Kitchener Rangers 2019 Offseason Thread

[MatthewsMoustache]

Eric Guest has signed with the Caledonia Corvairs of the GOJHL.

good to see he’s comfortable enough to be back in the game and with a billet parent. i’m sure the cheque helps too

 

[EvenSteven]

good to see he’s comfortable enough to be back in the game and with a billet parent. i’m sure the cheque helps too

Does the Six Nations tobacco King still own that team? If so, Guest will be well paid.

 

[OHLFan90]

Does the Six Nations tobacco King still own that team? If so, Guest will be well paid.

Yup! Same ownership.

 

[GeoBlue]

The City of Kitchener needs to get with the times and install water fountains or hydration stations or whatever you call them so people can fill their own bottle. Selling bottled water may go down in history as one of the worst innovations.

This issue goes way beyond the City of Kitchener.

 

[bobber]

Eric Guest has signed with the Caledonia Corvairs of the GOJHL.

I hope Eric does well with the Corvairs. Nice to hear.

 

[bobber]

This issue goes way beyond the City of Kitchener.

We did see a couple of refill stations at the Aud. Unless it was a dream. Never sure in my old age

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Does the Six Nations tobacco King still own that team? If so, Guest will be well paid.

Yup! Same ownership.

kind of weird how a city without a notable university in it can bring in ex-OHL players in handfuls every year lol

 

[EvenSteven]

kind of weird how a city without a notable university in it can bring in ex-OHL players in handfuls every year lol

Not weird at all if you know what goes on there.

 

[OHLFan90]

Not weird at all if you know what goes on there.

Goes all the way back to their Brantford days.

I've met the guys in ownership and management there and they are all great guys! But its an unfair playing field at the end of the day.

They took last season off and are back this year and have already signed 5-6 guys out of the CHL.

I will say though, the Golden Horseshoe is a dud of a conference with out them.

 

[K2]

Not weird at all if you know what goes on there.

LOL, got to wonder if anyone knows what really goes on there?

I suppose that we can be glad that the OHL is squeaky clean. Heck, we might even have 3 teams that do audited financials

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Not weird at all if you know what goes on there.

lol that’s the joke. been going on for years. there’s no reason for anyone to want to be there. especially someone in Eric’s situation. the $ value must be very significant bc even as OHL players play more seasons, they start to get more money

 

[SYWTom]

Vukojevic seems to have made a good impression with the NJ Devils.
Scored an absolutely ridiculous goal in their team shootout, doing a 360 rotation and tucking it under the bar.

If I knew how to share video on here I would , it’s on the Devils Twitter!

 

[SYWTom]

Vukojevic seems to have made a good impression with the NJ Devils.
Scored an absolutely ridiculous goal in their team shootout, doing a 360 rotation and tucking it under the bar.

If I knew how to share video on here I would , it’s on the Devils Twitter!

 

[OHLFan90]

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Vuks has made quite the impression at Devils camp and a slick goal like this has the fans all excited. I hope to see this spill over into his season with the Rangers.

 

[Bjorn Le]

So does a third party operate the concessions in Kitchener? I never paid much attention to it at other arenas, but the city operates the concessions in the Soo and the prices are more reasonable. Beer is still high, but you can get something like fries and a pop for $5 I believe.

Kitchener is also a much wealthier city than Sault St. Marie. Beer tends to be expensive because you don't want to encourage binge drinking.

I don't think lowering the prices would help increase revenue. That sort of tactic works if you have a lot more people at the game, like at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. At less than 7,000 people, the scales don't really work well for slashing the prices, as you won't see a meaningful enough increase in sales to make it worth it.

 

[Fischhaber]

Kitchener is also a much wealthier city than Sault St. Marie. Beer tends to be expensive because you don't want to encourage binge drinking.

I don't think lowering the prices would help increase revenue. That sort of tactic works if you have a lot more people at the game, like at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. At less than 7,000 people, the scales don't really work well for slashing the prices, as you won't see a meaningful enough increase in sales to make it worth it.

Oh please. The median household income is very similar in every major city in Ontario. You talk like the Greyhounds play in the Arctic circle or something.

I've seen plenty of binge drinkers at the Aud and every other arena. I don't know how much that has to do with beer prices.

I think this really misses the point anyways. Let's not get into trashing other cities. The discussion was about a 3rd party taking profit and causing expensive food.

 

[ohloutsider]

Oh please. The median household income is very similar in every major city in Ontario. You talk like the Greyhounds play in the Arctic circle or something.

I've seen plenty of binge drinkers at the Aud and every other arena. I don't know how much that has to do with beer prices.

I think this really misses the point anyways. Let's not get into trashing other cities. The discussion was about a 3rd party taking profit and causing expensive food.

Fun with numbers - I saw this and had to google it - Medium income in the Soo $50,834 - Medium income in Kitchener $80,400. This as per the last census. Anyway this has nothing to do with hockey and is all about me being curious. Carry on.

edit - had to adjust the Kitchener number as I was originally looking at the household number. Changed to reflect average individual number.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Oh please. The median household income is very similar in every major city in Ontario. You talk like the Greyhounds play in the Arctic circle or something.

I've seen plenty of binge drinkers at the Aud and every other arena. I don't know how much that has to do with beer prices.

I think this really misses the point anyways. Let's not get into trashing other cities. The discussion was about a 3rd party taking profit and causing expensive food.

It's really not. As you can see from the numbers shown by the poster above me. It's not trashing the Soo either; Kitchener-Waterloo is just a very wealthy place and the Soo is more average (and they're certainly in better shape then a lot of Northern Ontario towns and cities). The wealth of the city tells me the decreased attendance has nothing to do with people being priced out and everything to do with Kitchener not having had a very exciting team for the last half decade+. We haven't had a big superstar still Landeskog, and the team has never been a serious contender. As things improve under MM, that will change.

It's not about stopping binge drinking completely, it's about not explicitly encouraging it. Cheap beer encourages binge drinking. It's a bad idea to have prices any lower than they are.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Kitchener is also a much wealthier city than Sault St. Marie. Beer tends to be expensive because you don't want to encourage binge drinking.

I don't think lowering the prices would help increase revenue. That sort of tactic works if you have a lot more people at the game, like at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. At less than 7,000 people, the scales don't really work well for slashing the prices, as you won't see a meaningful enough increase in sales to make it worth it.

not to encourage binge drinking or know that it’s gonna happen regardless of the price

 

[Fischhaber]

It's really not. As you can see from the numbers shown by the poster above me. It's not trashing the Soo either; Kitchener-Waterloo is just a very wealthy place and the Soo is more average (and they're certainly in better shape then a lot of Northern Ontario towns and cities). The wealth of the city tells me the decreased attendance has nothing to do with people being priced out and everything to do with Kitchener not having had a very exciting team for the last half decade+. We haven't had a big superstar still Landeskog, and the team has never been a serious contender. As things improve under MM, that will change.

It's not about stopping binge drinking completely, it's about not explicitly encouraging it. Cheap beer encourages binge drinking. It's a bad idea to have prices any lower than they are.

Those numbers mean nothing without some context with prices for property, rent, food, and whatnot. I lived in Barrie for 2 years making 70k and could barely afford my mortgage. Now I make 55k in the Soo and my newer house is seriously less than half of the cost in a safer city for the kids. I'm undoubtedly in a better financial position than if I were making 80k in KW.

To each their own, but disposable income really doesn't differ as much as you would think.

Anyways, sorry to have the topic hijacked. Good luck this season. I expect some big improvements from the Rangers and hope they can beat London in the midwest.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

When alcoholic beverages were allowed in the stands during the game, the sky was going to fall and we were all going to binge our lives away. NEVER HAPPENED. So enough about binging and let's get back to hockey.

 

[GeoBlue]

When alcoholic beverages were allowed in the stands during the game, the sky was going to fall and we were all going to binge our lives away. NEVER HAPPENED. So enough about binging and let's get back to hockey.

One last word on binging. Remember when we had the Blueline Club? (Us oldsters would know) You could only drink beer there and ONLY between periods. So because I was a bit of a "binger" back in those younger days, we had a routine. Get the jump out of our seats with a minute or 2 left in the period. Run downstairs and wait for the doors to open. Get into the club and line up to buy TICKETS! Then take those tickets and line up to buy your beer knowing that you will hear the last call warning just before the next period is set to start. So you buy maybe 2, or if you are a gifted swiller, 3 beers and pour them down your throat. Moral of the story.........I think the old system probably contributed more to binge drinking than anything else.

Nowadays, I like the fact that I can get together with an old friend at a hockey game and enjoy a brew at my seat while watching the game. I find that I am often working on that same drink at the end of the period. Growing old does have it's advantages! LOL!

 

[EvenSteven]

So enough about binging and let's get back to hockey.

I hear you. I'd rather talk hockey too. But we're in the doldrums of the off season.

But what's to talk about? We've already done the "what's the lines for next year" and "whats the D pairings for next year" and "buy or sell this year" etc etc.

I agree, I'm not wishing away the summer. But I am looking forward to training camp

 

[Bjorn Le]

Those numbers mean nothing without some context with prices for property, rent, food, and whatnot. I lived in Barrie for 2 years making 70k and could barely afford my mortgage. Now I make 55k in the Soo and my newer house is seriously less than half of the cost in a safer city for the kids. I'm undoubtedly in a better financial position than if I were making 80k in KW.

To each their own, but disposable income really doesn't differ as much as you would think.

Anyways, sorry to have the topic hijacked. Good luck this season. I expect some big improvements from the Rangers and hope they can beat London in the midwest.

Disposable income matters so much. It's the difference between someone going out once or twice a week and someone going out once a month. You've just mentioned housing prices. Even if your mortgage is $225,000 instead of $450,000 (which is around the average cost a home in KW, ignoring down payments and interest rates), the difference between $55,000 (take home pay around $42,000 ignoring deductions) and $80,000 (take home pay $60,000 ignoring deductions) is massive. You're not saving $18,000 a year on a mortgage in the Soo versus KW at these income levels. Everything else living related will be as or more expensive in the Soo due to the distance from supply chains.

And regardless, even if I wasn't disputing this, your argument that things are cheaper in the Soo (which I don't agree with beyond land, which is cheap because the demand is much lower) supports my argument that there is a reason that concessions are cheaper. The base cost of these items in both locations are roughly the same, probably a little higher in Sault St. Marie, but in Kitchener they can afford to charge higher markups while in the Soo they can't. I don't know the numbers behind the concessions at the Rangers game but it most be profitable enough. And although I don't live full-time in the city anymore, I still go to several games a year and the concessions seem as busy as any other arena. Maybe even busier because the concourse at the Aud is so undersized.

I don't see why people keep thinking this is off-topic. The business of the Rangers is still on-topic to a Rangers off-season thread. Not everything has to be about the product on the ice.