Kitchener, Ont. – The East Avenue Blue wrap-up a three-game weekend Sunday when the club hosts the Kingston Frontenacs for the first time since 2019. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. at The Aud. A capacity crowd of more than 7,100 fans is expected. Limited tickets remain and can be purchased online here.
Notable Links:
- Tickets: Buy Online | (519) 578-1570
- TV: Rogers TV, cable 20 (Kitchener)
- TV: Super Sports Pack, cable 466 (Ontario)
- Video Stream: OHLLive.com | CHL App
- Radio: CityNews 570 AM CKGL
- Live Stats
- Live Tweets
- Game Video Preview
- Media Notes Packet
- Lines
- ‘East Avenue Blue’ Game Day Magazine
Promotions:
Sunday’s game is presented by Tim Horton’s and is the Rangers’ Alumni Recognition and 2000’s Retro Game. Fans are encouraged to wear their best 2000’s and 2010’s look as we honour our history from the past two decades! There will be over 60 Rangers’ alumni in attendance from the Rangers’ 60 years in Kitchener. The Blueshirts are also honouring Dave Schneider for his past 25 seasons as the public address announcer of the Rangers. The Rangers are also debuting special throwback jerseys Sunday that the team will wear for the last two remaining home games.
The Rangers are also supporting the Family and Children’s Services (FACS) Foundation’s ‘Currency for Kids’ campaign on the North Concourse. The Rangers are supporting FACS in their goal of raising 60KG of currencies in celebration of the Rangers’ 60th Season. It is estimated that over $2 Billion in global currency can currently be found in homes and businesses across Canada. These are the coins (or bills) left in the bottom of your suitcase from a trip abroad. Maybe they are in the junk drawer or in a jar or in your desk. FACS is asking you to donate those coins. The currency will be repatriated to their countries of origin and FACS will receive the proceeds in Canadian currency.
Additionally, the National Basketball League’s (NBL) KW Titans will be in attendance and available for information on The Aud’s concourse.
Head-to-Head:
As opponents in separate conferences, Kitchener and Kingston only face each other twice in a season. The Frontenacs won the first match in Kingston on Oct. 9 by a score of 5-2. Both teams have a much different roster from the game in October, including Francesco Arcuri being acquired by Kitchener from Kingston.
This is the first match-up against Kingston in Kitchener since Nov. 15, where Kitchener won 4-3 in a shootout. The Rangers have only played the Frontenacs seven times over the past five seasons and have a 4-3-0-0 record. Kitchener is also 2-1-0-0 when playing at The Aud in that time.
Kitchener has now earned at least a point in consecutive games going to overtime twice. The Rangers found themselves on the winning side of the margin Saturday in a win over the Attack. Kitchener is now 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games and sit in the eighth seed in the western conference with 67 points. Six points separates the fifth and eighth seed and Kitchener has four games remaining.
Kingston lost Saturday night on the road to the Sarnia Sting by a score of 4-3. The Frontenacs are in the middle of a playoff spot fight with the Oshawa Generals. At the moment, Kingston is on the outside looking in, sitting in the ninth spot with 53 points, one point behind the Generals. Kingston has lost four-straight games and are 1-9-0-0 in their last 10 games.
Scouting the Rangers:
Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) and Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) were both held off the scoresheet Saturday night, but still share the lead in points on the Rangers roster. Both have 85 points, Acruri has 46 goals and 39 assists, while Pinelli has 38 goals and 47 assists. Arcuri’s 10-game point streak was snapped Saturday.
Francesco Arcuri will suit up against his former club that drafted him in the second round in 2019, 27th overall. Arcuri played parts of three seasons for Kingston and recorded 128 points (64G 64A) in 155 games.
Kitchener native, Matthew Sop, scored the overtime winner in Saturday’s game for Kitchener, giving him two game winning goals on the season and five in his OHL career. Sop is also having his most productive season in Kitchener, more than doubling his points tally from a season ago. Sop has 53 points (22G 31A) in 63 games.
Hunter Bzustewicz has led the Rangers blueline in points all season long. The Michigan native has 54 points (6G 48A) in 64 games. Brzustewicz did not get on the scoresheet Saturday, but two of his defensive counter parts in Matthew Andonovski and Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) picked up assists in the win.
In net, Marco Costantini holds the ninth-best goals against average with a 3.22 GAA this season. He has a .899 save percentage in 45 games. Marcus Vandenberg has appeared in 20 games for Kitchener this season. Vandenberg has an 8-8-1-0 record with a .897 save percentage and 3.40 goals against average.
Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars), Tomáš Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings), Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) are six Kitchener skaters that are both drafted, and signed, by their NHL clubs respectively.
Scouting the Frontenacs:
Former Windsor Spitfire Ethan Miedema has played Kitchener 11 times. Miedema picked up four assists in eight games with Windsor in the 2021-22 season and in three games this season, he recorded two assists. He is coming into Sunday’s game on an active three-game point streak with two goals and an assist and leads the Kingston roster with 44 points (14G 30A) in 64 games.
Quinton Burns is the leading scorer on the Frontenacs blueline this season. Burns has 26 points (2G 24A) in 50 games this season.
Kingston has a pair of skaters in the top 15 in points by a rookie this season. Gabriel Frasca has 32 points (13G 19A) in 54 games which ranks 11th in the league and Jacob Battaglia with 25 points (7G 18A) in 62 games which ranks 13th overall.
Ivan Zhigalov (Colorado Avalanche) has suited up for the majority of the games between the pipes for the Frontenacs this season. In his first OHL season, the Belarusian native goaltender has a 15-23-1-2 record with a .888 save percentage and 3.64 goals against average.
Paul Ludwinski (Chicago Blackhawks), Ben Rogers (Ottawa Senators), and Ivan Zhigalov (Colorado Avalanche) are three Kingston skaters that are drafted by their NHL clubs respectively.
Broadcast Coverage:
Sunday afternoon’s contest against Kingston will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20. In addition, the contest can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 466 for cable subscribers. Jason Hagholm (play-by-play), Mark Paré (colour commentary) and Brittany Ramsay (host) will call the game on television.
The game will be streamed live online in a web browser at OHLLive.com, and on the CHL App for mobile devices, including smart TV’s such as Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire.
Additionally, fans can listen to the game on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL. Mike Farwell (play-by-play) and Chris Pope (colour commentary) will call the game on the radio. Fans can tune in to the radio pregame show 30 minutes prior to puck drop and can be a part of the broadcast with extended postgame shows as Farwell takes phone calls from Rangers Nation after all home games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Fans can call 519-570-2545 during the radio postgame shows to talk Rangers Hockey.
Rangers Mega Jackpot 50-50 Raffle:
Sunday is the first game of the Rangers’ Mega Jackpot 50-50 Raffle, presented by Arnold Hearing Centres. Rangers Reach will have a guaranteed minimum prize jackpot of $20,000 with the winner being announced at the Rangers’ Fan Appreciation Game next Friday, March 24th. Tickets for the Rangers’ Mega Jackpot are on sale now and can be purchased online at Rangers5050.com.
Next Up:
The Rangers final home game of the regular season is this Friday night against the Flint Firebirds. Friday is the Rangers’ Fan Appreciation Night. Great seats are still available and can be purchased online here.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
dhennig@kitchenerrangers.com
