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Rockland Nationals

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Rockland Nationals
NicknameNats
CityRockland, Ontario, Canada
LeagueCentral Canada Hockey League
DivisionEast Division
Founded1968
Home arenaClarence-Rockland Arena
(capacity: 2,000)
ColoursRed, blue, white
     
Owner(s)Luc Lavictoire
PresidentAndré Chaput
General managerCarl Robillard
Head coachJustin Pereira
CaptainCanada Josh O'Connor
MediaFloSports
Websitehttps://www.rocklandnationalsjuniora.com
Franchise history
1968-1973Ottawa M&W Rangers
1973-2005Gloucester Rangers
2005-2008Orleans Blues
2008–2017Gloucester Rangers
2017–Rockland Nationals

The Rockland Nationals (French: Le National de Rockland), and colloquially known as the Nats, are a Junior A ice hockey team based in Rockland, Ontario. The Nationals compete in the Central Canada Hockey League as a member of the East Division. Since 2017, the team has played its home games at Clarence-Rockland Arena, originally known as the CIH Arena.

Founded in 1968 as the Ottawa M&W Rangers, they are one of the oldest continuously operating junior ice hockey team worldwide. The current Rockland Nationals began play in 2017–18, after the Gloucester Rangers relocated to Rockland after nearly 50 years in Gloucester.

Team history

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The franchise dates back to the 1968 expansion Ottawa M.&.W (MacIntosh & Watts) Rangers and made their home in Leitrim in south Ottawa. In 1972, the M&W Rangers became the Gloucester Rangers and played out of the Earl Armstrong Arena. The 1972–73 season was coached by Derek Holmes, and included Mark Aubry as a player.[1] 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.

In 2002, new owners decided to change the colours to Black, Purple, and Silver. The team rebuilt with blockbuster trades with cross-town rivals and defending league champions Ottawa Junior Senators. Unfortunately, the Rangers came close to winning the 2004 league championship by one goal in a sudden death game 7 to Nepean. In October 2004, coaching staff walking out of the organization over disagreements with management and ownership leaving the team with a shortage of players throughout the season through trades and releases. The team was sold to a group of Orleans businessmen in April 2005, who re-branded the team as the Orleans Blues, but couldn't move to Orleans, Ontario because of an inadequate arena, and therefore were forced to change back to the Gloucester Rangers for the 2008-09 season.

Rockland Nationals (2017–)

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In late September 2016, Paul Jennings sold the Gloucester Rangers to a group of partners being André Chaput, André Charlebois & Amélie Lecompte, Jean-Robert Léger and Robert Bourdeau. Paul Jennings purchased the Orleans Blues franchise from Chaput in 2007. The Gloucester Rangers finished the 2016-17 season and relocated to the 2,000-seat Clarence-Rockland Arena to become the Rockland Nationals after playing at the aging Earl Armstrong for nearly 50 years. Nationals games can be heard on flohockey.tv, via the FloSports streaming platform. The team's play-by-play broadcaster is Richard Gauthier, who also serves as the public address announcer for the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League. Gauthier brings over 40 years of experience in sports media as a play-by-play broadcaster and public address announcer for various sports.

In 2020, the ownership team changed with the sale of André Chaput’s share to Luc Lavictoire.

Season-by-season record

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Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L OTL T GF GA Points Finish Playoffs
1968-69 40 11 22 7 - 145 202 29 5th CJHL
1969-70 40 30 6 4 - 198 108 64 1st CJHL Won League
1970-71 48 26 12 10 - 235 158 62 2nd CJHL Won League
1971-72 48 27 20 1 - 234 188 55 2nd CJHL
1972-73 55 30 20 5 - 293 233 65 2nd CJHL
1973-74 50 25 19 6 - 297 252 56 4th CJHL
1974-75 50 14 27 9 - 241 289 37 5th CJHL
1975-76 50 26 21 3 - 271 203 55 2nd CJHL
1976-77 50 24 21 5 - 241 231 53 3rd CJHL
1977-78 48 30 13 5 - 261 204 65 2nd CJHL
1978-79 48 23 23 2 - 210 235 48 3rd CJHL
1979-80 50 33 12 5 - 284 187 71 2nd CJHL
1980-81 50 28 15 7 - 248 191 63 3rd CJHL Won League
1981-82 50 11 36 3 - 191 266 25 6th CJHL
1982-83 48 15 28 5 - 189 241 35 6th CJHL
1983-84 53 21 16 6 - 233 235 48 6th CJHL
1984-85 54 18 33 1 2 234 328 39 6th CJHL
1985-86 60 35 21 1 3 311 247 74 4th CJHL
1986-87 54 28 21 2 3 260 248 61 3rd CJHL
1987-88 56 25 27 1 3 275 271 54 6th CJHL
1988-89 55 10 39 1 5 203 316 26 9th CJHL
1989-90 56 34 18 2 2 325 281 72 4th CJHL
1990-91 54 32 15 2 5 347 276 71 3rd CJHL
1991-92 57 40 12 4 1 360 233 85 3rd CJHL
1992-93 56 30 18 3 5 308 261 68 5th CJHL
1993-94 57 37 16 2 2 324 245 78 1st CJHL Won League
1994-95 55 32 18 2 3 263 219 69 3rd CJHL
1995-96 54 35 18 1 0 249 177 71 3rd in East
1996-97 54 26 24 4 0 209 221 56 3rd in East
1997-98 56 26 21 9 3 223 217 64 2nd in East
1998-99 54 7 43 4 0 18 149 287 5th in East Did not qualify
1999-00 55 11 41 4 0 26 177 307 5th in East Did not qualify
2000-01 55 14 35 6 0 37 192 278 4th in East Lost quarter-final 4-1 to Cornwall
2001-02 55 6 43 7 0 19 162 331 5th in East Did not qualify
2002-03 55 27 17 11 2 67 246 210 3rd in East Lost semi-final 4-3 to Nepean
2003-04 55 30 21 4 0 188 167 64 4th Lost final 4-3 to Nepean
2004-05 57 24 26 1 6 194 204 55 3rd in East Lost quarter-final 4-3 to Hawkesbury
2005-06 57 16 37 1 3 172 262 36 5th in East Did not qualify
2006-07 55 26 21 6 2 184 190 60 2nd in East Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Nepean
2007-08 60 14 38 4 4 188 301 36 10th CJHL Did not qualify
2008-09 60 26 26 - 8 198 247 60 8th CJHL Lost quarter-final 4-0 to Nepean
2009-10 62 35 21 - 6 277 225 76 4th CJHL Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Ottawa
2010-11 62 35 25 - 2 263 244 72 4th CCHL Lost semi-final 4-0 to Pembroke
2011-12 62 13 46 - 3 186 325 29 12th CCHL Did not qualify
2012-13 62 19 35 - 8 166 246 46 10th CCHL Did not qualify
2013-14 62 23 32 - 7 219 280 53 9th CCHL Did not qualify
2014-15 62 31 30 - 1 199 223 63 3rd of 6 East
9th of 12 CCHL		 Won Prelim. Playin, 2-0 (73's)
Lost Quarterfinals, 0-4 (Jr. Senators)
2015-16 62 5 52 3 2 116 305 15 6th of 6 East
12th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify
2016-17 62 22 34 3 3 141 204 50 4th of 6 East
10th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify
Rockland Nationals - CCHL
2017-18 62 28 28 6 0 186 204 62 4th of 6 East
8th of 12 CCHL		 Lost Quarterfinals 1-4 (Canadians)
2018-19 62 40 17 5 0 205 151 85 2nd of 6 East
4th of 12 CCHL 		Won Quarterfinals, 4-1 (Hawks)
Lost Semifinals, 1-4 (Canadians)
2019-20 62 39 19 4 0 254 183 82 1st of 6 East
2nd of 12 CCHL 		No playoffs (COVID-19)
2020-21 9 4 5 0 0 28 25 8 NO STANDINGS No playoffs (COVID-19)
2021-22 55 24 24 7 0 166 188 55 4th of 6 East
9th of 12 CCHL 		Lost Tie-Break Game, 1-0 (Bears)
2022-23 55 20 23 12 0 172 203 52 5th of 6 East
10th of 12 CCHL 		Did not qualify
2023-24 55 32 19 3 1 202 175 68 3rd of 6 East
4th of 12 CCHL		 Won Quarterfinals 4-2 (Wolves)
Lost Semifinals 1-4 (Grads)

Championships

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CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 1970, 1971, 1981, 1994 (Gloucester Rangers)

Centennial Cup Champions: 1976 (Gloucester Rangers)

Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: None
CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None

Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ "Ottawa M and W Rangers 1972-73 roster and scoring statistics". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
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