Match-up preview: Rangers vs Spirit
Friday, September 24th officially marks the start of the Kitchener Rangers 48th season. The Rangers take on the Saginaw Spirit, a battle that is sure to be a competitive match-up.
The Rangers are coming off of a 42-19-0-7 season while the Spirit ended last year with a 34-27-0-7 record.
Rangers fans can look forward to welcoming back a mix of seasoned veterans, savvy sophomores, and highly-touted rookies under the leadership of Head Coach and General Manager Steve Spott. Coming in to his third season with the Rangers, Spot has tallied a 78- 56-0-12 record in two seasons worth of work.
Last season the Rangers made a deep playoff run, eventually succumbing to the back-to-back Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires in the Western Conference championship final.
It was in the first round that Kitchener knocked out Saginaw in four games fo two. The Spirit and Rangers played a gritty playoff series that only echoed earlier games they had played in the season.
The teams ended up evenly splitting their four game regular season set, taking two games a piece - both of Kitchener's wins determined in overtime (one in a shootout).
This season's showdown should be even more interesting, as several players have changed rosters.
Playing on the opposite bench this time will be ex-Rangers forward Micky Sartoretto, who was traded to the Saginaw Spirit along with a 2011 2nd round pick and a 2013 3rd round pick, for defenseman Cody Sol and Matt Braun.
Both Sol and Braun are known as stay at home defensemen and the former Spirit duo will help to fill in the voids left by the likes of graduating Kitchener players Dan Kelly and John Moore.
Second year defense Ryan Murphy had a phenomenal freshman campaign as one of the top rookies in the league and he will lead the back end this year in his sophomore season.
A defenseman who loves to carry the puck and join the rush, Murphy had 39 points - six goals and 33 assists last season. Watch also for 6'03 200 lb physical presence Jonathan Jasper to step up.
Acquired on the D for the Spirit, overager Matt Ashman - formerly of the London Knights, brings experience to a ream that seeks a set of leaders.
At the front line for the Rangers will be sharpshooters such as Gabriel Landeskog, Matthew Tipoff, and Jason Akeson.
Landeskog, Tipoff, and Akeson round off the all-star list of forwards, along with top ranked rookies German-born Tobias Rieder and Matia Marcantuoni of Toronto who are likely to take on key roles.
Overall, the Spirit's offense doesn't run as deep as the Rangers, but keep an eye out for forwards such as Josh Shalla who put up 65 points last season. Justin Kea was the team's first round pick, 13th overall in the 2010 OHL Priority Selection and he will be relied on to help reload the front lines.
Hailing from the Barrie Colts, forward Michael Sgarbossa will also join the Spirit as well as goaltender Mavric Parks - who has played for Kitchener in the past.
Between the pipes for the Rangers, Brandon Maxwell will likely take the bulk of the games as he did last year - tallying a 0.901 save percentage and 3.73 goals against.
Prior to opening week, the Canadian Hockey League Top 10 rankings were released. For week one of the 2010- 2011 season, Kitchener was ranked fourth overall, while Saginaw did not make the cut.
The Showdown for the season begins tonight!
