Can Kitchener Survive with Franky Palazzese

The Rangers have a pretty impressive goaltender. In fact he was a gift that has paid off for Kitchener. He ranks tied for 10^th in wins, 6^th in Goals against and second in Save Percentage. He is John Gibson. The Kitchener Rangers rookie goaltender (Drafted by the Anaheim Ducks this past june) who has been an absolute stud in net for Kitchener. His counterpart, former Kingston Frontenacs scapegoat Frank Palazzese, is tied for 11^th in wins, 13^th in Goals Againast and 3^rd in Save Percentage. Who is the back up and who is the starter? That has been a question asked amongst many a media members this year. The Rangers faithful will always answer that Gibson is your number one netminder and Frank is not the backup, but the second goalie.

Like a few times this year, Frank Palazzese has been thrusted into the crease as not the number 1 goalie, but the only goalie. That is not only fine with Franky, but the fans wish Palazzese all the best. After the season Palazzese had in Kingston, it was a shock to most (I still believed in FP) that he can play this well. As soon as it became evident that he is a goaltender in this league the fans cheered him on as much as Gibson. Considering how rabid the Kitchener fans can be not only home at the Aud, but on the road as well, Franky says he never gets that butterfly feeling on the ice,

            ‘I don't get nervous or even think about anything negative like that, I'm just looking forward to playing, and only taking one game at a time And do the best I can in every game’

            Doing his best is what he does, I don’t think I have to try and sing the praises of him anymore. With Gibson out for another period of time, the Rangers will hope Palazzese can help guide them to at the bare minimum solidifying the 3^rd seed in the east.

The London Knights are 10 points ahead of Kitchener, but Kitchener has a game in hand. The Rangers do not have to worry about losing ground in their division with Owen Sound 14 points behind them, but Sarnia is expected to start climbing the rankings and pressure Kitchener. The only unofficial time table that has been given for Gibson is that he would be able to resume training/rehabilitation in 7-10 days after his surgery.

            Taking a look at their upcoming schedule. From the time that Gibson has surgery to the time when he should be healed, the Rangers would have played 6 games, 3 of those 6 will be against Division leaders Plymouth and London. 8 of their final 19 games are against their division. This is not the time to be having a key injury to the lineup and Palazzese says that there should be no negative thoughts withhim in net,

            ‘…not thinking anything negative just worried about one game at a time, and trying to win every single game.’

            Ranger nation may have gasped about the initial thought of running with Palazzese instead of Gibson. Heck, he understands, but the Rangers are probably better with Palazzese given the fact he has had to run lengthy spans of being the starter with Gibson out.
            ‘…with the boys we have, we all have confidence in each other to get the job done on any night’

            If Kitchener happens to lose ground it will not be because Palazzese couldn’t win the game. Not only will he prevent the Rangers from falling down the standings, he will help improve them as he always rises up to the challenge. Then again… I have been saying this since last January… Just Saying.


A Rink of Pink While the Ice Dogs defeat the Battalion 5-2

It was a rink of pink in the Jack Gatecliff Arena on Saturday night as the Niagara Ice Dogs crashed past the Battalion 5-2 while wearing bright pink jerseys. The change of uniform was to display the Ice Dog support of Breast Cancer Awareness. While all players added pink tape to their sticks, David Pacan went above and beyond by also dying his hair pink.

Coming off of a win against number one CHL team the London Knights, the Ice Dogs were up against the Battalion for the sixth and final time this season. The win against their division rivals cemented the Ice Dog’s first place standing in the Central Division and are now only two points behind the Eastern Conference leaders Ottawa 67’s.

The game opened with a goal by Steven Shipley only to be followed by a goal tending dual well into the second period. Within 2 and half minutes the Battalion scored two goals placing the Ice Dogs behind the eight ball.

In the third period the Ice Dog’s power play broke out scoring two successful goals to take over the lead once again. After Pacan scored an insurance goal Brampton starter Matej Machovsky displayed his displeasure at being yanked by breaking his stick.

A fourth power play goal by Freddie Hamilton made it a 5-2 final. This Ice Dog win extends goaltender Mark Visentin’s record in 2012 to 9-0. The Ice Dogs are still missing from their line-up Ryan Strome (injury) and Dougie Hamilton (suspension). Hamilton is eligible to return on February 12^th as the Ice Dogs face the Generals in Oshawa.

Saturday marked defenseman Brock Beukeboom’s first home game appearance after suffering a concussion. While acknowledging this was the final match up against the Battalion in the regular season, Beukeboom says the Battalion “is always a tough opponent. Their style of game is always frustrating. I imagine we will see them in the playoffs.”

February 5th Game Day Previews

by Dwayne Williams

After sporting a 6-3 record on Friday evening (missed the Belleville Kitchener Game) and going 4-4 on Saturday night (Predicting the exact score in 3 of the 4 wins), we now come to a lazy Sunday with only 4 games. Looking to stay above 500 this weekend and improve the overall winning percentage on game Predictions. Let's take a look at the 4 games scheduled for today.


Sudbury at Brampton
The Battalion are looking to salvage some points this weekend as they return home after losses at Erie (7-4) and at Niagara (5-2). In yesterday’s game goals came from unsuspected sources – Froats (2^nd goal of the year) and defenceman Miller (3^rd goal of the year). Sudbury comes to town off a big win at Peterborough last night 8-4. Kuchin and Sgarbossa each with 2 goals and 1 assist – 8 players with multipoint efforts.  Sudbury gave up 7 powerplay chances against the Petes and were scored on 3 times. Sudbury has 56 points and is in 5^th place in the Eastern conference – Brampton has 63 points as they fall to third place.
My prediction Sudbury 3 Brampton 4

Saginaw at Kitchener
Saginaw pushed around the Otters last night to a 3-0 score.  Their big names pulled their weight – Saad with 2 goals and an assist, Shalla with 1 goal and 1 assist, Trochek with 2 assists. Jake Paterson with the 40 save shutout.  The Spirit are in the middle of the pack (5^th place) with 51 points).  Kitchener had yesterday off to ponder the home ice loss to Belleville Friday night (6-3).  In that game the Bulls were able to come from behind and score 4 straight goals to run away with the victory (2 of the goals were late in the 3^rd period into an empty net).  Murphy with one goal, and -3 rating ... Reider with 1 goal and 1 assist and -3 rating.   Kitchener is in 3^rd place in the conference with 67 points and have had 7 wins in their last 10 games.
My prediction Saginaw 2 Kitchener 4

Guelph at Oshawa
Guelph was idle yesterday – so they were able to practice and reflect on their 5-2 home loss on Friday night (vs. the Spirit).  In that game the Storm fell behind early in the first period (4-0) and never quite recovered.   Zack Mitchell had a goal and an assist to go along with 3^rd star honours.  Guelph has 21 wins and 47 points on the season – Oshawa has 22 wins and 49 points on the season.  Guelph lost their last 2 games and the Gens lost their last game.  On Friday night at Ottawa the Generals kept pace with the 67’s in shots (36-37) but were edged out 3-2 in goals.  A late powerplay goal in the third period made the score closer than it probably was. Jensen scored his 21^st goal of the year.
My prediction Guelph 3 Oshawa 2

Mississauga at Windsor
Mississauga lost their last 3 games. The most recent was on Friday night at London 5-2.  They were only able to muster 17 shots against the strong Knights squad.  52 shots against did not bode well for this squad. Wise and Foy with the lamplighters for the blue team.  Maxwell with his 10^th game with the Majors (5-5 record so far). Windsor was outmatched on the scoreboard 5-1 by the strong Plymouth squad. Shots were even at 35 a piece but the Spits did not get sharp goaltending – making another change early in the game – Cullen replacing Pavelka.  In the penalty filled game only 5 Spits did not go into the penalty box.  Windsor has 22 regulation wins and 49 points – Mississauga has 22 regulation wins and 50 points.
My prediction Mississauga 2 Windsor 3

Special teams, effort, and Ryan Murphy

Early on in the game against Belleville, it was obvious that Kitchener was going to take the Bulls lightly. The boys in blue had a few good chances in the first period, even capitalizing on one, but Kitchener did not appear to be ready for this game from the get go.

Belleville on the other hand was very ready. Malcolm Subban was outstanding in his first game back in over a month, turning away 34 shots. His first big save came off a Ryan Murphy streak early in the first period, as murph deke'd around 4 Belleville players only to be stymied by the glove of Subban. He definitely kept the bulls close in the first and, the rest of the team took over from there. The Bulls outshot Kitchener 18-11 in the second period, which they finished with a 2-1 lead. This has been the second straight Friday night where Kitchener has been severely outshot overall, and especially in the second period.

Effort and motivation continue to be an issue for Kitchener (unless they're playing the Knights apparently). The Rangers haven't been able to put together a 60 minute effort night in and night out for the past couple seasons. Something has to change here. Surely by now, guys like Michael Cattenacci and Cody Sol have learned that you can't win a game in this league if you only play for 15 minutes. I think if Kitchener had remained focused in the third period they could have won this game. How many times does this lesson have to be learned? It's frustrating as a fan to watch this cycle repeat, I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for a player.

How about special teams? Kitchener sits 15th in the league on the power play (17.5%) and 17th on the penalty kill (78.6%). This again has been a common theme over the past couple seasons. It's hard to win championships if you can't score on the power play. I'm not sure if it's complacency, or a lack of skill, but the power play, to put it bluntly, sucks.

If there is one bright note, Ryan Murphy has absolutely woken up and is playing the way everyone in Kitchener and Carolina has been expecting him to. Murph has rocketed in to 7th overall in scoring by a defenseman. He has 19 points in his last 8 games including 6 goals and 13 assists. Very impressive for a guy who started the season in an extremely disappointing manner. Keep it up Murph!

The rangers look to rebound Sunday when the Saginaw Spirit visit the Aud. Expect another exciting matchup against a team who has the potential to be the a first round playoff opponent.

ITO Hot-Stove: who is the best goaltender in the OHL?

Considering we at InTheORadio.com have been debating who the best teams in the league are as of late, I figured it was time to examine who the best goaltender is. Joining me in this week's hot-stove is Matt Leacy, Brandon Sudeyko, Thayne Hallyburton and Alex Quevillon.


Without further ado I'd like to introduce you all to this week's debate question: who is the best goaltender in the OHL?

Todd Cordell

I'm going to go with $cott 'Money' Wedgewood of the Plymouth Whalers. He's one of, if not the most well-rounded goaltender in the OHL and his skill level is off the charts. His movement is fantastic, he's a very good puck-handler and has an outstanding glove-hand. He's always extremely aware of what's going on and can read plays like a book. It always appears as though he's one step ahead of the oppositions offensive players and for that reason I think he's the best. When you factor in the numbers Wedgewood has put up during his career in the OHL I think you can certainly make the case that he's the best.

Matt Leacy

The OHL's best goalie is without a doubt John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers.

The guy's stats speak for themselves. He's HUGE for the Rangers. He leads the OHL in GAA, save percentage, wins and saves amongst rookie goaltenders,  and you can't count how many times he has saved the Rangers from a loss. Case and point this past week against Owen Sound when the Rangers were outshot 44-32, and they were able to win 5-4. 

Add to that the league's second best goalie in Franky Palazesse and you get the OHL's best goaltending tandem, something that will certainly carry the Rangers deep into the OHL playoffs this spring I am certain.

Plus, Gibby is considered Kryptonite for a certain team that, ironically, wears green.

Brandon Sudeyko

Statistically speaking how do you not go with Subban. He is a stud. and some Belleville players admit that he is the reason they had such a great start to the season. I don't think he is the best goaltender in the OHL though.

Mark Visentin... I'm sorry did you expect me to say Jack Campbell. HA!

Why would I go against my boy Vizzer now? He is still a top level goalie, and don't give me that 'he isn't elite' garbage. How about we try to deflate some stats from these goalies playing on super teams. Take a look at the recent string of games where he has notched 3 straight shutouts, or never lost a game in January. Technically speaking he is the best goaltender in the OHL. His mental state is far superior to everyone else's in the league right now. All the tools are there, and show me one instance where he had two back to back stinkers in net. you can't. it hasn't happened. This kid takes a lot of flack from everyone for you know what, but all he has done is say, 'ok, I will shut you up' and he has. Hands down best goalie in the OHL.

Thayne Hallyburton

I know most people are going to go with Vizzer, especially after the month that he just had. I decided to attack this as a body of work. Michael Houser has played nearly all of the games that the London Knights had been in pre-trade deadline. Since the acquisition of Tyson Teichmann, the work load has lessoned just a little but he has the London Knights atop the CHL. His numbers speak for themselves but what makes him the best goalie, in this scribes opinions, is what he does for his team. He gives them confidence to take risks because they know he is there to back them up. What is even more impressive is that he is a leader in the locker room. He isn't the quintessential, aloof and quirky personality that a lot of goalies have. Look for Houser to be the reason London will represent the O at the Memorial Cup.

Alex Quevillon

It would be easy for me to say our very own Petr Mrazek and pump his tires with references to the World Juniors.  I love the way Mrazek plays but Ottawa has been involved in far too many 6-5 games with him in net and while he is impressive down low, he lets in far too many goals from far out, to be considered the best in the OHL.  It would also be easy to give the honors to one of Canada's goaltenders, but Visentin's been pulled too many times, early in games this season and it's hard to say Wedgewood is the league's best when he shares duties with Matt Mahalak.

JP Anderson had been impressive in his time with Mississauga, although backstopping a team that consistently played a defensive system.  If he can go back to the Memorial Cup for a second year in a row with Sarnia, I may change my vote to him.  But for now, I'm going to have to say Michael Houser.  34 wins?  Few goalies are going to get that many wins all year, let alone in 44 games.  If you can find another goalie that can play in 94 percent of his games and win consistently, I'll listen.  Bobkov gets honorable mention because he has started in the same number of games with a much weaker defense in front of him.