Gloucester Rangers

The Gloucester Rangers were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Gloucester, Ontario, Canada. They were a part of the Central Junior A Hockey League.
==History==
The franchise dates back to the 1968 expansion Ottawa M.&.W (MacIntosh & Watts) Rangers and made their home in Lietram in south Ottawa. In 1972, the M&W Rangers became the Gloucester Rangers and played out of the Earl Armstrong Arena. The Rangers won their first Art Bogart Cup as league champions in 1981 by defeating the Pembroke Lumber Kings. The 1995 Centennial Cup (now Royal Bank Cup) was awarded to the City of Gloucester and the Gloucester Rangers. The Rangers, who were up by a goal in the championship game against the Calgary Canucks of the AJHL. The Canucks tied the game in the dying seconds and won the Centennial Cup in overtime. After their last playoff appearance of the 20th century, the Rangers fell on hard times missing the playoffs multiple times. After a 10th place performance after the 2001-02 season, the Gloucester Rangers Jr. A Hockey Club was sold, and the colours and uniforms were changed to black, purple, and silver, which gave the Rangers a new reputation for the 2002-03 season. The Rangers also landed the best players that were acquired in blockbuster trades with their cross-town rivals Ottawa Jr. Senators. The changes paid off. In December 2002, the Gloucester Rangers traded for Mitch O'Keefe, who would then go on to record 6 regular season shutouts in 2003-04. Despite losing the 2004 Art Bogart Cuo finals, the Gloucester Rangers were predicted to be a championship contender the next season. In October 2004, with the sudden resignation of coaches Justin Nistico and Wayne Hughes, the championship-bound team lost its wheels to players demanding trades before January and the Rangers dropped mid-way in the overall standings and lost the Hawkesbury Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.
==Orleans Blues==
Days after the Gloucester Rangers lost the first-round to the Hawkesbury Hawks, the team was sold to a group of Orleans businessmen, who re-named the team - Orleans Blues, and the newly-created team remained at the Earl Armstrong Arena instead of playing out of the Orleans Arena of the Orleans Recreation Complex (now Bob McQuarrie Recreation Centre). The change results in lost tickets sales and a drop in attendance. The Blues best season was in 2006-07, when goaltender Adam Courchaine led the team to their only playoff appearance. After a disastrous 2007-08 season, the Blues were no more and returned to the traditional Gloucester Rangers.
==Gloucester Rangers return==
The owners of the Orleans Blues decided to return as the Gloucester Rangers because the Central Junior A Hockey League board of governers denied permit the team to move to Orleans, Ontario. Former Ottawa 67's assistant coach Vince Milette was hired as the Rangers coach. The Rangers requested to play four regular season games in Rockland, Ontario. But, the decision was denied by the league. On October 10, 2008 the Gloucester Rangers played a game at the nearby Orleans Recreation Centre against the Cumberland Grads for special game to commemorate the rivalry between the Rangers and Grads. At the time of the game, the Orleans Arena was re-named the Roger Senecal Arena in memory of Roger Senecal, who died in 2002. Senecal was a big part of the Gloucester Rangers Hockey Association. On March 6, 2009, the Rangers qualified for the 8th and final playoff spot defeating Brockville 4-1. The Rangers bowed out of the quarter-finals losing the series 4 games to 0 to the Nepean Raiders. Former Belleville Bulls and Ottawa 67's forward Stephan Blunden now plays for the Gloucester Rangers going into the 2009-10 season.
==New ownership and final season in Gloucester==
In late September 2016, Paul Jennings sold the Gloucester Rangers to a group of 4 partners being André Chaput, André Charlebois, Jean-Robert Leger and Robert Bourdeau. Paul Jennings purchased the Orleans Blues franchise from Chaput in 2007. The Gloucester Rangers will finish the 2016-17 season and will relocate to Rockland, Ontario to become the Rockland Nationals after playing at the aging Earl Armstrong Arena for nearly 50 years.
==Season-by-season record==
Season 	GP	W 	L 	T 	OL	GF 	GA 	Pts	Finish 	Playoffs
1968-69	40	11	22	7 	- 	145	202	29 	5th CJHL 	
1969-70	40	30	6 	4 	- 	198	108	64 	1st CJHL 	Won League
1970-71	48	26	12	10	- 	235	158	62 	2nd CJHL 	Won League
1971-72	48	27	20	1 	- 	234	188	55 	2nd CJHL 	
1972-73	55	30	20	5 	- 	293	233	65 	2nd CJHL 	
1973-74	50	25	19	6 	- 	297	252	56 	4th CJHL 	
1974-75	50	14	27	9 	- 	241	289	37 	5th CJHL 	
1975-76	50	26	21	3 	- 	271	203	55 	2nd CJHL 	
1976-77	50	24	21	5 	- 	241	231	53 	3rd CJHL 	
1977-78	48	30	13	5 	- 	261	204	65 	2nd CJHL 	
1978-79	48	23	23	2 	- 	210	235	48 	3rd CJHL 	
1979-80	50	33	12	5 	- 	284	187	71 	2nd CJHL 	
1980-81	50	28	15	7 	- 	248	191	63 	3rd CJHL 	Won League
1981-82	50	11	36	3 	- 	191	266	25 	6th CJHL 	
1982-83	48	15	28	5 	- 	189	241	35 	6th CJHL 	
1983-84	53	21	16	6 	- 	233	235	48 	6th CJHL 	
1984-85	54	18	33	1 	2 	234	328	39 	6th CJHL 	
1985-86	60	35	21	1 	3 	311	247	74 	4th CJHL 	
1986-87	54	28	21	2 	3 	260	248	61 	3rd CJHL 	
1987-88	56	25	27	1 	3 	275	271	54 	6th CJHL 	
1988-89	55	10	39	1 	5 	203	316	26 	9th CJHL 	
1989-90	56	34	18	2 	2 	325	281	72 	4th CJHL 	
1990-91	54	32	15	2 	5 	347	276	71 	3rd CJHL 	
1991-92	57	40	12	4 	1 	360	233	85 	3rd CJHL 	
1992-93	56	30	18	3 	5 	308	261	68 	5th CJHL 	
1993-94	57	37	16	2 	2 	324	245	78 	1st CJHL 	Won League
1994-95	55	32	18	2 	3 	263	219	69 	3rd CJHL 	
1995-96	54	35	18	1 	0 	249	177	71 	3rd in Robinson 	
1996-97	54	26	24	4 	0 	209	221	56 	3rd in Yzerman 	
1997-98	56	26	21	9 	3 	223	217	64 	2nd in Robinson 	
1998-99	54	7 	43	4 	0 	18 	149	287	5th in Robinson 	Out of Playoffs
1999-00	55	11	41	4 	0 	26 	177	307	5th in Robinson 	Out of Playoffs
2000-01	55	14	35	6 	0 	37 	192	278	4th in Robinson 	Lost quarter-final 4-1 to Cornwall
2001-02	55	6 	43	7 	0 	19 	162	331	5th in Robinson 	Out of Playoffs
2002-03	55	27	17	11	2 	67 	246	210	3rd in Robinson 	Lost semi-final 4-3 to Nepean
2003-04	55	30	21	4 	0 	188	167	64 	4th 	Lost final 4-3 to Nepean
2004-05	57	24	26	1 	6 	194	204	55 	3rd in Robinson 	Lost quarter-final 4-3 to Hawkesbury
2005-06	57	16	37	1 	3 	172	262	36 	5th in Robinson 	Out of Playoffs
2006-07	55	26	21	6 	2 	184	190	60 	2nd in Robinson 	Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Nepean
2007-08	60	14	38	4 	4 	188	301	36 	10th CJHL 	Out of Playoffs
2008-09	60	26	26	- 	8 	198	247	60 	8th CJHL 	Lost quarter-final 4-0 to Nepean
2009-10	62	35	21	- 	6 	277	225	76 	4th CJHL 	Lost Quarter-final
2010-11	62	35	25	- 	2 	263	244	72 	4th CCHL 	Lost semi-final 4-0 to Pembroke
2011-12	62	13	46	- 	3 	186	325	29 	12th CCHL 	DNQ
2012-13	62	19	35	- 	8 	166	246	46 	10th CCHL 	DNQ
2013-14	62	23	32	- 	7 	219	280	53 	9th CCHL 	DNQ
2014-15	62	31	30	- 	1 	199	223	63 	3rd of 6 Yzerman9th of 12 CCHL 	Won Prelim. Playin, 2-0 (73's)Lost Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Jr. Senators)
Season 	GP	W 	L 	T 	OL	GF 	GA 	Pts	Finish 	Playoffs
2015-16	62	5 	52	3 	2 	116	305	15 	6th of 6 Yzerman12th of 12 CCHL 	DNQ
2016-17	62	22	34	3 	3 	141	204	50 	T-4th of 6 YzermanT-10th of 12 CCHL	DNQ
==Championships==
:CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1970, 1971, 1981, 1994
:Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: None
:CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None
==Notable alumni==
*John Barrett
*Dan Boyle
*Todd Charlesworth
*Mathieu Dandenault
*P.C. Drouin
*Blake Dunlop
*Jerome Dupont
*Robert Esche
*Todd Flichel
*Mark Fraser
*Garry Galley
*Steve Guenette
*Mitch Lamoureux
*Gary Laskoski
*Claude Loiselle
*Larry Robinson
*Moe Robinson
*Andre Savage
*Larry Trader
*Bob Warner
*Steve Washburn
*Sean Whyte
==External links==
*Gloucester Rangers Webpage
Category:Central Junior A Hockey League team
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Established in 1968