Kitchener Rangers 2024-25 Season Thread, Part III

[bobber]

Rangers are getting out muscled around the net. Gennies getting in behind the D. Gens playing well defensively not giving the Rangers much. Ranger need to hustle harder on pucks in the 3rd and as Fastpace said gets more rubber on Oster. Gennies have lots of size.

 

[Fastpace]

Jussi Ahokas said after the game, they were not mentally ready for the Gens, he was 100% right

 

[RangerNation]

Well that was a flop.

 

[All the Answers]

No business getting a single point after the first 2 periods. Take it and move on. Gens team is built for playoff hockey.

 

[Krangers08]

More often then not this result seems to happen after a stat padding night. Osh has arguably has the best d core in the league and deep enough up top where Barlow is on pp2.
Seemed due for a dud at some point

 

[LostRangers]

Rangers are getting out muscled around the net. Gennies getting in behind the D. Gens playing well defensively not giving the Rangers much. Ranger need to hustle harder on pucks in the 3rd and as Fastpace said gets more rubber on Oster. Gennies have lots of size.

Gennies have the size, and speed. I know I sound like a broken record, but our GM thinks that speed is a small man’s domain, but games like this prove that to be inaccurate. The Shwa had a few guys under 6’, where we seem to have a half dozen.
We seemed unsure most of the night whether to play the body, or to stick check, and got caught in between those options too often. Hlacar tries too hard to make his presence felt, needs some time to learn how to effectively take the body. Diracollo was a force against London in our barn…not sure where that game has gone. He and Bilecki seem to get in trouble in our end every shift they are out there. Maybe stop playing them together, or with a forward line that spends more time in the other end of the ice.
Now that my rant is done…the comeback kids grab another point, much to the dismay of the Spirit and the Otters. Learn from this and come back from the weekend with 6 points!

 

[M21]

Ranger fans I come in peace with a question. How come so many empty seats tonight? The arena is always full.

 

[Matttheleaf]

Ranger fans I come in peace with a question. How come so many empty seats tonight? The arena is always full.

Tuesday. Ever since Covid there have been numerous games with plenty of empty seats. The end of last season and this one have been better but still some games like this here and there.

 

[M21]

Tuesday. Ever since Covid there have been numerous games with plenty of empty seats. The end of last season and this one have been better but still some games like this here and there.

Thanks.

 

[EastAveRangers]

Kitchener now has to go 13-2 the remaining 15 games, meanwhile London would have to go 12-7 in their remaining games, and that would just be enough to tie them with 105 points in the standings. Highly unlikely, I’ll go as far as to say that’s almost impossible of happening seeing as London only has 8 losses in 49 games so far. On the flip side, in order for Kitchener to fall to 4th, they would need to go 6-9 the rest of the way and Saginaw win out their remaining games 18-0. Also not happening.

Basically the remainder of the schedule is fairly mute to this point, they are locked into the 3rd seed and await the 6th seed to shake out.

 

[Matttheleaf]

Thanks.

If I had to go into deeper I'd say it is a combination of numerous things. 1 The cost of everything has gone up (there covid in here too) and there are less people willing to spend $30 a ticket to go see hockey even though it's much cheaper compared to a maple leafs game. 2 I think the more casual fans are unhappy with the overall performance of the team since the 2008 season. Sure there have been a handful of Midwest titles and conference finals appearances but no league title to show compared to every other team in the division. 3 I think there has been a large demographic shift in Waterloo region, and I'm not saying this is why or that other regions don't have similar things happening, but I think there are fewer and fewer hockey fans here per capita then their once was. Ultimately the team has been looking good again in the last couple years and things are for sure looking up when we look ahead so fingers crossed the Aud is packed more often.

 

[EvenSteven]

Ranger fans I come in peace with a question. How come so many empty seats tonight? The arena is always full.

Probably the main reason is that it’s an out of conference game on a Tuesday night. Unfortunately, we only play London three times at the Aud and we want to have more than three Tuesday night games at home.

London is our biggest draw. We request that we play them, and have the Teddy Bear game, here on Tuesday’s to bolster the crowds.

 

[All the Answers]

Kitchener now has to go 13-2 the remaining 15 games, meanwhile London would have to go 12-7 in their remaining games, and that would just be enough to tie them with 105 points in the standings. Highly unlikely, I’ll go as far as to say that’s almost impossible of happening seeing as London only has 8 losses in 49 games so far. On the flip side, in order for Kitchener to fall to 4th, they would need to go 6-9 the rest of the way and Saginaw win out their remaining games 18-0. Also not happening.

Basically the remainder of the schedule is fairly mute to this point, they are locked into the 3rd seed and await the 6th seed to shake out.

Moot.

Kitchener not catching London, no one catching Kitchener. Play Parsons and top guns enough to hopefully finish ahead of anyone in the East on the off chance this team makes the finals, then rest up.

 

[GeoBlue]

Oshawa played very well and is a very good team. I can see them give London a run in the finals if they don't arrive too banged up. We lost this game against the boards. In every scrum, Oshawa came out with the puck. And likewise, every shot around the boards ended up on an Oshawa stick. But, like mentioned earlier, we were lucky to get a point. But I like the "come back kids" attitude this year. There have been too many games in the past few years when I was walking down East Ave near the beginning of the 3rd period.

 

[bobber]

No business getting a single point after the first 2 periods. Take it and move on. Gens team is built for playoff hockey.

Gens played a playoff game last night. Lesson for the Rangers. Some games against these top squads the Rangers seemed intimidated. The Gens played a physical chippy game. There was no real push back. They kept the Rangers to the outside in the O zone and forced them to take shots from further out. Rangers managed to get a point. Play like this in the first round of the play offs it will be a short season.

 

[bobber]

Was mentioned on the broadcast I believe that teams can no longer add players to the rosters. Is this fact?

 

[All the Answers]

Gens played a playoff game last night. Lesson for the Rangers. Some games against these top squads the Rangers seem intimidated. The Gens played a physical chippy game. There was no real push back. They kept the Rangers to the outside in the O zone and forced them to take shots from further out. Rangers managed to get a point. Play like this in the first round of the play offs it will be a short season.

That led to a 6 game series against Erie last year, and a very banged up lineup vs a well rested London squad (that we weren't beating anyway).

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Yup, the Rangers were flat last night (4 shots in the 1st) and had no finish. When they did have some great scoring chances, either shot wide, high, or were a step behind.

I agree with Jussi...the team was not mentally ready. As for Oshawa, some big boys for sure but really, it's the Sennecke line that needed more focus. Barlow....didn't really stand out. For the first two periods, Oshawa absolutely beat Rangers to the puck and outplayed them. Rangers seemed lethargic, sloppy, and slow.

3rd period goes to the Rangers...especially the top line...and the boys tie the game up. OT could have gone either way but not this time for Kitchener.

Move on. The season is not over yet and while Rangers are assured of playoff activity, which team are they going to play? Currently, Flint but will that stay? Erie's new coach could ramp things up and Sag is never out of it. More fun to come!

 

[EvenSteven]

Was mentioned on the broadcast I believe that teams can no longer add players to the rosters. Is this fact?

My understanding:

February 15 is the cut off. Players like Valentini cannot come this year after having played games in their leagues, post OHL trade deadline.

But pro players can still be sent to the OHL if a team has room. In other words, Sale can be sent here because he’s playing pro, he’s Ranger property, and we are not at 30 cards yet.

Sitting at three points in his last 18 games, with 16 forwards listed on Coachella’s roster, a pro underager who’s the only junior aged player on their roster, and not having played since February 1st (healthy scratch or injury?), it makes all the sense in the world to send him back.

 

[Straightshot2424]

My understanding:

February 15 is the cut off. Players like Valentini cannot come this year after having played games in their leagues, post OHL trade deadline.

But pro players can still be sent to the OHL if a team has room. In other words, Sale can be sent here because he’s playing pro, he’s Ranger property, and we are not at 30 cards yet.

Sitting at three points in his last 18 games, with 16 forwards listed on Coachella’s roster, a pro underager who’s the only junior aged player on their roster, and not having played since February 1st (healthy scratch or injury?), it makes all the sense in the world to send him back.

 

[BenchedGuy]

Interesting write up on Christian Humphreys. Saw it on X (may have been East Ave Blue who linked it there first, I exited before looking who is credited for it.). But worth a read...

Avalanche Prospect Christian Humphreys Talks NTDP, NCAA & OHL - The Hockey Writers Colorado Avalanche Latest News, Analysis & More

Get to know more about Colorado Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys and his time in the NTDP, the NCAA and the OHL

thehockeywriters.com

the last is the reporter with his assumption but good to read anyways.

Humphreys has had a busy year. The transition from the NTDP to the University of Michigan, followed by a quick move to the OHL, has put him in an unfamiliar headspace. However, the change to the Kitchener Rangers has set him back on the development path we observed when he played with the U.S. U18 National Team. At 19 years old, he still has one more year to return to the OHL and continue developing his game before he becomes eligible to sign his entry-level contract (ELC) and potentially start playing games for the Colorado Eagles in the American Hockey League (AHL).

 

[East Avenue Bully]

Probably the main reason is that it’s an out of conference game on a Tuesday night. Unfortunately, we only play London three times at the Aud and we want to have more than three Tuesday night games at home.

London is our biggest draw. We request that we play them, and have the Teddy Bear game, here on Tuesday’s to bolster the crowds.

Guelph and Brantford also big draws at the Aud (for obvious geographic reasons)

 

[East Avenue Bully]

Yup, the Rangers were flat last night (4 shots in the 1st) and had no finish. When they did have some great scoring chances, either shot wide, high, or were a step behind.

I agree with Jussi...the team was not mentally ready. As for Oshawa, some big boys for sure but really, it's the Sennecke line that needed more focus. Barlow....didn't really stand out. For the first two periods, Oshawa absolutely beat Rangers to the puck and outplayed them. Rangers seemed lethargic, sloppy, and slow.

Missile and Swick w a post each IIRC. Could have went the Rangers way