Rangers open U18 AAA campaign this weekend

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This article was published 21/09/2022 (1343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Parkland Rangers under-18 AAA program will begin their regular season a few days earlier than their Westman counterparts.

While the majority of teams will kick off their 2022-23 Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League campaigns next weekend, the Rangers will be on the ice against the defending champion Winnipeg Wild on Saturday in Dauphin at 3:30 p.m.

The two teams will also square off at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Credit Union Place.

“Winnipeg is the cream of the crop and they always have a good team,” Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot. “If we are going to compete and hold our own against them, we will have to be ready.

“I’m not going to lie, there’s a little bit of worries going into these games after a short pre-season, but we’ve got the guys in our room that can change that on the fly.”

During their exhibition slate, the Rangers split two games at the Southwest Cougars tournament in Souris last weekend — dropping a 4-2 decision to Brandon Wheat Kings and beating the Norman Northstars 7-0 — before being edged out by a score of 4-3 in a home game with the Yellowhead Chiefs on Tuesday.

As he looked back on those games, Carefoot felt like the Rangers were still in off-season mode.

“I’ve felt like I’ve been a drill sergeant over the last few games, practices and in our pre- and post-game chats as I’ve been talking a lot,” said Carefoot, who has welcomed former Rangers players Chris Belhumeur and Colton Robak to his staff, which also includes returning video coach Alex Lytwyn.

“Everything right now is a little bit sloppy, especially when it comes to our effort and our intensity. As I told the guys already, it might sound like I’m speaking in cliches on the things that we need to improve upon, but they all add up to being efficient. If we take care of and improve those little things, everything will take care of itself as the year goes on.”

The Rangers are coming off of their best campaign in nearly two decades.

After finishing fifth in the regular season standings with an 18-17-5 record, they upset the Chiefs in four games before being swept in the semifinal round by the Wheat Kings.

“Last year, our team had the mindset that we had an opportunity to win every night,” Carefoot said.

“It’s a little bit different at the moment as we’re a younger team, but I think we can realistically win games against the likes of Yellowhead, Southwest, Interlake, Central Plains and Pembina Valley. We will have to hold our own early on against the Winnipeg Teams, Brandon and Eastman, but anything can happen. That’s why they play the games.”

This year’s Rangers roster has a fair amount of turnover.

Forwards Parker Boguski, Rylan Gibbs (Dauphin Kings), Jayce Legaarden (Winkler Flyers) and Cohen Smigelsky have aged out of the program, as have blue-liners Marco Bodnarski (Dauphin) and Matthew Munro (Swan Valley Stampeders), and netminder Brenden Birch-Hayden (OCN Blizzard).

Seventeen-year-old forwards Kyan Grouette and Will Munro are both in the mix to make the opening night rosters for the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips and Kelowna Rockets respectively, while Carter Zalischuk has made the leap to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League to play for his hometown Kings.

“We’re definitely going to be a young team, but we’ve got some pretty highly-touted guys that are coming into our program,” Carefoot said. “When you complement that with our veterans … we’ll be all right.”

Two of the top 2007-born players that are joining the Rangers are defenceman Ryan Gower and forward Luke Myhre.

Gower, who is from McCreary, was the top defensive scorer in the U15 AAA Winnipeg Hockey League with 34 points in 32 games and was a second round choice by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2022 WHL draft.

A fifth round pick by the Portland Winterhawks in May, Dauphin’s Myhre led the U15 Rangers in scoring with 46 points in 31 contests.

“Ryan’s a smaller defenceman but he’s an offensive dynamo that skates like the wind,” Carefoot said. “Luke had a really good summer also and he’s made himself even stronger and faster, which is impressive to see as he’s already a big guy (six-foot-three) to begin with.

“It’s hard sometimes for rookies to have a massive impact in this league, but I the Ryan and Luke are going to do that for our team.”

In terms of returning talent, 17-year-old Madden Murray (34 points) is expected to be a key player on offence, along with second-year players Hayden Sieb (26 points), Cash Clarkson (18 points) and Dru Mushumanski (18 points).

Mushumanski, who started last season with the Chiefs, was also picked by a WHL club last season as he was a seventh-round choice by the Regina Pats in December.

The blue-line will be anchored by veterans Bo Eisner (30 points) and Skyler Carierre (nine points), while 17-year-old Kyler Swanton is now the leader in goal and will be paired up with rookie Chase Glover.

“It will be a bit of a tough start to the season with the Wild coming to town, but our focus right now is to get better every day,” Carefoot said. “I’m sure every coach is talking about this with their teams right now, but success all comes down to work ethic and finding a way to make those adjustments as you get out of summer mode.

“There’s no more sandals and suntan lotion … it’s time to put the work boots on.”

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