Rangers reflect on return to relevance

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This article was published 28/03/2022 (1523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Tyler Carefoot was asked about the moment he knew that the Parkland Rangers had a legit chance to be in the mix for the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League title, the head coach responded immediately.

“It was on Nov, 6 in Winnipeg,” Carefoot said. “We had just lost to the Wild (by a score of 5-2) but it was at that point that the guys started to come together and play the right way as a team.

“Right away, we could see the momentum start to turn and what kind of year we were going to have. Our goal was to be in a top four spot at the end of the regular season, and while we were just a point away from that, what we were able to do this year and in the playoffs all comes from the group of guys on the ice. They deserve all the credit.”

Parkland finished in fifth spot with a record of 18-17-5, one point back of the Yellowhead Chiefs, who went 18-15-7.

After not winning a post-season series of any kind since 2006, the Rangers reached the semifinal round earlier this month after defeating Yellowhead in four games in the best-of-five quarterfinal.

While their run at a league championship ended Sunday after being swept by the Brandon Wheat Kings, the journey to that point is something that the players won’t soon forget.

“It’s been an amazing year,” Rangers forward and assistant captain Jayce Legaarden said. “To play with this group of guys and to be able to make a run like this in the playoffs when many people didn’t even think we’d make it there is something that was incredible to be a part of.

“When we went on that really good stretch in November and December where we won a lot of games, I think we all realized at that point that we could maybe go on a bit of a run here. We all started to trust each more and it all started to click.”

Although the Rangers had been able to make the playoffs over the course of the last 16 years, this season’s success is something that Legaarden and Carefoot believe is going to pay dividends for the program going forward.

“Our region is very unique,” Carefoot said. “There’s a lot of guys that travel three hours twice a week to come for a 90-minute practice.

“It can be a grind and that might have deterred some families from wanting to be part of the program in the past. However, we’re seeing now that our top players in the areas want to be Rangers, and the guys that are in that locker room have played a big part in that.”

“Being here has given me and the other graduating guys on our team a chance to play at the next level,” Legaarden said. “I hope that the guys that are coming back and the new players that are coming here will keep building on the hard work we’ve put in and what we’ve all been able to accomplish this season.”

The semifinal series was a tough one for the Rangers, as the Wheat Kings outscored their fellow Westman side by a 22-4 margin.

Following an 8-1 win in Brandon last weekend, the Wheat Kings prevailed in a 7-3 encounter at Credit Union Place in Dauphin on Friday before wrapping things up with a 7-0 triumph at the J&G Homes Arena Sunday.

“We had some confidence coming into that first game as we had beaten them in their barn a few weeks earlier and we were well prepared, but it was very deflating to find ourselves down 2-0 after just a minute and nine seconds,” Carefoot said.

“In the second game, we had a 3-0 lead after the first period and we told the fellas that their coach (Curtis Brolund) was probably peeling the paint off in the dressing room and that we needed to match their intensity during the second period. They ended up getting two shorthanded goals there on us and I think that was probably the turning point in the whole series.”

Legaarden led the team in playoff scoring with eight points in seven games, while Rylan Gibbs, Carter Zalischuk and Will Munro all had six points each.

Goaltender Brenden Birch-Hayden posted a 3-3 record with a 3.75 goals against average and a .896 save percentage in the post-season, with Kyler Swanton earning the start in Sunday’s series finale against the Wheat Kings.

As with all teams in the Under-18 AAA circuit, the Rangers will have a different look to it come next fall.

Birch-Hayden, defencemen Marco Bodnarski, Cole Delamare and Matthew Munro, plus forwards Parker Boguski, Gibbs, Legaarden and Cohen Smigelsky are all set to age out of the program.

Of that group, Birch-Hayden (OCN Blizzard), Bodnarski (Dauphin Kings), Gibbs (Kings) and Legaarden (Winkler Flyers) have committed to Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams for the 2022-23 campaign.

Forward Kyan Grouette is eligible to return for one more season with the Rangers, but the 17-year-old from Dauphin is expected to make the jump up to the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips.

“There was a long time where players in our region didn’t want to be Rangers,” Carefoot said. “The guys that are moving on have played a huge role in changing that.

“For the guys that are coming back, I think the biggest thing I want them to take away from this experience is just how hard it is to win in this league. You can’t have an on and off switch out there and I think that’s something that was very true this season. It didn’t matter where teams were in the standings. You had to compete in every game.”

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