The Kitchener Rangers claimed the OHL championship title on Saturday night, by beating the Ottawa 67s in five games. The Rangers march to the cup began by winning the regular season crown. In the first round they dispatched the Sault Greyhounds in 4 straight games. They met their bitter rival the Guelph Storm in the second round and avenged their defeat from last year by taking the Storm in 5. In the Western Conference Final, the Rangers faced their hardest task, beating the Plymouth Whalers, which they did in 7 games, despite being down 3 games to 2 heading back to Plymouth. In the finals, Ottawa won the first game in overtime despite being badly out shot and outplayed. The Rangers won the next 4, two in overtime and two by 4-1 margins.
The recipe for Kitchener’s success started in the summer of 2001 when Peter Deboer and Steve Spott were lured away from Plymouth to become the coach and manager of the Rangers. The Rangers organization was in disarray and in bad need of leadership, but it did have a couple of aces for the new coaches to work with, Derek Roy and Steve Eminger. The Rangers went out and drafted another star player that year, selecting center Mike Richards in the first round of the OHL draft. They picked up a sniper in the European draft, Czech winger Petr Kanko. The OHL was the host league for the Memorial Cup in 2002 and the Rangers at one point were looking like strong contenders to bid on it. A horrible losing streak in December knocked them out of contention of the bidding process, as you have to be in the top 4 teams in your conference to make a bid on hosting the cup and because of the losing streak the Rangers had slid out of the top 4. The leaders of the team went through some adversity too. Derek Roy had a tough autumn as he was handed a severe suspension by the league and then wasn’t invited to try out for the Canadian Junior team because of a glut of offensive centers. Eminger was invited but was the last cut on defence. At the same time, Kanko was dealing with the language barrier and the cultural differences. The Rangers went on to have a decent regular season but were crushed in the first round by Guelph in four straight games.
Over the summer of 2002, the Rangers plugged a few holes. They acquired Greg Campbell, a Florida Panther pick, from the Whalers. Campbell played on a line with Roy all season and brought a good set of hands to the front of the net, and he wasn’t afraid to get his nose dirty in the corners. His strong two way game with a bit of physical presence was what the small Rangers were looking for. The OHL draft brought them another talented forward in Evan McGrath. They also brought in some grit and size by trading for defenceman George Halkidis and winger David Clarkson. With a good nucleus back, the team was poised to have a good year, but NHL training camps threw them a curve. Derek Roy stuck around at the Buffalo Sabres camp a long time before being sent back. Eminger had a strong showing at the Washington Capitals camp and made the team, leaving a big void on the blue line for the Rangers. They used their three over age cards to shore up their back end, newly acquired Halkidis joined with returning veteran TJ Eason on defence, and Scott Dickie returned in net for one last season. The Rangers played all of December without Roy and Campbell who made the Canadian junior team and played a key role in winning the silver medal at the World Junior Tournament. They were reunited with Eminger who was assigned to the team by the Capitals. The Rangers were then thrilled to have Eminger returned to them after the tournament.
The Rangers advanced through the 2003 playoffs because their best players were their best players. Captain Derek Roy was named the Most Valuable Player of the Playoffs, a real no brainer. He played well over 20 minutes a game and averaged a point and a half in the playoffs, registering a point in all but one of the 21 games he played. He was a force on the penalty kill, and usually was pitted head to head against the other team’s top line. That meant seeing lots of highly touted Dustin Brown and fellow Sabre draft pick Dan Paille in the Guelph series. Against Plymouth, it meant lining up across from another Sabre pick, Chris Thorburn, or maybe against the OHL Over age Player of the Year, Chad Larose. His next challenge was the OHL Player of the year and top scorer, Corey Locke of Ottawa, who Roy outplayed by a large margin in every game except game 4 where Locke had 3 goals (2 on the power play). When Kitchener went with four lines, Roy would usually play on the first line, take a breather and be put right back out with the third line wingers. His most memorable shift was when Kitchener was down two men in game 3 and Ottawa had a chance to crawl back into the game. Roy killed nearly 30 seconds by ragging the puck and then forced the 67s to take a penalty when a frustrated Matt Foy finally dragged him down. Roy is one of the most dynamic puck handlers in the OHL and uses his speed and puck handling to attack the net. His only weakness is a tendency to cut to the middle on his backhand where he often fails to get a strong shot away. He will be a very strong candidate to make the Sabres next season.
Another reason Roy is so effective is the play of a very strong second line which is centered by Mike Richards with Petr Kanko and Nathan O’Nabigon on the wings. O’Nabigon was acquired from Mississauga to provide some grit. He goes to the slot to look for rebounds or to get open when his highly skilled line mates shake their checks. Richards is a lot like Roy, a smallish highly skilled center who should go in the first three rounds this June at the NHL draft. Kanko, a L.A. King third rounder, zooms around the ice like a buzz saw, and is very dangerous with the puck and he loves to throw big body checks. If he had been born in Kingston instead of the Czech Republic, he would be a Don Cherry favourite. This line absolutely destroyed Ottawa’s second line. Richards feasted on former Edmonton Oilers pick, Lou Dickenson. The over age center had the speed to match up with Richards, but as he showed throughout his five year OHL career, he lacks the effort, positioning, desire, and hockey sense to go with his abundant talent. Kanko on the other hand, loves to compete and was a constant thorn in the side of the opposition all year long. Think Esa Tikkanen or Darcy Tucker, and you will have a good idea what his NHL career may shape up to be. Kanko, O’Nabigion and Richards had a strong final series, picking up a number of key goals to lead their team to the title.
On defence the Rangers went mostly with their top 2 pairs once Coyote pick Marcus Smith returned from injuries to pair up with Eminger. Overager Halkidis and Andre Benoit were a very effective duo and contributed a lot on the scoreboard; none bigger than the double overtime game winner by Halkidis in game 4. Both pairs move the puck well, take care of business in their own end, and can log a lot of minutes. The third pair of Eason and Thomas Harrison are no slouches either and give the Rangers a very strong defensive corps. Eminger is the kingpin on defence, usually playing 25 to 30 minutes a game. He is always matched up against the other team’s top line, and he plays in all special teams situations. He is an effortless skater and loves to change speeds and directions. He could stand to work on his first two steps and go straight up the ice more. He is a strong passer and always has his head up. He does not possess a very strong shot and will have to work on this as his career progresses. But he is a guy who should play for a long time in the NHL. He may never be a big scorer, but he will log a lot of minutes and get his share of assists.
The lone rookie to play for the Rangers in the playoffs was their first round pick of 2002, forward Evan McGrath. He scored the first and the last goals of the final series and both were beauties. One was a one-timer with a lightning quick release; the last one was a gorgeous deke on a breakaway. He saw action on left wing with the third line when Roy was double shifting, but when the Rangers went to three line hockey his ice time diminished. He saw some time on the power play and did well in his first post season. Like 95% of the sixteen years old players in the OHL, he has to get stronger physically, but he has good size, skating and puck handling abilities. He will move to the second line center role next season and should be a decent prospect for the 2004 NHL draft.
Goaltender Scott Dickie played every minute in goal for the Rangers this postseason and his played ranged from spectacular to scary. He played well in all the over times against Ottawa, but sometimes was known to let a weak one in during regulation. He appeared vulnerable when Ottawa had the puck behind the goal line as he had trouble getting square when the puck would go back out front. All in all he played strong steady hockey, and as an overager, he is looking for a contract in the professional ranks next season. Look for him to stick with an ECHL team and time will tell if he can move up from there.
Next week the Rangers will compete for the Memorial Cup. They will likely use three lines for a good chunk of the game, and the top 2 lines play the transition game as good as any. They are not an overly physical team, but it’s the old adage, you can’t hit what you can’t catch. When you do catch them, they have a number of skaters who are very strong on their skates and hard to knock off the puck. They play a very aggressive penalty kill, using their speed to take away space and time. Their power play is more freelance than structured, when the puck goes to the point they like to go from partner to partner, or they set a pick to allow the defence to move to the middle where they like shooting low wrist shots hoping for a tip. Down low the forwards will try to beat you with their speed on the cycle or just plain beat you one on one. Expect to see a lot of Eminger and Roy, and get ready for the manic play of one Petr Kanko, he of the blonde Mohawk. This is a team that has at least six guys (Roy, Campbell, Kanko, Richards, Eminger and Smith) who will play at the AHL level or above once they are done their junior careers and if Dickie can give them steady goaltending, expect them to make a lot of noise in Quebec City.
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