After dropping their season opener, the Parkland Rangers have won two games in a row, in convincing fashion.
The Rangers scored a 7-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings, Sept. 28, and hammered the Kenora Thistles, 11-1, Oct. 4.
Rangers head coach Rick Freese is seeing the hard work and consistent effort he was hoping for.
“Especially from the young kids. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got some veteran players up front that are scoring goals and they’re doing their thing, especially on the power play,” he said.
“And we’ve got some veterans on the backend like Ryder Gardner. And I know (Owen) Sigvaldason hasn’t played here, I know this is his first season, but he’s played real well.”
Freese said the line of Alex Campbell, Dayson Martin and Noah Smigelsky has played well in the early going, combining for seven goals and 16 points.
“We’ve been lucky here these last couple of games. Our young kids are working hard. They’re forechecking hard. They’re killing penalties. We’ve been successful here as of late,” Freese said.
One bright spot is the balanced scoring. The 11 goals on Saturday came from nine different players.
“That means everybody is contributing. Everybody is getting involved. And it means I can play everybody against anybody in the league up to date,” Freese said.
“Sure, we have our power-play units and our PK units. But it’s nice to see everybody getting involved. And another indication that everybody is starting to work. And they’re starting to play the system we want, especially in the neutral zone. When we do what we need to do in the neutral zone and they do what they’ve been taught in the neutral zone, we keep those guys wide and we seal the zone and we just move. So yeah, I’m happy with everything so far, for sure.”
The Rangers will now prepare for the annual trip north to Thompson, where they will play the Norman North Stars, Saturday and Sunday.
“That’s the life of a hockey team. Ten or 15 minutes after you enjoy your win, it’s time to move on. The bigger prize is at the end. That’s just how it is,” Freese said.
After playing Norman, the Rangers will face some stiffer competition as they play the Winnipeg Wild, Eastman Selects, Winnipeg Bruins twice and Winnipeg Thrashers before their next home game, Oct. 31.
“We’re going to be in Winnipeg for three weekends in a row. This month on the road is going to be a tough test, for sure. Better to get it out of the way now, though, than later on,” Freese said.
