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| By: Larry Anstett, KW Record - April 3rd, 1982 |
| Few
Kitchener Rangers fans will ever forget last year’s Ontario Hockey League
championship series, particularly the night of April 29.
A standing room crowd of 7,354 jammed the Auditorium to watch the Rangers defeat the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2-1 and capture their first league title in their 18-year history. It was an electrifying ending to a spectacular six-game series in which the Rangers won all three games at home and tied all three in the Soo. Starting Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Aud. the same two clubs will renew their fierce, at times bitter rivalry in what promises to be another great series. The Rangers, with 12 returnees from last year’s Memorial Cup runner-up squad, and Greyhounds, with nine players back, will square off in an eight-point series for the Emms Divison championship. Greyhounds – who played in the Leyden Division last year but were transferred this season to accommodate the expansion Belleville Bulls – narrowly advanced to the divisional finals Friday when they hung on in the last 12 minutes to defeat the Brantford Alexanders 3-2 and win the hotly contested series 8-6. The Alexanders pulled their goalie and swarmed around the Soo net in the dying seconds, with one shot missing the post by inches. Leyden Division action saw the Ottawa 67’s whip the Toronto Malboros 6-2 to take that semifinal 8-2 and leave the league’s top four regular season clubs battling for the OHL crown. Rangers and Greyhounds finished one-two in their division as did Ottawa and the Oshawa Generals (who eliminated Peterborough 8-2) In the overall standings Ottawa had 96 points, Kitchener 92, Soo 83 and Oshawa 82. “There’s no question about it – the Soo is going to give us a very, very tough series,” Kitchener coach Joe Crozier said Friday after listening to the Soo game on the Brantford radio station. “During the season both teams had two wins, two ties and two loses and the Soo outscored us 23-22,” Crozier said. At home, the Rangers won 6-4, 3-2, and tied 6-6. In the Soo they tied 5-5 and lost 4-1, and 2-1. Rangers and Hounds are both strong defensively, with the Soo having the best goals-against total during the regular season with 243, followed closely by the Rangers with 247. The Rangers appear to have an edge in firepower, having scored 322 goals compared to the Soo’s 274, which was second lowest in the league next to Windsor’s 269. The Hounds’ highest point-getter was 16-year old rookie, Wayne Groulx with 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points. The Rangers had six players with 66 points and more, led by the Brian Bellows-Grant Martin-Jeff Larmer line. Bellows had 97 points (45 goals, 52 assists), Martin had 96 (33-63), and Larmer 95 (51-44). Defenceman Al MacInnis was next with 75 points (25-50) followed by Dave Nicholls with 68 (35-33) and Mike Eagles with 66 (26-40). “I think the Bellows’ line is the best line in the league – even better than (Moe) Lemay and (Jeff) Vaive Ottawa,” Soo general manager Sam McMaster said after Friday’s game. “Bellows, Martin and Larmer are all super hockey players, Larmer’s my favorite though, I love goal scorers and he’s a natural.” McMaster wouldn’t make any predictions on the series , but in the next breath added: “If I wasn’t involved with the Greyhounds, I would say Kitchener’s got the edge. They’ve got the home ice advantage, they had a pretty easy series with Windsor (Rangers won four straight) and they really haven’t been pushed yet. Plus, we’ve gotta travel to Kitchener and play Sunday, but I’m not complaining. That’s the way it is. Nobody told us to go seven with Brantford. If the playoff boils down to defence – as it did last year when Ranger goalie Wendell Young was the key to victory – the series could be a toss up. Marc D’Amour has been been brilliant in goal for the Hounds and John Vanbiesbrouck, who was called up during the season to the NHL New York Islanders, as the backup. The blueline consists of four tough veterans – ex-Ranger Jim Pavese, who played 42 games with the St. Louis Blues, Gord Dineen, Dirk Rueter, and Steve Smith. Bruce Bell is a capable alternate. Crozier will continue to use Young in goal over rookie back-up, Darryl Boudreau, who hasn’t played recently. On defence are veterans Al MacInnis, Robert Savard and Joel Levesque and prize rookies Scott Stevens and Dave Shaw. MacInnis, Stevens and Shaw all played in the league’s all-star game (Rueter and Smith also were picked but didn’t play because of injuries). Savard is going for an unprecedented third straight Memorial Cup, having been on the last two winners with Cornwall Royals. Scott Clements and Jim Quinn are also available for defence duty but haven’t played much in recent months. The second game is slated for Kitchener Tuesday, with the following two games in the Soo next Friday and Sunday.
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