Kitchener Rangers 2019-20 Season Thread (Part 3)

[MatthewsMoustache]

the west will simply just be the better conference for a number of reasons. 1 reason being Kitchener, Windsor, London, Guelph. history of winning, $, education, fanbases, location, etc. are things that attract players there. the 3 American teams are starting to make themselves more appealing to both Canadian and American players as well (Erie literally always has a budding NHL superstar on their roster somehow). Soo doesn’t have the location factor but still manages to get guys there and put out competitive teams because they prove time and time again that they can do it

in the east, there’s teams like Sudbury, whose owner said in an interview about Byfield he doesn’t even know much about hockey. they are way up north and don’t have the track record for some players to make that move. the Mississauga Steelheads have their players advertising their tickets on social media just to put people in seats. has their been a competitive Battalion team since Brampton moved to North Bay?

 

[dirty12]

The East has been worse than the West in every year of this millennium but one. I think that the problems run deeper than draft position.

Rangers fans:

How is Holden Wale doing? I haven't been able to catch a game yet, but I hope he is adding a good defensive element to the team. He's got a few assists too, which is a nice bonus.

it’s not unusual for us to disagree. I believe that more often than not, there is a huge gap top to bottom in the east; whereas in the west, the middle is generally very tight. Watch two years from now as KGN, Barrie are powers while OS, Erie, SSM, Sarnia are still in a struggle to get beyond the middle.
Maybe; if Bar, KGN, Nia picked before SSM (for example) for a few years, the middle of the east would be tighter.

 

[rangersblues]

the west will simply just be the better conference for a number of reasons. 1 reason being Kitchener, Windsor, London, Guelph. history of winning, $, education, fanbases, location, etc. are things that attract players there. the 3 American teams are starting to make themselves more appealing to both Canadian and American players as well (Erie literally always has a budding NHL superstar on their roster somehow). Soo doesn’t have the location factor but still manages to get guys there and put out competitive teams because they prove time and time again that they can do it

in the east, there’s teams like Sudbury, whose owner said in an interview about Byfield he doesn’t even know much about hockey. they are way up north and don’t have the track record for some players to make that move. the Mississauga Steelheads have their players advertising their tickets on social media just to put people in seats. has their been a competitive Battalion team since Brampton moved to North Bay?

North Bay has had 2 competitive teams that come to mind. In 2014 they lost in the OHL championship to Guelph 4 games to 1. The games were fairly close if I recall, particularly game 5 where Guelph came from behind to win in the last few minutes. In 2015 they lost in the Eastern final to Memorial Cup champion Oshawa. Again it was a hard fought series.

 

[dirty12]

North Bay has had 2 competitive teams that come to mind. In 2014 they lost in the OHL championship to Guelph 4 games to 1. The games were fairly close if I recall, particularly game 5 where Guelph came from behind to win in the last few minutes. In 2015 they lost in the Eastern final to Memorial Cup champion Oshawa. Again it was a hard fought series.

That 2015 team was very good and absolutely loaded by Butler’s standards

 

[Fischhaber]

it’s not unusual for us to disagree. I believe that more often than not, there is a huge gap top to bottom in the east; whereas in the west, the middle is generally very tight. Watch two years from now as KGN, Barrie are powers while OS, Erie, SSM, Sarnia are still in a struggle to get beyond the middle.
Maybe; if Bar, KGN, Nia picked before SSM (for example) for a few years, the middle of the east would be tighter.

Sometimes it seems to be the team and not the draft position. I remember the 2018 priority selection where all 3 of those teams passed on Ryan O'Rourke, despite him being a consensus top 10 talent with no college commitment. They took Jake Murray, Riley Piercey, and Lleyton Moore.

Fast forward a year and none of those guys would go in the first round of a redraft, while O'Rourke is top 5. Teams in the East just have to get better at scouting and developing in my opinion. The higher picks won't help if they keep whiffing.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Sometimes it seems to be the team and not the draft position. I remember the 2018 priority selection where all 3 of those teams passed on Ryan O'Rourke, despite him being a consensus top 10 talent with no college commitment. They took Jake Murray, Riley Piercey, and Lleyton Moore.

Fast forward a year and none of those guys would go in the first round of a redraft, while O'Rourke is top 5. Teams in the East just have to get better at scouting and developing in my opinion. The higher picks won't help if they keep whiffing.

I agree with the scouting/developing part, but the fact that 19 teams passed on O’Rourke may suggest he had a short list of teams he would report to.

in terms of developing however, you could have made a case for Murray or Moore being on the same level or close to O’Rourke. Kingston threw Murray to the wolves on that Kingston team and Moore had a pretty significant injury IIRC after struggling to get ice time in Niagara and being traded

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I just want to say Pinelli was a consensus top 6-8 pick (excluding hard commitment US players) and declined Windsor who wanted him at 6 by several reports. Many were very concerned that our late season hot streak leading to a 13th pick over a top 6 pick cost us a higher quality talent. Just some perspective in light of the O'Rourke stuff.

 

[Fischhaber]

I just want to say Pinelli was a consensus top 6-8 pick (excluding hard commitment US players) and declined Windsor who wanted him at 6 by several reports. Many were very concerned that our late season hot streak leading to a 13th pick over a top 6 pick cost us a higher quality talent. Just some perspective in light of the O'Rourke stuff.

A large part of the scouting and development for some of these East teams is convincing players that they are the right place to develop. Obviously the 2 players that we are discussing had that belief in their respective teams. I can't fault their decisions so far.

 

[AttackRinkRat]

From an Attack fan here, just want to congrat Rangers on rising from lower standing to #1 in Midwest and in the top 10. Maybe you can help us out and beat some of our rivals so we can move up the standings too. Good luck the rest of the season.

 

[Jives]

Rangers sign Matthew Sop. 7th round pick from 2019. Playing with older players this year in OJHL and has 42 points in 42 games. Also nice he is a Kitchener kid. With the graduation of forwards that will happen this off-season he will be a nice add for next year.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Brown says Sop will stay with Mississauga in the OJHL for the remainder of the season.

he is having an insanely impressive season in the OJHL. scoring at the same rate that McDonnell did last season, but the Chargers are nowhere near as good as the Jr. Sabres were last season.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Brown says Sop will stay with Mississauga in the OJHL for the remainder of the season.

he is having an insanely impressive season in the OJHL. scoring at the same rate that McDonnell did last season, but the Chargers are nowhere near as good as the Jr. Sabres were last season.

From my very limited viewings, Sop brings a non-stop motor with a strong 2 way play.
I suspect he may not play this yr except for an emergency situation...lets hope it just next yr!

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

From my very limited viewings, Sop brings a non-stop motor with a strong 2 way play.
I suspect he may not play this yr except for an emergency situation...lets hope it just next yr!

hope he can put some more weight on over the summer as well

 

[robertmac43]

Sop is insanely gifted offensively. Has some of the best hands I have seen. Awesome to see him signed

 

[Tim Wallach]

Don't know much about Sop other than the stat page. Definitely on the light side, 42 points in 42 games as a 16 year old in that league is no joke.

 

[nelli27]

Two questions;
McDonnell kid is having a good season.
1. What kind of player is he? Finesse? sniper? Fast? Grinder who can also find back of the net? It's great to see the young guys start to take off.
2.What in the hell happened to Holy Guacamole on King St. (In plaza near King and Tulane)?

 

[Tim Wallach]

Two questions;
McDonnell kid is having a good season.
1. What kind of player is he? Finesse? sniper? Fast? Grinder who can also find back of the net? It's great to see the young guys start to take off.
2.What in the hell happened to Holy Guacamole on King St. (In plaza near King and Tulane)?

I can only answer #1, but McDonnell is a blend of a skill player and an energy/work ethic guy. He has a high skill level with good vision and an under-rated shot that will eventually start paying dividends in this league. He is an aggressive fore-checker who dogs the puck and has a nose for the net. While he's not the biggest guy, his biggest issue is he lacks elite speed. If he works hard on that aspect and gains a step in his acceleration, look out league!

He will be one of the league's offensive catalysts at 19. Too much skill and smarts not to put up good numbers.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Two questions;
McDonnell kid is having a good season.
1. What kind of player is he? Finesse? sniper? Fast? Grinder who can also find back of the net? It's great to see the young guys start to take off.
2.What in the hell happened to Holy Guacamole on King St. (In plaza near King and Tulane)?

he’s a really good all around player. quick, works hard, good on both sides of the ice, can put the puck in the back of the net

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

city looking at new arena options

 

[East Avenue Bully]

2.What in the hell happened to Holy Guacamole on King St. (In plaza near King and Tulane)?

Too expensive (new condos going up and tech firms leasing) and no parking.

The locations are here:
https://www.freshmex.ca/

The closest to the Aud would be the Duke Street one and the Victoria Street one in the strip plaza with the Casey's and Whale and Ale.

 

[robertmac43]

city looking at new arena options

Going to be interesting to follow over the next few years. I know we have talked about it on here many a time, but I'm very curious about what they will do in terms of location. My guess is they stay where they are, but who knows at this point.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

I can only answer #1, but McDonnell is a blend of a skill player and an energy/work ethic guy. He has a high skill level with good vision and an under-rated shot that will eventually start paying dividends in this league. He is an aggressive fore-checker who dogs the puck and has a nose for the net. While he's not the biggest guy, his biggest issue is he lacks elite speed. If he works hard on that aspect and gains a step in his acceleration, look out league!

He will be one of the league's offensive catalysts at 19. Too much skill and smarts not to put up good numbers.

And he has no quit. Puck to the face.....5 stitches....back out playing.....loaded the bus that night with the rest of the rookies. He's everything you said and more Tim. Add in that speed and boom......

 

[Ward Cornell]

Going to be interesting to follow over the next few years. I know we have talked about it on here many a time, but I'm very curious about what they will do in terms of location. My guess is they stay where they are, but who knows at this point.

I suspect it easily could be on existing site on either the soccer or baseball field. Closer to expressway therefore more $$$ for naming rights. Or maybe Charles between Borden and Kent right along the LRT route. I also like the "Clock Tower" site in Victoria Park but that area is used for various events so not likely.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Maybe it's different with Junior hockey/arena's because they are smaller, but historically cities/tax payers end up paying for new arena's without reaping the rewards of the revenue it generates. Makes the relatively recent renovation/seat additions kind of pointless imo.

 

[GeoBlue]

I suspect it easily could be on existing site on either the soccer or baseball field. Closer to expressway therefore more $$$ for naming rights. Or maybe Charles between Borden and Kent right along the LRT route. I also like the "Clock Tower" site in Victoria Park but that area is used for various events so not likely.

Taking a page out of the Maple Leaf Gardens book, I can see them converting that huge property on East Ave into condos or housing. As for the new location, they have a ton of space on the LRT line on the corner of Courtland and Block Line. Might have to buy some CN land but there is lots there.