Gloucester Rangers

Gloucester Rangers
City Gloucester, Ontario, Canada
League Central Canada Hockey League
Division Yzerman
Founded 1968
Home arena Earl Armstrong Arena
(1971-Present)
Leitrim (Fred G. Barrett) Arena
(1969-1971)
Bell Centennial Arena
(1968-1969)
Colours Black, Green, Gold, and White
                   
General manager Canada
Head coach Canada Daniel Sauvé
Captain Canada
Website http://gloucesterrangersjra.pointstreaksites.com/view/gloucesterrangersjra
Franchise history
1968-1973 Ottawa M&W Rangers
1973-2005 Gloucester Rangers
2005-2008 Orleans Blues
2008-Present Gloucester Rangers

The Gloucester Rangers are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Gloucester, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Central Canada Hockey League.

History

The franchise dates back to the 1968 expansion Ottawa M.&.W (MacIntosh & Watts) Rangers and made their home in Leitrim in south Ottawa. In 1972, the M&W Rangers became the Gloucester Rangers and played out of the Earl Armstrong Arena. The Rangers won their first Art Bogart Cup as league champions in 1981 by defeating the Pembroke Lumber Kings. The 1995 Centennial Cup (now Royal Bank Cup) was awarded to the City of Gloucester and the Gloucester Rangers. The Rangers, who were up by a goal in the championship game against the Calgary Canucks of the AJHL. The Canucks tied the game in the dying seconds and won the Centennial Cup in overtime. After their last playoff appearance of the 20th century, the Rangers fell on hard times missing the playoffs multiple times. After a 10th-place performance after the 2001-02 season, the Gloucester Rangers Jr. A Hockey Club was sold, and the colours and uniforms were changed to black, purple, and silver, which gave the Rangers a new reputation for the 2002-03 season. The Rangers also landed the best players that were acquired in blockbuster trades with their cross-town rivals Ottawa Jr. Senators. The changes paid off. In December 2002, the Gloucester Rangers traded for Mitch O'Keefe, who would then go on to record 6 regular season shutouts in 2003-04. Despite losing the 2004 Art Bogart Cuo finals, the Gloucester Rangers were predicted to be a championship contender the next season. In October 2004, with the sudden resignition of coaches Justin Nistico and Wayne Hughes, the championship-bound team lost its wheels to players demanding trades before January, which a blockbuster deal with the Brockville Braves, and the Rangers dropped mid-way in the overall standings and lost the Hawkesbury Hawks in the first round of the playoffs, despite the Rangers efforts to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

Orleans Blues

Days after the Gloucester Rangers lost the first-round to the Hawkesbury Hawks, the team was sold to a group of Orleans businessmen, who renamed the team - Orleans Blues, and the newly created team remained at the Earl Armstrong Arena instead of playing out of the Orleans Recreation Complex (now Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex) located on Youville Drive in Orleans. The rebranding of the franchise resulted in lost ticket sales and a drop in attendance. The Blues best season was in 2006-07, when goaltender Adam Courchaine led the team to their only playoff appearance, who lost the first-round series to the Nepean Raiders, despite holding a 2-1 series lead. Orleans lost the series in 6 games.

Return of the Gloucester Rangers

The owners of the Orleans Blues decided to return as the Gloucester Rangers because the Central Canada Hockey League board of governors denied permission for the team to move to Orleans, Ontario. Former Ottawa 67's assistant coach Vince Milette was hired as the Rangers coach. The Rangers requested permission to play four regular season games in Rockland, Ontario. But, the decision was denied by the league. On October 10, 2008 the Gloucester Rangers played a game at the nearby Orleans Recreation Centre against the Cumberland Grads for a special game to commemorate the rivalry between the Rangers and Grads. At the time of the game, the Orleans Arena was renamed the Roger Senecal Arena in memory of Roger Senecal, who died in 2002. Senecal was a big part of the Gloucester Rangers Hockey Association. On March 6, 2009, the Rangers qualified for the 8th and final playoff spot defeating Brockville 4-1. The Rangers bowed out of the quarter-finals losing the series 4 games to 0 to the Nepean Raiders.

New ownership and potential relocation

In late September 2016, Paul Jennings sold the Gloucester Rangers to a group of 4 partners being André Chaput, André Chalebois, Jean-Robert Leger and Robert Bourdeau. Paul Jennings purchased the Orleans Blues franchise from Chaput in 2007. The Gloucester Rangers are in talks of relocating to Rockland for the 2017-18 season pending league approval. If the Rangers relocate, another CCHL team could relocate to Gloucester to fill in the void.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1968-69 40 11 22 7 - 145 202 29 5th CJHL
1969-70 40 30 6 4 - 198 108 64 1st CJHL Won League
1970-71 48 26 12 10 - 235 158 62 2nd CJHL Won League
1971-72 48 27 20 1 - 234 188 55 2nd CJHL
1972-73 55 30 20 5 - 293 233 65 2nd CJHL
1973-74 50 25 19 6 - 297 252 56 4th CJHL
1974-75 50 14 27 9 - 241 289 37 5th CJHL
1975-76 50 26 21 3 - 271 203 55 2nd CJHL
1976-77 50 24 21 5 - 241 231 53 3rd CJHL
1977-78 48 30 13 5 - 261 204 65 2nd CJHL
1978-79 48 23 23 2 - 210 235 48 3rd CJHL
1979-80 50 33 12 5 - 284 187 71 2nd CJHL
1980-81 50 28 15 7 - 248 191 63 3rd CJHL Won League
1981-82 50 11 36 3 - 191 266 25 6th CJHL
1982-83 48 15 28 5 - 189 241 35 6th CJHL
1983-84 53 21 16 6 - 233 235 48 6th CJHL
1984-85 54 18 33 1 2 234 328 39 6th CJHL
1985-86 60 35 21 1 3 311 247 74 4th CJHL
1986-87 54 28 21 2 3 260 248 61 3rd CJHL
1987-88 56 25 27 1 3 275 271 54 6th CJHL
1988-89 55 10 39 1 5 203 316 26 9th CJHL
1989-90 56 34 18 2 2 325 281 72 4th CJHL
1990-91 54 32 15 2 5 347 276 71 3rd CJHL
1991-92 57 40 12 4 1 360 233 85 3rd CJHL
1992-93 56 30 18 3 5 308 261 68 5th CJHL
1993-94 57 37 16 2 2 324 245 78 1st CJHL Won League
1994-95 55 32 18 2 3 263 219 69 3rd CJHL
1995-96 54 35 18 1 0 249 177 71 3rd in Robinson
1996-97 54 26 24 4 0 209 221 56 3rd in Yzerman
1997-98 56 26 21 9 3 223 217 64 2nd in Robinson
1998-99 54 7 43 4 0 18 149 287 5th in Robinson Out of Playoffs
1999-00 55 11 41 4 0 26 177 307 5th in Robinson Out of Playoffs
2000-01 55 14 35 6 0 37 192 278 4th in Robinson Lost quarter-final 4-1 to Cornwall
2001-02 55 6 43 7 0 19 162 331 5th in Robinson Out of Playoffs
2002-03 55 27 17 11 2 67 246 210 3rd in Robinson Lost semi-final 4-3 to Nepean
2003-04 55 30 21 4 0 188 167 64 4th Lost final 4-3 to Nepean
2004-05 57 24 26 1 6 194 204 55 3rd in Robinson Lost quarter-final 4-3 to Hawkesbury
2005-06 57 16 37 1 3 172 262 36 5th in Robinson DNQ
2006-07 55 26 21 6 2 184 190 60 2nd in Robinson Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Nepean
2007-08 60 14 38 4 4 188 301 36 10th CJHL DNQ
2008-09 60 26 26 - 8 198 247 60 8th CJHL Lost quarter-final 4-0 to Nepean
2009-10 62 35 21 - 6 277 225 76 4th CJHL Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Ottawa
2010-11 62 35 25 - 2 263 244 72 4th CCHL Lost semi-final 4-0 to Pembroke
2011-12 62 13 46 - 3 186 325 29 12th CCHL DNQ
2012-13 62 19 35 - 8 166 246 46 10th CCHL DNQ
2013-14 62 23 32 - 7 219 280 53 9th CCHL DNQ
2014-15 62 31 30 - 1 199 223 63 3rd of 6 Yzerman
9th of 12 CCHL 		Won Prelim. Playin, 2-0 (73's)
Lost Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Jr. Senators)
2015-16 62 5 52 3 2 116 305 15 6th of 6 Yzerman
12th of 12 CCHL 		DNQ

Championships

CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1970, 1971, 1981, 1994
Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: None
CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None

Notable alumni

External links

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