Preview: Rangers face Windsor in New Year’s Eve Matinée
Windsor, Ont. – The Kitchener Rangers are back in action Saturday afternoon when the Blueshirts face the Windsor Spitfires on the road. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. at the WFCU Centre in the New Year’s Eve Matinée contest.
Notable Links:
- TV: Rogers TV, cable 20 (Kitchener)
- TV: Super Sports Pack, cable 467 (Ontario)
- Video Stream: OHL Live on CHL TV
- Radio: CityNews 570 AM CKGL
- Live Stats
- Live Tweets
Rangers’ Schmidt suspended two games:
Kitchener Rangers defenceman Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) has been suspended two games after being called for a Slew Foot penalty on Fri, Dec. 30 vs. Peterborough. Schmidt will be eligible to return to the Rangers’ line-up on Friday, Jan. 6 in Saginaw.
Head to Head:
Kitchener owns an 11-9-2-0 record over the Windsor Spitfires in the past five seasons. This season has gone the way of Windsor winning both matchups this season and both have been played in Kitchener.
Kitchener has a 5-4-1-0 record at the WFCU Centre while Windsor is 5-5-0-0 on home ice in the last five seasons against Kitchener.
The last matchup at the WFCU Centre was played on March 22nd with Windsor winning a high scoring affair by a score of 7-5. Five current Rangers found the score sheet on the night highlighted by Adrian Misaljevic who recorded two assists. Cameron Mercer, Mitchell Martin, Carson Rehkopf, and Adam Zidlicky were the other skaters to record a point.
Although dropping their last two games (0-1-1-0), Kitchener is 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games and 5-6-1-0 on the road this season. Windsor is 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 and an impressive 11-3-2-1 on home ice.
Scouting the Rangers:
With Reid Valade getting credit for Kitchener’s tying goal on Wednesday in Owen Sound and scoring Kitchener’s second power-play goal on Friday night, he now has goals in six-straight games.
Both Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) and Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) extended point streaks as well Friday. Francesco Arcuri ranks second in the OHL for goals-scored with 24, and Francesco Pinelli is now 13th in league scoring with 41 points (20G, 21A) in 26 games.
Carson Rehkopf scored on the power-play Friday, putting him alone in second in the OHL in power-play goals
Washington, Mich. native Hunter Brzustewicz picked up another power-play assist on Friday giving him 15 which is tied for third best in the OHL. Brzustewicz is ranked eighth amongst all defenders in the league and only trails Lleyton Moore who is ranked fifth in the league for the team lead in points.
Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars), Tomáš Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) and Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) are five Kitchener skaters that are both drafted and signed by their NHL clubs respectively.
Scouting the Spitfires:
Matthew Maggio (New York Islanders) leads the Spitfires’ roster in points and ranks fourth in the OHL in scoring with 47 points (26G, 21A) in 30 games played this season.
Windsor has four players averaging exactly one or more than a point per game this season. Alex Christopoulos, Matthew Maggio, Jacob Maillet and Oliver Peer.
Nick DeAngelis ranks in the top five amongst all defencemen in the OHL this season in plus/minus rating of +19. Anthony Cristoforo ranks eighth in rookie scoring this season with 20 points (2G, 18A) in 27 games. Liam Greentree is also in the top 20 for rookie scoring ranking 13th with six goals and nine points in 31 games.
Windsor has four skaters eligible for the upcoming 2023 NHL draft. The three forward skaters are Ethan Martin, Ethan Miedema, and Christopher O’Flaherty. The lone defenceman eligible for the draft is Bronson Ride. Ethan Miedema is listed as a ‘B’ ranked prospect and Joseph Costanzo and Bronson Ride are both ranked as ‘C’ prospects on the NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Players to watch.
Matthew Maggio (New York Islanders) and Daniil Sobolev (Montréal Canadiens) are two skaters on the Windsor Spitfires roster that are drafted by their NHL team respectively.
Broadcast Coverage:
Saturday afternoon’s contest will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20, and can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 467 for cable subscribers. The game 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. Fans can tune in to the radio pregame show 30 minutes prior to puck drop. For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.
Next up: The Rangers open the new calendar year in Sault Ste. Marie for the second game of four-straight on the road Wed. Jan 4. The Rangers’ next home game is on Friday, Jan. 13 when the Blueshirts host the Oshawa Generals in a nationally televised game on TSN. Great seats are still available and can be purchased online here.
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
[email protected]
