GLANBROOK (Jan. 29) -- One season down, one to go.  The Glanbrook Rangers closed out their 2019-2020 regular season and now embark on what they hope will be an equally long and even more successful playoff run. 

Unfortunately, the finale wasn't as rewarding as hoped for -- a 3-0 loss to the Hespeler Shamrocks.  In fact, the Rangers' past few games have been something of a disappointment:  two wins to go with two losses and three ties over their past seven outings as they slipped from contention for top spot in the South Bloomfield Division.

"This is definitely a tough time to go through a slump," said Rangers' defenceman Brennan Ireland.  "There seems to be a lack of chemistry and it has resulted in us having a tough time putting the puck in the net.  As we go into the playoffs we need everyone to step up and play together like a team as we were (before).  We need to have a mindset of positivity and remember that the playoffs are a new chance for us to make a statement."

While their record hasn't been terrible, and they still had a scant mathematical chance to capture first place -- which was irrevocably ended with the loss to Hespeler -- it has certainly not been representative of what the Rangers have accomplished this year and what they hope to accomplish in the playoffs.

"Nobody's going to give us anything (in the playoffs)," said Rangers' coach Mike Christian.  "We've got to be prepared for that.  We've put the work in, the guys know the game plan, and we've been doing it to an extent, but we just haven't gotten the bounces.  But we've got to play through that." 

That was evident against the Shamrocks.  The Rangers certainly didn't lack for opportunities, but were just unable to finish things off.   Four times they rang shots off the posts that appeared to form a protective forcefield around Hespeler goaltender Gavin MacLeod;  they failed to capitalize on several breakaways, two of them while shorthanded, and just seemed to be out of sync against a Shamrock team that was an entirely different creature; a faster, more determined incarnation from the one that dropped an 8-3 decision to the Rangers in the season opener way back on Sept. 11. 

So now the Rangers have to wait until the Grimsby Peach Kings and Hagersville Hawks settle their business about which will claim the Bloomfield crown and where the Rangers will finish in the playoff pecking order.   That will be decided this weekend and the Rangers, meanwhile, will evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and try to prepare for the upcoming challenge which combines the emotional intensity of a sprint with the grinding endurance of a marathon  (division rival Grimsby played 33 games last year en route to the Schmalz Cup finals). 

"We have a weekend off and we can all get together for the Super Bowl and, as we get back to practice (next week) we need to have a playoff mentality with drive and focus," said Ireland.  "Not many of us have had a true junior playoff experience and it's going to be tough, but I believe if we can get some wins, the drive and the chemistry will grow."

As for the tactical aspects of a playoff fun, Christian says it all comes down to execution. 

"We've got to work on being very consistent," he said.  "We'll take a bit of a break, reset and come back hungry."

NOTES:  Glanbrook still has a chance to finish in second place in the Bloomfield Division if Hagersville loses both of their remaining games (vs Grimsby and Dunnville). A more likely scenario is that they'll end up third and face the Niagara RiverHawks in the first round of the playoffs ... Noah Matteson ended up as the Rangers' scoring leader this season with 30 goals and 30 assists for 60 points.  Noah Bollert was tops in goals with 35, while  Ireland led Glanbrook defencemen in points with three goals and 22 assists ... The Rangers finished with a 3-1-0-2 record against Hespeler.  

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