jhicks@therecord.com

 

Storm 1 at Rangers 7

First period:

1. Guelph, Latta 14 (Pedan) 3:42

2. Kitchener, Doornbosch 6 (Murphy, Landeskog) 7:55 (pp)

3. Kitchener, Murphy 11 (Akeson, Marcantuoni) 10:22 (pp)

4. Kitchener, Akeson 10 (Murphy, Marcantuoni) 16:50

Penalties – Campbell, Gue (hooking) 7:16; Randell, Kit, Latta, Gue (fighting) 7:56; Kosmachuk, Gue (tripping) 9:54; Jasper, Kit (delay of game) 11:47; McNaughton, Gue (interference) 17:22; Doornbosch, Kit (interference) 18:25

Second period:

5. Kitchener, Thomson 2 (Sol, Rendell) 7:21

6. Kitchener, Doornbosch 7 (Murphy, Akeson) 7:58 (pp)

Penalties – Landeskog, Kit (slashing) 3:04; Maggio, Gue (tripping) 7:46; Sandlak, Gue (cross-checking) 10:27; Crescenzi, Kit (boarding) 11:54; Campbell. Gue (slashing) 18:10; Carroll, Gue (checking from behind) 19:53

Third period:

7. Kitchener, Marcantuoni 6 (Thomson) 14:09

8. Kitchener, Landeskog 17 (Catenacci, Akeson) 17:13

Penalties – Latta, Gue (goalie interference) 1:39; Latta, Gue (roughing) 11:21; Campbell, Gue (tripping) 17:47; Van Laren, Gue (spearing) 19:09; Maggio, Gue (checking from behind major, game misconduct) 19:26; Latta, Gue (tripping) 19:55

 

Shots on goal:

Kit 18-16-18  52

Gue 16-8-8 32

 

Goaltenders: Brandon Maxwell, Kit. Brandon Foote, Bram.

Power plays: Kit (4-11), Gue (0-4)

Referees: Joe Celestin, Keith Kaval

Linesmen: Sean McLoughlin, Raymond King

Attendance: 6,047

1-6-8 who-do-we-appreciate?

Gabby Landeskog ranked first among North American skaters eligible for NHL draft next June.

That's from NHL central scouting, the masterminds who had Jeff Skinner ranked 34th last year.

Tobias Reider is ranked sixth.

Funny to have a Swede and a German in the NA rankings, but we digress.

I sense a Don Cherry rant coming on...Ryan Murphy is ranked 8th.

Mike Morrison is fourth among NA goalies.

Follow Storm at Rangers tonight on Twitter

Follow the game tonight on Twitter. Game time is 7 p.m.

Click here for regular game updates: HicksWR_Record

Hi-Yo Silver

LoneRanger correctly points out the Rangers gave up a second and third in the Cody Sol swap with Saginaw.

And a third to move to the Soo to move up in the 2009 import draft.

Also, I can add in a fifth for Melchiori. A fourth for Doornbosch. 2014, I believe.

Two thirds to get MacKinnon from London.

Spotter has spent the picks effectively, but freely.

It all adds up, Kemosabe.

Getting picky

So why are the Rangers short on picks to help them deal for a top-line player?

Well, Gabriel Landeskog was not a cheap acquisition.

You'll recall the Plymouth Whalers drafted him and held him for ransom, although Landeskog insisted he would only report to Kitch.

The import draft is all about a GM's ability to strike a deal with an agent.

As opposed to the regular OHL draft which is . . .well, uh...never mind.

The Whalers got a second-round OHL pick in 2011 and a fourth-rounder in 2013 for Landeskog.

Then, after he played the first game of his second season in Kitchener on Sept. 24, the Rangers must ship a second rounder in 2012 to complete the deal.

Second-round picks are the currency that helps land top players.

Aw, shoot!

The Guelph Storm have played 19 games.

They have outshot the other team twice.

Any chance they'll outshoot the Rangers on Tuesday? Didn't think so.

Rangers 3, Whalers 2 game story: Pass? Are you nuts? I'm shooting

By Jeff Hicks

Record staff

PLYMOUTH, MICH.–

Cody Sol yelled for blueline partner Jesse Young to pass him the puck.

Was Sol crazy?

Young -- a Kitchener Rangers rookie from nearby Walled Lake, Mich – had a chance to shoot with friends and family watching at Compuware Sports Arena.

So the 16-year-old blasted the puck and scored his first Ontario Hockey League goal in the Rangers’ 3-2 victory over the Plymouth Whalers on Saturday night.

Young’s third-period goal was also the winner as the Rangers took their sixth straight victory before 3,969.

 “I knew Soly was calling for it, but it was a home crowd and I just wanted to take the shot and it went in.” said Young, who joked he may never pass it to Sol again.

“He can keep calling, I’m not passing.”

It’s not like Young picked the top corner. His wide shot hit the stick of Whalers defender Max Iafrate, son of former Maple Leaf Al Iafrate, and deflected into the net.

Flukey goal or not, it was a genuine win for the Rangers, who were out-chanced by the Whalers.

But Rangers goalie Brandon Maxwell, with 29 saves, was sturdy.

“Our goalie was simply better than their goaltender,” Spott said.

“I was really disappointed in our play. We didn’t get off the bus.”

Still, the Rangers got goals from Gabriel Landeskog and Waterloo’s Zach Lorentz.

Lorentz flipped the puck into the air and bunted it past Plymouth’s Scott Wedgewood from the slot. Shades of the baseball-swing goal the Whalers got from Andrew Fournier in OT here during the 2007 playoffs.

“Just got the stick on it,” Lorentz said.

The Whalers got goals from Robbie Czarnik and Tyler Brown but were thwarted by Maxwell on a number of good chances. Ex-Ranger Alex Aleardi was a late victim.

“We had way more chances than they did,” Aleardi said. “They just got a couple lucky extra bounces.”

Rangers blueliner Ryan Murphy also hip-checked a rushing Aleardi into a full tumble. It was an Old School moment from the OHL’s top scoring defender, who didn’t have a point.

“We needed some momentum,” said Murphy, who figured he’d land a big hit if he wasn’t scoring any big goals.

Matt Tipoff’s 14-game points streak came to an end.

The Rangers host the struggling Guelph Storm on Tuesday.

jhicks@therecord.com

 

Rangers 3 at Whalers 2

First period:

1. Plymouth, Czarnik 4 (Schmitz, Brown) 4:58

2. Kitchener, Landeskog 16 (Akeson) 5:22

3. Kitchener, Lorentz 2 (unassisted) 15:50

Penalties – Czarnik, Ply (holding) :25; Devane, Ply (boarding) 7:53; Heard, Ply (tripping) 12:50; Catenacci, Kit (holding opponent’s stick) 17:46

Second period:

No scoring.

Penalties – R.J. Mahalak, Ply (checking from behind) 6:37; Thomson, Kit (hooking) 18:13

Third period:

4. Kitchener, Young 1 (MacLean) 3:08

5. Plymouth, Brown 8 (Livingston, Heard) 14:38

Penalties – None.

 

Shots on goal:

Kit 10-5-4 19

Ply 7-14-10 31

 

Goaltenders: Brandon Maxwell, Kit. Scott Wedgewood, Ply.

Power plays: Kit (0-4), Ply (0-2)

Referees: Brad Beer, Scott Hoberg

Linesmen: Scott Thornton, Matt Prozaki

Attendance: 3,969

Maxx vs. Wedgewood

That's the matchup in Plymouth tonight. Teams on for warmups.

Follow the game on my Twitter feed, @HicksWR_Record

Mo-mentum

By Jeff Hicks

Record staff

KITCHENER –

If only coach Steve Spott could just lock his two Kitchener Rangers goalies into the Fly Chamber for an experiment gone right.

You know, merge the two sci-fi style.

Take the relaxed Mike Morrison and blend him with the uber-intense Brandon Maxwell.

Whatever came out – Morrwell? Maxison? – would be a monstrous crease creation.

Take Mo’s Don Ho breeziness and add a little of Maxx’s Don Rickles warmth.

“I’d like to see both guys take something from the other guy,” said Spott after Morrison made 29 saves in Friday’s 4-1 Ontario Hockey League win over the Brampton Battalion before 6,346 at the Aud.

“Brandon sometimes can be ultra-competitive. Mike sometimes can be ultra-conservative.”

Maxwell gets the start Saturday as the Rangers try to run their winning streak to six games against the Whalers.

Morrison saw his shutout string of 144 minutes end with Ian Watters’ late goal on Friday.

His bid for a second straight shut out – he beat Belleville 8-0 a week ago – fell four minutes short.

“That was one I didn’t want to give up,” Morrison said.

“What can you do?”

Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. That’s Mo.

Not Doris Day but Morris-Day.

He nearly joined Josh Unice, John Murray and Scott Dickie on the list of recent Rangers goalers to pull off back-to-back blank jobs.

Funny thing was, after the game, he was congratulated by a fan in a Murray No. 31 jersey. Murray was a free-spirited flake, even by goalie standards.

Maxx and Moe are total opposites.

“We’re two completely different characters but we both get the job done,” Morrison said.

The Rangers nearly sent Morrison to Sarnia at last year’s trade deadline when a swap to deliver veteran tender Mavric Parks to Barrie stalled. Had Parks stayed in Kitchener, Morrison would have gone to the Sting. But Parks made it to Barrie.

Now, Morrison gives Spott a nice contrast in goal to Maxwell.

“Both of them are unique,” Spott said.

“Both of them have different styles. They both have been playing well as of late.”

Tyler Randell, Matt Tipoff, Gabriel Landeskog and Jamie Doornbosch scored for Kitchener. Jason Akeson, the OHL’s top scorer, had two assists.

Tipoff’s late goal ran his points streak to a league-best 14 games.

jhicks@therecord.com

 

Battalion 1 at Rangers 4

First period:

1. Kitchener, Landeskog 15 (Catenacci, Akeson) 9:49

Penalties – Jasper, Kit, Tanski, Bram (checking from behind, fighting) 4:03; Crescenzi, Kit (slashing) 10:21

Second period:

2. Kitchener, Doornbosch 5 (Akeson, Landeskog) 13:17

3. Kitchener, Randell 3 (unassisted) 17:30

Penalties – Wind, Bram (slashing) :49; Bench, Kit (too many men, served by McEneny) 2:24; MacLeod, Bram (slashing) 6:52

Third period:

4. Kitchener, Tipoff 10 (Rieder, Jasper) 12:50

5. Brampton, Watters 12 (Goodrow, Tanski) 16:03

Penalties – Murphy, Kit (high-sticking) 3:23; Pereira, Bram (holding) 9:49;

 

Shots on goal:

Kit 9-11-15 35

Bram 8-11-11 30

 

Goaltenders: Mike Morrison, Kit. Dennis Saikkonen, Bram.

Power plays: Kit (0-4), Bram (0-3)

Referees: Ryan Carroll, Ben Wilson

Linesmen: Frank Rocca, Garrett Rank

Attendance: 6,346

Tweet time

Started tweeting from the Aud for tonight's game.

Check it out on The Record's twitter feed.

http://www.twitter.com/WR_Record

Mo gets the start in goal.

50 til puck drop.