Rangers coach calls out officiating in loss
McKee says uncalled check from behind was ‘dangerous play’
GUELPH — You’ll never see Kitchener Rangers coach Jay McKee get red faced with anger behind the bench or spit vitriol toward the on-ice officials.
It’s just not his style.
“I’ve never seen a coach change a call,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take issue with some of the decisions made by the referees.
And there was plenty to criticize after Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Guelph Storm.
In the third period, Rangers forward Greg Meireles cut his head open and was forced to leave the game briefly after being hammered into the boards from behind.
The officials, McKee was told, didn’t see it.
“I don’t know how they don’t see that,” said the skipper. “The puck is coming down the wall and he’s playing it and he gets clearly hit from behind and is gushing blood from his head and there is no call.
“That was a dangerous play. I have a lot of respect for the refs in the league. They’re human and they make mistakes. I think they made a pretty glaring mistake there.”
Earlier in the game, Rangers winger Jonathan Yantsis took some excess punishment while standing in front of Storm goalie Anthony Popovich.
“There was a scrum in front of their net,” said McKee. “Yantsis gets headlocked by two guys. They don’t get a penalty for that but we end up short-handed out of that scrum somehow. Refs have great nights and off nights and tonight, maybe it was the latter.” The botched calls didn’t help. But there was more at play. Mental mistakes by the Rangers hurt just as much.
Rookie defenceman Donovan Sebrango, who has been stellar this season, tried to clear the puck up the middle but instead put it on the stick of Waterloo native Nate Schnarr who potted his seventh of the season for a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Schnarr got the game-winner too on an uncontested breakaway after veteran defenceman Kyle Gentles left his post to chase after his glove, which had fallen off.
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” said McKee. “Those are a couple of mistakes that we should have out of the game.”
The weekend started our right for the Rangers, who bested the Storm 5-0 on home ice Friday. But the Blueshirts dropped a 6-2 decision in London on Saturday before losing at the Sleeman Centre Sunday afternoon.
The team was on its third consecutive stretch of three games in three days and, thankfully, won’t have to endure another cluster like that until early January.
“I don’t think anyone is a fan of three-in-threes,” said McKee. “There is a reason they don’t do it at the pro level. Obviously this is more of a weekend league with kids in school so I understand the reasoning why they have to do it. But it’s hard on the players.”
Guelph too was on the tail end of a three-in-three and salvaged their weekend after losing at the Aud Friday and then in Owen Sound on Saturday.
Yantsis and Rickard Hugg scored for the Rangers. Schnarr added a helper for a three-point game while captain Isaac Ratcliffe tallied twice and rearguard Owen Lalonde had a single for the Storm.
“We had a rough game against them on Friday and we had to come back and show how we can actually play,” said Ratcliffe. “They’re a team that kicked us out of the playoffs last year. We still have a little anger left.”
Gentles left the game with a lower body injury in the third period and did not return. He status remains unknown. Meanwhile, defenceman Connor Hall is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury while forward Nick McHugh is gone four to six weeks with a jaw injury after taking a puck in the face on Friday.
Kitchener returns to action
Friday when it hosts the Ontario Hockey League’s western conference leading Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at the Aud.