KITCHENER -- Call it a stunning comeback for the Kitchener Rangers.

Early in the season they sat dead last in their conference but now they’re on the brink of moving into first place.

The turnaround comes after the team’s head coach was fired mid-season.

It’s not uncommon for a team to dump their bench boss during a losing streak but what’s uncommon is for the team to then to go on and win 18 of their next 21 games.

The Rangers were hopeful heading into their season after a tough 2019.

“We went through a rough patch early on,” says General Manager Mike McKenzie. “I don’t think we were playing to our potential.”

After 21 games the team was in dead last in the western conference and it appeared that the season was slipping away.

That’s when McKenzie took action, firing Jay McKee, and taking over as head coach.

Since that decision the Rangers have been climbing up the rankings.

“It’s been good, it’s always fun to win,” says McKenzie. “I think the confidence in the room is high.”

The Rangers are now first place in the OHL's Western Conference following a 9-2 victory over the North Bay Batallion Friday night.

“I think it just comes with confidence with the way the team’s been playing,” says Rangers centre Riley Damiani. “If the team’s winning games, guys individually are going to play really well. It’s not about individual stats and individual play, but more so as a team. If you’re on a winning team you get more exposure.”

In the dressing room the message was clear.

“When you have your General Manager step down from the press box to the bench you know the competition is going to go up,” says Damiani. “Energy is going to go up because he’s the guy who makes the decisions.”

With confidence high, first place within reach, and the team nipping at the heels of a top 10 ranking in Canadian Junior Hockey, the Rangers just want to take it one game at a time.

“The big thing for us, we keep telling our guys, we don’t want to look in the past,” says McKenzie. “Whether it’s a loss or a win, or five losses in a row or 5 to 10 wins in a row. We take care of that day and then we move on to the next.”