Sault St. Marie Greyhounds goalie John Vanbiesbrouck
reaches for the puck as Chris Felix (5) struggles with
Rangers' Louis Crawford.

     It was trumpeted as the big rematch.
     Instead, it has turned into the big mismatch.
     The Kitchener Rangers’ 6-2 domination of Sault Ste. Marie in the Emms division final series opener with their 6-1 cakewalk Tuesday when they outshot the Greyhounds 23-3 in the first period, had a 36-10 margin after the second and finished with a 50-28 advantage.
     The Rangers zapped the Hounds with two goals in 26 seconds in the opening minutes of the game and breezed to a four points to zero lead in the eight-point playoff which resumes Friday in the Soo.
     “When you stink, you stink.  There’s nothing you can say to hide it,” Soo coach Terry Crisp said.
     “Kitchener took control of ht egame from the start and never let up.  It’s the first time all yea we’ve been dominated like that for a full game.  When you’ve got seven or eight guys who aren’t putting out, you can’t expect the other guys to carry the club.”
     Although the Hounds were attrocious before an Auditorium crowd of 6,206, it wasn’t entirely their fault.
     The Rangers were near-perfect, their brilliant effort summarized best by goaltender Wendell Young.  “Everybody is putting everything they’ve got into it,” said Young, who last season propelled the Rangers past the Greyhounds in the league finals which lasted six exciting games.
     The Rangers won three close games at home and tied all three in the Soo to capture their first OHL title.  Many expected this would be another sizzling series, but it’ll be a fizzler unless the Hounds regroup on the weekend.
     Unbeaten in their last 18 OHL playoff games (14 wins, four ties).  Rangers are refusing to talk about a series sweep.  They figure it’ll be a different story in the Soo where the Hounds will be cheered by 4,000 rambunctious fans.
     “It won’t be so one-sided up there, but if we can come out of the weekend with at least two points I think we should take it,” forward Mike Hough said.
     “I think they’ll be pressing us a lot more in their own rink,” defenceman Scott Stevens said.  “The ice surface is smaller than here and if they really come at us, we’ll have to be that much sharper.”
     Coach Joe Crozier doesn’t want to say anything that would upset the Hounds and make them play harder, so he continues to butter them up.  Once again he praised their goaltending (Marc D’Amour and John Vanbiesbrouck both played Tuesday) and said the Hounds “played well in spots.”
     Kitchener captian Brian Bellows noted that the Hounds “seem to die after they give up a goal.”
     “When we get on, we usually get a couple, so it really seems to get them down.  But it won’t be like that up there (the Soo),” Bellows said.
     The Rangers had the second best road record (19-13-2) during the regular season, managing a 5-5 tie and losing 4-1 and 2-1 in the Soo.  But since those losses, they’ve improved considerably and are performing even better than last year’s powerhouse that lost only two of 18 OHL playoff games.
     With four victories over Windsor and two over the Soo, the Rangers have outscored the opposition 34-11 and are averaging almost 50 shots on goal a game.  “When you’re getting that many, something has to go in,” Hough said.
     The Rangers’ depth was evident again Tuesday as three lines poduced goals.  Jeff Larmer scored for the sixth straight game – giving him 10 goals in the playoffs – while Hough, defenceman Dave Shaw, John Tucker, Louis Crawford and Dave Nicholls notched the others.
     It was the first goal in 14 games for the unlucky Nicholls, who hit two goal posts in one of his strongest efforts recently.  It was also Shaw’s first goal of the playoffs while Hough and Crawford have three each and Tucker two.
     Ex-Ranger Jim Pavese scored the Soo’s goal at 10:50 of the final period on a long slapshot from the blueline that caromed in off the post.
     It was a mild-mannered game – eight penalties in the first period, none in the second – until the 12:09 mark of the final period.  The Soo’s Ken Latta went after Crawford and was ejected for being the aggressor.  The fight prompted Kitchener’s Mike Moher to become involved and although he didn’t fight, he was expelled for being the third man in.  Five Greyhounds and four Rangers were given 10-minute misconducts for not clearing the scene.
     Game misconducts like Moher’s normally carry two-game suspensions but they can be bought back during the playoffs for $25.  Moher will be raring to go in the Soo, where the fans love to boo the pepperpot winger who, perhaps better than any other player in the league can whip a crowd into a frenzy.
 
 

     The Kitchener Rangers placed three players on the Ontario Hockey League all-star teams – defenceman Al MacInnis and right winger Brian Bellows on the first team and left winger Jeff Larmer on the second.
     However, coach Joe Crozier was far from pleased with the voting, done by the league’s 14 coaches, who couldn’t select from their own clubs.
     Crozier said he “really can’t believe” that he goaltender Wendell Young were omitted from the three teams.
     Rangers had the second-best defensive record in the OHL – allowing only four more goals than leading Sault Ste. Marie.  Young played more games (50) than any other goalie and had the second-best individual average finishing just one 1/100th of a percentage point behind Marc D’Amour of the Soo.
     D’Amour had a 3.40 average while Young was 3.41.  Jim Ralph of Ottawa at 4.04, was named to the second team while Frank Caprice of London, 4.62 was picked for the third squad.
     Young has allowed only 11 goals in six playoff games for a 1.83 average.
     The all-star coaches were Brian Kilrea of Ottawa, first team; Terry Crisp of the Soo, second team; and Paul McIntosh of London, third.
     Ottawa, which which suffered heavy player losses from last year, nevertheless finished first in the overall standings with 96 points.  Rangers, pre-season favorites, overcame numerous injuries to finish secod with 91 followed by the Soo with 83.
     London was seventh with 73, compiling a 35-30-3 record after finishing in the league basement last year with a 20-48 chart.
     “I don’t know howsome of these choices could be made,” Crozier said.  “It’s enough to make you wonder.”
     Along with Bellows, MacInnis and D’Amour, other first team selections were left winger Moe Lemay of Ottawa, center Dave Simpson of London, and defenceman Ron Meighan of Niagara Falls.
     Lemay was the only unanimous choice with 65 points.  Simpson, the league scoring champion, has 59 and Bellows 57.
     There are seven returnees on the all-star teams from last year including coaches Kilrea and Crisp.  The others are Bellows, Larmer, Ralph, right winger Tony Tanti of Oshawa and defenceman Steve Smith of the Soo.