- Gloucester Rangers
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Gloucester Rangers 
City Gloucester, Ontario, Canada League Central Canada Hockey League Division Yzerman Founded 1968 Home arena Earl Armstrong Arena Colours Black, Green, Gold, and White
General manager TBA Head coach TBA 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.
Contents
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 and the Rangers dropped mid-way in the overall standings and lost the Hawkesbury Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.
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 re-named the team - Orleans Blues, and the newly-created team remained at the Earl Armstrong Arena instead of playing out of the Orleans Arena of the Orleans Recreation Complex (now Bob McQuarrie Recreation Centre). The change results in lost tickets 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. After a disastrous 2007-08 season, the Blues were no more and returned to the traditional Gloucester Rangers.
Gloucester Rangers return
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 re-named 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. Former Belleville Bulls and Ottawa 67's forward Stephan Blunden now plays for the Gloucester Rangers going into the 2009-10 season.
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 Out of Playoffs 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 Out of Playoffs 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 2010-11 62 35 25 - 2 263 244 72 4th CCHL Lost Semi-final Championships
- CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1970, 1971, 1981, 1994
- Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: None
- CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None
External links
Central Canada Hockey League Teams Brockville Braves · Carleton Place Canadians · Cornwall Colts · Cumberland Grads · Gloucester Rangers · Hawkesbury Hawks · Kanata Stallions · Kemptville 73's · Nepean Raiders · Ottawa Jr. Senators · Pembroke Lumber Kings · Smiths Falls BearsFormer Teams Seasons 2007–08 · 2008–09 · 2009–10 · 2010–11 · 2011–12Categories:- Central Junior A Hockey League teams
- Ice hockey teams in Ottawa
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