Match-up preview: Rangers vs Colts
Coming off of a three-game winning streak to open their season, the Kitchener Rangers were handed their first loss last Saturday at the hands of the Owen Sound Attack.
The Rangers were shut out on the road by a final score of 4-0, moving them to 3-1-0-0 for the season. This seats them in a tie for first place in the Midwest Division, being edged only in goals against by Owen Sound.
Tonight's opponent, the Barrie Colts, are in last place in the central division with a 1-4-0-0 record.
This hardly echoes the Barrie Colts of last year - defending Eastern Conference Champions, who went on to a Robertson Cup OHL Championship final.
The team is in what many would call a rebuilding year.
The big news in Barrie is Dale Hawerchuk. With 17 years of NHL experience and and a pair of Memorial Cups to his name, Hawerchuk was named the team's new head coach and director of hockey operations. Joining him is goaltending coach Dan Cloutier, also for seven points having both OHL and NHL experience.
Barrie's anchor is seen in netminder Peter Di Salvo who is in his fifth season in the league. In five games, Di Salvo has earned a 0.857 save percentage and 5.81 goals against.
Coming off of a 25-point 2009-10 season, Barrie centre and Waterloo native Colin Behenna leads the team with seven points - all assists.
With five points a piece, rookies Mark Scheifele - the homegrown Kitchener native, and Dylan Smoskowitz of Richmond Hill, have made names for themselves by boasting early season hat tricks.
In their home opener, Kitchener's own sharpshooter Gabriel Landeskog also earned a hat trick and is second in points on the squad to Ryan Murphy.
Murphy, the clear make of an offensive defenceman, leads the Rangers with nine points - three goals and six assists, while Landeskog has five goals and two assists for seven points.
One of three potential assistant captains up for captaincy is Jason Akeson, who is averaging a point a game. The trio of Akeson, Landeskog, and Tipoff wear "A"s on their sweaters, as no official leader has yet been named.
German-bred rookie Tobias Rider has proven why he was chosen fifth overall in the 2010 CHL Import Draft - he's totaled seven points with two goals and five assists. Highly-touted rookie and Rangers first round selection, Matia Marcantuoni has been developing into his role, but has only a single point so far for the season.
An addition to Kitchener's line up is centre Ryan Maclean who was picked up off of waivers from Sault Ste. Marie.
Last week, Barrie's Darren Archibald returned to the line up after completing his tive-game suspension carried over from last year's OHL final. He scored two goals in the team's lone win over Belleville.
Barrie is leading their division in penalty minutes - with 124 in five games. Kitchener has 77 minutes in four games.
Barrie's visit is the first of two home games for the Rangers that will take place over the Thanksgiving long weekend. Kitchener will also host an afternoon matinee on Monday against the Erie Otters.
