Gloucester Rangers

The Gloucester Rangers were a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Gloucester, Ontario, Canada. They were a part of the Central Junior A Hockey League.

History
The franchise dates back to the 1968 expansion Ottawa M.&.W (MacIntosh & Watts) Rangers and made their home in Lietram in south Ottawa. In 1972, the M&W Rangers became the Gloucester Rangers and played out of the Earl Armstrong Arena. The Rangers won their first Art Bogart Cup as league champions in 1981 by defeating the Pembroke Lumber Kings. The 1995 Centennial Cup (now Royal Bank Cup) was awarded to the City of Gloucester and the Gloucester Rangers. The Rangers, who were up by a goal in the championship game against the Calgary Canucks of the AJHL. The Canucks tied the game in the dying seconds and won the Centennial Cup in overtime. After their last playoff appearance of the 20th century, the Rangers fell on hard times missing the playoffs multiple times. After a 10th place performance after the 2001-02 season, the Gloucester Rangers Jr. A Hockey Club was sold, and the colours and uniforms were changed to black, purple, and silver, which gave the Rangers a new reputation for the 2002-03 season. The Rangers also landed the best players that were acquired in blockbuster trades with their cross-town rivals Ottawa Jr. Senators. The changes paid off. In December 2002, the Gloucester Rangers traded for Mitch O'Keefe, who would then go on to record 6 regular season shutouts in 2003-04. Despite losing the 2004 Art Bogart Cuo finals, the Gloucester Rangers were predicted to be a championship contender the next season. In October 2004, with the sudden resignation of coaches Justin Nistico and Wayne Hughes, the championship-bound team lost its wheels to players demanding trades before January and the Rangers dropped mid-way in the overall standings and lost the Hawkesbury Hawks in the first round of the playoffs.

Orleans Blues
Days after the Gloucester Rangers lost the first-round to the Hawkesbury Hawks, the team was sold to a group of Orleans businessmen, who re-named the team - Orleans Blues, and the newly-created team remained at the Earl Armstrong Arena instead of playing out of the Orleans Arena of the Orleans Recreation Complex (now Bob McQuarrie Recreation Centre). The change results in lost tickets sales and a drop in attendance. The Blues best season was in 2006-07, when goaltender Adam Courchaine led the team to their only playoff appearance. After a disastrous 2007-08 season, the Blues were no more and returned to the traditional Gloucester Rangers.

Gloucester Rangers return
The owners of the Orleans Blues decided to return as the Gloucester Rangers because the Central Junior A Hockey League board of governers denied permit the team to move to Orleans, Ontario. Former Ottawa 67's assistant coach Vince Milette was hired as the Rangers coach. The Rangers requested to play four regular season games in Rockland, Ontario. But, the decision was denied by the league. On October 10, 2008 the Gloucester Rangers played a game at the nearby Orleans Recreation Centre against the Cumberland Grads for special game to commemorate the rivalry between the Rangers and Grads. At the time of the game, the Orleans Arena was re-named the Roger Senecal Arena in memory of Roger Senecal, who died in 2002. Senecal was a big part of the Gloucester Rangers Hockey Association. On March 6, 2009, the Rangers qualified for the 8th and final playoff spot defeating Brockville 4-1. The Rangers bowed out of the quarter-finals losing the series 4 games to 0 to the Nepean Raiders. Former Belleville Bulls and Ottawa 67's forward Stephan Blunden now plays for the Gloucester Rangers going into the 2009-10 season.

New ownership and final season in Gloucester
In late September 2016, Paul Jennings sold the Gloucester Rangers to a group of 4 partners being André Chaput, André Charlebois, Jean-Robert Leger and Robert Bourdeau. Paul Jennings purchased the Orleans Blues franchise from Chaput in 2007. The Gloucester Rangers will finish the 2016-17 season and will relocate to Rockland, Ontario to become the Rockland Nationals after playing at the aging Earl Armstrong Arena for nearly 50 years.

Championships

 * CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1970, 1971, 1981, 1994
 * Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: None
 * CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None

Notable alumni

 * John Barrett
 * Dan Boyle
 * Todd Charlesworth
 * Mathieu Dandenault
 * P.C. Drouin
 * Blake Dunlop
 * Jerome Dupont
 * Robert Esche
 * Todd Flichel
 * Mark Fraser
 * Garry Galley
 * Steve Guenette
 * Mitch Lamoureux
 * Gary Laskoski
 * Claude Loiselle
 * Larry Robinson
 * Moe Robinson
 * Andre Savage
 * Larry Trader
 * Bob Warner
 * Steve Washburn
 * Sean Whyte