OHL Kitchener Rangers

Rangers Face Barrie on 27th Annual Don Cameron Potato Night Friday

Published on January 27, 2023 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Kitchener, Ont. - The Kitchener Rangers have won three of their last five games and return back to home-ice Friday night against the Barrie Colts. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and great seats are still available here.

Notable Links:

Tickets: Buy Online | (519) 578-1570

TV: Rogers TV, cable 20 (Kitchener)

TV: Rogers TV, cable 10 (Barrie)

TV: Super Sports Pack, cable 471 (Ontario)

Video Stream: OHL Live | CHL App

Radio: CityNews 570 AM CKGL

Promotions:

Friday marks the Rangers' 27th annual Don Cameron Potato Night, presented by Zehrs. The late Don Cameron, radio play-by-play broadcaster of the for more than 4,000 Rangers games, spearheaded the initiative in 1996 encouraging fans to bring potatoes - inspired by his native Prince Edward Island - to provide meals and support to families in need in Waterloo Region. Potatoes and cash donations will be collected upon entrance to the game in support of the House of Friendship. Online donation is also available at houseoffriendship.org/donate. In the past 26 seasons over the equivalent of half a million pounds of potatoes has been raised. (Read More)

Rangers at CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Wednesday:

Rangers' forward Carson Rehkopf was named the first star and the player of the game at the 2023 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre. Rehkopf finished with a goal and an assist and a plus-two rating and Hunter Brzustewicz was plus-one with one shot on goal. (More)

Dennis faces Barrie for first time:

Rangers' bench-boss Chris Dennis will coach against his former team for the first time in the regular season. Dennis was the associate coach of the Barrie Colts during the 2021-22 season before being hired by Kitchener on Jun. 28.

McDonnell's first visit back to The Aud:

Friday also marks the return of defenceman Declan McDonnell. McDonnell was the Rangers' third-round pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection and played two seasons in Kitchener before being traded to Barrie to acquire the rights to current Rangers' defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz on Jan. 9, 2022. Brzustewicz had various NCAA options but chose to commit to Kitchener on Jun. 23.

Head-to-Head:

Kitchener is 4-1-0-0 in their last five meetings against the Colts. and are 2-1-0-0 at The Aud since Jan. 2, 2018.

Kitchener strolled into London for their third game in as many days and earned a convincing 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon. The Rangers have won three of their last five games, are now 3-6-1-0 in their last ten games and just two points out of the final playoff spot in the west. Barrie has lost their last two games coming against Eastern Conference leading Ottawa and Western Conference leading Windsor. Despite their recent two-game slide, Barrie is 7-3-0-0 in their last ten games.

Scouting the Rangers:

Hunter Brzustewicz and Carson Rehkopf are two Rangers to watch after putting up impressive performances at the Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Wednesday.

Kitchener native Matthew Sop has quietly put together a five-game point streak generating offence from the first, second and third line for Kitchener. In the last five games, Sop has recorded one goal and four assists.

Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) also enters play on a point streak. He has recorded a point in four-straight, potting home four goals and adding two helpers. Pinelli is now up to 49 points (25G 24A) in 33 games this season. He trails only Francesco Arcuri on the Rangers roster who has amassed 50 points (30G 20A) in 43 games this season.

Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) is tied for the third most goals in the league this season at 30 and moved into sole possession of second overall with 14 power-play goals on the year thus far.

Marco Costantini had an impressive weekend between the pipes for Kitchener earning wins over Ottawa and London. In those two games Costantini had a 2.00 goals against average and .944 save percentage.

Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars), Tomáš Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings), Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Danny Zhilkin are six Kitchener skaters that are both drafted, and signed, by their NHL clubs respectively.

Scouting the Colts:

The defence core of the Colts has the ability to generate a ton of offense. Brandt Clarke, Los Angeles' first-round pick, eighth overall, was loaned back to the Colts from the Kings prior to the World Junior Championships. Clarke was a part of the gold-winning Canada squad. In just six games since his return to Barrie, he has recorded 11 points (4G 7A).

Also, on the blueline, defencemen Beau Akey, a native of Waterloo, and Connor Punnett both rank inside the top 10 of points by defenceman in the OHL. Akey has 33 points (6G 27A) in 39 games while Punnett has 32 points (9G 23A) in 41 games.

Evan Vierling (New York Rangers) leads the Colts in points this season with 52 points (19G 33A) in 35 games. He has collected the eighth most assists amongst all skaters this season with 33. Ethan Cardwell (San Jose Sharks) leads the team with 22 goals on the season.

Tyler Savard is the hottest Colt entering play Friday night, currently riding a three-game point streak totaling three goals and two assists for five points.

Ethan Cardwell (San Jose Sharks), Artur Cholach (Vegas Golden Knights), Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings), Braden Haché (Florida Panthers), Declan McDonnell (Tampa Bay Lightning), Anson Thornton (Arizona Coyotes), and Evan Vierling (New York Rangers) are seven Barrie skaters that are drafted by their NHL clubs respectively.

Broadcast Coverage:

Friday night's contest will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20. In addition, the contest can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 471 for cable subscribers. Jason Hagholm (play-by-play), Dan Polischuk (colour commentary) and Sean Furfaro (host) will call the game on television.

The game will be streamed live online in a web browser at OHLLive.com, and on the CHL App for mobile devices including smart TV's such as including Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire.

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 and can be a part of the broadcast with extended postgame shows as Farwell takes phone calls from Rangers Nation after all home games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Fans can call 519-570-2545 during the radio postgame shows to talk Rangers Hockey.

For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.

Rangers Reach: Win BIG Tonight!

The Kitchener Rangers Community Fund, Ranchers Reach, is continuing the tradition of awarding big CA$H prizes. Don't miss out on your chance at tonight's huge prize. The Rangers' last four Friday games have all had jackpots over $10,000 each time! Also this Friday, BONUS PRICING! 150 tickets for $20, 10 for $10 and 3 for $5. Play now and you could be the next big winner! Click here to purchase your 50/50 Raffle tickets for tonight's game.

Next Up:

The Rangers will travel after the game Friday night to prepare for a Saturday evening contest in Erie against the Otters. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Erie Insurance Arena in Pennsylvania.




Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2023


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