Kitchener Rangers 2024-25 Season Thread, Part I

[Ward Cornell]

Hannna Montana is taking all the fun out this, much like his London Knights who may never lose again.

We need Tony Montana to talk to Hannah Montana.
Some if not all may not get that reference but us oldtimers might.

 

[EvenSteven]

We need Tony Montana to talk to Hannah Montana.
Some if not all may not get that reference but us oldtimers might.

“Say hello to my little friend”

 

[Fastpace]

One last point tonight...
If there is any doubt in your minds about Little Mikey and Jussi not being development minded..
Why did Schaubel not get the nod against the worst team in the league? This is about wins and butts in seats period. Now Mike is in a corner with way too many kids. All 08s are going down. And 07s will be in the stands. It's a show. Period. Community owned business. With several huge egos steering the ship!

I hope this does not break up the team chemistry, they have been doing so well, it don't take much to upset it, maybe phasing them out slowly and finding them places they can play minutes. London will also be experiencing the very same with their newcomers, what do you think?

 

[LostRangers]

Who is this " Hannah Montana" everyone speaks of? Rangers played a decent game yesterday. Jussi wasn't overly impressed in his interview. Can't imagine him being a teacher marking tests. Not every painting turns into a masterpiece. They were playing the Petes who have had their struggles this season getting a win. They do have some skilled players. Pridham played a well for his first game under a different system.

I would side with Coach on the assessment of this game. First half of the game, many looked like they were playing to pad their stats rather than stick to the systems that have brought them success so far this season. This would not have been a victory against probably 75% of the league. Pretty sure they heard about it after the game..
Not sure if it was just coincidence but what was with the shoves from behind when Swick was heading off the ice. First as he was heading to the box and later in the game it was at the Rangers bench. Dangerous plays.

 

[Gondrex]

I hope this does not break up the team chemistry, they have been doing so well, it don't take much to upset it, maybe phasing them out slowly and finding them places they can play minutes. London will also be experiencing the very same with their newcomers, what do you think?

If there's one thing that bothers me more than that is that we reach some sort of tipping point where our GM believes that the team has enough to "go for it - Part III". We've got a few hints that at least one more player may be dropping in (remains to be seen I suppose). Are we even already past that tipping point !??

This of course would mean spending more to toughen up the back-end for any playoff run....that is unless we refuse to learn from any recent history. Besides, the talented and physical opponent in London which still has that Core Four (sorry for reusing that phrase) is now a year older.

The trading of Rehkopf, and then doing a 180 would be just bad optics in my own opinion. But I fear that there could be the temptation to grab onto that "we never anticipated the outcome of any NCAA vote" excuse.

How does that quote from George Santayana go ? ..... “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Hopefully we stay the course. In the meantime, the focus is on these upcoming games vs. London and Windsor. Should be interesting.

 

[Fastpace]

If there's one thing that bothers me more than that is that we reach some sort of tipping point where our GM believes that the team has enough to "go for it - Part III". We've got a few hints that at least one more player may be dropping in (remains to be seen I suppose). Are we even already past that tipping point !??

This of course would mean spending more to toughen up the back-end for any playoff run....that is unless we refuse to learn from any recent history. Besides, the talented and physical opponent in London which still has that Core Four (sorry for reusing that phrase) is now a year older.

The trading of Rehkopf, and then doing a 180 would be just bad optics in my own opinion. But I fear that there could be the temptation to grab onto that "we never anticipated the outcome of any NCAA vote" excuse.

How does that quote from George Santayana go ? ..... “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Hopefully we stay the course. In the meantime, the focus is on these upcoming games vs. London and Windsor. Should be interesting.

Strong post

The hardest thing for fans of the game, is our patience, we don't have the buttons to push, and we have to sit and watch, watch our minds deteriorating in despair. But when they win, it's all forgotten, and we are right back searching for buttons all over again. I ask, are we learning from our past?

 

[Gondrex]

Strong post

The hardest thing for fans of the game, is our patience, we don't have the buttons to push, and we have to sit and watch, watch our minds deteriorating in despair. But when they win, it's all forgotten, and we are right back searching for buttons all over again. I ask, are we learning from our past?

I will admit that MM is very good GM - much better than I would ever be (mind you he gets paid for doing the job), and I have learned that he has found creative ways to bring in some pieces that were seemingly from out in left field. The key though IMO is to know your enemy. The team put together last post-deadline was not adequate to beat the enemy - at least I don't think it was. Even Steven accurately pointed out the team's short comings immediately after the final trade was made - and I believe, despite eliminating Erie, he still proved to be right.

I admit a case could be made that this team is tougher than last year -Hlacar is obviously in the line-up for a reason. The question is whether or not that is enough, and if MM turns to buying instead of selling, is the talent that this team currently has and then adds onto (of course at a cost) will be enough. Maybe MM's goals are different than mine, and maybe a potential first round win is good enough for him....and I suppose there is always that possibility that Kitchener as an underdog, upsets the other team that is stronger on paper.

Older posters here may remember the NOOF. Yeah, we remember that single board - not segregated by team - where there were lots of fan vs fan arguments. But there was one level-headed, highly respected Ottawa fan by the name of Jason Cormier who I recall. His one post stuck with me. He said that if your team's top player(s) is a 17 year-old, it is highly unlikely you will win the championship (paraphrasing a bit here). I think Romano and Reid are certainly up there when you rank the talent on this team. If nothing else, they have a high impact on this team's success. So you can take from it what you will. In fairness though, we still don't know in what direction this team will go.

This is of course just one poster's 2 cents here. I of course won't jump off the fan bandwagon if MM doesn't see things the way I do .

 

[robertmac43]

We simply cannot go for it this year... Enough buying into better teams.

A full cupboard of picks to support the strong crop we will have in the next 2 years will ultimately give us a better chance to win.

 

[EvenSteven]

There’s a lot to like about Mike MacKenzie. But like all GM’s, he has his warts. He showed some of those warts in the way he handled the last two trade deadlines.

Two years ago, he really should’ve sold. Had he sold, our draft cupboard wouldn’t be in the boat that it’s in now. (He traded away 5x2nds and 7x3rds in three major deals).

Instead, he took the gong show of a season that it was, went all in at the deadline, fired the coach, stepped behind the bench and assumed the same magic would emerge from 2017-2018. Didn’t happen. We got a week and a half of optimism sweeping Windsor. Otherwise, the entire season was a crap show.

Had he sold off assets at that deadline, (primarily Pinelli and Schmidt), we were in eighth place remember, we are likely not trading away Rehkopf this year. Add Rehkopf to this current team, and a full draft pick cupboard to tweak, and we might have something going in a weak western conference.

Last year with our empty cupboard, instead of selling like he should have, (primarily Hunter B and Sop), he did a version of standing pat where he traded for players, expected to return this year, for not much of anything. Really good trade, I suppose. But there was never a guarantee Sale was going to return and who could have predicted Savard retiring.

This year, after the Rehkopf trade, we are barely at sea level again as far as our draft pick cupboard goes. We are flush with OHL players on this roster. No need to trade for any returning players. What we need is to further strengthen our draft pick cupboard. That means at minimum trading Andonovski. Swick and/or Miseljevic as well if he can get fair value. All in pick heavy deals.

Warning!!!
After this year, we have no graduating players of any significant value to sell. We have to stick to the plan!!!

The next two years should be contending years.

WE NEED AMMO!!!!