The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Blue team are the Motown Cup Champions after beating the Oakville Thunder 5 to 2 Sunday evening in Detroit.
The Rangers didn’t have an easy path to the being champions but went undefeated in the tournament with a record of 4 wins and a tie. Due to some teams backing out the Rangers found themselves in a loop of 6 teams with 3 being from the 2004 age bracket. Once the round robin was completed the team accomplished advancing in the Tier 1 grouping as the only 2005 club! The Rangers responded by not only playing inspired hockey but by outscoring the older teams 9 to 2!
Aiden Radatus set the tone with a 4-0 shutout win in the semi finals. This was the second shutout for Radatus in as many games across the border. Hayden Smith maned the crease in the final and never looked back.
The list of heroes in the game was as long as the roster. Ethan Lafleur scored not one, but two, highlight reel goals displaying beautiful hands on both. Evan Peori was a sniper on both his two goals as well and Jacob-Reid-Brant continued his goal prowl with yet another goal on the season.
The scoring summary was as follows: Peori from Spencer Bulyaki and Noah Roden; Lafleur from Roden and Aydan Costello; Lafleur from Costello and Connor Pinos; Peori from Pinos and Kailum Belanic; Reid-Brant from Connor Coughlin.
The Rangers coaches preached the importance of playing in all three zones and were pleased to see players like Jack Masters and Keenan Hack (tournament MVP and forward this tournament) step up and excel.
Hayden Smith was on top of his game. Smith made a momentum changing save with the game on the line and the Rangers never looked back.
Noah Park was a stingy player for the Rangers. Park played some of his best hockey and made it really hard to gain the zone by gapping up and challenging players at the line blueline. Kodi Blackshaw was amazing all tournament as well compiling 8 assists through five games. Blackshaw continually made impressive outlet passes and was dependable all game. Andrew Bishop played his role picture perfectly and offset the age gap by defending his goalie and keeping the older players honest with his no fear play.
What was even more impressive all weekend was the balance of scoring all throughout the Rangers line-up as every player recorded a point.
Congratulations to the Rangers players for working hard and sticking to the coach’s game plan!
Go Rangers!
Tournament Statistics:
|
Player
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
|
N. Park
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
|
K. Hack
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
|
C. Pinos
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
|
E. Peori
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
|
N. Roden
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
|
A. Costello
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
|
E. Lafleur
|
5
|
2
|
2
|
|
C. Coughlin
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
|
A. Bishop
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
|
K. Belanic
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
|
K. Blackshaw
|
5
|
0
|
8
|
|
S. Bulyaki
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
|
J. Masters
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
|
J. Reid-Brant
|
5
|
5
|
2
|
|
GP
|
W
|
T
|
SO
|
|
H. Smith
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
|
A. Radatus
|
2
|
0
|
2
|