Kitchener Rangers 2022-23 Season Thread (Part 3)

[Savard18]

Big loss tonight. 4 point game. Instead of being tied with Flint for 7th, we’re 4 points back.

To quote the late, great Chris Dennis “Be patient”. Unless Flint really alters their typical path this year, you’ll be past them in a week or so. As it is, they’ve got Sarnia, NB, Windsor on deck along with Saginaw and Guelph so….

 

[GeoBlue]

Have to mention some of the passes on goals were amazing last night.

Should have saved some for Flint.

 

[bobber]

Direct quote from Ranger email: "Francesco Pinelli scored late to break up the shutout for Flint, but it was not enough to overcome the heavy deficit".

Sounds like something Yogi Berra espoused.

 

[bobber]

Should have saved some for Flint.

Reality bites. I think this is as good as Ranger fans are going to get this season. Win one , lose one. If an opponent shuts Pinelli down this Ranger squad seems to fall apart. This is when other players have to step up. He can't be the only player to set an example. The defense was a weak link at the beginning of the season and it really wasn't addressed. When they pin their hopes on a third string goalie and hope he can steal a game when the team in front gives up freebies all game they are going to come out on the losing end every time. Vandenberg had the save of the game on the OHL site. McKenzie pins the loss on him. Starting to sound like Chris Dennis 2.0

 

[Rangers True Blue]

You demolish the Soo and then think Flint will be no problem. BOOOOOOOM.

When they tied it 1-1.....I thought....here we go. And then it was ruled offside. Downhill from there.

London down 3-0 to Sarnia. Came back to tie it and win in OT. Guelph losing 3-1. Ties it up 3-3. Oshawa goes ahead but Guelph ties it and wins in a shootout. Rangers....not so much.

Bull dogs on Monday. This is yet another must win. Hamilton/Brantford wants revenge. Can Rangers bounce back?...

 

[Gondrex]

You demolish the Soo and then think Flint will be no problem. BOOOOOOOM.

When they tied it 1-1.....I thought....here we go. And then it was ruled offside. Downhill from there.

London down 3-0 to Sarnia. Came back to tie it and win in OT. Guelph losing 3-1. Ties it up 3-3. Oshawa goes ahead but Guelph ties it and wins in a shootout. Rangers....not so much.

Bull dogs on Monday. This is yet another must win. Hamilton/Brantford wants revenge. Can Rangers bounce back?...

Yeah I found the outcome of some of the other games interesting. It's easy for one to get sidetracked on other game results when a fan of this inconsistent team.

The Rangers will make the playoffs, but not too optimistic of their chances. I guess the only concern for Sarnia / Windsor / London (chose your poison) is that they may be dealing with an unpredictable team. Kinda like that box of Bits and Bites. Ya shove your hand in and you never know what you'll pull out....that one's for the oldtimers on this board. Jekyll and Hyde game in, game out.

 

[Tim Wallach]

It is pretty clear to me there is a culture/character problem in Kitchener. That’s not to throw any one person under the bus, but overall there is a complete lack of accountability and drive to go through the boards for each other in big games. Every now and then they flash the skill, but way too easily they let bad habits and laziness trump any gains. That speaks to culture and character. McKenzie has failed to instil that personality anywhere around the team.

 

[bobber]

It is pretty clear to me there is a culture/character problem in Kitchener. That’s not to throw any one person under the bus, but overall there is a complete lack of accountability and drive to go through the boards for each other in big games. Every now and then they flash the skill, but way too easily they let bad habits and laziness trump any gains. That speaks to culture and character. McKenzie has failed to instil that personality anywhere around the team.

Tim I think a lot of what you see on the ice is a direct result of poor scouting and mediocre coaching. Makes what ever MM is doing too easy to read and defend. He blamed last nights performance on Vandenberg and travel. Rangers do not have a great record scouting decent OHL players. When a team doesn't have a great base to begin with and you try to buy a team to contend it's a long shot to be successful. One part of the season I usually look forward to is the draft. After last year that is even in doubt.

 

[GeoBlue]

Reality bites. The defense was a weak link at the beginning of the season and it really wasn't addressed. When they pin their hopes on a third string goalie and hope he can steal a game when the team in front gives up freebies all game they are going to come out on the losing end every time. Vandenberg had the save of the game on the OHL site. McKenzie pins the loss on him. Starting to sound like Chris Dennis 2.0

You would think 14 year NHLer, and London Knight hall-of-famer, Dennis Wideman would have addressed the defensive poor positioning by now? Hmm? And Vandenberg? Well, if you were expecting him to be stellar on every shot then, yeah, go blame him. I thought he player a great game for a 3rd stringer! He's not Pavel Cajan but even he had his bad moments.

Back to the drawing board.

 

[bobber]

You would think 14 year NHLer, and London Knight hall-of-famer, Dennis Wideman would have addressed the defensive poor positioning by now? Hmm? And Vandenberg? Well, if you were expecting him to be stellar on every shot then, yeah, go blame him. I thought he player a great game for a 3rd stringer! He's not Pavel Cajan but even he had his bad moments.

Back to the drawing board.

Looking at both Vandenberg and Constantini both have had some seriously bad games. I pin a lot of it on poor defensive coverage. Unless we put an octopus in between the pipes these guys are at the mercy of the opposing teams coming in alone two abroad constantly. Wideman is a flop for a defensive coach if that is what is expected of him. Every game on the road the TV analysts all mention that the Rangers were expected to be at the top of the league this season. This was before the deadline. I was not seeing it with the team coming in but maybe I was missing something. They always seem slow getting back into their end to defend the last couple of years.

 

[EvenSteven]

If MM has issues with Vandenberg, the third stringer, he should have addressed it at the deadline. Contending teams in the past often pick up veteran backups lest they encounter an injury to the starter. One likely could have been had for a mid round pick at the deadline.

As has been mentioned, that should have been Costantini’s start vs Flint. We shouldn’t be afraid to play our starter in back to back games.

But, we’re playing Hamilton on Monday and if starting Cos there is expected, then why not start Vandenberg vs the Soo? Then Cos gets the hardest game of the three last night.

 

[Ward Cornell]

It is pretty clear to me there is a culture/character problem in Kitchener. That’s not to throw any one person under the bus, but overall there is a complete lack of accountability and drive to go through the boards for each other in big games. Every now and then they flash the skill, but way too easily they let bad habits and laziness trump any gains. That speaks to culture and character. McKenzie has failed to instil that personality anywhere around the team.

Numerous yrs in the making here and keeping on the doing the "same old same old" gets pretty old very fast with me. Seeing some of the management issues, I've haven't got myself wrapped around this yrs team nor many of the teams from the last few yrs. Structure and accountabilty has been lacking for yrs and I'm not talking about the players. Before the players have it, it needs to start above them.
Structure and accountability?...who needs it, we go our own way of doing things here in Kitchener. (yes a wee bit sarcastic).
Havent fallen of the wagon with this yrs team since I havent gotten on it. But gettin' on the other wagon due to watching this team might be better for my liver!

 

[rangersblues]

Tim I think a lot of what you see on the ice is a direct result of poor scouting and mediocre coaching. Makes what ever MM is doing too easy to read and defend. He blamed last nights performance on Vandenberg and travel. Rangers do not have a great record scouting decent OHL players. When a team doesn't have a great base to begin with and you try to buy a team to contend it's a long shot to be successful. One part of the season I usually look forward to is the draft. After last year that is even in doubt.

Don't forget a "cheezy call" by the refs. It always seems to come down to bad reffing. Even the intro to Farrell's post game ramble has the phrase "who blew what call". I'm guessing this is Rangers approved.

Don't get me wrong - officiating is far from perfect. But most nights it goes both ways. I'm sick and tired of these built in excuses. It's spin the wheel and see what comes up. Like I said before once you use excuses, you're accepting failure. No organization accepts failure more easily than the Rangers.

Edit - Blaming goaltending is low hanging fruit. Just looking at the scoreboard and not paying attention to what's happening on the ice. It's much deeper than that. Most nights goaltending has been the least of our problems with both Constantini and Vandenberg.

 

[bobber]

Many many moons ago when our sons played minor hockey the odd year they were poorly coached. When the season began the minor coaches picked their teams. Everyone involved knew who the good coaches were and hoped like hell your kid made one of those squads. If they hit one of the so called inferior coaches you knew your family was in for a long winter sitting in cold rinks with frozen frowns on your mugs. This is the exact picture I have this year of the Ranger coaches. All four standing behind the players with blank looks on their faces. They don't seem to have a clue how to make adjustments to counter the opposing teams system. In saying this one of the best years one of our sons had they were coached by a former Ranger Tom Cassidy (1969-1972) and won the league championship.

 

[GeoBlue]

I'll give this one an early "Ugh!", I don't think I have every watched a game where the Rangers are down 2-0 after 2 and I felt like they are not coming back. This one is a sleeper, and I mean even Hamilton looks sluggish. (Though not as sluggish as the Rangers) 10 goals in the Soo and they have only managed 1 in the 5 following periods. And it does not like our goaltenders are going to be stealing any games this year. And might I add, the MM magic is gone.

This is really disappointing! They could have taken 6 points on this road trip, against teams that are "beatable", and been right in the middle of the pack. Instead, they got our hopes up in the Soo and then went into hibernation. This team is going nowhere in the playoffs. Should not even be there considering how we have fared against Erie. Perhaps Erie is in tank mode unless they are playing the Rangers.

I sure hope I am wrong about the 3rd period but they do not look good at all. And they can't blame Vandenberg today!

 

[RangerNation]

Ah ok, we still suck. Get me off this roller-coaster.

 

[Billyjack]

pretty disappointing , they are destined to meet either London or Windsor. 4 and out , for the first time I'm not buying playoff tickets. If we want to send message, everyone should do the same.

 

[bobber]

To quote the late John Prine song" That's the way the world goes round . Your up one day and then your down. That's the way the world goes round". With all the other disappointments this season starting with the screwed up draft I wouldn't put it past this group not to make the post season. Chris Dennis is smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

 

[bobber]

pretty disappointing , they are destined to meet either London or Windsor. 4 and out , for the first time I'm not buying playoff tickets. If we want to send message, everyone should do the same.

We gave up seasons tickets a few years ago. 2019 I believe. When they did make the play offs we always bought the package. If they got beat out the money left over went into next seasons ticket package. We did find that most of the regulars around us that had season tickets quit buying playoff tickets even back then.

 

[rangersblues]

Just got back from the Hammer. Good start in the first, good pressure most of the 3rd period. Hamilton really got in the lanes and broke up a lot of passes. Anytime something got through the goalie came up big. Really liked their overall game especially for a young team.

A couple of tough goals. Suicide pass by Moore that Pinelli couldn't handle for the short handed breakaway goal. They have to give up on that drop pass to the trailer coming out of their end on the pp. The seeing eye floater from the point Constantini never saw early in the 3rd was a back breaker.

None the less these are 2 points that should be relatively easy for a team once considered a contender. Hamilton is a rebuilding young team just coming off an OHL championship. I'm so jealous how that franchise is run at this time. Junior hockey runs in cycles and Hamilton has it figured out.

 

[TheBlueMonster]

I jumped back on as I thought MM would be a breath of better air for the team but its clear that this team is just lacking in far to many areas to be able to compete a full 60.

Goaltending has been quite underwhelming. Vandenberg has been a nice surprise this year but he's only shown us he has a future in this league at this point. Constantini has done okay but maybe we overspent on him.

Defence is just horrid.

Bruzzer and Andonovski have shown well.

Moore was an alright addition but I don't believe we needed another puck move back there.

Schmidt has been one of the most over hyped, defencemen I have seen since IDK how long.

Hamara has been just okay. Motew is fine.

Forward depth is horrible.

Not getting even an ounce of meaningful contributions from

Morey, Mercer, Pugliese, Bottineau (hes 16, and made the team because we didn't have a 16 year old so hes not really part of this) Misaljevic. That's too many players that contribute little to nothing to the line up. 3 of those players are nearing the end of season 2 so I think its safe to judge them on what we've seen.

I am off the train fully though. Still cheering loud and proud but its clear there is a disconnect between staff and players and truthfully, its so stale I don't think it can be saved. Get those 3 home playoff dates and move onto the complete rebuild.

 

[rangersblues]

I jumped back on as I thought MM would be a breath of better air for the team but its clear that this team is just lacking in far to many areas to be able to compete a full 60.

Goaltending has been quite underwhelming. Vandenberg has been a nice surprise this year but he's only shown us he has a future in this league at this point. Constantini has done okay but maybe we overspent on him.

Defence is just horrid.

Bruzzer and Andonovski have shown well.

Moore was an alright addition but I don't believe we needed another puck move back there.

Schmidt has been one of the most over hyped, defencemen I have seen since IDK how long.

Hamara has been just okay. Motew is fine.

Forward depth is horrible.

Not getting even an ounce of meaningful contributions from

Morey, Mercer, Pugliese, Bottineau (hes 16, and made the team because we didn't have a 16 year old so hes not really part of this) Misaljevic. That's too many players that contribute little to nothing to the line up. 3 of those players are nearing the end of season 2 so I think its safe to judge them on what we've seen.

I am off the train fully though. Still cheering loud and proud but its clear there is a disconnect between staff and players and truthfully, its so stale I don't think it can be saved. Get those 3 home playoff dates and move onto the complete rebuild.

I can't put any of this on either goalie. Although they've had some goals they'd like back, that's pretty typical of junior goaltending. Whenever they serve up a clunker it's usually defensive zone coverage.

I think your evaluation of the defense is spot on. I'm really disappointed with what the addition of Moore has accomplished. The first couple of games I thought we had a steady defenseman that would generate a lot of offense moving the puck out of our end. Turns out Moore doesn't generate near enough offense to make up for his small stature. Could have really used a big shutdown dman instead.

I don't hate our forward depth. We have talented players on 3 lines. That's usually enough in itself. Unfortunately most of these players are too similar. All perimeter players and no muckers that get dirty in front of the net. Our 4th line adds virtually nothing, although Hollet has been noticeable on the wing.

Just not a well put together team.

 

[TheBlueMonster]

I can't put any of this on either goalie. Although they've had some goals they'd like back, that's pretty typical of junior goaltending. Whenever they serve up a clunker it's usually defensive zone coverage.

I think your evaluation of the defense is spot on. I'm really disappointed with what the addition of Moore has accomplished. The first couple of games I thought we had a steady defenseman that would generate a lot of offense moving the puck out of our end. Turns out Moore doesn't generate near enough offense to make up for his small stature. Could have really used a big shutdown dman instead.

I don't hate our forward depth. We have talented players on 3 lines. That's usually enough in itself. Unfortunately most of these players are too similar. All perimeter players and no muckers that get dirty in front of the net. Our 4th line adds virtually nothing, although Hollet has been noticeable on the wing.

Just not a well put together team.

Yes, 100% not blaming the goaltending on this. They can only bail the team out so much. I just don't think it's been as sound as some of us think it has been.

Moore has been okay but when I watch him, I'm like, could we just not have given Bruzzer an extra 2-3 minutes a game on the top pairing and find a stay at home but offensively responsible defencmen, or instead of Danny Zhilkin who I like maybe Del Mastro, Hache or even Chandler Romeo who went for a very reasonable price who likely could have been afforded after all the move.

I don't hate our forward depth as well. You're right that there are far too many similarities. The Frankies carry the load, but Valade is pretty streaky, Zhilkin has world level potential but doesn't display it enough, similar to Mesar.

It's just not the right mix.

I am looking forward to just cheering the year out. Following the draft. Hoping we hit on a few free agent invites next year and we can get this thing back to Rangers Hockey that we all love and remember.

 

[GeoBlue]

They have to give up on that drop pass to the trailer coming out of their end on the pp.

Yes, it is very predicable after 5 or so years! I don't think they even have the concept right as I have seen other teams execute that play properly. The "threat" of that trailer should be back there and if there is someone watching for him, the player carrying the puck proceeds forward. With the Rangers, that pass back is always automatic, WHETHER THE TRAILER IS COVERED OR EVEN THERE! Opposing teams might as well just have a player follow the puck carrier and wait for the pass!

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Hello new coach! Same as the old coach.