CHL This Week – Edition No. 19

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Rangers back on track on the road to Memorial Cup

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By Roger Lajoie

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The Kitchener Rangers certainly didn’t stay in a slump for very long.

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The hosts of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup hit a small bump in the road recently with three straight losses, but the Rangers have roared back with five straight wins to solidify their hold on first place in the Ontario Hockey League standings heading into this weekend’s action.

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Kitchener’s continuing excellence on the ice as they get ready to host the Cup tournament off and on the ice is one of the top stories in this week’ Edition No. 19 of the CHL This Week, a weekly look around the three CHL leagues – the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

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Despite the fact that the Rangers have a Cup berth sewn up all season, coach Peter DeBoer’s team has been a model of consistency all season, losing just nine games to date, with the OHL playoffs less than a month away.

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The 60 CHL teams in the OHL, QMJHL and WHL are all still battling for playoff positioning, with all three leagues starting their first round, best-of-seven series the week of March 17.

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The three champions then join the host Rangers at the Memorial Cup tournament in Kitchener May 16-25. If Kitchener makes it to the OHL Finals then the other OHL finalists will also advance to the tournament.

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You can follow all of the leagues at the three official websites of the leagues, www.ontariohockeyleague.com (OHL), www.lhjmq.qc.ca (QMJHL) and www.whl.ca (WHL), all season long.

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Also be sure and check out www.chl.ca throughout the season for other information on all three leagues and other CHL news stories.

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ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE

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If anyone was expecting the Kitchener Rangers to finally hit a long losing streak, they aren’t expecting any more.

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The Rangers came off a rare three-game slide to post five straight wins and as a result, are on the verge of mathematically clinching the Midwest Division in the OHL and now have a seven-point lead atop the overall standings as well.

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Kitchener (44-9-1-2) has 91 points, 20 ahead of the second place London Knights in the division and seven points clear of the Belleville Bulls in the overall standings, heading into the final three weeks of the regular season.

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The Rangers are tied for the league lead in goals and are second in goals against average, as they look to position themselves for a long playoff run by being the first seed heading into the playoffs.

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Belleville is first in the East Division, six points ahead of the Oshawa Generals, thanks to a recent 6-0-1-0 run. The Brampton Battalion has an eight-point lead on the Niagara IceDogs in the Central Division and occupies the second seed in the East as a result.

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Sault Ste. Marie (36-15-2-4) is the other OHL division leader with a two-point lead on the Windsor Spitfires in the West Division, with the Greyhounds on a four-game winning streak.

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Justin Azevedo (34-71-105) of the Rangers is the OHL’s new scoring leader, moving one point ahead of Brett MacLean of the Oshawa Generals(50-54-104). John Tavares of the Generals (35-65-100) is third.

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Mike Murphy of Belleville leads all goalies with an impressive 2.27 goals against average and a save percentage of .930. Sault Ste. Marie’s Kyle Gajewski remains second in GAA at 2.50, with Kitchener ‘s Josh Unice third at 2.51. Unice is also tied for the league lead in shutouts with four with Chris Carozzi of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and Thomas McCollum of the Guelph Storm.

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QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

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The Gatineau Olympiques are making their push for first place in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standings.

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Baie-Comeau (39-16-2-4) and Rouyn-Noranda (39-18-2-1) have led the Telus Division standings for quite awhile, and remain separated by just three points at top of the division and overall Q standings.

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But both the Drakkar and the Huskies lost two of three games this week, opening the door for the red-hot Olympiques, who have won five straight games to move to within one point of the second place and four points of first.

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The Eastern Division race is also heating up, with first place Saint John and second place Halifax going in different directions at the moment.

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Saint John has lost three straight games to see its division lead slip to just one point on the Mooseheads, who have won three straight games at the same time and now have 78 points, just one point back of the division leaders.

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Two other QMJHL teams are also hot, as Rimouski has won five straight games in the Telus Diviison to climb back into playoff contention, and Acadie-Bathurst has won four straight and nine of 10 to move into fifth place in the Eastern Division.

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There’s a new man atop the Q scoring race this week, with Halifax’s Jakub Voracek (21-68-89) now leading the way, with Claude Giroux of Gatineau (33-55-88) and Mathieu Perreault of Acadie-Bathurst (30-57-87) right behind him. The top seven QMJHL scorers are separated by six points.

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Bobby Nadeau of Chicoutimi leads in goals against average among regular goalies with a 2.60 mark, followed by Marco Cousineau of Baie-Comeau at 2.73. Ryan Mior of Gatineau is now third in GAA at 2.76 and leads the league in shutouts with five, while Kevin Desfosses of leads the league in save percentage at .911.

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WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

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The Tri-City Americans saw their lengthy winning streak snapped this week, but they remain at the top of the Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division and overall standings.

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Tri-City (44-13-2-2) still has 92 points, two points ahead of the hard-charging Spokane Chiefs in the division as the Chiefs close in thanks to a 3-0-0-1 recent run. And the two American teams have lots of company near the top of the overall standings as well.

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The Calgary Hitmen (43-16-1-3) also have 90 points to lead the Central Division, nine points ahead of second place Lethbridge and in a tie for second overall with Spokane as the race for top spot stays tight in the W, as it has been all season.

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One point further back are the B.C. Division leading Vancouver Giants, who have 89 points for a huge 15-point lead in the division and just three points out of the overall points lead as they look to capture another Memorial Cup.

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The other WHL division leaders are the Regina Pats, who lead that group by just four points over the Swift Current Broncos, who have won eight of their past 10 games.

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Tri City and Vancouver are both 8-1-1-0 in their past 10 games, setting up an exciting race between the current leaders and defending Memorial Cup champions as the WHL schedule enters its final 10 games.

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Kelowna ‘s Colin Long (26-63-89) picked up six points this week and now has a three-point lead in the WHL scoring race shrunk over Mark Santorelli of the Chilliwack Bruins (23-63-86).Colton Yellow Horn of Tri-City (45-39-84), the WHL goal scoring leader, is third after picking up seven points last week and 16 in the past two weeks.

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Tyson Sexsmith of Vancouver still leads the league in goals against average with his 1.94 mark, the lowest in the CHL. He also leads in shutouts with eight after picking up two more this past week, and is second in wins with 37. Calgary’s Dean Spence is second in GAA at 2.05, with Spokane ‘s Dustin Tokarski (2.09) is third in GAA and first in save percentage at .920.

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The CHL This Week, a weekly round up of the Canadian Hockey League, is posted every week from September to May at the official site of the CHL, www.chl.ca .

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