Rangers best undefeated league leaders to win minor hockey tourney

Not only did the Rangers capture their Capital Winter Classic division crown with a comeback 4-3 victory in the final, they did it by beating the host team, which hasn’t lost once in 22 league games.

Gloucester began the Jan. 15-17 event with a record of 2-0-1 in the round robin portion of the competition, recording wins over Val d’Or and Amherst, and a tie against Newmarket.

The Rangers then ousted the Ottawa Valley Silver Seven 1-0 in the semi-finals to set up a final against the first-place team in their league, the Kanata Blazers.

The clubs had tied their first two league games before Kanata pummeled Gloucester 7-2 in their most recent contest before the tournament.

The same type of storyline held true at the start of the championship game as the Rangers fell into a 3-0 hole half way through the game, but they managed to battle back and score four unanswered goals, including the game-winner by Sam Dudley.

Christian Bueti was the overall tournament leading scorer for the Rangers with four goals and four assists in five games, while Jahlen Murphy recorded two shutouts in four starts, plus the win in the final.

The team identified outstanding teamwork, physical play and phenomenal goaltending as the keys to being crowned champions.