Rangers begin new year against Colts and a familiar face
Posted Jan 2, 2026 05:14:25 AM.
Last Updated Jan 2, 2026 01:33:57 PM.
Your Kitchener Rangers will kick off 2026 with a game under the Friday night lights at The Aud against the Barrie Colts.
The Rangers are coming off a 4-2 win on New Years Eve against the North Bay Battalion, and return home to begin the new calendar year leading the Midwest Division.
The Colts also enter 2026 as division leaders, and have won two-straight games and three of their last four.
Rangers forward Dylan Edwards is becoming comfortable in blue, red, and white, and has five points in his last three games.
This will be the final of two meetings between these two sides this season, with the Colts having won 4-3 over the Rangers at the Sadlon Arena back in October.
The schedule is light for the Rangers to begin the new year, as the Blueshirts will take a week of after tonight’s game before returning to The Aud on Jan. 9 against the Oshawa Generals.
Former captain returns to the Rangers
On Friday the Ottawa Senators announced they’ve reassigned former Ranger’s captain Matthew Andonovski back to Kitchener.
The NHL 2023 5th round pick to the Senators earned a spot with AHL affiliate Belleville out of training camp. He appeared in just three AHL games this season. He returns to Kitchener as the longest serving Ranger, appearing in 240 career games.
In a release, Ranger’s general manager Mike McKenzie said he’s excited to welcome Andonovski back. “He brings experience and a presence on and off the ice that will be important to our team in the second half.”
Kitchener now faces a bit of a roster crunch with the readdition of Andonovski. “This leaves us with 4 overage players and a situation we will have to address is the next week,” said McKenzie.
This is likely to prompt some further moves for the team with the approaching OHL trade deadline on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
It is not clear if Andonovski will be in the lineup tonight against the Colts.
