The Kitchener Rangers ended a long drought against the London Knights with a 4-0 victory on Tuesday at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
The Knights had won nine consecutive games over the Rangers dating back to Jan. 23, 2018 when the Rangers edged the Knights 3-2 in a shootout at Budweiser Gardens.
Teddy Bear toss night in Kitchener brought a packed crowd and a new record for stuffed toys in the OHL as the Rangers collected 11 052 stuffed toys for charity.
The goal that brought them down came off the stick of rookie Ranger forward Jesse Fishman, and it was the only goal of the game through the first 40 minutes.
Kitchener defenceman Justin McPherson fired a shot through traffic 1:41 into the third period to make it 2-0. Kitchener then got goals less than two minutes apart from Jonathan Yantsis and Reid Valade to put the game away.
London was playing their first game without Liam Foudy and Connor McMichael who are away at Team Canada’s final selection camp for the World Junior Hockey Championship. The two have combined for 38 goals and 85 points this season, but forward Cole Tymkin says the way to succeed without them is not to try to be like them.
Jacob Ingham made 28 saves for his first shutout as a Ranger and helped to push their winning streak to seven games. Kitchener has won every game they have played since Ingham returned from injury and since General Manager Mike McKenzie took over behind the bench for Jay McKee.
Myskiw made 32 saves in net for London.
The Knights will visit the Niagara Ice Dogs on Thursday and return home Friday to play the Sarnia Sting for the first time this season.
Regula and Gruden headed to Team USA camp
On Monday afternoon, USA Hockey named their preliminary roster for the World Junior Hockey Championship. It includes London Knights co-captain Alec Regula and Knights forward Jonathan Gruden. Both were invitees to the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Mich., in August.
The Team USA camp will also be held in Plymouth on Dec. 16 and 17. Team Canada and Team USA face off on Day 1 of the World Junior tournament on Boxing Day in the Czech Republic.
Veleno adds to challenge of making Canada’s roster
Making Team Canada’s World Junior squad became a little more difficult for any forwards in camp in Oakville this week, when the Detroit Red Wings decided to allow Joe Veleno to play for Canada in this year’s tournament.
Veleno has been playing in the American Hockey League this season for the Grand Rapids Griffins under the Rico Fata rule. Since Veleno began his major junior career at the age of 15, he is permitted to play in the AHL at 19 thanks to a rule that was installed in the late ’90s allowing any player who has played four years of Major Junior to be assigned to the American Hockey League. Veleno played for Team Canada last year in Vancouver, B.C.
Three other players who are playing professionally could be loaned to Team Canada for the World Juniors: Barrett Hayton of Arizona, Noah Dobson of the New York Islanders and Kirby Dach in Chicago. Those NHL teams have until Dec. 19 to make a decision on whether to allow each of them to play for Canada.
Adam Dennis named G.M. in North Bay
London Knights 2005 Memorial Cup winning goaltender Adam Dennis has taken over the reins for the Battalion as their general manager after some changes were announced on Tuesday within the organization. Stan Butler has been the only head coach and Director of Operations in Battalion franchise history and he is going to move to a role as special advisor to owner Scott Abott. Dennis will move from assistant GM to full-fledged general manager. Ryan Oulahen will take over in behind the bench.
Up next
The London Knights will be in St. Catharines on Thursday, Dec. 12 to play their fifth game in eight days as London meets the Niagara Ice Dogs for the second time this season. Luke Evangelista scored twice and Connor McMichael had three assists in a 6-2 Knights victory when they teams played at Budweiser Gardens on October 27.
The Ice Dogs are currently one game under .500 and have allowed the third-most goals against in the OHL this season.
On Friday, Dec. 13, London will be back home to face the Sarnia Sting for the first time this year.
The pre-game show will begin at 6:30 both nights on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
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