63: All-In with Mike McKenzie

0:00Justin: Hey, Andrew.

0:00Andrew: Hey, Justin.

0:02Justin: Hey, Mike.

0:03Mike McKenzie: Hey, Justin.

0:04Andrew: Hey, Mike.

0:05Mike McKenzie: Hey, Andrew.

0:06Justin: We did it.

0:08Clip: We're here.

0:09Justin: Yeah, we are.

0:12Clip: Welcome to the AudPod, where we're talking Kitchener Rangers hockey with the AudBalls themselves, Andrew and Justin. Take it away, fellas.

0:27Justin: We're here. Yeah, we are.

0:29Andrew: We're sitting here with a veteran of the ahl, echl, ncaa, Andrew Junior A, and of course, our fearless leader in the front office, general manager Mike McKenzie.

0:43Mike McKenzie: Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, it's been a long time coming. I. I remember at the start of the year when you guys came in on the tour, I jokingly said, maybe you see, you could come on the podcast. We're still waiting down pretty quickly.

0:59Justin: Yeah.

0:59Mike McKenzie: And so the Aud turned to me, and then I didn't get a call for like, four or five months. So I was like, they're obviously not very interested.

1:07Justin: Okay. To be fair.

1:08Mike McKenzie: To be fair. Came in.

1:09Andrew: We put the call in. We put the call in.

1:11Justin: Like, like, Like, I don't know.

1:13Andrew: Two months ago.

1:14Justin: Yeah.

1:15Andrew: Three months ago.

1:15Clip: Yeah.

1:16Andrew: And. And we were told, your people, told our people that it would happen. And the Aud was maybe a few prods, and now we're here.

1:24Justin: There was a trade deadline and some. Some aftermath that had to be dealt with.

1:28Clip: So.

1:28Andrew: Yeah.

1:29Justin: Yeah. But we're here. Glad we finally got here.

1:32Andrew: Absolutely. And we're grateful that you're joining us.

1:34Clip: First off.

1:34Andrew: First off, just because it's relevant. We had Max Dirracolo commit to St Lawrence University. You grew up playing Junior A and went on to play NCAA hockey at St. Lawrence University.

1:46Clip: You've tweeted about the CHL to pro

1:49Andrew: being kind of the best route right now, according to data. But how do you think that the CHL and NCAA are going to move forward after these first two years of kind of a feeling out process?

2:00Mike McKenzie: Yeah, I think it's definitely ever changing. Like, I don't think anyone really knows. We're still in, like, the. The test phase here. So I think. I think once you get three, four, five years in, we'll have probably a bit better of an idea of how that all looks. And right now it's very fly by the seat of your pants for everyone. Right. For the schools. I mean, they have the transfer portal now too. They have. They have CHL players coming. So, like, there are. There's a lot of things going on on their side, too. And then for us, too, there's a lot of things going on on our side with, you know, guys leaving. When do they leave? How do they leave at what Age and then, you know, it all, it all trickles down. Everyone's impacted by it. And you know, now you sports impacted by it. Now the junior A is impacted by it and junior leagues in the US are impacted by it. So like, there's a lot of different stuff going on, but the, the constant is that it's, it's touching every, every hockey player or league that hockey players play in at the junior level or just past the junior level into, you know, early 20s and things like that. So I don't think anyone really knows how it's going to be honest, but you've got to be really on your toes right now because it's, it's just like changing every day. So. And you mentioned the, the, the data and stuff like that and there is different data and everyone's gonna, you know, skew it to bias what they want. Right. And it's the same, the thing that I. And we've done a lot of research and a lot of put a lot of time and effort and energy into looking at some of these trends, early trends and how it looks and different things and how are CHL players doing when they go there and how much are they playing or, and things like that. So we're constantly monitoring it. My post was strictly more about the top end players, right? Like the first round picks, the, the elite of elite. There's plenty of kids that, you know, should. It's a great option for, for kids to go to the ncaa, you know, at some point. It's just there's something that has worked for a very long time and now people are thinking, well, maybe we should try something different when this has worked. And the list of players that had done that clearly showed that. Right. So it's not to say that this other way might not work and maybe in 10 years there's a lot of data to show that that's worked better or that's sure or it's equal or, you know, both are great options. So no one really knows right now. It's just one of those things where it's like, you know, a lot of first round NHL picks have played in the OHL or CHL and they go right to the NHL when they're done. That's just the bottom line. The fact, the facts are the facts and the data shows that. So. Yeah, but I played in the ncaa.

4:54Clip: Yeah.

4:54Justin: What was that like?

4:55Mike McKenzie: Yeah, it was awesome. It was, it was probably the four of the best years of hockey I had. And from a hockey standpoint, I got to play at A high level hockey for four years while going to school. And I was one of the fortunate ones that somehow managed to get my degree by the time the four years were done. It was, it was not always easy. Yeah, I'm not a big school guy, but so when you combine all those things, the hockey, high level hockey, getting your education, and then I've got friends that like, we still get together once a year for a trip every summer that are like lifelong friends for me that are. I met at St. Lawrence. And so, like, when you combine all those things, it's like, what's not to like?

5:43Andrew: All right, well, let's take it back a little bit further. Of course, many people know you grew up chasing your dad around rinks all over. Your dad being Bob McKenzie, the Bob father. What was it like sharing your dad with the game of hockey? But not just the game of hockey, like fans, you know, all over the country.

6:01Mike McKenzie: Yeah, 90% of the time it was amazing. And the 90% I'm talking about is, you know, getting to go to games with him and going to world juniors. I think I've been to like nine world juniors. He used to take me every Christmas to most of them. Going to Memorial Cup, Stanley cup final games. So, like, all of that was amazing. And you're getting a behind the scenes look and you're meeting people, of course, and looking back on it now, it kind of shapes like, you know, your life. And now I'm involved in hockey and I spent tons of time around hockey people and getting to see things and tournaments and stuff like that. So it kind of shapes who you are. And so that part of it was amazing. The access to that type of thing is something that not every kid gets. So I was really fortunate that way. The 10% I'm talking about, that, that wasn't good is anywhere you go, especially in like, hockey rinks. It's like you're just like, he's always getting stopped to get pictures taken of him and like, it's just like a minor annoyance. And even my, my daughter now goes to the games with him.

7:08Clip: Yeah.

7:08Mike McKenzie: Every Friday night. And she, she's like, just old enough now. She's, the Aud She's starting to realize, like, what he did and. But they didn't really see him that much. My kids didn't see him that much on TV because he's retired now, so.

7:22Justin: Yeah.

7:22Mike McKenzie: But even she was like, why is everyone always taking pictures, Grandpa? Like, I don't get it. What's going on now? Starting to figure out, like, why and stuff.

7:30Justin: You just want a hot dog.

7:32Mike McKenzie: Give me my popcorn and slushy.

7:34Justin: Yeah.

7:35Mike McKenzie: And stop. Leave my grandpa alone. So that part of it and then there is, like, the other part. And I grew a thick skin really early on because it was like, you're only on the team because your dad. And that, that one was the big one. Right. So like, growing up playing hockey, you get that one a lot. And it's just, you know, typical, like, hockey chirping. But I, I, I realized at a very young age that, that, that that's the way it was going to be. So I developed a little thick skin real quickly on that stuff. But it gets old. At some points. You're like, really guys again, like, it's, it's the same thing.

8:12Andrew: Yeah. Come up with better material.

8:13Mike McKenzie: Yeah.

8:14Justin: Did you have a comeback? Did you have a go to comeback?

8:17Mike McKenzie: I had some, but they're probably not great for, for.

8:23Justin: Okay, fair enough.

8:24Mike McKenzie: Don't worry. A family podcast dad won't.

8:29Clip: Yeah.

8:29Justin: And, and how much influence does. Does he have on your scouting for when you're drafting?

8:34Mike McKenzie: He, he thinks he has a lot. He thinks he has a lot. He, he calls me every day and texts me, and he calls himself the senior advisor. So he, now that he's retired, he has way too much time on his hands. And so he, he follows along pretty closely. But all kidding aside, he's, he's. We talk a lot about hockey and talk a lot about our team and stuff, and he's always a really good sounding board, and he's got great connections to, like, it's, it's nice to be able to pick up the phone and say, hey, my dad, you know, pass along your number. You have an instant right in, as opposed to just picking up and cold calling someone that you need to ask a question or need a favor from type thing.

9:15Clip: So.

9:15Andrew: Well, now you can be the go between for your dad to us.

9:19Mike McKenzie: Okay.

9:19Clip: So, yeah.

9:20Andrew: So if he ever needs to get

9:21Justin: a hold of us. Oh, I'm still waiting for my phone call for the 5050 draw.

9:25Mike McKenzie: You're like the. Yeah, I went to the. My son's hockey on Saturday morning at Activa arena, and I had like 10 people come up to me being like, I'm waiting for your dad's phone call today.

9:37Andrew: See, get, get better material.

9:39Justin: We don't want to make this about your dad, but I have one more you between you and your dad question. So we have an insider that said that, you know, TSN Insider, Bob McKenzie is like the consummate Professional, but there's a contrast between him and Bobby Margarita. So we're wondering, we see a lot of GM Mike McKenzie GM of the Kitchener Rangers Mike McKenzie. Is there a Mikey Margarita?

10:05Mike McKenzie: It's somewhere buried deep, deep in there. And like I said, my, my university friends and I get together once a year. Maybe they know. Yeah, they know it, but not many other people.

10:17Justin: Not, not quite as open.

10:18Mike McKenzie: No.

10:19Andrew: So GMing obviously is, is an incredibly tough job, a time consuming job. But you know, you were a coach before. Is GMing the more natural fit? And if so like, how much influence do you have on like the team and the staff in like a day to day or are you like kind of more of like a in the shadows, hands off?

10:38Mike McKenzie: Yeah, I like to be in the shadows and hands off. And I'm fortunate now with the staff we have that I'm able to do that and those guys have my trust. And I'm not a micromanager. At least I don't think I am. Most people that are micromanagers Sam O'Reilly not a micromanager, but they're, they know what they're doing. They're, they've been in the league now. Well, Jeff's been in the league for 10 plus years. UC has been in hockey for a long Tommy Kut he's been in the league now too, so he understands it. And Brad's been in every CHL league and, and Jordan's been here a while and Brandon's been here the longest out of anyone. And Mike Salt, you know, our assistant GM has been here for a bunch of years now. So it's become very, a lot easier now when you're not like onboarding people and, and they've been here and they know the lay of the land, understand the organization and the league. It's very simple to just let the Aud they're all really good at what they do, so they make my job easier that way. So that's the nice part now. And in terms of the coaching, yeah, it was, it was fun and there were some, some fun moments and good moments in there for sure. And, and I enjoyed the coaching part. But doing two jobs is just, it's, it's a lot and you feel like at some points you're short changing one or the other and you're kind of giving like 60 to both of the Aud it's just not, it's not fair to the organization and the fans and the people you work with too. And it's like you're trying to plan A practice, but then you got to go talk to an agent about a trade, and vice versa. If you're in a draft meeting and all of a sudden you have to leave the meeting early to go coach practice, it's like you feel like no one's getting your 100, which is just not the best way to do things, I would imagine.

12:24Justin: You're also, like, you're trying to coach the best out of these kids playing. And then also, if you're having to have those agent conversations, trade conversations, like, those types of things, it's like, it could be.

12:33Mike McKenzie: It can cloud the waters really, really quickly, too, even if you don't realize it, because you are. I mean, as a. As a general manager, you're looking. You know, we're worried about this year, but also, like, we're planning for next year, and we're worried about our young kids and how they're doing and our draft cupboard and all these things that coaches are like, I don't care about. Like, we're here to win on Friday night, and that's my job, is to go on Friday night and win. And so when you have both jobs, it's like you're kind of, like, pulled between the two, and you. You're like, we need to win on Friday night. But also, it's like, I'd really love if one of our prospects got more ice time and, like, can we sneak the Aud there.

13:13Clip: Right.

13:13Mike McKenzie: A little bit more. But it's like, that might not be the best thing for winning that game on that night. So your priorities are kind of like, like, pulled, which makes it a little challenging, too.

13:24Justin: Were you coaching before you were the gm, or did you GM and coach all?

13:27Mike McKenzie: So, yeah, the. The whole. I started as an assistant coach. Yeah. I ended up being the assistant coach and assistant GM for a couple of years. So I was doing kind of like both. And then I.

13:40Justin: Business card. Assistant coach and assistant.

13:42Mike McKenzie: Yeah. Lots of titles. More titles, the better. Right. And then I became the gm, and then I did both for a little bit, went back to being the GM full time, and then did both for a little bit again and then went back to gm. So it's kind of been all over the place a little bit. Yeah.

13:59Justin: That last time you were coach, then you hired uc.

14:02Mike McKenzie: Right.

14:03Justin: So non traditional route. You a European coach? First European coach in the. In the. In the ohl.

14:10Mike McKenzie: Yeah.

14:10Justin: Like, it's. The CHL is dominated by North American coaches. Like, what. What made you see the. The pick that you wanted to go with? We. We are huge fans of uc. So we think it was the right pick.

14:23Andrew: We're equally huge fans as we are scared of him.

14:26Justin: Yeah. We also want to throw, we call him the Juice on the podcast. How do you think he would feel about that?

14:32Mike McKenzie: I don't know. We can go down to the dressing room right after this.

14:35Justin: No, you know what

14:38Andrew: your opinion.

14:39Justin: This is about you. This is about you.

14:40Mike McKenzie: About you only. I think he'd be, I think he'd be okay with it. I think he'd be okay with it. But I mean this, the, the stats speak for themselves. He was the right person, obviously with the, with the success he's had, he's, he's done really well for us. And, and he says it too. But it's not just him either. It's the whole staff. Right. And he's, we've got a lot of really good people around him that I think helped ease his transition a little bit to North America. But now that they're comfortable and they've been here a couple years, you can really see how, how good of a staff they are. And at the time, yeah, it was a very bold or unique, I guess whatever word you want to use. Higher. To see, you know, a European come to the ohl. It just doesn't really happen. Or CHL for that matter. So we got a lot of mixed reviews. I'll be honest with you. There were, there were lots of people. It was actually of like a little bit of a sociology test on how, you know, everyone can feel differently about the same thing.

15:48Clip: Right.

15:48Mike McKenzie: And we got a lot of like, this is amazing, like outside the box thinking you guys are creative and why isn't someone done this sooner? And look at his resume. He's got, you know, world juniors, he's coach pro, he's got a gold medal. Like, this is an amazing hire and it's a no brainer. And you guys are awesome. And I'm like, yeah, that's great. And then you've got a whole whack of other people that are like overthought it. We're in Canada. How could you not find a coach in Andrew a Canadian coach? If, if, if I didn't get, if I didn't get my start as a Canadian coach at this level, I would have never made it here. And, and, and you guys are stupid because, you know, you're trying to outsmart everyone and look like the smartest guy in the room. And, and so like it was very mixed, which was, which was interesting to see like both sides of it. And at the Time, you know, when your records. Oh. And you're going into a season, you're like, which way could this go?

16:49Clip: Right.

16:49Mike McKenzie: We, we knew he was good and we knew he'd be good, but it's like there was a whole other area of like, we knew he could coach hockey. But anytime you're bringing someone from far away that has like family and it's a new country, it's like, no matter, like, we see with import players all the time, it's like, it's a big transition for them to come here and they're teenagers, but it's still a big transition for anyone and they don't have kids. Yeah. And where do you live? So, like, for us, the biggest, like, challenge and hurdle in my mind was like, how do we make it work? Like, logistically and make sure that he's comfortable and that we don't miss anything. Like, once the practice starts and the game starts, we know he can coach hockey. Like, that's not an issue. He just has a Finnish accent and the players are going to get, have to get used to that. But it's no different than a really good coach.

17:37Clip: Yeah.

17:38Mike McKenzie: Coming in, he's a good coach. So that was the biggest thing for us is like, or me at least trying to, like, in my brain figure out, like, how, how does this all, like, work logistically, family wise and getting them set up and flights and just all the little things you don't really think about when you're hiring, when you hire a Canadian, they just come and they're here and they coach.

18:00Justin: That's what Hunter Brustevich said to us. He was like, that was the hardest thing was the accent.

18:05Andrew: Pretty much.

18:06Justin: He's like, the systems, they all made sense once we got practicing. It's like, okay, great.

18:11Andrew: Yeah. I mean, speaking of that accent, going into meetings with him and his, you know, his background, his cultural differences, how many of those meetings take place in the sauna?

18:23Mike McKenzie: Our sauna gets a lot of use from all the coaches, but he's number one. I will not go in with him. I learned very early when we got the sauna that it's very uncomfortable for me to go in there with him because he, he just chucks the water on it. And that thing, it gets so hot that like your skin is actually feels like it's burning.

18:48Justin: Right.

18:48Mike McKenzie: And for me, that's just not fun.

18:50Andrew: No.

18:51Mike McKenzie: So he calls it. He. He chirps us, the guys that don't like to go in with him, Brad will go in with him a lot. Like, Brad Will go in.

19:00Justin: Yeah, that makes sense.

19:01Mike McKenzie: Jeff will go in with him. I prefer not to, but I feel like Jeff even prefers not to. So for, for anytime we go in, he calls it a warm room. He's like, this isn't a sauna. This is shivering. This is just a warm room. You're sitting in a warm room.

19:16Justin: This, this makes sense why Brad gets so hot sometimes.

19:19Mike McKenzie: Yeah.

19:19Clip: Right?

19:20Andrew: Yeah.

19:21Justin: Yeah.

19:21Mike McKenzie: No comment.

19:22Justin: No. Yeah, you don't have to comment, but we love Brad's.

19:28Andrew: We love Brad's hot headedness.

19:31Justin: We'll say for. Pardon the Soo attempts.

19:33Andrew: Yeah. You had a chance to coach NHLers. John Gibson, Radic Faxa, Tobias Reider There, there's others as well. But what is it that makes it like, what is the, the Aud factor, the special thing that makes guys be able to make that transition to the NHL? And when you're looking at players, does any of that like physical or mental archetype kind of come into play when you're looking for players as a GM and with your scouts or, you know,

20:02Clip: or do you just like look for

20:03Andrew: certain traits and then you're like, I'll coach. We'll coach the players up.

20:06Mike McKenzie: Yeah. It's funny to like hear those names and like thinking back on it now and like I was. That was like my first and second year. And like looking back on it now, like, I had no idea what I was doing. Right. It's like, like I probably learned more from those guys being around them than they learned from me. If we're being honest, I was just worried about if, if the, the post game meal was on the bus when we got there and if the hotels were ready when we showed up to a city. That was my main responsibility.

20:40Justin: So.

20:41Mike McKenzie: But yeah, like looking back on it, like you kind of take bits and pieces of, of what you learn each year. And again it's like looking back on it, you're like, you think you know everything. Like in the moment, like even three or four years ago or two years ago, it's like you're doing the job and you're like doing pretty well. And you're like, yeah, I know. Like I've got this figured out and like, I know how to scout and draft and trade. And then like, you'll have like, like a moment where you're like, ooh, like, like that was a mistake or like, you know, why did I draft that player? Like, I thought this was going to turn out better. It didn't. Like, what did I miss here? And so you take all these things or you See which guys come in and do well. And you're like, well, like, we. We drafted him in this spot, but, like, he should have probably been a higher pick because he's doing really well now. Like, why was I not as high on him, you know, at the time?

21:34Clip: And.

21:35Mike McKenzie: And what did we miss? So it's one of those things where it's like, constantly you're learning and growing. Um, and even now you're like, yeah, I've got it figured out. And I'm sure in two years from now, I'll be like, that was stupid. Like, why did you do that? And you'll learn from it. But there's definitely an element of, like, the longer you're in the league and the more time goes on, you start like. Like, like honing in on more things and understanding, like, what makes a successful player and, like, what we're looking for. And at first, I'll be honest, like, there was. There were some players and draft picks and things where you're like, you know, you. They're a good player, but looking back on it, it's like, they weren't the right player for us.

22:18Justin: Yeah.

22:19Mike McKenzie: And now I think I've got a better handle on, like, what we want for kitchen arranger. And it's okay if another player isn't for us, and they may go somewhere else and do very well and score 40 goals in a season, and that's okay. But, like, for us, maybe that wasn't the player for us. In our organization, we just value something different and need something different to try to win, because that's the ultimate goal, is you can still have good players and not win. But we want. We want to try to win. And there's a re.

22:52Clip: We.

22:52Mike McKenzie: We feel like there's. Or I'm learning that there's a recipe for that. And I think that's where we've made the most strides in terms of, like, our management group in the last, like, two years. I'd say in terms of, like, we had good teams, but now I think we're figuring out, you know, a better recipe for what winning hockey looks like as opposed to just having a set of very good players together.

23:15Justin: When you're talking about, like, a recipe and things like that, there's an identity in the Kitchener Rangers that, like, predates you as gm. Like, predates, like, the coaching staff. Like, there's. There's sort of this style of hockey that kind of, like, becomes the team that's bigger than the. The individual players or individual people. Like, how does that sort of Informing? Yeah.

23:34Andrew: Does that, like. Does that organizational culture permeate anything in your decision making? Like, is it. You obviously, you start as an assistant, you're learning, and you're around these different. These different staff members and whatever, and what it is to be a kitchen arranger, and then you are now kind of at the helm. Has that shaped decision making and player personnel?

23:53Mike McKenzie: Yeah, I. I don't know if it shaped decision making or player personnel, but I think it's. It's more of a mentality and a humility when you. When I look at that. And it's something we have talked about with our players and it's, you know, the Kitchener Rangers have been here for a long time and they've been successful and we're just passing through and we're a small chunk, myself included. We're going to be here for a set amount of time and they're going to continue on once we're gone. And so it's more of a humility thing for me that we try to get through to staff and players that, you know, we're just a small part of a really. An organization with a really rich tradition and history, and if, hopefully we can add to that along the way and leave it in a better place than we found it. That's what we always kind of say, but, you know, it's something bigger than us. It's. It's an organization that's bigger than one person.

24:55Andrew: We're going to go back, we're going to do like a timeline Soupy basically, from last off season. Jack Pridham, he's coming back.

25:03Clip: Yeah.

25:03Andrew: What did that mean to, like, the team this year and the mentality that a guy who was for a long time not in the OHL for the very reason that he wanted to go to Boston University, and now he's had an experience here in Kitchener and he's coming back.

25:20Mike McKenzie: Yeah, it was huge, I think, in general, because, again, it was the first year and he was one of those first guys that, like, camera over when the rule change happened, and one of the guys that, like, made a big impact. Like, there was plenty of players that came over. Some made bigger impacts than others, but, like, he might have had the biggest in that first year in terms of, like, a guy that new rule happens, I'm changing courses.

25:43L: Boom.

25:43Mike McKenzie: And then he comes here and does really well. And yeah, we wanted him to come back and we were really happy when he did.

25:50Clip: And.

25:51Mike McKenzie: And obviously this year he's been a big part of our success, like the amount of goals and offense he Creates. So yeah, that was a big one to get before the season to know we have a legit top line winger right there ready for us.

26:06Andrew: One player's coming in. A player has to leave.

26:08Clip: Of course.

26:09Andrew: Jackson Parsons, he ages out. So you're left with a hole in net essentially.

26:14Clip: Right.

26:14Andrew: And all the talk all around Kitchener and all, you know, on the Internet was that like, how, how can this team compete without a goaltender? You bring in Christian Kirsch. Tell me a little bit about that process of how you, how you find Kirsch and you're like, you know what

26:30Clip: this is, this is the move to make.

26:31Mike McKenzie: Yeah, well, I had to sit down with the coaches at the start of the year. I remember in our first meeting at the start of the year there was like one little slot where I was like, I need to like be like reset their expectations of what goaltending usually looks like because we were very spoiled.

26:50Clip: Yeah.

26:51Mike McKenzie: With Jackson and I think you just get used to something and you're like, of course our goalie's gonna have a 9:30 save percentage every weekend. Just like he's gonna be good all the time. And so I remember saying to them, guys, like, I know we had it pretty good last year, but like, that's like one of the greatest goaltending performances in like Ranger history in a year. So like, would we like that again? Sure. Could it happen? Maybe. But it's like, you know, odds are that like we're not, it's not going to be at that level. Yeah, we wanted an older player. Like we knew we would have a pretty solid team. So Jason's a great, you know, he had great 16 year old year. He's showing now. He's a great 17 year old. But the, the reality is in our league that you don't win or go far. Typically with, you know, 16 or 17 year old goalies, you, you usually have a 19 or 2018 S are even rare too sometimes. But so we wanted someone older that just had a little bit more experience, I guess. So we were really lucky to be able to draft Christian and he's had a great year for us too. And he's kind of kept the ball rolling in terms of good goal to him and Jason. They both played phenomenal.

28:10Justin: I mean last night. Yeah, Jason had a pretty epic game.

28:13Mike McKenzie: Yeah, he's been great too. So it's like no matter who's in our net, we're very comfortable with and both guys have been good and goaltending is a hard position. Like there's going to be games that are not pretty. Like every goalie goes through it and it's, you know, you get blamed when it's not going well and it's very obvious if it's not going well. But you get the credit when you do really well too. So it's a tough position. But both guys have done well. We've got another goalie that we're really excited about to the mason ricks off. 16 year old American kid.

28:44Justin: A little bit came up.

28:45Mike McKenzie: Yeah, yeah, he came up for a little bit. But I know Jordan, our goalie coach is really excited about him as well. So we've got a good crop of guys there.

28:53Justin: You obviously also have a good goaltending coach. Like, do you want to talk a little bit about him?

28:57Mike McKenzie: Yeah, he's a big part of what we do. Probably doesn't get enough credit. We've had really good goaltending coaches since I've been here. And one of my good friends that I went to school with actually at St. Lawrence, I played. I actually played with him for two years at St. Mike's in Junior A hockey and then we went to St. Lawrence together and spent four years there together. Kane TC is his name and he was our goalie coach before Jordan was here and he was really good and he got hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins and he's with their AHL team now. And Jordan actually played here and I was one of the coaches when Jordan played here. And we often joke about his time here because it wasn't always pretty.

29:39Andrew: I was on hockey gb. I Sam O'Reilly was going to mention

29:41Mike McKenzie: it, but he can, he can acknowledge that. So we, we have some laughs about that. I'll just say he's a much better goalie coach than he was an actual goalie in the league. But he's. He was working with Cain and when the position became available. You know, anytime you lose someone really good, you're like, how are we going to fill this? But what I've realized is that there's always good people out there. You just got to find the Aud change is hard because it's like you have someone, you want them to stay. But that's just the, the way junior hockey works. You're going to have to keep finding new people. And so he was working with Kane and Kane said, you should interview him. He's really good. He's young and he's just kind of starting. But you know, I've taught him a bunch of stuff already and he's a hard worker and I think he's going to Be really good. So we gave him a shot, and he's been really, really good. He's here every day, which I think is a huge benefit to our goaltenders. It's not like a drop in once a week, twice a week type thing, Andrew, you know, text after call after games. It's like, he's there every day. So it's like.

30:40Justin: Is that a little bit more common in the league?

30:42Mike McKenzie: It's not as common, no. Which is, you know, a huge benefit to us. And he has great relationships with the goalies. They really respect him. So he's. He's. And now he's getting experience, too.

30:53Clip: Right.

30:53Mike McKenzie: Like, so it's one thing to know the game and. And understand the position, but now, like I said earlier, he's building on all these years, and he's starting to learn different things and what works and what doesn't work. And he's really good at what he does. We're lucky to have him. And who knows, he might be gone before not too long either, because it's hard to find good goaltending coaches. So it's usually like, anyone that's good at this level, they go down.

31:16Clip: Yeah.

31:17Clip: Yeah.

31:17Justin: And that's.

31:18Andrew: We talked about, you know, moving on, and you're being a. You're just a part of it, and that's in the humility of it.

31:22Mike McKenzie: So if you guys ever want to work for the team, start maybe looking into some goaltending.

31:28Justin: All right, I just going to send an email to quit my regular job. Is this an interview?

31:37Andrew: Are you interviewing us?

31:38Mike McKenzie: Not yet, but you never know.

31:41Clip: Okay. Okay.

31:42Andrew: Okay.

31:42L: Okay.

31:42Clip: Yeah, yeah.

31:43L: You.

31:43Andrew: You did mention, you know, people moving on it. We would be remiss to not talk about two players that left under different circumstances. You've had a lot of curveballs this season. Like, we just as. As fans and observers, we kind of turned and looked at each other a few times, being like, man, it's hard to be the GM because. Because, like, Adam Valentini and Oscar Hemming, completely different situations, but two players who never ended up playing for the Rangers. I'm not going to ask you necessarily to comment on those situations, because I know you've commented on those situations, but talk about what the curveballs have been like, where you have two incredibly prominent offensive players that are basically built into the core of what the team identity is going to be on offense, and then they're just never here. They just didn't play.

32:30Mike McKenzie: Yeah, I mean, that's. That's junior hockey in a nutshell, really.

32:34L: Yeah.

32:34Mike McKenzie: Like when you really think about it, and not just guys like leaving, it's different now because there are players, there's players coming and going more than there used to be. So that's just the reality now. But even with just, like, things like injuries, you know, suspensions and injuries, it's like you've got to be very, like, nimble in terms of how you operate, because there's just things that happen that are out of your control. No one. No one ever feels bad for you. That's the funny thing is. And we've, like, we've all been there, like, other teams, too. And it's like you're injured and you got, like, four guys injured, and then two guys get suspended and you're missing, like, your top players, and you got guys at world juniors, and it's like the team showing up on Friday night, they do not care. And it's the same thing when we go into a place and play teams and they're banged up or they're like, at the end of a three and three and they're tired and we're like, yep, whatever. Like, we don't care. We don't feel bad for the Soo that I think once you realize, like, no one's showing sympathy to you and no one really cares except us, that you just do your best. It would have been nice to have those two guys.

33:36Clip: For sure.

33:37Mike McKenzie: They're both really good players, but that's just the. The way it goes. And you gotta, you know, tough break. Move on.

33:42Andrew: Yeah. I mean.

33:43Clip: Yeah.

33:43Andrew: You kind of have to be liquid, right? Yeah.

33:45Justin: We also didn't want to ask you about Oscar Hemming because we pissed off Finland earlier this year. The whole country.

33:52Andrew: We got a lot of hate watches from Finland.

33:54Justin: We had some choice words about the

33:56Andrew: club that wouldn't let him play.

33:58Mike McKenzie: Well, as long as the views go up.

34:02Justin: No. All press is good.

34:03Andrew: Are you sure you're not in marketing?

34:07Justin: Okay. The third curveball you got thrown this season, the Memorial Cup, the ch. The talk of the town was that it has to go to Kitchener. It doesn't. It goes to Guelph. Congratulations, Guelph. We're still not happy about it. Get a better parking lot. Obviously, the team direction of the team had to change at that moment. How did you deal with that?

34:27Clip: And.

34:28Andrew: Yeah, and if I. If I can just interject, I will say in the community, a lot of it was 20, 27, was. It was all spoken to us. We're coming in. We're listening to the voice of the fans. Everything was. It's this is built for 2027. Built for 2027. And then obviously it's, you know, the Memorial Cup is kind of a bust, so you kind of have to pivot.

34:46Justin: Or.

34:47Andrew: Or was it always just like, if this team is good, we're going all in?

34:50Mike McKenzie: No, we were building for 2027, and this season would have looked a lot different if we. We had got the Memorial Cup. There's. There's no bones about it. Curveball, yes. Surprised? Yes. Disappointed? Yes. Angry at times. Yes. But it's, again, it's one of those things where it's like, it happened and you. You move on from it. And so I think the nice part for us is that we didn't count our chickens before they hatched. Did we feel like we had a really good opportunity to be the host and win it? Absolutely, we did. We. We thought we had all the boxes checked, and we thought our hockey club was in a really good spot when you measure it up. But at the end of the day, there's five people that vote, and they voted for Guelph. So it's like, you know, it is what it is, and. And you got to move on from it. So we were fortunate that we didn't start doing things prematurely to. To think, like, well, let's just, like, continue on this path towards 2027 and start doing these things before we for sure know what's going on. Because we could have. I mean, we were very arrogant and cocky about it. We could have said, you know what, we're trading this guy in in October because we can get this big return and all these draft picks because we're gonna host next year. And then all of a sudden, two months later, they're like, no, you're not hosting, and you've traded, like, one of your best players and you're like, oh, like, right. We should have waited. So we did wait to find out what was going on. And then from that point on, obviously, things changed. And, yeah, we made the decision that unless we still think we can be good next year, too. Yeah. But it's just the hosting thing changes the. The landscape of, like, what you need and. And you wanna. If you're hosting, it's a big. It's a very big deal for the community, and you want to make sure. And I felt a responsibility to make sure if we were hosting that we had to go. I won't say it.

36:45Andrew: Yeah.

36:45Mike McKenzie: Something to the wall. I don't know if you can say stuff on here, but to the wall, in terms of all in on, like, making our team the best team we possibly could, because there are some other years where you go for it, but it's like, we still have a couple of draft picks left, and we didn't trade all our young players, but if we had gotten the Memorial Cup, you have to do everything in your power to push through and represent your community the best way you can and try to go through the front door. That was the biggest thing for us, is winning the league. The Memorial Cup is awesome and hosting, it's an amazing opportunity, but it really means nothing if you, like, lose in the second or third round.

37:22Justin: Right?

37:23Mike McKenzie: And a lot of teams, you know, kind of fool themselves into, like, that host and they win the cup, but it's like they lost in the second round. Saginaw, you said that any team, not just OHL teams. But it's like, you win the Memorial Cup, you win the last game of the year, your season was a success, and it's like, yay, we won. We're awesome. And it's like. But, like, really, did you win? Because you lost in the second round, so it's like, yeah, we didn't want to be that. So we were ready to go. Yeah, all in and do what we needed to do.

37:57Justin: So it was a pretty tight timeline from the announcement to the trade deadline. Like, you don't really have much time. Plus world juniors in there. Like, there's.

38:04Andrew: It was a busy time for you.

38:06Mike McKenzie: There was, like, a one, like, after we didn't get it, there was a definitely an initial, like, shock period of, like, three or four, five days, maybe even a week of like. Like, you're kind of stunned and, like, you've been kind of punched in the face. You got to kind of regroup, and. And so we took that time, and then there was, like, a week or two after that where we, like, really, like, sat down. And a lot of my thoughts when I was on my own were like, how do we go about this next part? Because it's like, there's two decisions. It's like, we can either continue on this path for 2027 and just Sam O'Reilly know what, the tournament might not be here, but, like, let's go play in Guelph.

38:44Justin: Yeah, you can still play it.

38:45Andrew: We can still.

38:46Mike McKenzie: We can still try to win the league and play in wealth, or, you know, we can put more assets and more effort into winning this year. So we batter on both ideas, and at the time, we were in first in the Midwest Division, and we just felt like, if you can win the Division. It's very hard to, to punt on a year, especially with how good London's been the last few years. They're going to be good again. They're, they're, they're still good.

39:12Justin: Yeah.

39:12Andrew: They're hunting is like yeah.

39:15Justin: Still top five in the, in the conference.

39:17Mike McKenzie: Right. So we just felt, you know, anytime you have a chance to win the Midwest, we got to go for it. And so we, we made the decision to add and at the time we didn't know how much adding, adding meant, but we wanted to bring in some older players and, and make our team better for sure. We made the decision that we were going to push through and, and try to do what we could to, to win this year.

39:39Andrew: There was obviously speaking of older players, there was one more curveball waiting for you was you brought in Dylan Edwards and then you find out that Ando's coming back and now you've got to move an overager because you're over the limit. Especially with like what Jakub Chromiak meant to the team that you've got to make a, basically a business decision because it's within the rules.

39:59Mike McKenzie: Yeah, it was really hard because Jakob's such a great kid and he was one of the most popular players we've had in a long time here in terms of his teammates loving him, but also the coaching staff and myself included loving him. He was awesome on the ice for us, but awesome off the ice too and everything you could ask for in a 20 year old. It was a really hard decision and a tough choice. But we also put ourselves in that predicament by trading for Dylan Edwards too. So we, I can't look at myself and Sam O'Reilly know, get upset about it because like we did it to ourselves knowing that this could, could happen.

40:38Justin: Yeah.

40:39Mike McKenzie: And at the time the, the Edwards thing, we just felt it was too good to pass up on and that if we waited then, you know, you lose out on a player like Edwards and now Ando doesn't come back or, or whatever. Yeah, then we'd kick ourselves. So it was a little bit of a leap of faith is doing the Edwards thing before we had clarity on Ando, but we just thought we, this guy's dynamic and he's a top point scorer in the league at this point and we needed a game breaker and a talent like that that could win you a game on his own.

41:12Justin: He's so sneaky Good.

41:13Mike McKenzie: Yeah. And, and you saw it like the first few games he was here like the game, the lights went out. Yeah. Like, like that was a wild game for many reasons. We played terribly. One, two, the lights went out, and then three. Like, the way the game ended, like, when we. We. And then, like, he scored shorthanded once the lights came on and they were flickering, and then they went out after.

41:41Justin: Immediately after.

41:42Mike McKenzie: Yeah, it was. I remember talking to the coaches after and being like, that's why we got him. It's like, yeah, he won us that game because he took the puck from our zone and he skated down the ice and he undressed one of their defensemen and undressed the goalie and put in the net.

41:56Clip: Yeah.

41:56Mike McKenzie: And it's like, there's not that many guys in the league that can do that, but he's one of them that can. And it's like, sometimes in a game that's tight and it's a 2, 2 game in the third period, you need a guy to make a skilled, solo individual play, and he's a guy that can do that. So that's what I. That's what I say when I talk about, he can win you a game on his own.

42:15Clip: That's.

42:16Mike McKenzie: It's a huge part of having success.

42:17Justin: I feel that game was crazy. I was. I was at that game, and his mom was sitting right behind me, and the whole family. The whole Edwards family was there because the. Because his brother is on Erie also here. So they were both playing, and his mom was just like, is that going to count? Because the lights went out so quickly afterwards.

42:36Andrew: Well, you didn't stop at.

42:37Clip: At Dylan Edwards.

42:38Andrew: You made a couple more really key acquisitions, one of them being, you know, Sam O'Reilly and Jared Woolley from London. What is it like trading with, like, a rival like that? And how do you even approach that situation? Or is it just the same as anything else?

42:51Mike McKenzie: Yeah, it's the same as anything else. It's just unique in the sense that we haven't really had the opportunity to trade with them because we've been competing with them, you know, and trying to. Trying to beat the Soo it's never really aligned where we were selling, and we're. They're buying or vice versa. So it just hadn't worked out. And this year it did. And they had something that we wanted, and we had some stuff that they wanted, and it worked out.

43:16Andrew: We do need to address this.

43:17Clip: All right.

43:17Andrew: And this might be a little bit of hypocrisy. Okay. On your behalf, after doing a deep dive, we said we weren't gotcha journalists. However, on November 1, 2025, you tweeted my son loves nerd gummy clusters so much, he traded his sister 12 coffee crisps for a single pack of them. No negotiation or nothing. Just straight up. 12 for one. Take it or leave it.

43:38Mike McKenzie: That's like an OHL trade.

43:41Andrew: Can he do your job?

43:43Mike McKenzie: One elite player for. For 12 draft picks.

43:47Andrew: Was that an indictment on his trading ability or was that just like, he

43:50Clip: knew what he wanted.

43:51Clip: Want it.

43:51Mike McKenzie: He wants his nerd gummy clusters, and he doesn't like the kit. Was it Kit Kats?

43:54Andrew: It was coffee crisp.

43:55Mike McKenzie: Coffee crisp. She doesn't like the coffee crisp. So there you go. She likes the coffee, Chris. She got a whole boatload of coffee Chris.

44:02Clip: Good for her.

44:02Mike McKenzie: Yeah. So it's a win.

44:03Justin: Ready to trade in a couple years when she wants those nerd clusters.

44:07Andrew: Perhaps another generation of hockey minds.

44:10Mike McKenzie: There is some symbolism there. Maybe if you. If you want something, go get. Go get it for whatever. Pay the price.

44:18Clip: Yeah.

44:18Justin: We have one final question for you. Is there an ohl GM group chat?

44:26Mike McKenzie: No.

44:27Justin: No, no. So how do you. How do you do a trade? Andrew a Kitchener Rangers I'm the. The hot prospect on another team.

44:36Andrew: Yeah.

44:37Justin: How do you. How do you do the trade between.

44:39Mike McKenzie: You got to trade me there.

44:40Clip: Yeah.

44:41Andrew: As much as you do not want to.

44:43Justin: Yeah.

44:45Andrew: I.

44:45Justin: You've heard. I'm a diva in the room. Like, you know, there's Sam O'Reilly a glue culture fake guys, but it's just got a lot of skill.

44:53Mike McKenzie: Someone has to want you. I'm a glue guy. That could be a problem. Everyone works a little bit differently. It's like anything. Right? It's like some people like to get on the phone and talk and hash it out, and other people like to text back and forth. And some people get back to you and five minutes. And other people take a day and.

45:14Clip: Right.

45:14Mike McKenzie: So it's like. It's like anything you're dealing with. People and people. Every person does things a little bit differently.

45:20Andrew: So do you, like, never double text?

45:23Mike McKenzie: Try not to. Reeks of desperation.

45:30Clip: Yeah.

45:31Mike McKenzie: So it just depends who you're dealing with, really. And I'm sure, you know, everyone has their style. I've made trades where it's like you just. You get on the phone and you talk about it, and no text messages are exchanged at all. And it's all through words and.

45:44Justin: And.

45:45Mike McKenzie: And then there's like, I. I think I made one trade this year where I didn't actually talk to them on the phone.

45:51Justin: Whoa. All text.

45:54Mike McKenzie: Yeah. All text.

45:55Clip: Yeah.

45:55Justin: Fully dealt with.

45:56Andrew: So pull Back the curtain a little bit. Just tell us, like, do you, would you just like cold send an offer or like, are you, are you, like, do you, you know, how's your morning? Yeah,

46:07Mike McKenzie: yeah. It depends on the some guy. It just depends because, like, there are, there are guys that want to banter and banter back and forth and talk shop, and there's other guys that are just very direct and straight to the point. It's like, you know, will, will this work? And no. Okay, there's something. But there's guys that like to negotiate. So it's like, you know, you're gonna go back and forth, back and forth. So everyone has their style, and I think that's part of the job, is understanding. I have a style too. I'm sure, I'm sure you, if you talk to the other other guys, the Soo he likes to do this or this is how he communicates or whatever.

46:42Justin: Well, that's what I was gonna ask. Do you just get the straight offer?

46:45Clip: Yeah.

46:45Justin: Like, if somebody's trying to trade with you, do you, Are you getting the text being like this player for this player, Three picks.

46:52Mike McKenzie: It depends because, like, I try to be a bit of a chameleon in that sense, like, and try to do what they need to do and meet them on their level a little bit, if possible. So it just depends, really. Yeah, it's very situational.

47:07Clip: Yeah.

47:08Justin: Well, we've taken more than enough of your time, so thank you very much, Mike, for coming in and doing this interview with us. We really appreciate it.

47:15Mike McKenzie: Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me.

47:16Justin: Hope we didn't ask any too controversial questions. Don't get you in trouble.

47:19Mike McKenzie: Yeah,

47:22Andrew: I'm public anatomy number one.

47:26Justin: Andrew a public enemy number one in Guelph, too. Yeah.

47:30Mike McKenzie: You're doing something right.

47:31Justin: Finland. All of Finland. Well, that was a great interview.

47:40Clip: Wow.

47:41Clip: He gave us like an hour of his time and just gave us all these detailed answers. It was incredible interview.

47:47Justin: I, I, I, I can safely say that I did not expect that to be our interview, but I'm really happy it was.

47:55Clip: Yeah, I honestly, we didn't have one pucks in deep.

47:58Andrew: Not that, you know, Mike would be like that, but.

48:00Justin: Yeah, I just thought since he played. Yeah.

48:03Andrew: I just thought that maybe we would,

48:05Clip: you know, not just get that sort of transparency and detail out of Mike

48:12Andrew: and I think he had fun.

48:14Justin: I think he did, too.

48:15Clip: Yeah.

48:16Justin: He didn't even really skirt any of our answers, even though he said he was probably going to, so.

48:19Andrew: Yeah.

48:21Clip: Maybe he's just so good at skirting

48:23Andrew: the answers that we didn't notice the

48:25Justin: whole interview, and we just didn't even realize. Yeah, no, that was awesome. So this episode is not over yet.

48:35Clip: It's true.

48:37Justin: Because this is. This is like the last episode of sort of the regular season for us. Next week is going to be us talking about playoffs, talking about our bets that we all got wrong, all that sort of stuff. That's going to be next week. So this week is sort of our. Our last regular season episode. And you know what? You. All of you AudPodience members have come along with the ride with us, and we wanted to find a way to say sort of thank you to you and bring you into the. the AudPod because you guys are all so loyal and awesome and wonderful and you. You chat with us all the time, and we love it. So we got a few of your three stars and. And your favorite memories of the season on or off the ice. And. And we're gonna play them now. And some of them are video. So if you're watching on YouTube or on Spotify, you can watch the video and you can see your friends. Some of them are audio only and some of them are written in. So then you have to listen to me and Andrew talk about the Soo

49:41Clip: But you're used to that because you listen to our AudPod all the time.

49:45Justin: Supposedly you like that. I don't know why.

49:47Andrew: I don't know why.

49:48Justin: I have no idea why. But we appreciate you nonetheless. So this is our thank you to you for listening. Okay, so we're gonna start with Mallory.

49:58Clip: Hey, guys. My name is Mallory, and one of my favorite moments from this season was Christian Humphreys first ohl, Kira Hatrick. I was there when it happened, and it was just such an electric environment. And it was really cool because since he's the captain of my fantasy team, I did a drawing for him. I'll put a picture of it right here. And I gave it to him before the game, so I just thought that was really cool. And a personal favorite memory would be on Halloween. I was dressed up as the Lorax, and I got to go in the locker room. I'll also put a picture right here. And then another favorite memory was probably going to my 10th OHL arena. I've now been to a little over half of the Aud my three stars from this year would be Christian Kirsch. He's just been an outstanding goalie. It's his first year in the Ohl and he already has four shutouts. He's just doing amazing. My next star is Jack Pridham I think he can get to 50 goals. He's just been doing really well this season. And my last star would have to be our captain Cameron Reid He's just an outstanding leader on and off the ice.

51:02Clip: My name is Ethan. My favorite part of the season is when Sam O'Reilly scored that overtime winner in London. I was actually at the game and it was so brilliant to see all of those faces on the London fans. When it was announced that Sam O'Reilly scored the winner, I feel like that was the game that he announced himself as a Ranger through and through. My third star of the season is going to be the Rangers staff. Obviously Mike McKessy has spotted some absolutely incredible players. He was very smart with those trades. Of course, you see a hocus has been really good at bringing those new players in, integrating them, increasing team chemistry when he's actually in the games behind the bench. The Rangers behind the scenes staff have done a great job at renovating that dressing room, making it look absolutely stunning and also making sure the Aud is kept nice and clean for game days. My second star for the season is Weston Cameron because of his fights and his absolutely insane goals. Especially against Sarnia where he set up for Jason Shovel and his goals against London which was posted in and that tip against Windsor. The first star has to be Jack Pridham I was definitely and sadly harsh on him at the start of the season. But ever since that Terror Bear toss goal he's been absolutely on fire, scoring tons of short handed goals, being really good on the power play, being good defensively and being an absolute monster in that offensive zone. Let's go Rangers.

52:22Mike McKenzie: My best moment this year so far would probably be winning the Midwest Division title and also adding O'Reilly and Willie Edwards and Charat to this lineup come

52:33Clip: playoff time will be huge for us.

52:34Mike McKenzie: Let's go Rangers and keep up the great work boys. What's up bod pod? It's Blake Dietrich.

52:39Clip: I work for the Kitchener Rangers.

52:41Mike McKenzie: My top three players of the season. It's hard to not just pick the Andrew team for this, but we'll go Reider Pridham and Edwards and then for top moment of the season, I'm gonna go that game, I think it was against Sarnia when one of their players was throwing cross checks at Shauble and then Shauble wasn't afraid to get down and dirty. And then later in the game Weston Cameron showed showed that Sarnia player.

53:08Clip: What's up? So go Rangers.

53:11Justin: This next one's From Mark, my most improved player this year are Bilecki and Arquette. My three stars for the season go to Pridz, Humps and Kirsch. And O'Reilly has been absolutely unreal. So since joining the club, the turning point of the season for me was losing the Memorial Cup bid and then watching management make the moves to go win. Now that shift changed everything. Favorite moment of the year, watching Weston Cameron beat the wheels off of Pickle after getting into it with Shabble. Seeing how this team sticks up for each other and plays together, that's been great to watch all year long. Oh, and winning a 5050 draw and then a jersey raffle the following week.

53:50Mike McKenzie: Pretty wild.

53:52Clip: Hi AudPod.

53:52L: My name is Em Cunningham. I am an artist who runs a small business called Hush Puffy Designs. I also work at Simulon Screen Printing where we design merch for the Kitchener Rangers. My three stars this season would of course be Pridham, Cam Reed and I have to say, Jason Schaubel It's pretty sweet to have a backup goalie that when you put him in net you don't have to worry about a thing because he's so good and he's just been phenomenal this season. My favorite moment on the ice this year would be the recent game against the Steelheads. It was such a physical game and I think that we're known to be such a skill based team that we kind of don't get put in the category of such a physical team. So watching the boys just hold it down and really step it up physically for like an Andrew period, slash, period and a half was crazy. It was just electric and the Aud that game as well. Of course, the civilian screen printing T shirt toss every time I'm at a game and get to see that and see all the fans getting excited for some of the designs we've made and printed ourselves, it's just such an honor and it's a really cool moment off the ice. I'm busy all year round kind of coming up with new merch ideas for all the Ranger fans. As a lifelong Ranger fan myself, it's such an honor to get to design cool merch that I think the public will enjoy and kind of work with the trends in hockey culture. But also what I think Ranger fans want and feature some of the players that fans are really into that year and just get to know the team in a different way by selling merch at the authentic store. So it's been truly an honor to get to design cool merch for all of you guys, it's just been such a great season in so many different ways and I'm totally ready for playoffs. So let's go Rangers.

55:16Clip: My name is Sean. My favorite on and off the ice moment from the Rangers. Just getting to know some of the boys and their families. My daughter has had the honor over the last few years of getting to know a few of them, which has then led me to get to know a few of their parents. Some have moved on, but there is still a few on the team. Just watching those players grow, develop and then becoming players that have clinched the Midwest who are on the verge of potentially clinching the west and securing home I advantage throughout the whole playoffs and hopefully going on a long playoff run. As for the three stars, my three stars have been pretty rock solid since the trade deadline and I would say those three stars are Christian Kirsch, number three. Since the trade deadline, there hasn't been too many that have been more solid in that sin than him. He's really solidified our position back there since the deadline and allowed the boys to play their style of game which has allowed them more confidence and the ability to make a few mental mistakes because they know they got him back there to cover them. Right? So Kershi gets three. One and two are interchangeable, but one goes to the guy who's been here all season. So with that being said, number two goes to Sam O'Reilly Since he came over from London, he's fit in pretty smoothly. The transition's been nice. The winning pedigree that he's going to bring to our team come playoff time is going to be invaluable. Sammy boy gets number two. And as for number one, can't go wrong with a little bit of PridMoney. Pridham has been probably our best player all season. You know, him and Humphreys go one, two, so. But I give it to Pridham. You know, he's been out there all situations. Penalty kill, power play, even strength. He's doing it all. Pridham gets number Andrew.

56:58Clip: Lavalley here, third star. I'm giving it to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Special shout out to the Kitchener Rangers and the city of Kitchener. An incredible job. They do upkeeping and maintaining the Aud including a phenomenal renovation they just completed. If you've seen the player facilities, those have to be the best in the league, if not the best in all junior hockey. Some great fan improvements on the concessions. Can't wait to check out the restaurant. Hope that opens soon. Kudos to all involved in keeping the cathedral of junior Hockey at the top and in great shape. Star number two, I'm going with the coaching staff. UC Hocus, head coach Jeff Kyrzakos Brad Flynn, incredible staff. Third season in a row, 40 plus wins, good chance. Second season in a row, 100 points or more. Amazing. Just what an incredible system. A wonderful leadership they have in the room. All the guys have bought in. You know, a rising tide lifts all ships. You can see that. Everyone knows their role, everyone plays their role. It's amazing how they integrated the new players. It's just a lot of fun to watch, I'm sure. Like other fans, I just can't wait every time you go to the Aud because you know it's going to be a good game. And so star number one, our trade deadline. That's a big kudos to GM Mike McKenzie and assistant GMs Michael and Jeff. Wow, did we ever get some great pickups. And they're superstars. But we didn't just add superstars randomly. We added superstars in every little corner that we needed. The physicality, the leadership, the net front presence, we were able to fill all those little needs that have lifted the whole team. Everyone's playing harder. I mean the toughness and the physicality of the team is night and day from the beginning of the season. The compete, the wanting to win, that leadership in the room, it's just phenomenal. And I'm excited for the postseason. My favorite moment of the season, Sam O'Reilly overtime hero, Canada Life Place. And I'm going with that moment because I was actually there. That was my first trip behind enemy lines to Canada Life Place. And I happen to be seated in, I think they call it like an executive area. It's just the area where all the businesses that have tickets and sponsors, that's where all their tickets are. So 99% of that section is all London Knights fans. I was with a buddy of mine Monday night fam and we were slightly offset to center towards the NET that Sam O'Reilly came up, our side, scored on, came around behind the net and massive celebration right in front of our section. And I knew right then two things. One, Samirali is a dagum stud. He's just a winner. He just competes to win and I love having that in the locker room. And number two, I knew with a Rangers jersey on, that young man was going to give it a hundred and ten percent every single night, every single game. He just plays so hard. And to see his response to shooting that goal in front of his old fans, I just felt like that was the moment he became a kitchen arranger.

60:01Clip: So this one's coming from Nick. My favorite moment of the season was getting the peanut gallery and Woolly from London. What an additional. My three stars. Third star goes to Peanut. Second star to Dylan Edwards. And my first star is Jack Pridham Pridham for obvious reasons. Short and sweet. Nick knows what's up.

60:17Clip: Hello Andrew and hello Justin. It is Daniel here. Let's start off with star number one. I got Sam O'Reilly His compete level and his seriousness. He takes the game of hockey really sets the tone for this Rangers team. And you can just tell whenever he's playing this Rangers team just works that little bit extra hard. I knew he was going to be good. I had no idea he was going to be this good. Some of the chemistry he has built with the team already like a Jack Pridham on the penalty kill. I have honestly never seen a penalty kill that good before from a Rangers team. It is quite special to watch and quite a special player to watch in Sam O'Reilly My second star is Dylan Edwards and when I'm watching Dylan Edwards it just seems like never. The Rangers need a a goal. It's Dylan Edwards and I think in the playoffs he's going to be Mr. Clutch. If you remember that 20, 23, 24 series when he was on Erie versus the Rangers, whenever the Erie Otters needed a goal it was Dylan Edwards always coming up big for them. This playoff run for the Rangers, Dylan Edwards is just going to absolutely pop off. And my third star is Christian Kirsch. And I know he's had a little bit of a up and down season but lately has been phenomenal. But whenever there's a big game like a London Windsor and Ottawa and sue, like he has really been solid for us and all games in the playoffs are important games so I really think he's going to stand out. I know he's not the Jackson Parsons we're used to watching but Kristen, curse you. You can't get much better in the Ohl in my opinion and my favorite moment so far this season, a little bit of a weird one. It Jared Woolley first goal and I, I forget what team it was against. I think it was Saginaw. Jared Woolley takes a penalty, gets a breakout pass. I think it was Romano and you know, sends him on a breakaway. I know Willie has some skill but it's like ah, defenseman on a breakaway, you know. Now how many times does that turn out well? But he proved me wrong and did a couple moves beat the goaltender. He pumps his fists in the air like some chaotic caveman and from that moment on I just knew this team and its new addition is going to be a problem for other teams to

62:32Clip: go up this submissions from Kayla 3 stars of the season and favorite season memories 3rd star my 3rd star of the season would be the team as a whole. I believe this team this year has been a very tight, strong and talented team who has always had each other's back, whether it's the players having the goalies back or the players having each other's backs. Second Star My second star of the season is a group of specific players which is our leadership group which Cameron Reid being a great captain who despite being young has been a very great captain and leading this team and never giving up on them no matter the score. Also, the players who wore an A this season have all proven why they wear an A on their jersey. All the players that have worn the A and the player that wore the C have such a strong connection with each other and I love their little huddle at the end of every home game. It really shows you how close these boys get with each other. My first star of the season would be how the players are with jj. When all the boys found out what JJ was going through, the response was very touching. Even when JJ isn't there, they are all willing to talk to her on the phone and ask her how she is doing and saying they wish she was there and they hope to see her soon. With me getting so close to JJ this season, this really touched me and makes me smile with how much heart they show their fans. My favorite off ice memory this season

63:54Andrew: would be all the away game road

63:55Clip: trips with my friends that I have taken, the memories I have made and the stronger friendships that I have made. The fact that the Rangers are what brought us all together. I am forever grateful. My favorite on ice memory would be against Brampton when everyone started to stick up for each other. Even though there was a lot of missed calls, I loved how they stood up for each other to prove how close these boys are. Thanks Kayla.

64:20Justin: This next one is from Marissa. My three stars Third star Dylan Edwards, second star Christian Humphreys and my first star is Jack Pridham My favorite moment of the season was bringing a couple of friends to a Wednesday night game against the Sarnia Sting. We were to able were absolutely dominating goals all night but one moment stood out above everything else. Sarnia's Ben Pickle decided to mess with our goalie. Jason Schaubel got in his way and then started throwing punches. Instead of the team sitting back and letting it happen, Weston Cameron called him out, set up a fight and showed him exactly who not to mess with. Cameron won obviously and sent a clear message, you do not touch our goaltender. That's my favorite part. The boys stuck up for each other no matter what. I've never been more proud of this team and I cannot wait for the playoffs. I am so excited. Thanks Marissa.

65:12Clip: Okay, this one's coming in from Jennifer. My favorite on ice moment this season was the Sarnia game back in January. Weston Cameron fight with Ben Pickle. After it was over, he pointed straight at Shovel. Didn't need to Sam O'Reilly word. He was letting everyone know I've got my guys back. I love how this team sticks up for each other. Don't always love the content consequences though. Off the ice, my favorite moments have been the road trips with the girls. We've made it to a bunch of away games this season and there's nothing like spending time with your friends watching your team whether it's at home or on the road. Now my three stars Third star goes to the goaltending. The Shobs and Kirsch combination has been incredible. Both of them have made some absolutely unreal saves this season. Second star is the whole team. The group has rallied around my friend JJ through her battle this season in so many ways, making videos, checking in on her, asking how she's doing. Even the newer guys ask about her. They are all amazing people and I am so grateful for everything they've shown her this year. And my first star, no question is JJ herself. She's the strongest person I know. She's facing something no kid should ever have to go through and yet she still makes time to come out and support the boys. Sometimes coming straight from the hospital, she always shows up with a smile or a treat for the players and she cheers them on just as hard as they cheer for her.

66:33Clip: My favorite memories of this year are Fanfest where you know you meet the new team, expectations are high, you create new friendships. Meeting my favorite battle built soldier JJ and instantly becoming family with our road trips to Ottawa and Peterborough and the love of hockey connecting us all together. Also just the AudPod, mostly to them every Friday morning before work. My core memories is meeting my Rangers gals, helping out with Rangers reach, seeing the expressions on young kids faces when our boys score a goal, meeting away fans and creating friendships with them. I actually met one of my best friends in Owen Sound at the Bayshore when she came up to me and asked me about my jersey and I met her son and her significant other and brought them to their first teddy bear toss. And to see that little boy's face light up when we scored a goal for him to toss the teddy bear on the ice was priceless. And when he went down to high five alley to fist pump the boys and take pictures with his now favorite player on the Kitchener Rangers Jack Pridham how he took time to take a picture with Daniel and and sign everything under the sun and listen. It makes me really proud to be a Rangers fan.

68:01Clip: Hey Andrew, Hey Justin, it's Jordan. Your favorite intro hook here is my favorite memory and three stars of the season. My favorite memory was being asked to help with Puff Drop for Cancer night. I was so excited and pretty much told everyone getting a view from the Aren arena from center ice is a very cool experience or we'd be getting to do the Aud pot intro for Kanthony and then being asked to permanently use it. My third star of the season would be the Fighting. I know not everyone agrees with fighting, but it does show how much the team cares for one another. You have Humphries and Balecki who stood up for Pridm when he got hit a couple weeks ago. And then you have Ando who took on two players when they got hit after Woolies. Just think if this was last year they'd probably be fighting each other and not protecting each other. And then of course we have the players who protect their goalies at any cost. At the beginning of the year Derrick Hollow took a one game suspension protecting Kirsch after he was hit. And then of course you have Shauble versus Pickles fight where one of the very first players to defend Schobs was Balecki who flew across the ice and came to his defense. And then later on in the game you have west and Cameron who took on Pickle and turned him into Rallis. My second star of the season would be goaltending. Last year we were a little spoiled with Jackson Parsons, but this year Kirsch and Shauble have done an awesome job. I know other fans might have doubt them, but not me. I've always believed in our goals. Never once did I think we were in trouble. One of my favorite things to watch is Kirsch and Trouble's friendship and interactions. Their goalie hug celebration at the end of the game always brings a smile on my face. My first star of the season is the love and support from the Rangers. Shout out to the Cambridge Redhawks and the hockey community as well. Since the moment I shared my news, the Rangers have stepped up without really knowing who I was. They just knew I was a fool. It started with some encouraging messages on Instagram, the Aud was followed by a very warm welcoming to a preseason game with a group photo and since the Aud moved on to every game, at least one or more players and their family asking me how I'm doing or how treatment is, which is very neat. And when I'm not there I have some great friends who will video call me and I get to see and talk to the players who usually hope I'm feeling better. I also love walking around and being stopped by staff at the R that love checking in on me. I don't know what I would do without the hockey community as it keeps me positive and happy knowing I have the support from the race and thanks jj.

70:08Clip: Getting a lot of stars here.

70:10Justin: Yeah jj. Racking them up.

70:12Clip: Yeah.

70:15Clip: Cool.

70:16Justin: All right.