QUEBEC -- The Kitchener Rangers can kick back and relax, secure in the knowledge they will play in the championship game of the Memorial Cup on Sunday.
The Ontario Hockey League champions finished 3-0 in the round-robin after a 4-2 win last night over the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets.
Kitchener earned three days of rest heading into the championship game.
"You kind of wish it was tomorrow, that's how anxious you are," said Rangers centre Michael Richards.
"We've worked all year for it, 90 some-odd games for it and Sunday, hopefully, could be a perfect end."
The Rockets, 1-2, await the outcome of today's all-Quebec tilt between the host Quebec Remparts, 0-2, and Hull Olympiques, 1-1, to determine if they will play in a tiebreaker tomorrow or the semifinal on Saturday.
A Hull victory tonight (Rogers Sportsnet, 7 p.m.) would send the Olympiques to the semifinal as the No. 2 seed against the Rockets and the Remparts would be eliminated.
A Hull loss would force a tiebreaker tomorrow and goal differential between the three teams at 1-2 would determine who earns the semifinal berth.
Hull went 3-1 against Quebec during the regular season.
Kelowna faces the possible prospect of having to play three games in three days to win the 2003 Canadian Hockey League championship. The Victoriaville Tigres almost did that last year but ran out of gas in the championship game
"It's not the easiest road, but whatever," said Kelowna coach Marc Habscheid.
The Rangers scored three goals in the third period after trailing 2-1 after two. Richards scored twice in that period, including the game winner on a power play at 11:17. Petr Kanko added an insurance goal with less than three minutes remaining.
Kitchener coach Peter DeBoer said he did some homework during the second intermission and found out the Rockets were 48-1 during the regular season and 13-0 in the postseason when leading after 40 minutes.
"I kept that to myself and didn't tell the guys," he said.
David Clarkson also scored for the Rangers in front of 8,285 at Colisee Pepsi. Kiel McLeod and Duncan Keith replied for Kelowna.
Kelowna controlled the game early and didn't give the Rangers a lot of open ice to work with.
The Rockets outshot Kitchener 10-4 in the first period, but the momentum swung over the course of the game as the Rangers' depth in forwards emerged.
With Rangers captain Derek Roy held pointless, Richards and Kanko stepped up on offence.
Locke CHL's top player
Ottawa 67's centre Corey Locke was named the Canadian Hockey League's player of the year yesterday during a luncheon at the Memorial Cup. He also picked up the award for being CHL's top scorer with 63 goals and 88 assists in 66 games.
Locke is the third player from the Ottawa 67's to win the CHL's top award in seven years, along with defenceman Brian Campbell in 1999 and Alyn McCauley in Last year's winner, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild.
RANGERS 4
ROCKETS 2
