Rangers Report

Chasing Stanley

There is just something magic about the combo of Peter DeBoer and Steve Spott.

The pair won two OHL titles with the Kitchener Rangers as coach and assistant.

After a brief break, they're back together again and just four wins away from a Stanley Cup.

Winning, it seems, just follows the duo.

San Jose has been trying to get to the NHL final for 25 years. They've come close before but didn't get over the hump until DeBoer and Spott (and assistant Bob Boughner) joined the fray.

And they're making the most of the opportunity.

Vallati focused, ready for OHL

The adjustment phase won't be long for Giovanni Vallati.

The Kitchener Rangers first draft pick - who signed a deal with the club yesterday - has already been away from home for a year.

He left Ottawa to play in Toronto last year. So he's already gone through the transition of living with billets, studying in a new school (in his case home schooled) and playing with new teammates.

And that's good news for the Rangers.

One less thing to worry about with their prized blueliner, who will be a big part of the back end this season.

Rangers ink Vallati

The Kitchener Rangers have signed defenceman Giovanni Vallati.

The Ottawa native was the team's first round selection (16th overall) in this year's OHL draft.

The 6-foot, 186-pound blueliner played for the Vaughan Kings this past season and had nine goals and 27 assists in 64 games.

He joins forward Dylan Seitz as the team's second signing this off-season.

Signed players for 2016-17:

Forwards:

Adam Mascherin
Jeremy Bracco
Connor Bunnaman
Mason Kohn
Darby Llewellyn
Nick Magyar
David Miller
Jake Henderson
Nick McHugh
Jacob Cascagnette
Joseph Garreffa
Greg Meireles
Dylan Seitz

Defencemen:

Frank Hora
Dylan Di Perna
Connor Hall
Doug Blaisdell
Elijah Roberts
Alex Peterson
Giovanni Vallati

Goalies:

Luke Opilka
Dawson Carty
Luke Richardson
Liam Devine

Tkaczuk promoted

The Kitchener Rangers have promoted Daniel Tkaczuk from assistant to associate coach.

It's the first big move by new skipper Jay McKee who joined the Rangers last season along with Tkaczuk.

McKee is now on the hunt for an assistant coach.

He has received dozens of applications from all levels of hockey. The former NHLer has also reached out to some of his former teammates.

There is no rush to fill the post.

Tkaczuk is well liked and a great hire. He is a skills specialist and helped run drills at practice last season among a myriad of other things.

Rangers roundup

A few items to pass along your way as the off-season plods along.

Rookie, er spring, camp wrapped up this weekend at the Activa Sportsplex.

Forty six players took part. Here are a few that stood out:

Greg Meireles: Last year's first round selection was one of the highest scorers in the three day camp with one goal and four assists in four games. That's a good sign for the forward who will join the Rangers for a full season in September. The team will need his offence as it could lose about half its goals from last season once the overage situation is figured out.

Riley Damiani: Kitchener's second round pick and first forward taken in this year's draft had three goals and an assist in four games playing on the top line of Team Skinner with Meireles and Nick McHugh. He hasn't signed with the Rangers yet but should be in blue by the time training camp rolls around.

Cole Donhauser: The free agent invite was impressive with four goals and an assist in three games for Team Boedker. The forward had 30 points in 27 games for Nichols Prep in Buffalo this past season.

Chris McGonigle: The 17-year-old goalie out of Ridley College won all three games, collected a shutout and allowed just two goals in three games as his Team Boedker won the tournament. Not bad for a free agent, especially with two Rangers goalies at camp.

Joseph Garreffa: You kind of expect the "veterans" to have a good camp when mixed with the rookies. But it's still nice to see it actually happen. Garreffa, who spent all of last season in the OHL, had five points for Team Landeskog. His mix of speed, creativity and skill will be exciting to watch next season as he takes on a more prominent role with the Rangers.

Jason Brancheau: Another intriguing American that impressed with five points in four games at camp. The Michigan native had 78 points in 25 games at the high school level last season.

***

I had a chance to catch up with a few Rangers at camp and got their thoughts on the recent coaching changes at the Aud.

The sentiment I'm getting is that the players were happy to learn that Jay McKee was moving up the ladder after Mike Van Ryn's departure.

In fact, the status of McKee and assistant Daniel Tkaczuk was one of the first questions players had for management after the news broke.

***

The odds aren't great.

But Dylan Seitz proved that you can sign an OHL deal even if you're not taken until the 15th round of the draft.

The forward was Kitchener's last pick in 2015 but officially inked a contract with the club a week or so ago. The deal was announced Sunday.

Seitz had 29 points in 53 regular season games for the Ontario Junior Hockey League's Buffalo Jr. Sabres this past season.

Rookie camp under way

Rangers rookie camp runs today until Sunday at the Activa Sportsplex.

Forty six rookies and a few sophomores will be split into three squads - Team Landeskog, Team Skinner and Team Boedker.

Game schedule:

Friday: Skinner vs Boedker, 7:3o p.m.
Saturday: Boedker vs. Landeskog 10:30 a.m., Landeskog vs. Skinner, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: Second place vs. Third place, 9 a.m., First place vs. winner, 10:15 a.m.

Team Landeskog:

Goalie: Lucas Pfeil

Defencemen: Giovanni Vallati, Matt Doyle, Tim Fallowfield, Adrien Bisson, Noah Rowland

Forwards: Joseph Garreffa, Eric Guest, Nolan Moyle, Jake Desando, Liam Peyton, Brayden Patricia, Max Ewart, Sam Ellwood, Matt Dicesare.

Team Skinner:

Goalies: Luke Richardson, Liam Devine

Defencemen: Alex Peterson, Merrick Rippon, Anthony Azzano, Jack Tucker, Tanner Brown

Forwards: Nick McHugh, Riley Damiani, Greg Meireles, Matt Pitchenese, Andrew McIntyre, Andrew Poulias, Daniel Berno, Anthony Carella, Jason Brancheau.

Team Boedker:

Goalie: Chris McGonigle

Defencemen: Elijah Roberts, Jack York, Nicholas Durajlija, Kyle Gentles, Greg Arnburg

Forwards: Dylan Seitz, Scott Del Zotto, Ian Vucko, Cole Donhauser, Blair Butchart, Michael Boushy, Alex Lycett, Sean Josling, Jason Stachelbeck.

New man in charge

A bit of a whirlwind week eh?

One coach out, another in.

When the dust settled former associate coach Jay McKee was promoted to take over for Mike Van Ryn who moved on. I wouldn't be surprised to hear MVR announce a job with a pro team sometime soon.

UPDATE: According to the Miami Herald, the NHL's Florida Panthers have fired assistant coach John Madden and are hiring two new assistants to fill the void.

As for the Rangers? It's McKee's lot now.

And it'll be his job to hire an associate. Again, wouldn't be shocked if current assistant Dan Tkaczuk is promoted to that role and the club replaces his assistant position.

As far as the hockey goes McKee said it'll be business as usual, in so many words.

He was brought in to fit the blueprint that GM Murray Hiebert and his staff have put in place - build from the draft, be competitive annually, play entertaining hockey etc.

McKee has played under and alongside some top coaches. And they've all left an impression.

Of course, he also has 14 years of NHL experience as a defenceman.

McKee takes over Rangers' bench

The Kitchener Rangers named Jay McKee as their new head coach Thursday afternoon.

The former NHL defenceman served as the club's associate coach this past season under Mike Van Ryn, who resigned for family reasons earlier this week.

McKee played 14 seasons in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was an assistant coach for Buffalo's American Hockey League farm team in Rochester for one season and spent another year alongside bench boss Kris Knoblauch with the OHL's Erie Otters before joining the Rangers last season.

The Rangers are now looking for an associate coach.

News and notes

Erie bench boss Kris Knoblauch was named the OHL coach of the year Tuesday and it was a fitting pick.

It's not easy to hit the 50-win mark in the league let alone do it in three consecutive seasons like the Otters skipper did (that is an OHL record by the way).

Knoblauch received 73 points. Windsor's Rocky Thompson was second with 36 and ex-Rangers coach Mike Van Ryn third at 22 points.

Thompson guided Windsor, a team that few expected to make any noise, to a fifth place finish and 87 points in the west during his first year as coach. Van Ryn had the injury plagued Rangers in contention all season.

***

Connor Bunnaman and Adam Mascherin have been invited to take part in the NHL draft combine.

As per the NHL release: Teams will have the opportunity for 1-on-1 interviews with the prospects at First Niagara Center from May 30 through June 3. The medical examinations will take place June 2, and a majority of the fitness testing will take place at HarborCenter on June 4. 

Locals Nathan Bastian (Mississauga), Logan Stanley (Windsor) and Boris Katchouk (Soo) were also invited as were Rangers picks Adam Fox, Griffin Luce and Charles McAvoy.

***

The Rangers rookie camp runs Friday to Sunday at the Activa Sportsplex. Rosters should be out soon.

Van Ryn resigns

Mike Van Ryn is gone.

He handed in his papers today. Family reasons was cited in a news release from the team.

The Rangers got one short season out of the former NHL defenceman. And it was a good one. Fourth overall in the OHL and a long overdue playoff series win.

The team didn't see it coming. Though, with three small children and a home in Florida, aside from the one in Kitchener, it's not overly shocking.

So the search for a new coach is on. Third time in four years for Murray Hiebert. At least his resume pile isn't light. It was just a year ago that he hired Van Ryn.

Jay McKee (associate coach) and Daniel Tkaczuk (assistant coach) are candidates. I could see both being coaches and good ones at that. The Rangers have gone in-house for the last three hires so history suggests it'll be an inside man.

So much for a quiet off-season.

Back to back for Blue

Make it two years straight for GTHL Blue at the OHL Gold Cup.

The final was a repeat of last year with Blue taking on Alliance. And once again it was a Blue win. This time, 6-1.

Four power play goals proved to be the dagger.

Eight Kitchener Rangers draft picks took part.

Here are their stats:

D Giovanni Villati (1st round pick): 5A, 5GP. Lost in semis.

F Riley Damiani (2nd): 2A, 5GP, both helpers in championship win.

D Merrick Rippon (2nd): 1G, 1A, 5GP, tied for third in team scoring, lost in semis.

F Eric Guest (3rd): 1G, 2A, 5GP, lost in final.

D Jack York (5th): No points in 5GP. Out in semis.

G Lucas Pfeil (6th): 1-1 with a 4.06 GAA and .881 save percentage. Team went 2-2-1.

F Liam Peyton (6th): 1G, 1A, 5 GP. Knocked out in semis.

F Ian Vucko (10th): 1G, 5GP. Team went 3-2.

No pushovers

Hockey Northwestern Ontario doesn't have the same resources as its southern counterparts.

And because of it, they usually lose and lose big at the OHL Gold Cup.

But the tough northerners are out to prove they belong.

So far, so good.

The team lost its opener but it was a tight 1-0 affair against Hockey Eastern Ontario. They'll look to get on track today at the tournament which runs until Sunday at the Activa Sportsplex.

HNO faces a lot of hurdles such as travel, a small population and the threat of players heading south for greener pastures.

But they continue to fight.

And they're hoping to turn some heads at the Gold Cup.

Merkley ready to make mark with Storm

Rangers fans will be getting a good dose of OHL top pick Ryan Merkley.

The defenceman, selected first overall by the Guelph Storm in this year's draft, is a key piece in the team's rebuilding efforts.

Of course, the Storm and Rangers meet eight times per season.

So get used to seeing the offensive-minded blueliner.

Funny thing, he may look familiar. Merkley likens his game to former Rangers captain Ryan Murphy. Credit the kid for admitting that out loud, especially now that he wears Guelph colours.

Merkley is still beaming about being the first overall pick. He's anxious to get to Guelph to learn, lead and add some offensive pop.

The rearguard is in town this week for the OHL Gold Cup, which begins today at the Activa Sportsplex.

Eight Rangers draft picks are also taking part: Eight Kitchener Rangers picks from this year's OHL draft are participating in the Gold Cup. They include: D Giovanni Vallati (GTHL Red), C Riley Damiani (GTHL Blue), D Merrick Rippon (HEO), C Eric Guest (Alliance), D Jack York (HEO), G Lucas Pfeil (OMHA White), LW Liam Peyton (HEO) and RW Ian Vucko (OMHA Black). 

Powering on in the post-season

The Rangers are out but there are still several former players alive and well in the post-season.

In the AHL,the Albany Devils face the Toronto Marlies in the North Division finals. Ben Thomson (2G) and Dan Kelly (1A) play for the Devils while Josh Leivo (3A) is on Toronto.

Andrew Crescenzi (1G, 2A) and his Ontario Reign take on the San Diego Gulls in the Pacific Division finals.

In the ECHL, the Wheeling Nailers are up 1-0 in their best-of-seven eastern conference semifinal against Reading. Goalie Franky Palazzese (1-1) is on the Nailers.

Defenceman Cody Sol (1G, 2A) and his Fort Wayne Komets have a 2-0 lead on the Utah Grizzlies in the western conference semifinals.