Gloucester Rangers

History

The franchise dates back to the 1968 expansion Ottawa M.&.W (MacIntosh & Watts) Rangers and made their home in Leitrim 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.

New ownership, new logo, and colours

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 look 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.

Championship contender collapse

Despite losing the 2004 Art Bogart Cup finals, the Gloucester Rangers were predicted to be a championship contender early in the 2004-05 season. In October 2004, with the sudden resignation of coaches Justin Nistico and Wayne Hughes over disagreements with upper management. The coaches were replaced with inexperienced Wayne Napier, who had difficulty keeping the team together and players wanting trades. Captain and forward Brock Wilson was acquired from the Brockville Braves in a blockbuster deal. Their roster was limited to a minimum of 14 skaters in some games because of player defections and Gloucester dropped in 5th overall and lost the series to Hawkesbury. Notably, Gloucester nearly became the first team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and win game 7. but came short losing game 7 by a score of 9-2.

Re-brand to 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 renamed the team - Orleans Blues, and the newly created team remained at the Earl Armstrong Arena instead of playing out of the Orleans Recreation Complex (now Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex) located on Youville Drive in Orleans. The rebranding of the franchise resulted in lost ticket 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, who lost the first-round series to the Nepean Raiders, despite holding a 2-1 series lead. Orleans lost the series in 6 games.

Re-brand back to Gloucester Rangers

The owners of the Orleans Blues decided to return as the Gloucester Rangers because the Central Canada Hockey League board of governors denied permission for the team to move to Orleans, Ontario. Former Ottawa 67's assistant coach Vince Milette was hired as the Rangers coach. The Rangers requested permission 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 a special game to commemorate the rivalry between the Rangers and Grads. At the time of the game, the Orleans Arena was renamed 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.

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 for nearly 50 years.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Championships

Notable alumni