Tuesday night at the Hoyt Lakes, MN Arena, the Minnesota Iron Rangers lost their home opener 8-2 to the #13 ranked team in Canadian Tier II Junior hockey, the Thunder Bay North Stars. It was the opening game for the Rangers; the North Stars had beaten the Fort Francis Lakers 4-3 four days earlier.
The game was delayed an hour due to a bus breakdown that slowed the Thunder Bay team’s arrival. The Rangers’ management had two singers singing national anthems. The Iron Rangers took the ice in red, white, and blue colors wearing the American flag on their shoulders in their first regular season game in the Ontario Hockey Leagues of the 2013-2014 season.
The Rangers had a good season last year in the Superior International Junior Hockey League and with a number of returnees on this year’s team, they look to be contenders. When the two teams took the ice, it was apparent that the North Stars showed up to play and the Iron Rangers didn’t, at least for the first half of the opening period. Last night, the Ranger’s inability to get untracked in the opening minutes of the first period cost them 4 goals.