The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Red team are the Alliance East/Central regular season banner winners after doing the unthinkable, going a perfect 20 and 0, topping the Waterloo Wolves White 5 to 1 Sunday morning.
This accomplishment is step one in the team’s quest to triple banner. A feat only the most elite teams have achieved and a nice addition to the teams Championships at the Cambridge MD Festival, Halton Hills Thunder Memorial Classic and the 50th Wayne Gretzky International Tournament. The Rangers have an amazing 36-win, 2 tie and 0 loss record and rank 6th in all Ontario and are the only MD ranked in the top 10 in Ontario (all the other teams are classified as "A" teams/league).
Another impressive stat is that the team has outscored the opposition 195 goals scored to 39 goals scored against which is a testament to the entire team’s commitment to play away from the puck and its strong goaltenders.
Stephen Peppas continued his hot streak with another two-goal performance. Peppas opened the scoring from Quinten Earle and Noah Park. Peppas’ second goal was from Jake Fisher Chad Morris. Earle scored from Denver Heiman and Peppas. Connor Coughlin had a goal from Caleb Cumming and Jacob Reid-Brant. Cumming closed out the scoring from Coughlin and Fisher.
In the defensive zone, the Rangers played well, with Kodi Blackshaw, Josh McDonald, Toby Pryce and Matt Gallant all making the Wolves life miserable. Meanwhile, the forwards dominated the offensive side of the game with Logan Duke and Evan Peori dominating the cycle down low with the smarts and creativity.
Owen Neomytka saved his best for near the end of the game, once again, with a tough glove save to shut the Wolves down. Neomytka was fantastic at staying alert and ready in the game and never allowed the Wolves to get any rhythm or confidence in the team’s zone.
Heading into the playoffs the Rangers will face their rival Blue team, the Burlington Bulldogs White and the gritty Brantford 99ers in what will be a very tough and competitive tier 1 grouping.
The Rangers are just starting to catch a groove and will look to some hard Toronto based A-Tournaments to help the team peak at the right time and really start firing on all cylinders.
Go Rangers!