Rangers Report

Cup connections

Windsor did it.

They won their third Memorial Cup in the past nine years. Three in nine years.

Other teams talk of bare draft pick cupboards, rebuilding and patience. The Spits get it done. And don't forget, this is a club that had two first and second round picks taken away for recruiting violations.

A few observations from the RR.

First, the Spits owe a big thank you to the Rangers. There were few elite options - if any - left when the Spits added Jeremy Bracco for a pedestrian price at the OHL trade deadline. A rumoured Logan Stanley deal in the off-season might help remedy the deal but Kitchener's package sure seemed light considering how desperate the Spits were to add a skilled player.

Bracco led the Spits in scoring, shots, plus minus and power play points during the Memorial Cup. His addition reminds me of the London-Oshawa deals that sent Dakota Mermis and Mike McCarron to the Gens during their Mem Cup winning season. Yes it was a team effort but like that deal, Bracco really helped put Windsor over the top.

Second, the Spits are taking some flak for winning the tournament.

I can see both sides. On one hand, it doesn't seem fair that Windsor didn't have to plow through tough league opponents en route to the Cup. They didn't get beat up along the way and were fresh when the tourney started after a long layoff. Being rewarded for losing their first OHL playoff series seems backwards.

On the other hand, Windsor didn't create the Memorial Cup format. They just followed the rules already in place. And they DID beat every league champ and Erie twice to claim victory. And that's pretty impressive.

So what does this mean for Kitchener?

Some fans think a rebuild is in order. Trade Adam Mascherin, Connor Hall and Connor Bunnaman now and go for it later. The problem there is that means at least three more years of waiting. And we're already in year five of the rebuild plan.

There might be a nice window next season.

The conference looks less competitive. Kitchener is returning most of its roster which, as we've seen in the past, usually means a good year ahead. And, with the right additions, the team may just surprise. Favourites they're not, but failing to try with guys like Mascherin, Bunnaman and Hall on the roster could be an opportunity lost.

In the meantime, here are a few shots of the Cup connections - Bracco, Waterloo native Logan Stanley and the CHL's winning team. (photos taken by the OHL's Aaron Bell)

Bracco, Spits punch ticket to Memorial Cup final

Jeremy Bracco never lost faith.

The former Kitchener Rangers winger paid little attention to most of the hockey world that pegged his Windsor Spitfires as long shots at the 99th edition of the Memorial Cup.

"Many people had written us off," he said. "We knew from within that we had one of the better teams here and people are starting to see that now."

The Spits finished fifth in the Ontario Hockey League's western conference and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The lads only got into the tournament because they were hosting it.

Now, they're playing spoiler.

Windsor swept through round robin play with a perfect 3-0 record and has clinched a spot in the Memorial Cup final set for Sunday at 7 p.m. against either the Saint John Sea Dogs or Erie Otters.

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Keefe begins coaching career

Adam Keefe may have hung up his skates but he's still in the game.

The former Kitchener Rangers forward was named the new coach of the Belfast Giants of Northern Ireland last week, after playing a dozen years on the professional circuit.

"It wasn't an easy decision that's for sure," said the Brampton native, who skated for the Rangers from 2001-05. "Over the past two seasons I felt that I haven't been contributing as much as I'd like to."

So when the Giants were looking for a new boss, Keefe, who has played in Belfast for the past six seasons, jumped at the chance to step behind the bench.

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Gordon brings speed, skill

Matt Gordon doesn't hesitate.

"Gabriel Landeskog," he says when asked if he has a favourite player.

"I think we're the same (in a lot of ways) even though he's in the NHL and a lot better. He's big, he can lay the body, he can score goals and he's a good leader."

If Gordon turns out to be half the player that the slick Swede was as a junior, then the Kitchener Rangers will have struck gold.

After all, the current Colorado Avalanche forward spent two quality seasons with the Blueshirts and was the first European captain in team history.

On Tuesday, the Rangers officially welcomed Gordon to the fold by signing their third-round draft pick (58th overall) to a standard player agreement at the Aud.

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Roberts part of Jamaica's Olympic hockey dream

Jamaica has produced the world's best sprinters.

Now, the Caribbean hot spot is trying to ice a hockey team at the Olympics.

And Kitchener Rangers defenceman Elijah Roberts hopes to be there if it happens.

"Being the first to play on the team and making history would be great," he said. "It would mean the world. They have embraced what we're doing.”

To be clear, the chances of Jamaica sending a team to the Winter Games any time soon are about as likely as snow falling on the white sandy beaches of Montego Bay.

The tiny island nation — population 2.7 million — doesn't even have an arena and only became an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation five years ago.

To gain full status, the country needs a barn and a development program in place.

But the sunny destination has produced winter miracles before.

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Ladd: "Work just starting now"

The Kitchener Rangers took a big step in solidifying their back end for years to come by locking up first-round pick Grayson Ladd.

The 16-year-old defenceman was beaming as he officially signed his standard player agreement while surrounded by his family at the Aud Thursday afternoon.

"A whole bunch of good players have come out of here," said Ladd, as he glanced at name plates of former Rangers greats in the team's dressing room. "It's very honourable that's for sure."

Kitchener selected Ladd 13th overall and made him the first blueliner off the board in this year's Ontario Hockey League draft.

But the native of Kent Bridge, Ont., near Chatham, isn't feeling any pressure from that.

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OHL all-stars

OHL all-stars were announced this afternoon as selected by the league's general managers.

Here's the info as grabbed from the press release:

Players were voted on by position and received five points for a first place vote, three for a second place vote, and one for a third place vote.  In the case of defencemen, the top two selections received five points, the third and fourth selections received three points, and the fifth and sixth selections each received a single point.

First Team:
C – Dylan Strome (Erie Otters) 77 – voted 3rd team in 2015-16, 2nd team in 2014-15
LW – Adam Mascherin (Kitchener Rangers) 83
RW – Alex DeBrincat (Erie Otters) 95 – voted 3rd team in 2015-16, 2nd team in 2014-15
D – Santino Centorame (Owen Sound Attack) 77
D – Darren Raddysh (Erie Otters) 77
G – Michael McNiven (Owen Sound Attack) 89
Coach – Ryan McGill (Owen Sound Attack) 81

Second Team:
C – Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound Attack) 67
LW – Jonah Gadjovich (Owen Sound Attack) 52
RW – Petrus Palmu (Owen Sound Attack) 48
D – Ryan Mantha (Niagara IceDogs) 47
D – Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor Spitfires) 39 – voted 1st team in 2015-16
G – Tyler Parsons (London Knights) 27
Coach – Kris Knoblauch (Erie Otters) 53 – voted 1st team in 2015-16, 2nd team in 2013-14

Third Team:
C – Cliff Pu (London Knights) 25
LW – Kevin Hancock (Owen Sound Attack) 33
RW – Taylor Raddysh (Erie Otters) 26
D – Filip Hronek (Saginaw Spirit) 25
D – Olli Juolevi (London Knights) 22 – voted 3rd team in 2015-16
G – Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires) 26
Coach – Drew Bannister (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) 16

Remembering a fallen Ranger

The phone rang early in the morning. Too early.

"It was one of those things where I was wondering, who was calling me?" said Mike Penny.

It was the Ontario Provincial Police. They had some horrific news for the Kitchener Rangers general manager during that mid-May day back in 1980.

Winger Jim McGeachie's red Ford Pinto had been broadsided by an oncoming vehicle along Highway 9 near Teviotdale, and the 19-year-old was dead.

"I was stunned," recalls Penny, now a pro scout with the Toronto Maple Leafs. "He had Kitchener Rangers stuff on, so I guess that's part of how they figured it out. You hang up the phone and think, 'Oh my God.' Then it kind of settles in."

The Rangers finished last with a record of 17-51 that season, and players had already returned home for the summer.

Now it was Penny's turn to start dialing. The distraught GM picked up the phone and delivered the devastating news to every player on the roster, one by one.

The reaction was the same — tears, silence and disbelief.

"I was in shock," said former Rangers forward Mike Moher. "Like any kid at 18 years old, you can't believe it. You think you're going to last forever."

It will be 37 years Sunday since McGeachie died while heading to the shores of Lake Huron with four of his close friends.

A banner with his No. 22 still dangles from the rafters at the Aud to honour the fallen forward. No player has worn the number since.

But few fans know the story behind it.

The story of blue-collar kid from Hamilton that seemingly had everything — looks, personality, skill and a future in the NHL — taken away in a heartbeat on a lonely stretch of highway just outside Palmerston.

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Like father, like son

The names on the backs of their sweaters get noticed as soon as they step on the ice.

Bertuzzi, Staios, Primeau, Bancroft and Perrott.

Soon after, the comparisons begin.

It's the price that comes with being the son of a famous father.

In this case, for five teenagers competing at the Ontario Hockey League Gold Cup in Kitchener, the dads are all former National Hockey League players.

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