Rangers down Storm
Versatile Garreffa picks up four assists, leads Kitchener to 7-5 win over Guelph
KITCHENER — The plan was to keep Joseph Garreffa up front.
At least, that was the approach Kitchener Rangers coach Jay McKee wanted to take at the beginning of the season.
But injuries to the back end forced the skipper’s hand and Garreffa was moved to the blue line as an emergency fix.
Maybe the bench boss should consider it a permanent gig.
Garreffa collected four assists for the Rangers as the Blueshirts bested the Guelph Storm 7-5 at the Aud Friday night.
The victory was the team’s second consecutive and sixth in the past seven tilts. The hot streak has the Rangers sitting second in the Ontario Hockey League’s western conference with a record of 13-6-2-0.
It was a risky decision to shift Garreffa.
After all, the Toronto native potted 25 goals last season and is one of the team’s most dynamic wingers.
But it’s hardly new. The 18year-old grew up playing defence and forward and has seen brief stints as a rearguard in each of the past three seasons at the Aud.
This past summer he was also invited to man the blue line for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL team’s development camp.
“It doesn’t really matter to me, forward or defence,” said Garreffa, who has six assists and is a plus-five over his past four games. “Either way I enjoy it.”
The five-foot-six, 170-pounder brings speed and skill to the Rangers’ defensive unit and the club has averaged five goals per game since he took a regular shift in the back end.
But it’s not all flash and dash with Garreffa. McKee has used him as a shutdown player and matched him up against the top guns across the ice.
“He’s just so versatile that he can be incredibly effective at both ends of the ice,” said McKee. “Right now with the chemistry we have on our top four lines … I really don’t want to shake things up, up front.”
The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead Friday when Kole Sherwood and Adam Mascherin scored 41 seconds apart in the first period.
The teams combined for seven goals in a wild second frame. By the time the buzzer sounded Guelph starter Anthony Popovich had been yanked for rookie Nico Daws and Kitchener was up 6-3.
Mascherin led the charge with a pair of goals while Connor Bunnaman, Nick McHugh, Jonathan Yantsis and Cole Carter also scored.
Rangers goalie Luke Richardson made 20 saves to improve to 7-5-1-0. James McEwan potted a hat trick for Guelph while Isaac Ratcliffe and Cam Hillis added singles.
As for Garreffa, he’s just happy the team is winning.
“If you see him and talk to him he always has a smile and says ‘coach wherever we have the best chance to win, play me there’,” said McKee. “Maybe he’ll be our third string backup goalie too at some point.”
Rangers are in Barrie to face the Colts Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on Sportsnet.