Kitchener Rangers 2016-17 Season Thread (Part 2)

[EvenSteven]

See that is where we disagree. I do not think we are too far off this year to be a true contender. But that is just my opinion.

I don't see us being a serious contender. However, if the players stay in the pros that Windsor, London, the Soo and Sarnia are hoping get returned, then it evens the playing field somewhat.

We likely won't know where they stand until WJC time. If those players are still in the pros and don't get released to the WJC, (which would mean they are likely headed back to junior) then the west may be wide open.

 

[RangerNation]

Ryan Pyette piece on Barnaby in the LFP today.

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/10/19/k...each-restraint-to-younger-ohl-rangers-players

 

[bobber]

Ryan Pyette piece on Barnaby in the LFP today.

http://www.lfpress.com/2016/10/19/k...each-restraint-to-younger-ohl-rangers-players

First Ryan Pyette has swallowed the cool aid. He is not admired even in London because he is basically a puppet and told what to think. Notice he never mentioned that the Rangers have what 10 rookies on the team when he spouts off about the schedule? I would never take anything he prints seriously. He is a hack.

 

[RangerNation]

First Ryan Pyette has swallowed the cool aid. He is not admired even in London because he is basically a puppet and told what to think. Notice he never mentioned that the Rangers have what 10 rookies on the team when he spouts off about the schedule? I would never take anything he prints seriously. He is a hack.

I was more interested in what Barnaby had to say. Not a fan of Pyette either but it's nice to see these stories emerge in a very one sided market.

 

[bobber]

I was more interested in what Barnaby had to say. Not a fan of Pyette either but it's nice to see these stories emerge in a very one sided market.

Good point RangerNation. I agree on the Barnaby story. That part was not bad. Pyette likes to throw in a jab to undermine the opponent's abilities in the LFP and even most Knight fans never take him seriously. Llewellyn said yesterday on the Drozd show that Barnaby wants the players play a little more aggressive than was really preached here before. He is a rookie coach and is learning the ropes like all new coaches have to. Its a big step up from coaching in minor leagues. I like having that element on the bench. Most hockey people know that the game is going to speed and skill now but the intimidation factor is still there to an extent in the OHL.

 

[RangerNation]

Good point RangerNation. I agree on the Barnaby story. That part was not bad. Pyette likes to throw in a jab to undermine the opponent's abilities in the LFP and even most Knight fans never take him seriously. .

I find this more to be true on his twitter. He does like to mention stats that add nothing to the game, but like you said, undermine the opponent. I can pretty much predict what his tweet will be when the Rangers do beat the Knights in the playoffs.


As for tonight's game, really hoping the Rangers bring everything they got. You know Bracco will be eager to get on that ice. Top line needs to take control of this game, and let 2-4 shutdown the Knights, and use their speed to generate some PP's. Hopefully Carty gets some help in the zone.

 

[HamiltonOHL]

hey rang fans...bulldogs STH here.. purchased a ticket online today for the game tomorrow and was wondering I got R level and Section 13 is that a lower bowl seat or upper bowl seat hard to tell on the seat chart?

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Ranger coaches should teach the boys how to flip their heads back if they so much as feel a tiny change in air pressure anywhere near their heads...Jones acting chops earn Lewelyn a penalty that puts us 2 men down and London ties it. Between the inconsistent penalty calls, and the myriad of calls that come from nothing other than a players embellishment are astonishing in this league. ie. DiPerna gets a weak tripping call, then a similar trip on a ranger player trying to move the puck from the goal line with 3 minutes to go and no call. If things are going to be called kind of soft, fine, but be consistent.

I was flipping channels, can anyone fill me in on if most of the goals against were due to team defense or goaltending? Despite a winning record Carty doesn't exactly fill me with confidence so far...he's a decent/solid enough goalie, but doesn't really make the big saves in clutch time to help put the team over the top to maintain a lead or steal a win.

 

[bobber]

Ranger coaches should teach the boys how to flip their heads back if they so much as feel a tiny change in air pressure anywhere near their heads...Jones acting chops earn Lewelyn a penalty that puts us 2 men down and London ties it. Between the inconsistent penalty calls, and the myriad of calls that come from nothing other than a players embellishment are astonishing in this league. ie. DiPerna gets a weak tripping call, then a similar trip on a ranger player trying to move the puck from the goal line with 3 minutes to go and no call. If things are going to be called kind of soft, fine, but be consistent.

I was flipping channels, can anyone fill me in on if most of the goals against were due to team defense or goaltending? Despite a winning record Carty doesn't exactly fill me with confidence so far...he's a decent/solid enough goalie, but doesn't really make the big saves in clutch time to help put the team over the top to maintain a lead or steal a win.

I think the coaches blew it at the end of the second. The Rangers were running around in there end five on five with the checking line out. They get scored on. He sends them back out and the same thing happens. Cascagnette got his nose bloodied before the end of the period. Hunter had the Rangers playing his game from the end of the second. DiPerna has to learn to move his butt back and learn to keep pucks in at the blue line. Jones did his act and Lewie fell for it. Rangers back end does nothing for the goalies percentages. Rangers sit out young Peterson and put Garreffa back on defense. How are the young D going to develop.

 

[OHLFan90]

GWG from London was a hell of a shot so i won't discredit him to much.


I really didn't like the DZone coverage from mash and Bracco at all.

They are elite players but it seamed both were more interested in positioning for a breakout pass to play hero instead of their individual assignments. Mash is watching the puck down low not even paying any attention to his man on the point. Kind of hard to blame the Defence on theat when it was basically a 5 on 2.

Lets hope for a better result moving forward.,

 

[aresknights]

Ranger coaches should teach the boys how to flip their heads back if they so much as feel a tiny change in air pressure anywhere near their heads...Jones acting chops earn Lewelyn a penalty that puts us 2 men down and London ties it. Between the inconsistent penalty calls, and the myriad of calls that come from nothing other than a players embellishment are astonishing in this league. ie. DiPerna gets a weak tripping call, then a similar trip on a ranger player trying to move the puck from the goal line with 3 minutes to go and no call. If things are going to be called kind of soft, fine, but be consistent.

I was flipping channels, can anyone fill me in on if most of the goals against were due to team defense or goaltending? Despite a winning record Carty doesn't exactly fill me with confidence so far...he's a decent/solid enough goalie, but doesn't really make the big saves in clutch time to help put the team over the top to maintain a lead or steal a win.

Rangers went 0 for 5 on the PP.

Knights 1 for 3.

I was impressed with the speed and play from the Rangers youngins early. Got some real solid young talent there. Familiar with the 99s and Guest from MM n helping out with a team.

OTSN, agreed. A couple kids were looking to fly the zone. Never been a big Macherin(?) fan. Great shot but leaves me wanting more in a few other areas.

Coaches gotta get em to buy in and I think they will.

Solid solid skating team n I can see them taking big steps forward as the year goes on.
A couple little tweaks....

 

[CharlieGirl]

hey rang fans...bulldogs STH here.. purchased a ticket online today for the game tomorrow and was wondering I got R level and Section 13 is that a lower bowl seat or upper bowl seat hard to tell on the seat chart?

Section 13 is near centre ice on the left hand side when you come into the Aud. You're in the reds, so middle? Gold are the first 8 or 10 rows; then Reds, then the Blue are the upper bowl. Hope this helps!

 

[dirty12]

See that is where we disagree. I do not think we are too far off this year to be a true contender. But that is just my opinion.

The rangers were the best team I've seen so far, that's without Braco & Opilka. I think they can afford to move some depth; then, acquire an impactful player.

 

[Tim Raines]

I think the coaches blew it at the end of the second. The Rangers were running around in there end five on five with the checking line out. They get scored on. He sends them back out and the same thing happens. Cascagnette got his nose bloodied before the end of the period. Hunter had the Rangers playing his game from the end of the second. DiPerna has to learn to move his butt back and learn to keep pucks in at the blue line. Jones did his act and Lewie fell for it. Rangers back end does nothing for the goalies percentages. Rangers sit out young Peterson and put Garreffa back on defense. How are the young D going to develop.

Agreed on that. The "vet" line with Henderson and Cascagnette had some patently awful shifts. For a line that was supposed to shut down the opposition, they were flat-footed, out of position and completely reactionary. They really need to assert themselves more.

And the game winner was the function of a number of mistakes and poor reads, but my biggest pet peeve are the wingers dropping too low in the zone. COVER THE POINTS!! So many teams do it and they get burned over and over. If you give the points that much space, bad things happen.

 

[bobber]

Agreed on that. The "vet" line with Henderson and Cascagnette had some patently awful shifts. For a line that was supposed to shut down the opposition, they were flat-footed, out of position and completely reactionary. They really need to assert themselves more.

And the game winner was the function of a number of mistakes and poor reads, but my biggest pet peeve are the wingers dropping too low in the zone. COVER THE POINTS!! So many teams do it and they get burned over and over. If you give the points that much space, bad things happen.

I noticed London covers the points on the PK. They move more and expand the box and cut down the space and time for the Ranger's point men to make decisions. The Rangers seem to dominate until the other team gets into their heads and then panic sets in. The last five minutes of the second looked like a five on three for the Knights.
The Knights were effective in shutting down Mascherin, Kohn and Bracco. Hunter wrote up a play at the end and it seemed to work. The Rangers were in a checking mode trying to get the point and kill off regulation. I still think the Rangers are lacking defensively. Just far too many scoring chances for the opposition. I guess it seemed too easy in the first 30 minutes.

 

[Tim Raines]

I noticed London covers the points on the PK. They move more and expand the box and cut down the space and time for the Ranger's point men to make decisions. The Rangers seem to dominate until the other team gets into their heads and then panic sets in. The last five minutes of the second looked like a five on three for the Knights.
The Knights were effective in shutting down Mascherin, Kohn and Bracco. Hunter wrote up a play at the end and it seemed to work. The Rangers were in a checking mode trying to get the point and kill off regulation. I still think the Rangers are lacking defensively. Just far too many scoring chances for the opposition. I guess it seemed too easy in the first 30 minutes.

It's funny, I was watching Shea Weber intently the last couple of games and I really think the Rangers should watch video on him. At the first sign of anyone even slightly out of position or losing a battle, he knows exactly where to position himself to limit the damage.

So many young D (and young players in general) are okay until something goes wrong and then it's full scramble and panic. Having the hockey IQ to know how to limit damage is invaluable. There are spots on the ice and angles of vision to give yourself that limit what the opponent can take advantage of. The best players and best teams do it so well.

 

[bobber]

Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peterson last season at the end of the year. He played a year with the Dutchies before being signed. Wonder where he is? Garreffa was on D in place of Gentles. I would think they should be playing Peterson to develop him if he is healthy. Just a thought.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Rangers went 0 for 5 on the PP.

Knights 1 for 3.

I was impressed with the speed and play from the Rangers youngins early. Got some real solid young talent there. Familiar with the 99s and Guest from MM n helping out with a team.

OTSN, agreed. A couple kids were looking to fly the zone. Never been a big Macherin(?) fan. Great shot but leaves me wanting more in a few other areas.

Coaches gotta get em to buy in and I think they will.

Solid solid skating team n I can see them taking big steps forward as the year goes on.
A couple little tweaks....

It wasn't the number of penalties, it was the particular plays that were called (and not called). I didn't see the whole game, so I can't say how it was the rest of the game but I seemed to tune in at the times they were calling things that aren't always called or missing a call that they made on a similar play earlier. The reffing has been poor on both sides for most of the games I've watched this year. Maybe it's just the same as always and the having a summer away from hockey has made me forget.

Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peterson last season at the end of the year. He played a year with the Dutchies before being signed. Wonder where he is? Garreffa was on D in place of Gentles. I would think they should be playing Peterson to develop him if he is healthy. Just a thought.

I thought he was a healthy scratch? From the little we've seen of him this year, I haven't been impressed with him. Each time I noticed him he seemed to be making a mistake. At any rate, I'd like to add a D if Hora doesn't come back

I agree with everyone mentioning covering the points. It seems when we don't, we get hemmed in deep in our zone, the opposing team gets it to the point and control the puck as we scramble, eventually getting a shot off with a lot of traffic (from our players) in front.

I didn't notice it as much this game (was flipping channels so missed a lot of it) but like others this season, I've noticed Bracco having a tendency to set himself up for outlet passes and looking to get a head start out of the zone on the breakout, rather than covering his defensive assignment carefully. That needs to change; doesn't fly at this level and really won't fly at the next level if he wants to get there.

 

[Medway Bear]

Last night I was not very happy (to say the least), but in the cold light of the morning I am okay with the performance. London are one of the teams expected to challenge this season. They have returned a good percentage of players from their Memorial Cup winning team last season (boo). When you look at the game the two teams were evenly matched. The Rangers gave as good as they got and were in position to win. So they didn't but look at that last goal for instance. They cough the puck up behind the goal a Ranger forward (Kohn?) stands in front of Carty and screens him. Both mistakes fixable. Dumb retaliation causing a 5 on 3. Again fixable. This was a promising performance if not result. Learn from it and move on.

 

[Sleeperpick]

I cant see fault in the offence. You score 4 goals you should win most games. If you want to develope your younger d then there is going to be games like that.

 

[rangersblues]

Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peterson last season at the end of the year. He played a year with the Dutchies before being signed. Wonder where he is? Garreffa was on D in place of Gentles. I would think they should be playing Peterson to develop him if he is healthy. Just a thought.

Playing Gareffa and Roberts both on defense is just a bad idea. You can get away with one undersize defenseman, but two and another rookie really leaves you vulnerable to massive breakdowns. I'm okay doing it in the early part of the season until we see what shakes out. But eventually it has to be addressed.

 

[nelli27]

Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peterson last season at the end of the year. He played a year with the Dutchies before being signed. Wonder where he is? Garreffa was on D in place of Gentles. I would think they should be playing Peterson to develop him if he is healthy. Just a thought.

Bobber: I read your post earlier today on my smartphone, and all I saw at first was: "Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peters..." and my reaction was 'damn, the Rangers just acquired a very good d-man from Flint'!

As for last night's game, not much to say, two mediocre teams doing battle, and we happened to win on the last shot. I hope Opilka returns to the lineup soon, and you guys get Hora back. Here's to more and more players being sent back to their OHL teams!

 

[rangersblues]

.... Here's to more and more players being sent back to their OHL teams!

I agree.

 

[bobber]

Bobber: I read your post earlier today on my smartphone, and all I saw at first was: "Rangers signed 6'3" Dman Alex Peters..." and my reaction was 'damn, the Rangers just acquired a very good d-man from Flint'!

As for last night's game, not much to say, two mediocre teams doing battle, and we happened to win on the last shot. I hope Opilka returns to the lineup soon, and you guys get Hora back. Here's to more and more players being sent back to their OHL teams!

Sorry for the scare Nelli. Not sure what to call this Ranger squad but they did have 9 rookies in the line up against London. Still in a rebuild I guess. Did a good job on Hamilton tonight with a shut out. First time the dogs went scoreless this season.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Last night I said Carty doesn't inspire confidence, tonight he made me eat my words. He was really solid tonight.