Kitchener Rangers 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 2)

[Lycanthrope]

Well London does it. Tanking shouldn't be an excuse and its an awful one at that. Someone was saying last year that Montreal should tank to get Dahlen. You know what the org is too proud to do that there and Kitchener should do the same and fight for every game, the fans deserve it.

I agree. This deliberate tanking B.S. is pathetic. However, there are subtle things teams can do that pretty much ensure they have a high pick. Selling off, playing a young lineup etc but nobody plays to lose nor should they be asked to.
The only time in my life that I wanted to see mostly losses was last season knowing Byfield was the prize. At least in the O there is no lottery so you know last equals first.
Be careful what you wish for though. When is the last time you guys suffered through several seasons of 20 or less wins? It’s soul sucking, ask Flint this year.
There is taking a step back while continuing to be competitive. When is the last time the Knights drew the first overall pick?

 

[SeniorJuniorFan]

1996 - Rico Fata

 

[Lycanthrope]

1996 - Rico Fata

Aha ya. Proves my point. They haven’t needed it since and have gone on to considerably more success than they did in the nineties.

 

[Melrose]

Money talks and London isn’t afraid to spend it for top rated support staff and luring some top level players their way. Our purse strings are tied in knots.

 

[bobber]

I agree. This deliberate tanking B.S. is pathetic. However, there are subtle things teams can do that pretty much ensure they have a high pick. Selling off, playing a young lineup etc but nobody plays to lose nor should they be asked to.
The only time in my life that I wanted to see mostly losses was last season knowing Byfield was the prize. At least in the O there is no lottery so you know last equals first.
Be careful what you wish for though. When is the last time you guys suffered through several seasons of 20 or less wins? It’s soul sucking, ask Flint this year.
There is taking a step back while continuing to be competitive. When is the last time the Knights drew the first overall pick?

When a team loses their whole base by tanking to get a franchise type player they still have to wait probably three years to contend again providing they have a bunch of seconds in the bank to pick up other veterans for a run. Nothing is guaranteed even then. Kitchener traded their way to a contender last season because they had no choice with Mash and Bunner moving on after the season.
When the Rangers sold off a few years ago we had Jeff Skinner here and the players left after the deadline didn't always win but they made it interesting and it kept the fans into the games and going home satisfied that they at the very least saw some competitive hockey.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Money talks and London isn’t afraid to spend it for top rated support staff and luring some top level players their way. Our purse strings are tied in knots.

And don't have to show anyone their books..........Rangers and many other teams do.

 

[rangersblues]

One thing London does that I think is fantastic and helps attract top players is partnering with the Blythe Hockey Academy. I admittedly don't know a lot of details (cost etc) but it just seems like a good idea to place the players in a situation that can be detailed to them specifically. An OHL players life is unique and it's a huge benefit that they aren't lumped in with the public school system - a system that I would support 99.99% of the time. So few OHL players have meaningful hockey careers. I think it's incumbent to prepare them for making a living outside of hockey by allowing them the best education possible.

 

[EvenSteven]

One thing London does that I think is fantastic and helps attract top players is partnering with the Blythe Hockey Academy. I admittedly don't know a lot of details (cost etc) but it just seems like a good idea to place the players in a situation that can be detailed to them specifically. An OHL players life is unique and it's a huge benefit that they aren't lumped in with the public school system - a system that I would support 99.99% of the time. So few OHL players have meaningful hockey careers. I think it's incumbent to prepare them for making a living outside of hockey by allowing them the best education possible.

Anytime you can afford to place your child, hockey player or not, into a private school situation it's always ideal. Teachers there are always high end as they have to be since they are not protected by teachers unions. Also, you won't see any work stoppages at a private school either. To my knowledge, private school teachers are almost never unionized.

In London, with the revenues that they bring in, they can afford to send their players to a private school. Some teams who may not have that kind of revenue would not be able to afford to place their players in private schools as they are usually expensive.

Just one more reason why players and their parents look at London as a destination team/city.

 

[bobber]

There has to be something in what type of players the Rangers are scouting. They must have a prototype that keeps them away from old throw back player types that hit and scrap. Hall was one in a million. Not a lot of scrapping anymore but having players on your squad when opponents are taking advantage of your top guys lets them know there are consequences. I understand that in todays game you need speed but big stay at home Dmen that can hit can take the wind out of opponents. Look at the Soo last in last season's paly offs. If it wasn't for some grit and well placed hits the Soo would have blown the Rangers out of the water. London usually has a couple of guys that can step up. It just seems more vanilla at the Aud. I still like the bigger teams but that is just me. Maybe living in the past

 

[Coaches Coroner]

There has to be something in what type of players the Rangers are scouting. They must have a prototype that keeps them away from old throw back player types that hit and scrap. Hall was one in a million. Not a lot of scrapping anymore but having players on your squad when opponents are taking advantage of your top guys lets them know there are consequences. I understand that in todays game you need speed but big stay at home Dmen that can hit can take the wind out of opponents. Look at the Soo last in last season's paly offs. If it wasn't for some grit and well placed hits the Soo would have blown the Rangers out of the water. London usually has a couple of guys that can step up. It just seems more vanilla at the Aud. I still like the bigger teams but that is just me. Maybe living in the past

All I know is when we were drafting a more players for size and grit several years ago and things weren't working, everyone complained we need to draft speed and skill...then that strategy didn't fully pay off with the various coaching staffs in place and here we are. Just one more reason I'm convinced it's more of a development issue than a scouting issue (granted I'm all for reviewing the current scouts on staff, many seem to have begun their careers in the older era of physicality and size, perhaps they have trouble scouting the attributes that are successful in today's game).

Also, I kind of think posting our complaints here kind of whips everyone into a frenzy of negativity even at times when the team is inactive. There hasn't been a game in a week and this is the 2nd or 3rd conversation against scouting or what have you in that time span despite nothing (beyond the OA trade) happening in that time period. I'm certainly not saying to hold back on complaints, just an observation.

 

[K2]

Teachers there are always high end as they have to be since they are not protected by teachers unions.

Teachers are equivalent IMO and you’ll typically find that new teachers in private schools often couldn’t get hired in the public system and experienced teachers quite often left the public system for whatever reason rather than always being the ‘high end’ of all teachers and recruited/enticed away by private schools. Teaching in private schools is more enjoyable (small class size, very few low & behaviour kids, etc) but generally comes with a huge salary, pension & benefits decrease, infrequent raises and your employment is much more precarious w/o union/large public employer protections as you’re very much at risk of being out of work should enrollment dip, building needs a new roof, some random whim or if a parent complains when Johnny dosen’t always get an A, etc.

The small class sizes, abundant resources and, in Blyth’s case, specialized stream for athletes are what is advantageous and it's certainly a great marketing/recruitment tool for both Blyth & the Knights.

 

[K2]

There has to be something in what type of players the Rangers are scouting. They must have a prototype that keeps them away from old throw back player types that hit and scrap. Hall was one in a million. ... Soo would have blown the Rangers out of the water.

I think Jack Eye is one of those responsible, old-style D guys like Hall and he's even got a decent pass & point shot. He's 17 and probably holding back on the grit a bit to keep seeing any ice but he's a keeper in that mould IMO. Feel bad for Hall (Opilka, etc) as a firstclass kid & prospect who just couldn't catch a break from injuries.

If we had somehow acquired gritty badass Jacob Friend from OS, we might have swept the Soo ... his mere presence seems to give them fits though he wasn't really a big bruiser-weight scrapper, etc.

 

[Kenny Chu]

Money talks and London isn’t afraid to spend it for top rated support staff and luring some top level players their way. Our purse strings are tied in knots.

Ya, but at one time they didn't nave the money, so guess what like smart businessmen they improved the product on the ice and the fans started to come, etc etc.

 

[OhSheila]

Kitchener has The Victus Academy at Sportsworld Arena. I'm surprised there hasn't been some sort of partnership formed already. Ben Fanelli is part of their staff. We could match London on high school education. We have 2 Universities, so bonus there.

I feel you need a mix of skill and size and grit. Players like Givani Smith had skill, size and grit. A clean hit from him is something many players wanted to avoid. When he was on the ice, his presence gave his team mates a little more room and protection.

I still think Valade and Langdon are going to be productive. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Hugg took a long time to score his first goal last season but is very productive now. No one has consistently drafted better than London. They manage their assets very well and know when to trade and who to trade and receive back.

 

[bobber]

I think Jack Eye is one of those responsible, old-style D guys like Hall and he's even got a decent pass & point shot. He's 17 and probably holding back on the grit a bit to keep seeing any ice but he's a keeper in that mould IMO. Feel bad for Hall (Opilka, etc) as a firstclass kid & prospect who just couldn't catch a break from injuries.

If we had somehow acquired gritty badass Jacob Friend from OS, we might have swept the Soo ... his mere presence seems to give them fits though he wasn't really a big bruiser-weight scrapper, etc.

I certainly like big Arbor on defense. He does seem to have that grit in his blood.

 

[K2]

Kitchener has The Victus Academy at Sportsworld Arena. I'm surprised there hasn't been some sort of partnership formed already.

Victus is a very different operation than Blyth. Not that they couldn’t forge a partnership with the Rangers but it would almost seem in conflict with their current ‘hockey prep-school’ scheme and any parent with an interest in academics that visited both the Victus and Blyth ’campus’ likely doesn’t find Victus favourably comparable. There is a Blyth campus here too so I’d guess Blyth could come up with Knights-like arrangements that the Rangers could partner up with if they wished and divert a big chunk of our annual community donation & freebie dollars to fund it.

The Rangers have a pretty good academic pitch, especially with all the post-secondary options here as you mention, and a pretty successful high school achievement record under Dave Tennant’s oversight. I don’t see our current system as a major failing with respect to recruiting but if it ever became so, we could up our game easily enough.

I still think Valade and Langdon are going to be productive. It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

Agreed & time will tell.

 

[bobber]

Kitchener has The Victus Academy at Sportsworld Arena. I'm surprised there hasn't been some sort of partnership formed already. Ben Fanelli is part of their staff. We could match London on high school education. We have 2 Universities, so bonus there.

I feel you need a mix of skill and size and grit. Players like Givani Smith had skill, size and grit. A clean hit from him is something many players wanted to avoid. When he was on the ice, his presence gave his team mates a little more room and protection.

I still think Valade and Langdon are going to be productive. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Hugg took a long time to score his first goal last season but is very productive now. No one has consistently drafted better than London. They manage their assets very well and know when to trade and who to trade and receive back.

Good points Sheila! I agree you need that mix you describe for sure.
Not sure about skill but tonight you will see one of the bigger teams in the league with 4or 5 players 6'5"-6'6" and forwards that average 3 inches on the Rangers forwards. Watch them play in Owen Sound in exhibition earlier this year.

 

[EvenSteven]

I think Jack Eye is one of those responsible, old-style D guys like Hall and he's even got a decent pass & point shot. He's 17 and probably holding back on the grit a bit to keep seeing any ice but he's a keeper in that mould IMO. Feel bad for Hall (Opilka, etc) as a firstclass kid & prospect who just couldn't catch a break from injuries.

If we had somehow acquired gritty badass Jacob Friend from OS, we might have swept the Soo ... his mere presence seems to give them fits though he wasn't really a big bruiser-weight scrapper, etc.

You're right about Friend. There wasn't any way we're going to acquire him since Owen Sound were a contending team as well. But there's no doubting that he was in the Greyhounds' heads. I watched most of the games of that series on the computer. That was some of the best hockey I've seen in a long time. And in no way did the Greyhounds want anything to do with Jacob Friend. It showed big time in these games

 

[OhSheila]

The Damiani Difference.

Love it.

 

[bobber]

We really enjoyed that game last night. The forward line of Damiani, McHugh and Merieles was fast and gave the big Battalion fits at times. Credit to Richy for a solid game. Even if they lost this game it was competitive and entertaining.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Agreed, Bobber. It was an entertaining game for sure and really, that's all we can ask this year. PLEASE keep the MDM line together!!! That line can go up against any line in the league as was proven last year in playoffs. They shut down NB's big line last night and put up points at the same time. Fun to watch!!

And broken record........put VUKS on the 1st PP team. Having his big shot at the point would give the D and goalie something else to think about. Now, there's no worry about a blast from that position.

Rangers should have won this game and did. On Sunday, they meet up with Kingston who was demolished by London and will have a hard time against Sarnia tonight. Rangers SHOULD beat this time.....and especially so when they're on game 3 of 3.

 

[hardclimate]

Stan Butler still believes in "the bigger the better". They're not fast enough to beat smaller, speedier, skilled teams, but he still likes them big - example: Walker #11 - most coaches would pass on him but not Stan.

 

[OhSheila]

Stan is a nice guy and a great guy to follow on Twitter but his coaching record...Stan Butler hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com

 

[EvenSteven]

Nice to see a team come in and play physically and with some grit. I wish our guys would have displayed, or rather were capable of, some pushback.

Unfortunately, the refs pretty much whistled the aggression out of the opposition by the end of the first and it was just another game after that.

Today's OHL.

 

[Billyjack]

How about Bertuzzi and picks to Rangers for Yantsis and Gareffa