Rangers Report

Captain coming

The Kitchener Rangers will announce their captain on Wednesday.

Every year there is a front-runner but there are usually a few other players to challenge the favourite.

Not this season.

The Rangers’ captain will almost certainly be fifth-year defenceman Ben Fanelli.

He’s the club’s most reliable blueliner and is coming off two seasons in which he played 60-plus games. Fans know his story well and his remarkable comeback from a near career-ending head injury is the stuff you need in a leader.

Looking for potential assistants? Consider these candidates — Ben Thomson, Radek Faksa, Matia Marcantuoni, Curtis Meighan, Eric Ming, Brent Pedersen, Evan McEneny and Max Iafrate.

Roster rounding into form

A few experienced bodies returned to the back end on the weekend.

Defencemen Ben Fanelli (NY Rangers) and Evan McEneny (Vancouver Canucks) were both returned to the Kitchener Rangers.

Both should have a nice settling presence on the blueline.

If the pre-season has shown one thing, it's that the Rangers are enjoying a bit of a renaissance among rearguards.

Defencemen are chipping in on the scoreboard and the help has been spread around. That's quite different from last year when most of the offence came from Ryan Murphy and, later, Frank Corrado.

It's a nice, new element for the Rangers. If Owen Stewart and Jared Gilbert take another step - like they should - then the Rangers are going to have a heap of talented blueliners. Which makes you wonder if a trade is/will be in the works.

As it stands now, there aren't enough spots for Ben Fanelli, Evan McEneny, Max Iafrate, Jared Gilbert, Owen Stewart, Dmitrii Sergeev, Doug Blaisdell and Fran Hora, who was the talk of the pressbox during the friendly vs. Erie on Friday night.

And don't forget that Logan Scmidt and Scott Pedersen are in the pipeline as well.

Looks like a great problem to have for the Rangers.

Rangers down 'Dogs

The Kitchener Rangers wrapped up pre-season play with a 7-4 win against the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday.

Forward Nick Magyar led the way with two goals and an assist. Eric Ming, Kegan Blasby, Owen Stewart, Scott Teskey and Darby Llewellyn also scored.

Defenceman Jared Gilbert picked up a pair of helpers. Stewart also had a two point  night.

Goalies Matt Greenfield and Jack Moylan split the tending duties.

With a 3-2 win against Erie on Friday, the Rangers finished exhibition play with a 3-2 record. Next up is the season opener Friday at home against Saginaw.

Anarchy's final ride

The Kitchener Rangers rediscovered their winning ways Friday by edging the Erie Otters 3-2 at home.

The win broke a two game losing streak in exhibition action. Eric Ming, Max Iafrate and Nick Magyar chipped in with goals. Josh Sterk had two assists.

Goalie Tyson Teichmann picked up the win and stopped 36 shots. It was also the last home game he'll wear his biker themed mask, ironically it was Friday the 13th.

He had the TV show Sons of Anarchy painted on his old mask from Mississauga. He liked it so much, that he had it done on his new Kitchener helmet as well. It was all painted and ready to be shipped to the Aud, but the team didn't feel it was appropriate and Teichmann agreed.

So, before he ever got a chance to see it in person, a new paint job was ordered. The new one should be ready to go for the home opener.

Kitchener is back at it tonight in St. Kitts vs. the Niagara IceDogs.

Kitchener 3, Erie 2

Cory Genovese never thought he'd be coming home so soon.

The former Kitchener Rangers defenceman was settling into life up north in Sudbury after being traded this past January.

Then, about a week ago, he was sent south by the Wolves to the Erie Otters for scoring winger Connor Crisp and Jimmy McDowell.

When reached by phone, Genovese said both trades caught him completely off guard.

He fills a huge need for the resurgent Otters. The team allowed a west worst 312 goals against last year. Scoring they have in spades, but Erie needed a shutdown defenceman and got one in Genovese.

The Hespeler native spent a season and a half in Kitchener before being part of the trade deadline package that netted Josh Leivo, Frank Corrado and Joel Vienneau.

He'll have six dates instead of two against the Rangers this season. He's also happy that the Otters are turning the corner after back to back poor seasons.

***

Kitchener's lines for tonight:

Brent Pedersen-Josh Sterk-Nick Magyar
Darby Llewellyn-Curtis Meighan-Eric Ming
Ty Learn-Jimmy Soper-Scott Teskey
James Mense-Dietrich-Kegan Blasby

Jared Gilbert-Max Iafrate
Doug Blaisdell-Owen Stewart
Dmitrii Sergeev-Frank Hora
Logan Schmidt

Tyson Teichmann starts

Erie:

Dane Fox-Michael Curtis-Hayden Hodgson
Stephen Harper-Dylan Strome-Pat Murphy
Travis Wood-Kyle Pettit-Nick Betz
Quentin Maksimovich-Blake Jones-Cole Mayo

Cory Genovese-Traver Dermott
Spencer Abraham-Adam Pelech
Justin Felker-Darren Radysh

Daniel Dekoning starts

***

Puck points:

- Defenceman Jesse Young has been released by the Rangers. He is exploring his options. The Jr. B Dutchmen would love to have him back but there may be some interest in the QMJHL.

- Rangers GM Murray Hiebert says it's status quo on Ryan MacInnis (hip, day to day), Mason Kohn (ankle, week to week) and Mike Davies (upper body, questionable for home opener).

- The six Rangers at NHL camps - Ben Thomson, Ben Fanelli, Evan McEneny, Radek Faksa, Matia Marcantuoni and Justin Bailey - are still there. None returned to Kitchener yet.

- Brent Pedersen, Curtis Meighan and Eric Ming with the 'A' on their sweaters tonight.

- First period power play looked a mess for the Rangers. Lots of turnovers as well, early on.

- A shattered pane of glass seemed to energize the Rangers in the second. Two more assists for Josh Sterk, who has been on fire during pre-season play.

- Lots of talk in the press box by Erie staff and players about the play of Rangers blueliner Frank Hora. The rookie had a solid game.

- Defence really chipping in this year. Blueliner points on first three goals. All came off point shots.

- Some poor line changes tonight. Rangers lucky they didn't get caught on them.

JB's top three Rangers: Eric Ming, Josh Sterk, Tyson Teichmann

Looking back

I thought I'd dip into the vault with the Kitchener Rangers season opener a week away.

Yes, the madness begins next Friday against Saginaw at the Aud. And there will be an entirely new look on the ice.

Here is how it looked last year for the first game:

Matt Puempel-Radek Faksa-Tobias Rieder
Brent Pedersen-Matia Marcantuoni-Eric Ming
Justin Bailey-Domenic Alberga-Nick Czinder
Josh Sterk-Curtis Meighan-Matt Schmalz

Ryan Murphy-RyanHanes
Evan McEneny-Ben Fanelli
Cory Genovese-Max Iafrate

John Gibson

For the record, Kitchener beat Mississauga 3-0.

And now to look ahead a bit, the CHL has released its pre-season Top Ten. Shockingly, Memorial Cup host London is first.

1. London Knights, OHL
2. Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL
3. Portland Winterhawks, WHL
4. Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL
5. Guelph Storm, OHL
6. Prince Albert Raiders, WHL
7. Quebec Remparts, QMJHL
8. Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL
9. Kingston Frontenacs, OHL
10. Kootenay Ice, WHL

HM: Barrie Colts, OHL, Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL, Kelowna Rockets, WHL

Sterk on a mission

Third year winger Josh Sterk is preparing for a big season.

The Georgetown native didn't like the taste of watching most of the post-season from the pressbox. So, he added beef, tweaked his approach to the league and is ready to lead by example.

The end goal is to have his most productive season to date.

He leads the team with two goals and two assists in pre-season play. More importantly, he isn't getting knocked off the puck like he used to. He's also blowing past guys with his speed and is showing good vision early on.

The Rangers are still fiddling with lines. But it would be interesting to see what Sterk could do if he's reunited with '95 pals Justin Bailey and Brent Pedersen. That could be a dandy second line behind Radek Faksa, Matia Marcantuoni and Ben Thomson/Eric Ming.

Rangers hobbling into season

The road trip north this past weekend wasn't kind to the Kitchener Rangers.

Not only did the club drop both contests but it was hit with a bunch of injuries. A host of players were missing from practice today.

* First round pick Mike Davies is out for a couple of weeks and questionable for the home opener Sept 20 against Saginaw. You know it's bad when the team is saying it's an "upper body" injury.

* Forward Mason Kohn is week to week with an ankle injury.

* Ryan MacInnis remains out with a hip issue. Though, his absence, I'm told, is just precautionary at this time.

* Blueliner Doug Blaisdell has a bruised foot, but it looks like he'll be back at practice Wednesday.

* Ty Learn (hip) was back on the ice after missing the duo of weekend games.

Players trickling home

NHL prospect tournaments are over and main camps are under way.

The Kitchener Rangers sent eight players to the pre-season events and most, if not all, should be returning to the Aud in the next week.

Forward Brent Pedersen picked up a goal in Carolina's final rookie contest but is not on the list of 48 players heading to main camp. Blueliner Max Iafrate is also en route to the Aud.

That's good news for the Rangers as the Arthur native will be one of the team's front line players this season.

Centre Radek Faksa has moved on to the Dallas Stars' main camp. So too has winger Ben Thomson with the New Jersey Devils and Matia Marcantuoni with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Defenceman Evan McEneny is also main camp bound with the Vancouver Canucks while Ben Fanelli (NY Rangers) and Justin Bailey (Buffalo Sabres) will battle NHL veterans as well.

Pre-season leaders

Half the team is away at NHL prospect tournaments or resting minor injuries.

But it's still interesting to see who is starring on the scoreboard during the pre-season. Take the stats for what you will, but one key is that several of the newcomers are scoring. That's encouraging.

Pre-season leaders:

4 - Josh Sterk (2G, 2A)
3 - Doug Blaisdell (2G, 1A)
2 - Eric Ming (2A)
2 - Darby Llewellyn (2A)
2 - Mike Davies (G, A)
1 - Nick Magyar (G), Kegan Blasby (G), Mason Kohn (A), Max Iafrate (A), Evan McEneny (A), Jared Gilbert (A), Jimmy Soper (A) and James Mense-Dietrich (A)

***

In NHL rookie tourney action, forward Justin Bailey has two goals in three games for the Buffalo Sabres.

Ex-captain Ryan Murphy has six assists in three games for the Carolina Hurricanes while forward Brent Pedersen is scoreless.

Radek Faksa has a goal in a trio of contests for the Dallas Stars while Ben Fanelli is pointless in one game for the New York Rangers.

Matia Marcantuoni has been centring the third line for the Penguins' prospects.

Corrado caught on tape

Former Kitchener Rangers defenceman Frank Corrado continues to make a strong impression with the Vancouver Canucks.

He scored the lone goal in a 4-1 loss to Calgary in a prospects game this weekend and was mic'd up for the match. Give it a listen.

 

Iafrate-Lipon

Max Iafrate dukes it out with J.C. Lipon in a prospects match between San Jose and the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

Iafrate will be one of the bigger bruisers on the Rangers this season.

 

Tyson's topper

New Kitchener Rangers goalie Tyson Teichmann gives us a sneak peek at his new goalie mask for the upcoming season via Twitter.

Looks like he's a fan of SAMCRO.

UPDATE:

Sad to say my SOA mask will not see the Aud this year. New paint job in the works. #StillLoveTheShow

— Tyson Teichmann (@SaucisseLlama) September 9, 2013

 

 

Tragedy hits home

Two years ago today the worst hockey tragedy occurred when Lokomotiv's hockey team perished in a plane crash in Russia.

The accident has a personal connection for Kitchener Rangers associate coach Mike Van Ryn. The former NHLer knew three players on the plane, none better than his old defensive partner Ruslan Salei.

Van Ryn played a season and a half with Salei in Florida and remained close friends. His wife Amber still connects with Salei's wife Bethann to this day.

Only one of the 45 passengers - a member of the flight crew - survived the crash.

***

The Rangers exhibition road swing continues against North Bay in Quebec this afternoon.

The Blueshirts lost 5-2 to Sudbury last night. Nick Magyar and Mike Davies scored for the Rangers with Josh Sterk and Eric Ming collecting assists.

Goalie Jack Moylan took the loss. Matt Greenfield gets the start today.

MacInnis, Learn out

The Kitchener Rangers will be without forwards Ryan MacInnis and Ty Learn during their two-game northern road swing this weekend.

Both are out with hip injuries, suffered in practice this week.

The good news is that neither injury is considered serious and the rest is more of a precaution. No sense taking a chance at a bigger injury in exhibition play.

Goalie Jack Moylan gets the start tonight against the Sudbury Wolves. Matt Greenfield goes tomorrow against North Bay.

This evening's lineup looks like this:

Darby Llewellyn-Josh Sterk-Scott Teskey
Mike Davies-Curtis Meighan-Eric Ming
James Mense-Dietrich-Mason Kohn-Nick Magyar
Jim Soper-Kegan Blasby

Jared Gilbert-Logan Schmidt
Doug Blaisdell-Owen Stewart
Dmitrii Sergeev-Jesse Young
Fran Hora

Goalie Tyson Teichmann made the trip but it's time to see if the youngsters can shine. The rest of the vets not listed are at NHL camps.

Late round gem

No doubt the biggest surprise at training camp was rookie Mason Kohn.

The 16-year-old with ties to Quebec, New Jersey, Florida and Minnesota was a 10th round pick in this past year's draft.

You won't see many 16-year-olds who were drafted past the first few rounds make OHL clubs these days. But there is Kohn, a good two-way skater with some pop around the net.

By dressing in Sunday's exhibition game, he earned an OHL card which only improves his chances of making the club.

I finally had a chance to catch up with Kohn (pronounced Con) yesterday and he proved to be quite an interesting interview. Love the little nugget that his father Steve was the guy who brought stretch jeans to the U.S.

Kohn scored a few times during training camp scrimmages and added an assist in Sunday's 5-2 win.

It's early and I don't want to get too high on the youngsters, but I often hear how the Rangers don't develop later round picks. That doesn't seem to be the case this year with guys such as Kohn, Frank Hora, Matt Greenfield, Ty Learn and Nick Magyar making their marks.

***

A neat matchup for NHL prospects has Carolina's best taking on the New York Rangers' crew in the Traverse City, Michigan tournament. That game pits good friends, and former Rangers, Ryan Murphy and Brent Pedersen (CAR) against Ben Fanelli (NYR).

I noticed that Waterloo native, and former Ranger, Zach Lorentz is also on Carolina's roster as a free agent invite.

Radek Faksa and his Dallas Stars and Justin Bailey's Sabres are there as well.

Matia Marcantuoni is with Pittsburgh in the Toronto (Josh Leivo) tourney - held in London - that also includes the Leafs, Blackhawks and Senators (Matt Puempel).

Evan McEneny is at the Penticton, B.C. gathering with the Canucks. The Oilers, Sharks (Max Iafrate), Flames and Jets are in that one.

Murphy in the spotlight

The Kitchener Rangers are back on the ice for practice today after getting Tuesday off.

I'm heading down to the Aud for the skate later this afternoon and will get any newsy items up on the blog.

In the meantime, a bit of a mixed bag for this morning.

First, forward Ryan MacInnis is 17th on Craig Button's Top 30 for next year's NHL draft. A nice nod for the St. Louis lad.

Ex-Kitchener blueliner - and Cambridge native - Cory Genovese is on the move again. This time he goes to Erie with a 3rd and 4th round pick for Connor Crisp and Jimmy McDowell.

Over in Carolina, a lingering injury to defenceman Joni Pitkanen raises questions about the blue line that may affect ex-Rangers captain Ryan Murphy.

Speaking of Murph, the kid has his own web series on the 'Canes site. Check it out. Hilarious stuff, especially the filming of the early morning wake up call (beginning of Part 2). The series is six parts - six - and more than an hour long.

 

Part 2:

Part 3:

 

Part 4:

 

Part 5:

 

Part 6: Coming Sept. 9

Patience pays off

A feel good story emerged out of Kitchener Rangers training camp on the weekend when local defenceman Logan Schmidt committed to the club.

Schmidt was bypassed in the OHL draft and even cut by the Jr. B Kitchener Dutchmen last year, before earning a call up midway through the season.

Despite it all, he still earned an OHL contract with the Rangers due to a strong training camp. The club likes his offensive upside and speed.

Schmidt, a Woodland Christian High School student, will start the year with the Dutchies. Peg the 17-year-old as an emergency replacement this year and a more permanent option for down the road.

***

The action shot above is from Sunday's 5-2 win against North Bay (pretty sure I will call them Brampton at some point this season, so bear with me).

The Rangers were without several regulars for the game, but so were the Battalion. Regardless, it was nice to see some scoring, energy and youthful excitement.

***

Got a question about OHL cards in the comments. Figured many might be wondering how they work, so I'm gonna post the info here.

There are a ton of rules surrounding the cards and I won't get into all of them. But the basics are that each team can sign 30 players to OHL cards per season.

Once a player is on an OHL card, it is burned, even if you trade the guy. Also, if you acquire a player, his card counts toward your total.

Teams can also place players on Jr. B cards and call guys up as injury replacements (rookie Kegan Blasby was one such player last year). Those players do not count toward your OHL total. Though for those on Jr. B cards, as soon as a player skates 10 games, the OHL card kicks in.

And just to make things more confusing, if you dress a 16-year-old in an exhibition game, said player automatically gets an OHL card. Sunday, Doug Blaisdell, Mike Davies and Mason Kohn played, putting them in that category. Now, as mentioned, they can always been sent down to Jr. B, but it would make little sense to waste such a valuable card on someone not skating in the league.

By my math, the Rangers should have 23 of their 30 cards occupied to start the season, leaving seven open spots for call ups, trades or additions out of pre-season play.

Roster movement

There will be bodies floating on and off the roster in the coming days.

Eight Kitchener Rangers are off to NHL camps beginning Tuesday. They include: Ben Fanelli (New York Rangers), Evan McEneny (Vancouver Canucks), Radek Faksa (Dallas Stars), Matia Marcantuoni (Pittsburgh Penguins), Ben Thomson (New Jersey Devils), Brent Pedersen (Carolina Hurricanes), Justin Bailey (Buffalo Sabres) and Max Iafrate (San Jose Sharks).

As for the roster, you can add Doug Blaisdell, Mason Kohn and Mike Davies as locks for spots. By playing in Sunday's exhibition game, the Rangers burned OHL cards on the trio of 16-year-olds. Now, the team could elect to send the guys to Jr. B, but they'd still be occupying an OHL card, so it's unlikely the club would do that.

No matter, all three are deserving. Davies and Blaisdell were the team's first two picks (round 1 and 3) in this year's draft.

Kohn went in the 10th round but has impressed at camp and in exhibition play by picking up points and blocking shots.

As for Blaisdell, coach Troy Smith said he will in fact see some time on the point on the power play "if he keeps playing the way he is."

Blaisdell had a pair of goals in Sunday's 5-2 win over North Bay.

Kitchener 5, North Bay 2

Familiar surroundings.

I'm sitting in the media room, a Timmies steeped tea by my side and it's the start of another Kitchener Rangers season.

I guess technically we're still in exhibition mode, but being back at the Aud and gearing up for a game day feels like the real deal.

So, let's treat it as such on the blog.

North Bay is in town for a friendly. Kitchener is resting some stars. Here is how it looks for the Rangers:

Ben Thomson-Ryan MacInnis-Nick Magyar
Ty Learn-Curtis Meighan-Scott Teskey
James Mense-Dietrich-Mason Kohn-Kegan Blasby
Darby Llewellyn-Josh Sterk-Mike Davies

Dmitrii Sergeev-Frank Hora
Jared Gilbert-Doug Blaisdell
Evan McEnenyl-Max Iafrate

Tyson Teichmann
Matt Greenfield

North Bay:

Vincent Praplan-Nick Paul-Matthew Santos
Blake Clarke-Mike Amadio-Calvin Gomes
Brandon Robinson-Brett McKenzie-Alex Henriksson
Mike Baird-Jamie Lewis-Daniel Volpe

Shawn Tessier-Marcus McIvor
Dylan Blujus-Kyler Keating
Brenden Miller-Mark Raycroft

Brendan O'Neil
Jake Smith

Puck points:

- I've missed a few practices/scrimmages this week, but the team has been riding MacInnis and Magyar as a tandem quite a bit.

- Yesterday, the club announced that it got a commitment from free agent defenceman Logan Schmidt, who spent last year with the Kitchener Dutchmen.

- Most improved Ranger from last year? So far, looks like Ty Learn.

- Curtis Meighan, Ben Thomson and Evan McEneny wore the 'A'

- Russian import Dmitrii Sergeev still adjusting but looks good, a smooth skater

- Rookie defenceman Doug Blaisdell looks really comfortable working the point on the power play. Let's hope the club let's him get a turn in real action.

- Another positive is the spread out scoring with d-men picking up three of the five goals.

- Positives have to be kept in perspective as it is only pre-season. Negatives too. One that wasn't encouraging was watching the Troops outshoot the Rangers 43-34.

- Tyson Teichmann made 41 saves. One goal he allowed was on a five-on-three PP. He also has some nifty looking blue pads.

- Goal scorers for Kitchener - Blaisdell 2, Sterk, Blasby, McEneny. Llewellyn two assists, singles to Iafrate, Mense-Dietrich, Davies, Gilbert and Kohn.

- 2,677 at the game today

JB's top three Rangers: Tyson Teichmann, Darby Llewellyn, Doug Blaisdell