Preview: Rangers face-off against Highway-7 rivals in Guelph Saturday
Guelph, Ont. – The Kitchener Rangers, winners of two-straight and four of their last six, will face-off against their highway-seven rival Guelph Storm Saturday afternoon. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph. Long-time Storm and NHL forward Ryan Callahan will have his jersey retired by the franchise during a pre-game ceremony.
Notable Links:
- Buy Tickets
- TV: Rogers TV cable 20 (Kitchener)
- TV: Super Sports Pak cable 466 (Ontario)
- Video Stream: OHL Live on CHL TV
- Radio: 570 AM CKGL
- Live Stats
- Live Tweets
Head-to-head:
Kitchener is 2-0-0-0 against Guelph this season winning once on the road and again at The Aud. On Oct. 22, Kitchener earned a 4-3 overtime victory in Guelph with Fillip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens) and Hunter Brzustewicz both recording two-point nights and goaltender Jackson Parsons earning the game’s third star. Mešár recorded the game winning goal in overtime.
The Rangers have the overall advantage with a 15-10-2-1 record through the last 28 games. Half of those were played at the Sleeman Centre, the venue for tonight’s matchup. Going back to the 2018-19 regular season, Kitchener owns a 9-4-0-1 record away in Guelph. Their most impressive run was taking all four road games from Guelph in the 2019-20 regular season going 4-0-0-0.
Kitchener enters play as winners of four of their past six games. More recently, Kitchener is riding a two-game win streak with both of those wins coming against Central Division leader North Bay, sweeping the season series. Guelph has had a tougher time of late nursing a 4-5-0-1 record over their last 10 games. Guelph also played Friday night against Niagara and were able to overcome 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to earn a 6-4 victory.
Equipment is all set up in Guelph, waiting for our guys to get in from Kitchener.#OHLRangers | #60YearsofRangers pic.twitter.com/Kv1EcCEU0v
— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) November 19, 2022
Scouting the Rangers:
Marcus Vandenberg earned his first career OHL victory in Friday’s 3-2 win over the North Bay Battalion. Marcus made 39 stops and posted a .951 save percentage in the game. His best save came in the dying seconds of the game as a point-blank point shot from Ty Nelson was stopped with his right pad securing the victory.
Joseph Serpa recorded two goals in last night’s game and is now second on the team in goals with eight and third in points with 14 in 17 games so far. Kitchener is still led in points by captain Francesco Pineli who has 20 points (11G, 9A) in 16 games for the Rangers thus far.
The Rangers are currently the most disciplined team in the OHL recording the least amount of penalty minutes (161) this season. Barrie is the next closest at 173. Owen Sound and Niagara lead at 251.
Kitchener is in a three-way tie to lead all OHL teams for having the most first-time draft eligible skaters for the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft that will be held in Nashville this June 28-29. Matthew Andonovski, Hunter Brzustewicz, Cameron Mercer, Kyle Morey, Jackson Parsons, Carson Rehkopf, Blair Scott, and Adam Zidlicky are eight first-time skaters eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft, making up 32-percent, or nearly one-third, of the current Rangers’ roster.
Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) and Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) are four Kitchener skaters that are both drafted and signed by their NHL clubs respectively.
Scouting the Storm:
Max Namestnikov was acquired by Guelph in a trade with the Sarnia Sting Wednesday. In his first game with the Storm, he posted a four-point night with two goals and two assists, earning himself the game’s second star. Friday’s game was also his first multi-point game of the season.
Both defender Michael Buchinger and forward Matthew Poitras are riding five-game point streaks respectively. Buchinger has recorded seven points (1G, 6A) and Poitras has eight points (2G, 6A) in that span.
Cameron Allen is listed as an ‘A’ ranked prospect and Niko Minkkinen and Valentin Zhugin are both ranked as ‘C’ prospects on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to watch.
Michael Buchinger (St. Louis Blues), Jake Karabela (Washington Capitals), Matthew Poitras (Boston Bruins), and Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) are the four Guelph Storm skaters drated by their NHL teams respectively.
Broadcast Coverage:
Saturday afternoon’s contest in Guelph will be televised live throughout the Kitchener and Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20. The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pak on channel 466 for cable subscribers and will be streamed live online on OHL Live on CHL TV. Additionally, fans can listen to the game on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL. Mike Farwell (play-by-play) and Chris Pope (colour commentary) will call the game on the radio. For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.
Next Up:
The East Avenue Blue are back at The Aud this Sunday for a rare 6 p.m. puck drop against the Windsor Spitfires. It’s the Rangers’ ’70’s Retro Night!’ Wear your best 70’s, look and celebrate peace and love at The Aud. The game will honour the Rangers’ 70’s history, include activations, music and more from the decade. Tickets can be purchased online now by clicking here.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
[email protected]
