The Parkland U18 Rangers are starting to make some noise. Looking to climb their way back into a playoff spot, the Rangers earned three of a possible four points last weekend against Southwest.
They lost two close games prior to that against the Thrashers and earned five of a possible six points in three games prior to that. There is no doubt that Parkland is heading in the right direction and they will look to keep it going this weekend.
"We executed our game plan almost to a tee last weekend and we have been making a lot of progress," said Tyler Carefoot, Head Coach. "Very pleased, but there is a lot of work ahead of us. We are getting better every game and I believe the guys are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel if they execute the little details."
Dru Mushumanski has had the hot-stick for Parkland as he's scored four goals in his past three games, two of which came last Saturday in a 4-3 overtime loss against Southwest. He's now tied for second in scoring with 17 points, 11 of which are goals. Overall, it's been a very balanced approach for Parkland this year as they have nine players with at least 10 points. Madden Murray continues to pace the team with his 13 goals and 11 assists.
In net; meanwhile, Chase Glover stole the show last weekend as he made 77 saves on 83 shots. This includes an outstanding 45-save performance on Friday night. Glover has earned five wins in net this season in his first season of U18 hockey after he played with the U15 program last year.
"He's been on fire and dialled in," said Carefoot. "He's been tracking the puck really well and he's giving us an opportunity to win games here. Kyler Swanton is also a great goalie and we know he will be ready when he gets between the pipes."
Now Parkland will put their focus on the Eastman Selects, a team they are chasing in the standings. Entering this weekend, the Rangers are just six points back of the Selects for the eighth and final playoff spot in the league. The first game of the weekend is set for Saturday evening at the Sun Gro Centre and they rematch on Sunday afternoon. Eastman comes into the game riding a three-game winning streak and they have scored 12 goals in that span.
"We talked about this at practice this week and our mentality has to be like playoff hockey," offered Carefoot. "Eastman looks big, but they don't have as much speed as usual. We need to get pucks behind their back end and create some offence. This weekend is critical for us and our group will be ready, we have had a really good week at practice."
