Kitchener Rangers 2022-23 Season Thread (Part 3)

[Purple Phart]

Tip of the hat to the Rangers. They were the better team today, and deserving of the win.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Tip of the hat to the Rangers. They were the better team today, and deserving of the win.

Wait till the next game and it probably be the same old same old

 

[GeoBlue]

I'll stay on the fence for now. My thinking........

vs. Ottawa...........if not for the Pinelli steal and the empty net goal, the 3rd period would have ended 2-2. Ottawa missing key players. We'll take the 2.

vs. Sarnia..........After the 3rd goal, we were looking for the TV remote and then - BOOM! But though it's nice to score 2 shorties in the first 50 seconds of a 4 minute penalty kill, I am still concerned about scoring as they were both basically 2 on 1's. Concerned that we cannot score consistently at even strength. I don't feel the refs helped out cause in this one. I mean, how can Martin get an interference penalty and then get immediately pushed down from behind and not draw a Sarnia penalty? Kudos to the Rangers not giving up after 3 - 0.

vs. London.......Did not see this game but my spouse claims it was our better game of the 3 though maybe London was not at their best. (And our wives are NEVER wrong, right? LOL!) Sounds like Constantini held us in this one, especially in the 3rd.

Jury is still out....bring on Barrie.

 

[rangersblues]

I'll stay on the fence for now. My thinking........

vs. Ottawa...........if not for the Pinelli steal and the empty net goal, the 3rd period would have ended 2-2. Ottawa missing key players. We'll take the 2.

vs. Sarnia..........After the 3rd goal, we were looking for the TV remote and then - BOOM! But though it's nice to score 2 shorties in the first 50 seconds of a 4 minute penalty kill, I am still concerned about scoring as they were both basically 2 on 1's. Concerned that we cannot score consistently at even strength. I don't feel the refs helped out cause in this one. I mean, how can Martin get an interference penalty and then get immediately pushed down from behind and not draw a Sarnia penalty? Kudos to the Rangers not giving up after 3 - 0.

vs. London.......Did not see this game but my spouse claims it was our better game of the 3. (And our wives are NEVER wrong, right? LOL!) Sounds like Constantini held us in this one, especially in the 3rd.

Jury is still out....bring on Barrie.

From what I've seen today was our most impressive game of the season. Defensive zone coverage was much better than usual. I thought we had some grit to our game without crossing the line. Pinelli is showing great leadership in all aspects of his game. Hopefully the others follow. Arcuri scored a pp goal on a nice one timer. I believe he also had a similar goal in his first game as a Ranger. Correct me if I'm wrong but he hasn't attempted ( or had the opportunity) for many other one timers.

Still lots to work on - consistency being on top of the list.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Funny we should be talking about Sloan and Doyle, Sloan stuck in traffic. Hennig is taking over the first!

And each time the Rangers scored, Hennig had to be quiet and reserved.

 

[EvenSteven]

Credit where credit is due. They had a good weekend. Top it off with a win vs a hated, rested rival yesterday? Kudos!

Call me cautiously optimistic going forward.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

3rd game in 3 days. But they came out hard in the 1st and ignored any antics that the sleepy Knights had to offer. THEY were the rested team but looked like they didn't have Saturday off. Their defensive game WAS much better and every player contributed. Marco was the magnificent but don't let that fool you. The Rangers came to play and did just that.

Did they get tired like the Bobbsey Twins of TV keep claiming. Absolutely. You could see it in the 3rd when London pushed. But to no avail. The Rangers would not be denied. They capped it off with two ENs. The last one was not appreciated. Well, boo hoo. It was payback.

Barrie next...

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Credit where credit is due. They had a good weekend. Top it off with a win vs a hated, rested rival yesterday? Kudos!

Call me cautiously optimistic going forward.

I'm with you Even. If they had come out hard in Sarnia, that could have been a different outcome. But they sure came out in London. Marco wasn't the only one who kept the Rangers in it. Brochu stood on his head more than once to keep more Ranger goals from going in. This is the kind of hockey that the Rangers need to keep playing.

 

[superdee]

The Rangers played well but if the two posts go in they don’t get the empty net goals. They were outshot and had a couple more power plays. Sometimes you get the breaks sometimes you don’t. I wouldn’t read too much into this until they get some consistency. Kudos for the win though and hopefully for the Ranger faithful this is the turnaround weekend. Team is Jekyll and Hyde and will have to see which one is which over the rest of the way but this weekend is definitely a plus.

 

[bobber]

The Rangers played well but if the two posts go in they don’t get the empty net goals. They were outshot and had a couple more power plays. Sometimes you get the breaks sometimes you don’t. I wouldn’t read too much into this until they get some consistency. Kudos for the win though and hopefully for the Ranger faithful this is the turnaround weekend. Team is Jekyll and Hyde and will have to see which one is which over the rest of the way but this weekend is definitely a plus.

If its and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas. Naw. Ranger fans love beating London.

 

[rangersblues]

The Rangers played well but if the two posts go in they don’t get the empty net goals. They were outshot and had a couple more power plays. Sometimes you get the breaks sometimes you don’t. I wouldn’t read too much into this until they get some consistency. Kudos for the win though and hopefully for the Ranger faithful this is the turnaround weekend. Team is Jekyll and Hyde and will have to see which one is which over the rest of the way but this weekend is definitely a plus.

Since you came here looking for a reaction I'll give it to you. Out of the 3 powers in the Western Conference, London scares me the least. You added Winterton and Humphrey but that simply replaces Evangelista and Stranges from last year. Knights are playing consistent hockey but overachieving IMO. Kitchener is doing the opposite. So far Rangers haven't been Jeckyll and Hyde. Only Jeckyll ( or is it Hyde. I get them mixed up)

We'll see where this lands in a few weeks but if we play like yesterday I'll take my chances.

 

[robertmac43]

Overall a solid weekend and something the team can hopefully build on. I just want to see them continue to show signs of improvement. As discussed last week, our seeding going into the playoffs will be unideal, however, if the talent on this team can jell and get some confidence come the playoffs we could be a force.

 

[Tim Wallach]

For me, the biggest positive sign I saw on the weekend was a lot more sustained offensive zone time with close puck support and accurate short passes in motion. The lack of that has been a huge hinderance to the offence all year. Until you learn to control the puck in the O-zone and lure defenders out of position with motion, you won't sustain offence.

Still a long way to go before I'm a believer, but that was encouraging.

 

[OhSheilaa]

For me, the biggest positive sign I saw on the weekend was a lot more sustained offensive zone time with close puck support and accurate short passes in motion. The lack of that has been a huge hinderance to the offence all year. Until you learn to control the puck in the O-zone and lure defenders out of position with motion, you won't sustain offence.

Still a long way to go before I'm a believer, but that was encouraging.

Refs give Valade and unsportsmanlike after being pulled down, but for the reguklar dives the Knights do, nothing.

Cannot believe the crap London started after the 2nd empty net goal that had no celebration and at the end of the game. The refs and league do nothing.

Knights fans must hate our #17 Jerseys. Petizian and now Zhilkin bringing on wins.

Rangers played well over the weekend especially in London after playing Friday night at home, Saturday night in Sarnia and starting at 2 Sunday afternoon. They've turned the page.

 

[sbpointer]

I'll stay on the fence for now. My thinking........

vs. Ottawa...........if not for the Pinelli steal and the empty net goal, the 3rd period would have ended 2-2. Ottawa missing key players. We'll take the 2.

vs. Sarnia..........After the 3rd goal, we were looking for the TV remote and then - BOOM! But though it's nice to score 2 shorties in the first 50 seconds of a 4 minute penalty kill, I am still concerned about scoring as they were both basically 2 on 1's. Concerned that we cannot score consistently at even strength. I don't feel the refs helped out cause in this one. I mean, how can Martin get an interference penalty and then get immediately pushed down from behind and not draw a Sarnia penalty? Kudos to the Rangers not giving up after 3 - 0.

vs. London.......Did not see this game but my spouse claims it was our better game of the 3 though maybe London was not at their best. (And our wives are NEVER wrong, right? LOL!) Sounds like Constantini held us in this one, especially in the 3rd.

Jury is still out....bring on Barrie.

FWIW I thought that Kitchener played a polished game yesterday, I kept waiting for the Rangers to implode but they never did.
Good game,,,

 

[bobber]

Refs give Valade and unsportsmanlike after being pulled down, but for the reguklar dives the Knights do, nothing.

Cannot believe the crap London started after the 2nd empty net goal that had no celebration and at the end of the game. The refs and league do nothing.

Knights fans must hate our #17 Jerseys. Petizian and now Zhilkin bringing on wins.

Rangers played well over the weekend especially in London after playing Friday night at home, Saturday night in Sarnia and starting at 2 Sunday afternoon. They've turned the page.

Sheila what you saw at the end was a little of the Ghost of Hunter past.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Re: End of game nonsense, wish the Ranger players would dislike losing as much as the Knights. Also would enjoy the Rangers rubbing it in as much as the Knights in blow outs. They don't let up and keep going as hard as they can.



Paint me as shocked on this weekend results. Had a family day here so didn't pay close attention to the game so can't really comment on it. When watching, did see some very strong cycling which has been absent since I don't know when. Plus there zone breakouts seem more organized with more precise passing.

But................is it sustainable?

 

[RangerNation]

But................is it sustainable?

And when other teams figure out how to defend and attack this approach, will they be able to adjust? What's the in game coaching look like to these changes.

 

[GeoBlue]

FWIW I thought that Kitchener played a polished game yesterday, I kept waiting for the Rangers to implode but they never did.
Good game,,,

This is what I have heard and thank you for confirming.

I did forget to post one other negative point (Sorry!) with regard to the Sarnia game. We score the 2 shorties and we are down by one. Then followed up with a lot of sustained pressure which was starting to look like the Rangers might tie it up. At one point, Sarnia has an injured player on the ice and they finally ice the puck.

Soooooo? The refs let the player go off the ice despite the icing. Is this the right call? I mean, if he can stay on the ice while the Rangers are pressing, he should be good to stay on for the face off, right? But a mute point because.............

CD calls a timeout!!! I don't get it? Now you let the whole team take rest and whatever strategy was devised by the coach fell flat and resulted in an empty netter! Why? With the Rangers pressing the way they did, would it not make more sense to skip the timeout and continuing to press against a tired Sarnia line? (Minus the injured guy)

 

[honeydripper]

This is what I have heard and thank you for confirming.

I did forget to post one other negative point (Sorry!) with regard to the Sarnia game. We score the 2 shorties and we are down by one. Then followed a lot of sustained pressure which was starting to look the Rangers might tie it up. At one point, Sarnia has an injured player on the ice and they finally ice the puck.

Soooooo? The refs let the player go off the ice despite the icing. Is this the right call? I mean, if he can stay on the ice while the Rangers are pressing, he should be good to stay on for the face off, right? But a mute point because.............

CD calls a timeout!!! I don't get it? Now you let the whole team take rest and whatever strategy was devised by the coach fell flat and resulted in an empty netter! Why? With the Rangers pressing the way they did, would it not make more sense to skip the timeout and continuing to press against a tired Sarnia line? (Minus the injured guy)

Rule 81.4 -you can replace an injured player. I wondered the same thing, so I looked it up. I'm curious as to what qualifies as a replaceable injury, Kyrou got it right in the stones, then on the inside of his knee.
Why CD called that timeout will remain a mystery, but what a gift to a unit that had been on the ice for 90+ seconds.

 

[HockeyPops]

Kyrou got it right in the stones

what a gift to a unit that had been on the ice for 90+ seconds.

That's one way to put it.

 

[GeoBlue]

Rule 81.4 -you can replace an injured player. I wondered the same thing, so I looked it up. I'm curious as to what qualifies as a replaceable injury, Kyrou got it right in the stones, then on the inside of his knee.
Why CD called that timeout will remain a mystery, but what a gift to a unit that had been on the ice for 90+ seconds.

Thanks for the info. I guess I am not questioning the call so much as the rule itself. If a player can hang tough on the ice and not need to go off, then why should he be able to go off? To put it another way, if he was THAT injured then maybe he should have made his way off when the Rangers were pressing?

 

[rangersblues]

Thanks for the info. I guess I am not questioning the call so much as the rule itself. If a player can hang tough on the ice and not need to go off, then why should he be able to go off? To put it another way, if he was THAT injured then maybe he should have made his way off when the Rangers were pressing?

I think if it's obvious that a player is labouring due to injury (which he was) it's good judgment to allow the change, especially in junior. The intent of the no change rule is to punish the team for icing by keeping tired players on the ice, not injured players. It's in hockey players mentality to play through injury until a whistle. After all it's not soccer.

Not sure how it would work in the NHL but I'm hoping the same way.

 

[GeoBlue]

"Carson Rehkopft had a goal and an assist and Team White took a 4-2 win over Team Red at the Kubota CHL/NHL top prospects game in Langley, B.C."

 

[EvenSteven]

"Carson Rehkopft had a goal and an assist and Team White took a 4-2 win over Team Red at the Kubota CHL/NHL top prospects game in Langley, B.C."

Nice snipe for the goal. And the assist came on the empty netter. On that goal, he attempted to pass the puck but when the pass was blocked he then chipped a nice pass over the defender to his teammate for the goal. In other words, it wasn’t an easy empty net goal assist but a pretty one. Hats off to him!

I just watched the highlights. Not a really big fan of these “nothing” games. Not nothing for the players of course, but selfishly, IMO, Rangers come first. My sole reasoning for paying attention is hoping no Ranger gets injured period.

Didn’t we lose a player a few years back for a stretch due to one of these games? Canada / Russia series I think. (Azevedo?).