You could forgive Mike McKenzie if he felt the hockey gods were conspiring against his Kitchener Rangers in the first half of the OHL season.
The Rangers general manager seemed to hit one hurdle after another in his attempt to put a winning product on the ice for one of the most dedicated fan bases in junior hockey, but he wouldn't let it stop him from driving the club forward.
"It feels like a long time ago that all that stuff happened. It feels like a different season," McKenzie said with a chuckle less than 24 hours after watching the Rangers win their first OHL title since 2008 by sweeping the Barrie Colts with a 4-2 road win on Tuesday.
At the start of the campaign, a championship in 2027 seemed like it could be the true target for the Rangers, who were considered a strong contender to host next year's Memorial Cup.
But the best-laid plans sometimes don't come to fruition.
First, Adam Valentini, a talented forward eligible for this year's NHL Draft, informed the Rangers a week before training camp he was going to play at the University of Michigan (where he had a strong season).
Then, Finnish forward Oscar Hemming, a first-round prospect for this year's NHL Draft, couldn't get clearance to join the Rangers because of a contract dispute with his club back home. He eventually went to play at Boston College (where he had ups and downs) in the second half of the season.
Finally, in the cruellest blow of all, Kitchener's closest geographic rival, the Guelph Storm, was awarded the 2027 Memorial Cup over the runner-up Rangers in November.
"There was a lot of different stuff going on. The two players you mentioned and that stuff. The big one was the Memorial Cup hosting announcement that obviously didn't go our way," McKenzie said. "Definitely a bit of a turbulent year, especially the first half. But everything happens for a reason, as they say."
The Memorial Cup setback marked a turning point.
"There was probably 24-48 hours of kind of sadness, just because I know the community was excited to get it. I felt sad for the community that we weren't getting it. There were a lot of people who put a lot of time and energy into the bid that I felt bad for," McKenzie, 40, said.
"After that, it turned into three or four days of really diving into what our plan was for this year and next year, and how that would look. We ended up landing on pushing in this year and made a plan for some players we wanted to acquire. We were fortunate to kind of check all those boxes with the guys we got."
Indeed, in a 20-team league with at least six all-in squads, McKenzie made the best moves of all.
McKenzie used nearly 20 draft picks and three younger players or prospects to acquire four key players for the stretch drive — Vancouver Canucks prospect forward Gabriel Chiarot (from the Brampton Steelheads), Quinnipiac commit forward Dylan Edwards (from the Erie Otters), Tampa Bay Lightning prospect forward Sam O'Reilly and Los Angeles Kings prospect defenceman Jared Woolley (both from the division-rival London Knights).
O'Reilly, a Canadian world junior team member and a winner of the two previous OHL titles and 2025 Memorial Cup with London, was the biggest addition.
The Toronto native, whose NHL rights were dealt to the Lightning by the Edmonton Oilers in the Isaac Howard deal last year, was named the OHL's most outstanding player this year and then doubled up with the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as playoff MVP.
After making the trade for O'Reilly and Woolley, the Rangers went 24-3-3 to earn the top seed in a tight Western Conference.
"I didn't know Sam personally when we traded for him, but everything you had heard — he's leader, a winner, a guy that does all the right things," McKenzie said of O'Reilly, one of 12 NHL draft picks on his roster.
"His play speaks for itself — what he did at world juniors (eight points in seven games) and his will to win. He can do everything for a team, from scoring big goals, to defensive plays, to faceoffs, to penalty killing, blocking shots. He was just a guy who was really a complete player and gave us a No. 1 centre."
McKenzie also made a bold move in 2023, when he hired Finnish head coach Jussi Ahokas. The first European-born head coach to work in the OHL, Ahokas won world-junior and under-18 gold with Finland before joining the Rangers.
A few mutual contacts recommended Ahokas, 45, to McKenzie.
"It was different at the time when it happened, but he's obviously done an unbelievable job and gotten us where we need to be. It's all worked out quite well," McKenzie said.
Because none of their four playoff series went longer than five games, the Rangers have had the luxury of rest. They'll have more of it before they kick off the Memorial Cup next Friday against Tij Iginla and the host Kelowna Rockets. Meanwhile, neither of the QMJHL and WHL championship series have been decided.
"It's definitely nice for guys to get a little breather here. It gives our staff to get a little time to unwind and dive into the next piece here," McKenzie said.
The goal now will be to win Kitchener's first Memorial Cup since coach Peter DeBoer and star forwards Mike Richards and Derek Roy led the Rangers to the crown in 2003.
Chase for the Cup
The Moncton Wildcats reclaimed home-ice advantage in the QMJHL final with a come-from-behind, series-tying 4-3 win in Game 4 against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Wednesday.
Moncton rallied from a 3-1 deficit as Utah Mammoth fourth-round pick Gabe Smith scored his league-leading 17th and 18th of the playoffs before Rian Chudzinski scored the winner for the defending QMJHL champs with 5:45 left.
"(Smith) just continues to be a beast for us," said Wildcats coach Gardiner MacDougall, whose team hosts Game 5 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Everett Silvertips are one win away from their first WHL title after taking a 3-1 series lead with a 5-2 road victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday.
Star defenceman Landon DuPont had two assists for Everett and was his usual exceptional self.
The Raiders had two potential tying goals waved off in a span of no more than two minutes while trailing 3-2 in the third — first on a quick whistle and then when the net came off after Silvertips goalie Anders Miller appeared to be interfered with.
"Ultimately, I have really no comment on what (the referee) might have saw from behind the net and unfortunate the whistle went as quick as it did and the puck was on our stick," Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said of the first disallowed goal.
The Raiders host Game 5 on Friday. If Games 6 or 7 are required, they'll be back in Everett, Wash.
The WHL and QMJHL champs will meet in the second game of the Memorial Cup next Saturday.
USHL final set
The Muskegon Lumberjacks and Sioux Falls Stampede will square off in the best-of-five USHL Clark Cup final, starting Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The Lumberjacks are looking for their second league crown in a row, something that hasn't been done since the Omaha Lancers won in 1993 and '94.
Halloween spectacular
Circle Oct. 31 on your calendar. That's when North Dakota faces Michigan State in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game in Austin, Texas.
As Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald pointed out, the contest likely will feature more NHL first-round picks than any game in NCAA history.
Windsor Spitfires forward Ethan Belchetz, sure to be a first-round pick this year, will be added to the list after committing to Michigan State this week.
