2008 Oakville Rangers - U16 OHL Cup: Round Robin Results

The 2008-born U16 Oakville Rangers came into the 2024 OHL Cup as the 4th ranked team in the OHL Cup Rankings, with the Barrie Colts at #3 (OMHA), North York Rangers at #2 (GTHL) and the Vaughan Kings at #1 (GTHL).

When the 4 divisions are made for the OHL Cup, teams are not separated into divisions based on the OHL Cup Rankings, but divisions are pre-determined based on playoff seedings in your league. Unfortunately, the Rangers were sick as could be during the OMHA Championships the week prior, with 7 players waking up vomiting and ill the Friday morning before their 1st game occurred at 1:00pm. Of those 7 players, 2 players (Belchetz and Gelinas) were unable to play, while the other 5 vomited on the side of the road, in the dressing room, and on the bench, doing their best to find energy and battle through their sickness. With half the team ill, it proved too much for the Rangers, losing in the semi-finals and finishing as the "OMHA 4" seed for the OHL Cup.

The 4th ranked OMHA seed meant they'd be in a division with the 1st ranked GTHL team, who also just so happened to be the #1 ranked team in Ontario each year since U14, the Vaughan Kings. While they would hope having a "WildCard" (winner of a play-in game) meant perhaps an easier draw, unfortunately, the WildCard team ended up being the York Simcoe Express. No 2 teams had beaten the Rangers more since U14 than the Vaughan Kings (9-3 & 5-2 wins in U14 and 4-2 and 3-1 wins in U15) and York Simcoe Express (1-0, 2-1 & 2-1 wins in U14, 3-2 win in U15), so the Rangers knew they were in tough and had to study video on their opponents to prepare and be ready to execute.

Game 1 - Vaughan Kings (4-3 OT Loss): In the 1st game of the OHL Cup, the Rangers faced Vaughan in a back and fourth game. The Rangers had chances early, but Vaughan took over the second half of the 1st period, heading into the intermission with a 1-0 lead. In the 2nd period, it was all Oakville, scoring 3 goals and holding a 3-1 lead going into the 3rd period. Unfortunately, the Rangers suffered a big loss late in the 2nd period, losing David Greene, a key shut-down defender, who would have been a huge help to the Rangers to secure a win. Vaughan would press hard and score twice, sending the game to OT. In OT, controversy struck! While playing 3on3, the Rangers had possession in the offensive zone, and decided to regroup in the neutral zone to try and pull their opponents away from their net to try and create something off the rush. When leaving to the neutral zone, the Ranger puck-carrier would collide with the ref, leaving the puck loose for the Vaughan player to go down the ice for a breakaway and win the game. Devastating loss, and a true test of adversity upcoming - with the OT loss, the Rangers would not get a point for the loss (poor OHL Cup rule), so they pretty much needed to go undefeated the rest of the way.

Game 2 - York Simcoe Express (6-0 Win): In U12, YSE beat the Rangers 2-1 in the finals of the Oakville tournament. In U14, YSE beat the Rangers 1-0 in the Quarters of the Red Wings Early Bird, 2-1 in the Semi's of the OMHA Championships, and 2-1 in the Quarters of the U14 OHL Cup. In U15, YSE beat the Rangers 3-2 in the Gold Medal Game of the OMHA Championships. So to say there was unfinished business was an understatement. The Rangers came out flying and absolutely dominated the game, winning 6-0. Jake Saldanha would secure the shutout.

Game 3 - Sun County Panthers (9-1 Win): Oakville would continue their dominant streak, knowing their 1 win away from advancing to the playoff round.

Game 4 - TPH (5-1 Win): The Rangers would secure their final round robin win, securing their spot in the quarter finals, where they as the 2nd seed in their division would cross-over to play the 1st seed in a different division.

Oakville would finish with the most goals scored and the best PP % in the round robin.