Dec 03, 2012 | Mike Cameron | 2026 views
Montreal CAN/AM Challenge Cup Champions!!
Congratulations Jr. Rangers on another thrilling tournament victory!! Facing stiff competition from the GTHL, OMHA and the USA, our Rangers travelled to Montreal and returned victorious with an abundance of hardware in tow!
Against competition from six other teams, our Rangers took home Silver in the individual shootout, goaltending and team relay race competitions. But as a team it would be nothing less than Gold in the championship final against the tourney leading 4 and 0 competition from Caledon.
Not many would have bet against the odds as we faced the #11 ranked A team in Ontario (who had beaten the #3 ranked team and tied the #2 ranked team earlier in the season), as our Jr. Rangers also had to overcome injury, colds, sore throats, headaches & flu as well as a tough result in our previous game. The coaches were trying to figure out how to get our team back on track and prepare for the game with much less than a full line up available.
But to our surprise and after pumping up sales at the local pharmacy with cough syrup, advil, and tension bandages, every player reported for duty willing to do whatever was necessary to help the team win in the Gold medal game. Some players were barely able to find the energy to play even one shift in a period, but when they did, you would never have known they were less than 100% because that's exactly what they gave to their team.
With solid goaltending and against a strong team that had only surrendered 4 goals against in their previous 4 games, our Jr. Rangers outshot, outchanced and outscored the competition to earn a hard fought 2-1 victory and take home the Gold. On behalf of the coaching staff (and I'm sure all of the parents) I would like to tell the players how proud we are of their effort, perseverence and dedication to their team in pulling out this huge character win for Kitchener. Keep up the good work Rangers as we move forward together and overcome more challenges ahead.