The Rockland Nationals (French: Le National de Rockland), officially le Club de hockey National (lit. The National Hockey Club) 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 (CCHL) 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.
The Nationals have made it to the playoffs five times in six seasons. As of the 2024–25 season, they are one of the most successfull teams in the CCHL. The Nats have a rivalry with the Hawkesbury Hawks, Navan Grads and the Renfrew Wolves.
History
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. However, 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.
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 2,500-seat Clarence-Rockland Arena to become the Rockland Nationals after playing at the aging Earl Armstrong for nearly 50 years. In 2020, the ownership team changed with the sale of André Chaput’s share to Luc Lavictoire.
The Nats played their inaugural home opener on September 8, 2017 and won the game 3–1 against their regional rival Navan Grads with an attendance of 1,200.[2]
The Nats qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season in Rockland following a 3–2 victory on the last game of the 2017–18 season in Pembroke against the Lumber Kings. They however lost in the first round 4 games to 1 against the Ottawa Jr. Senators.
On September 7, 2018, a franchise record crowd of over 1,500 attended the 2018–19 home opener at Clarence-Rockland Arena as the Nats invited former Ottawa Senators legend Chris Neil made the ceremonial puck drop before the game. Rockland was able to pull a 4–1 win against the Navan Grads.
In the 2019–20 season, the Nationals finished first place in the East Division with a record of 39–19–1. The playoffs were later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so is the entire 2020–21 CCHL season.
In the 2023–24 season, Rockland qualified for the playoffs for the 5th time in franchise history. They won the first round against the Renfrew Wolves 4 games to 2, but lost in the semifinals against the eventual champions, the Navan Grads 4 games to 1.
On September 8, 2024, the Nationals won the first edition of the RE/MAX Cup against their rival Hawkesbury Hawks when the Clarence-Rockland Arena hosted the 3-day tournament.[3]
Broadcasting
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.
Season-by-season record
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)
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Josh O'Connor