Game Day: Rangers @ 67's

The Ottawa 67’s are back in action this afternoon to take on the Kitchener Rangers.  The 67’s are coming off a 7-3 loss to the Saginaw Spirit and will look to build off their great second period where they scored 3 goals to get back in the game.  The 67’s will need to play more consistently and more of a team to pull off wins going forward.

The Kitchener Rangers are coming off a disappointing 6-5 shootout loss to the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night.  The Rangers were down 4-0 in the first battled back and took the lead late in the third.  The Frontenacs tied it up late and forced overtime.  It took 8 rounds to decide the winner.  2014 NHL draft prospect, Ryan MacInnis had 3 assists on the night while rookie netminder Matthew Greenfield only allowed one goal in regulation and one goal in the shootout after coming in to relieve Jordan DeKort in the first.

The Rangers are in very familiar territory as the 67’s of this and last season.  They were able to battle back to take the lead, but it was the lack of experience and confidence that causes these quick turnarounds.  The Rangers are on a 8-game losing streak and only have 1 win in their last 10 games.

The Rangers lost a lot of players in the offseason including team leading scorer Joshua Leivo, Tobias Rieder, Ryan Murphy, Matt Puempel and Frank Corrado.  All 5 players are now playing in the farm systems of the respective NHL club with the exception of Ryan Murphy who is still playing with the big club in Carolina.  These 5 players were their top 5 scorers last season and accounted for 108 goals but also 269 points.

The Rangers traded a couple players since the off-season including forwards Eric Ming (Niagara), Josh Sterk (Oshawa) and defenseman Owen Stewart (Ottawa).

Most recent movement was overage starting goaltender Tyson Teichmann who decided to leave the team and persue other hockey options.  It was just announced yesterday that Teichmann joined the Wellington Dukes of the OJHL who are expected to have a stacked team as they host the Dudley Cup later this season.  This decision promoted Jordan DeKort to be the starter and call up draft pick Matthew Greenfield to back him up.

If anything about the Rangers, their best players have been their best players offensively.  Dallas Stars’ prospect Radek Faksa struggled with injury last season missing 25 games and is off to a fresh start tied for team lead in scoring.  Justin Bailey returns for his sophmore season and currently shares the lead in points with Faksa.  Matia Marcantuoni returns for his 4th season and will be looked upon for leadership for this very young forward squad.  These three players are currently the top 3 scorers on the team.

There are four new players on the blueline.  Captain Ben Fanelli returns for his overage season while Max Iafrate, Evan McEneny and Jared Gilbert also return to add some stability to the back end. 

It has already been a long season for new bench boss Troy Smith.  Smith took over for Steve Spott who is now the new head coach of the Toronto Marlies.  Sitting in last place in the league, it will be interesting to see what goes on closer to deadline.  Like the 67’s last season, it might be in their best interest to move out their top players for draft picks for the rebuild.

2013-14 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  7-11-0-0 (GF: 63 / GA: 80)

Kitchener Rangers:  4-11-0-1 (GF: 41 / GA: 68)

Leading Scorers

Ottawa 67’s

Joseph Blandisi – 12 goals, 20 points in 17 games

Ryan Van Stralen – 7 goals, 19 points in 18 games

Travis Konecny – 6 goals, 17 points in 18 games

Dante Salituro – 6 goals, 17 points in 18 games

Kitchener Rangers

Radek Faksa – 9 goals, 12 points in 15 games

Justin Bailey – 5 goals, 12 points in 16 games

Matia Marcantuoni – 5 goals, 9 points in 16 games

Players To Watch

Ottawa 67's

Joseph Blandisi - drafted 6th round to Colorado in 2013, leads team in scoring with 20 points in 17 games
Jacob Middleton - NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting B list

Alex Lintuniemi - NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list
Travis Konecny - 1st overall pick in OHL, NHL draft eligible 2015

Kitchener Rangers

Radek Faksa – drafted 1st round, 13th overall by Dallas in 2012

Justin Bailey – drafted 2nd round, 52nd overall by Buffalo in 2013

Matia Marcantuoni– drafted 4th round, 92nd overall by Pittsburgh in 2012

Ben Thomson– drafted 4th round, 96th overall by New Jersey in 2012

Brent Pedersen – drafted 5th round, 126th overall by Carolina in 2013

Evan McEneny – signed as a free agent by Vancouver

Ryan MacInnis – NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting B list

Nicholas Magyar – NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list

Overagers

Ottawa 67’s: Ryan Van Stralen, Philippe Trudeau

Kitchener Rangers: Ben Thomson, Ben Fanelli

Leadership Squad

Ottawa 67’s:  Taylor Fielding (A), Ryan Van Stralen (A), Joesph Blandisi (A)

Kitchener Rangers:  Ben Fanelli (C), Curtis Meighan (A), Matia Marcantuoni (A), Radek Faksa (A)

Potential Scratches

Ottawa 67's:  Mike Vlajkov, Taylor Davis, Adrian Sloboda (also scratched last game: Owen Stewart, Trevor Dulong, John Urbanic)
Kitchener Rangers:  ?
*follow us on twitter (@msconduct or @A_Quevillon) for game day scratches

Kitchener Rangers

Who's Gone?

Tyson Teichmann – left the team

Tobias Rieder – playing in the Edmonton Oilers farm system, Portland (AHL)

Eric Ming – traded to the Niagara IceDogs

Joshua Leivo – playing in the Toronto Maple Leafs farm system, Toronto (AHL)

Josh Sterk – traded to the Oshawa Generals

Domenic Alberga – graduated, playing with Ryerson University (OUAA)

Derek Schoenmakers – graduated, playing with Wilfrid Laurier University (OUAA)

Matt Puempel – playing in the Ottawa Senators farm system, Binghamton (AHL)

Owen Stewart – traded to the Ottawa 67’s

Frank Corrado – playing in the Vancouver Canucks farm system, Utica (AHL)

Ryan Murphy – playing with the Carolina Hurricanes

Joel Vienneau – graduated from OHL

John Gibson – playing in the Anaheim Ducks farm system, Norfolk (AHL)

Who's New?

Scott Teskey – acquired from the Mississauga Steelheads

Jimmy Soper – signed as a free agent this season

Mason Kohn – Kitchener’s 10th round pick, 182nd overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Mark Bzowey – Kitchener’s 7th round pick, 125th overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Nick Magyar – Kitchener’s 12th round pick, 239th overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Ryan MacInnis – Kitchener’s 3rd round pick, 46th overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection

Mike Davies – Kitchener’s 1st round pick, 13th overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Logan Schmidt – signed as a free agent this season

Frank Hora – Kitchener’s 8th round pick, 150th overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection

Dmitrii Sergeev – Kitchener’s 1st round pick, 23rd overall in the 2013 CHL Import Draft

Jordan DeKort – acquired from the Windsor Spitfires

Matthew Greenfield – Kitchener’s 12th round pick, 150th overall in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection

Ottawa Connection

Curtis Meighan – Ottawa native, played with the Cumberland Grads in the CCHL

Last season

2012-13 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  16-46-0-6 (10th in the Eastern Conference)
Kitchener Rangers:  39-20-1-8 (4th in the Western Conference)

2012-13 OHL Playoffs

Ottawa 67's:  Did not qualify
Kitchener Rangers: Eliminated in the seconds round by the London Knights in 5 games

2012-13 Head-To-Head Stats

Record: 2-0-0-0 for Ottawa (0-1-0-1 for Kitchener)
Combined score: 8-3 for Ottawa

Top scorers

Ottawa 67's

Tyler Graovac - 2 goals, 2 assists in 2 games
Jake Cardwell - 0 goals, 3 assists in 1 game

Taylor Fielding - 2 goals, 0 assists in 1 game

Kitchener Rangers

Boone Jenner – 0 goals, 2 assists in 2 games

Tyler Biggs – 1 goal, 0 assists in 1 game

Trevor Morbeck – 1 goal, 0 assists in 1 game