Rangers announce coaching change

The Kitchener Rangers announced via Twitter (@OHLRangers) Monday afternoon that the club has parted ways with head coach Jay McKee. General Manager Mike McKenzie will take over head coaching responsibilities on an interim basis.

The move comes with the Rangers in the midst of a four-game slide with weekend losses at home to London on Friday and on the road in Peterborough on Saturday.

Through 21 games, the 7-10-2-2 Rangers sit at the bottom of a highly competitive Western Conference.

A former NHL defenceman and OHL graduate from Kingston, Ont., McKee joined the Rangers as an associate coach in 2015-16 before taking the reins as head coach a year later. Over parts of four seasons, McKee steered the Rangers to an overall regular season record of 120-88-11-6 with a winning percentage of .571. He guided the franchise to its first Midwest Division title in 10 years during the 2017-18 season.

The Blueshirts reached the OHL Playoffs in each of the past three seasons, with the height of their success coming in 2017-18 when they fell to the Soo Greyhounds in double-overtime of Game 7 of the Western Conference Championship Series.

The Rangers continue their season on Thursday night with a visit to Erie before returning home to take on the Owen Sound Attack at The Aud on Friday.