Kitchener Rangers

The Kitchener Rangers are a junior hockey team based out of Kitchener, Ontario. The team is in the Midwest Division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) alongside the Guelph Storm, London Knights, Erie Otters, and Owen Sound Attack.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/ohl19892010.html

The Rangers celebrated their inaugural season in 1963-64, and have since gone on to win four OHL Championships and two Memorial Cup Championships, the most recent one during the 2002-03 season. Prior to moving to Kitchener, the franchise was known as the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters. Today, the team plays in Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, which was built in 1950. The team's biggest rivals are the Guelph Storm.http://www.ohlarenaguide.com/rangers.htm

The Rangers finished the 2009-10 season in second place in the Midwest Division, finishing with a 42-19-4-3 record on the year with a total of 91 points.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/ohl19892010.html They went on to participate in the playoffs, losing in the Western Conference Finals in seven games to the Windsor Spitfires.http://www.examiner.com/brampton-battalion-in-toronto/2010-2011-ohl-season-preview-midwest-division

Leading the Rangers in goals was Jeff Skinner, who tied Chris MacKinnon in points scored with 90. Mackinnon, in turn, led the team in assists with 61 on the year. In the net, Brandon Maxwell played in 41 games, ending with a 22-14-4 record with a goals against average of 3.73, while Mavric Parks played 19 games, finishing with a 14-3-1 record and a goals against average of 2.39.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0008122010.html

Throughout the years, the Kitchener Rangers have produced many players that have gone on to have successful careers in the National Hockey League, including five players that have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. These players are Larry Robinson, Bill Barber, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, and Scott Stevens.http://bleacherreport.com/articles/442995-nhl-report-kitchener-rangers-alumni-to-watch-in-2011 Current NHL players that also played for the Rangers include Steve Eminger, Mike Richardsm David Clarkson, and Mark Fraser.http://www.ohlalumnicentral.com/ohl-alumni-big-list/

In the 2010 NHL Draft, only one player from the Kitchener Rangers was selected by an NHL team. Jeff Skinner was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in round one.http://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/NHL_2010_entry.html