Selects edge Rangers in 2023/24 season finale
The Parkland Rangers 2023/24 season ended in Beausejour on Sunday as the club dropped a 5-2 decision to the Eastman Selects. The loss followed Saturday night’s wild 9-5 loss to the same opponent. Parkland finished the season with a disappointing but respectable record of 13-28-3 and the knowledge that they took points off of every team in the league aside from Brandon. Despite the losses, there were several strong performances from the Rangers and a glimpse into a bright future.
Saturday night was a wild and wooly affair that featured end-to-end action and a plethora of goals. The Rangers got off to a great start in the evening affair, shaking off any bus legs to grab a 1-0 lead on Cam Sarna’s 11th goal of the season midway through the opening frame. The Selects evened things up five minutes later, but Ethan Carnegie streaked down the wing and ripped one through the five-hole to restore the Rangers lead before the first period was over. Cade Legaarden and Ryzlie Nepinak drew assists on Carnegie’s 7th tally of the season. The second frame started quickly for the Rangers as Hayden Seib netted his 15th of the year from Cash McCallum just over a minute after the restart. It was Seib’s 100th career point as a Ranger in his three seasons with the club. Eastman would score a pair of goals to level the scores at three apiece before Seib struck again to restore the Rangers lead. The Selects got that back just 19 seconds later and the squads were level at 4-4 heading to the final frame. In the third period, Eastman grabbed their first lead of the game just two minutes in but Ryder Gardner responded 58 seconds later to draw the Rangers level. Tavyn Boychuk and Legaarden drew the assists on Gardner’s first career U18 AAA goal. Unfortunately, the Rangers came undone over the final 13 minutes of the game, surrendering four goals to fall 9-5. Ethan Myhre made 34 stops in the Rangers net while Sam Fontaine stopped 39 for the Selects.
Sunday’s matinee was a do-or-die game for Eastman and they played like they understood the assignment. The Rangers weren’t content to just make up the supporting cast however and they jumped on an early power play opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. Quinten Fisk did the damage for Parkland with Maddox Shindle and Seib drawing the assists. The Selects responded with a pair of well worked goals before the first period ended to leave the Rangers in a hole. A single Eastman goal in the second period was followed by two more early in the third to widen the gap to 5-1 but Parkland chose not to quit. Nepinak got one back for the guests when he knocked in Boychuk’s centering pass with nine minutes remaining. Nathan Miller added an assist on the play. Despite a flurry of great chances, the Rangers couldn’t beat Daniel Banman again and the Selects closed out the game with a 5-2 win that put them in the playoffs. Chase Glover was excellent in the Rangers goal, finishing off a stellar season with a 42 save performance while Banman stopped 34 in the Eastman goal.
Rangers ramblings: The playoff matchups are set in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League. The league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings will face Eastman in round one, while the Southwest Cougars held on to second place and will meet the Pembina Valley Hawks. The Winnipeg Wild will match up with the Interlake Lightning in an intriguing series and the Thrashers and Bruins will square off in an all-Winnipeg showdown. The best of five series will all start on Friday, March 1… The Rangers were shut out of the year-end awards and All-Star teams as the Wheat Kings dominated the honours. Jaxon Jacobsen was named MVP after a spectacular season on Brandon’s top line. Jacobsen finished one point off of former Ranger Brian Kostur’s league record of 107 points from the 1992-93 season… Several Rangers are hoping to spend some time with their respective MJHL clubs over the final three weeks of the season, including Andrew Pidskalny, Ethan MacMullan, Cade Legaarden, Cash Clarkson and Boychuk who have all played games with the Swan Valley Stampeders recently… Dauphin Kings prospect Seib finished as the Rangers leading scorer with 40 points and 24 assists while Clarkson led the way with 17 goals… Kings draft pick Cam Sarna was the Rangers leading rookie scorer, netting 11 goals and 10 assists… Kings prospect and Rangers captain Sam Swanton piled up 96 penalty minutes to pace the team and Glover registered 11 wins to lead the goalies… Sarna, Boychuk and Maddox Shindle tied for the team lead with 2 game winning goals each… The Rangers have 12 skaters and 2 goalies eligible to return next season and have a bright future ahead of them…