By Jamie Neugebauer
Just over a month ago Rangers’ head coach John Dean put rookie Brody Power in a defence-pairing with Mercyhurst College commit Patrick Piacentini and the two have been nothing short of fantastic together.
The decision proved productive offensively on Sunday as the two broke out afternoon, combining for seven points in a 9-3 North York rout of the Burlington Cougars.
While Power may not yet be a household name around the league, Dean is not at all surprised with the performance of the Halifax native.
“Brody Power is the most underrated defenceman in the entire league, it’s not even close,” the Rangers’ bench boss said of the man who had his second consecutive multi-point game at home.
“His decision-making is great, his physicality is great and though he has not put up big numbers yet, I think you’re going to start to see that production.”
North York dominated for most of the game, starting with a goal only 22 seconds in, and eventually poured in nine.
Nine different Rangers had multi-point outings while Jason Pucciarelli had his 12th win of the campaign in net.
The effort was in stark contrast to last night when the team had to come back to beat Hamilton.
“We had a good work ethic [today],” Dean said.
“We had a good start, guys worked hard and they played within the system. Last night we played outside the system, but tonight, just like every night, it came down to compete level.”
The Rangers take sole possession of first place in the OJHL South with the win for the moment, and have a crucial divisional matchup on Friday night in Oakville.
