A bit of a busy morning.
Kitchener Rangers goalie John Gibson is coming back golden. His American boys beat Sweden 3-1 to win gold for the second time in four years.
Gibson had quite the tournament. He set an American save percentage record (.955), won tourney MVP, made the all-star team and was named best goaltender. Not a bad haul.
This is only going to add fuel to the trade Gibson fire. Tough call, how do you move the best junior goalie in the world right now?
It was a rough one for Canada who lost 6-5 in overtime in the bronze medal match. It's the first time since 1998 that Canada has not won a medal.
Rangers' captain Ryan Murphy had a goal and two assists. It's a hard loss for Murphy and Rangers' coach Steve Spott who told the Sun's Terry Koshan: "I have the rest of my life to reflect on this and that’s not going to be easy to do."
Meanwhile, the OHL trades continue.
Belleville made a slick move trading Sergey Kuptsov, a 2nd round pick in 2014, Niagara's 3rd round selection in 2015 and a conditional Peterborough 7th round pick in 2014 to Ottawa for Tyler Graovac. The former 67's forward was one of the big names on the market up for grabs.
Oh, and in case you missed it, the Rangers finally won at home.
Kitchener lines:
Ben Thomson-Matia Marcantuoni-Nick Czinder
Brent Pedersen-Domenic Alberga-Eric Ming
Darby Llewellyn-Josh Sterk-Justin Bailey
Keli Grant-Curtis Meighan-Matt Schmalz
Ben Fanelli-Evan McEneny
Cory Genovese-Max Iafrate
Jared Gilbert-Owen Stewart
Franky Palazzese (8-5-1-4) starts.
London lines:
Seth Griffith-Alex Broadhurst-Max Domi
Josh Anderson-Chris Tierney-Brett Welychka
Matt Rupert-Bo Horvat-Ryan Rupert
Paxton Leroux-Kyle Platzer-Remi Elie
Dakota Mermis-Tommy Hughes
Nikita Zadorov-Tyler Ferry
Miles Liberati-Kevin Raine
Jake Patterson (15-1-1-1) starts.
Puck points:
- Sarnia Sting goalie J.P. Anderson left last night's game with a lower body injury. Could be a big loss if it turns out to be serious for the west's second place team.
- The Rupert bros - Matt and Ryan - got the better of the Ben Thomson, Matia Marcantuoni and Nick Czinder line tonight, scoring twice in the opening frame. Double M is down to a minus-12.
- Assistant coach Troy Smith is back with the Rangers, but just got in this evening from Quebec and watched the game from the pressbox. He was away coaching Ontario at the U-17 tourney.
- Lots of media types raving about the play of Franky Palazzese. He certainly made some clutch saves to keep the lads in the game.
- Not sold on Jake Patterson in goal for the Knights. He gives up some juicy rebounds. Can't be doing that in the OHL final or beyond.
- Fans loud in the Bud Gardens. Several cheers throughout the game. That's always a plus for the home side who was clinging to a one-goal lead.
- That Max Domi sure likes to chirp. Winger Paxton Leroux was also trying to lure Ben Thomson into several scraps.
- Some great last minute momentum was ruined by two questionable calls against both teams courtesey of the zebras.
- Hard to believe we're 39 games in and the Rangers really haven't seen what a full healthy lineup can do. Only Ben Fanelli has suited up for every game. And that's a nice testament to his continued comeback from a brutal injury.
- Credit the Rangers who fell behind 3-0 to a powerhouse club, in their building, but still found a way to make a game of it.
JB's top three Rangers: Franky Palazzese, Eric Ming, Josh Sterk
