SOTI Weekend Preview – Pre-Season Finale

The Mississauga Steelheads look to close out their final pre-season games on a high note during an action-filled weekend with a matchup against the Guelph Storm on September 23 and two games versus the Kitchener Rangers on September 24 and 25.

Redemption Against the Storm

The Mississauga Steelheads will wrap up their pre-season with three games in three days. After playing the Guelph Storm in their first two pre-season games, the Steelheads are back in the Sleeman Centre on September 23, looking for their first pre-season win.

The CHL Kia Top 10 Rankings for the pre-season were released this Tuesday, with the Trout ranking in the eighth spot and Guelph earning the number four position. In the first two games of the pre-season, the Steelheads put up four goals against the Storm, with two goals coming from Luke Misa and the other two from Charlie Callaghan and Zander Veccia.

With the Steelheads having three players away at NHL prospect tournaments, including crucial players such as Luca Del Bel Belluz (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Blackhawks), and Owen Beck (Montréal Canadiens), the team looks to other veterans and some of the newest Steelheads to secure all three wins this weekend.

The Storm will have to do the same, as several of their own players are attending NHL camps. The team will rely on their younger players, such as Jett Luchanko, Rowan Topp, and Hunter McKnight, to secure the win in their last pre-season game.

Home and Home Versus the Rangers

The Steelheads and the Kitchener Rangers will face off in back-to-back games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on September 24 and the Alder Recreation Centre in Orangeville on September 25.

Finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference last season with 82 points (37-23-2-6), the Steelheads look to remind the Kitchener Rangers, who finished seventh in the Western Conference with 67 points (30-31-5-2), how dominating they can be.

During the 2022 playoffs, the Steelheads beat the Barrie Colts in six games during the first round and were eliminated by the reigning OHL champions, the Hamilton Bulldogs, during the second. The Kitchener Rangers defeated the London Knights in seven games during the first round of the 2022 playoffs. However, they were also eliminated in the second round by the Windsor Spitfires, who dominated the series, beating the Rangers in five games.

Having a record of 2-2-0-0 in the 2022 pre-season, the Rangers will be battling hard to start their 60th anniversary season on a high note, despite a number of their players being away at various NHL training camps.

These two teams have not faced each other since their two games in the 2021 pre-season and have not gone head-to-head in the regular season since February 7, 2020. After their pre-season game on September 25, the two teams will not meet again until November 11 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Excitement in Orangeville

Tickets for the game on September 25 at the Alder Recreation Centre at 2:00 PM will be $5.00 each, and Orangeville Minor Hockey will also be collecting non-perishable food items for The Orangeville Food Bank. Get ready for a fun game that will include a Tim Horton’s mini-game with Orangeville Minor Hockey players, Chuck-A-Puck, and a post-game autograph signing with the Steelheads players.

For more on our upcoming Orangeville game, click here.