BITTER RIVAL KNIGHTS & RANGERS PREPARE FOR WEST FINAL SHOWDOWN - 2025 OHL Playoffs - OHL Overtime - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
This is Jim Joker's voice of the Cakes to Fron. Next,
you're listening to OHL Overtime, an in depth interview show
highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
OHL Championship Series, HL Combine and more, exclusively on the

(00:48):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Welcome back to OHL Overtime right here on the arms
share GM Sports Network. This is our OHL Western Conference
Championship Series preview for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy between the
London Knights and the Kitchener Rangers, rekindling another chapter in
the storied rivalry between these two great franchises and great
fan bases here in junior hockey and the Ontario Hockey

(01:25):
League as well as the Canadian Hockey League. We're gonna
be joined by Mike Farwell, the radio voice of the
Kitchener Rangers and Segment two. But in segment one today,
I'm pleased to welcome on the longtime voice of the
London Knights. On nine eighty CFPL. That would be Mike Stubbs. Mike,
thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
It's gonna be another exciting chapter here and another deep

(01:46):
playoff run for the London Knights, which we've become accustomed
to over the years. But really appreciate your time today,
and just another, I guess exciting time when you get
down to the conference finals. In the finals, there's nothing
better in the junior hockey season.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
The series don't get easier, Brandon, they do not get easier.
You've got four really good teams who are now about
to go head to head in two different series. And hey,
this is what it's about. I mean, this is where
the playoffs get real. Your time and space is gone.
If you get a chance, it had better go in.
If you need to save it had better happen. All

(02:20):
of those things so can't wait, especially when it rekindles
London and Kitchener and they've seen each other quite a
bit over the last few years. I think the fan
bases will take about five minutes before one of them
feels that the referees are going against them. And that's
always healthy competition. That shows passion.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
It absolutely does, and again look forward to seeing what
Kitchener in London has to offer, you know, basically on
the biggest stage that they could reach in in the
Western Conference Final this season. But Mike, let's take a
step back here quickly and talk about this London Night's
team to the first two rounds. Obviously, people are gonna
look at it and say eight to oh, they've been
steamrolling teams in the first two rounds. But again, Owen

(02:59):
South an Eerie didn't go down without a fight, especially Eerie,
you know, missing Matthew Shaffer's projected first overall pick in
the upcoming NHL Draft, as well as their captain in
Anaheim Ducks prospect Carry Turants missed a part of the
series or missed the entire series, as well as a
couple other guys that were out in Game four, including
Noah Earl and Martin Mischiak. But what do you think
has been the success for the Knights through the first

(03:21):
two rounds and being able to still be undefeated here
as they approach the third round.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
You know what, Brandon their experience. This is a core
that has been through long runs for the last two years,
so you've got players who know exactly what's about to happen.
Denver Barkie, Easton Cowen, Oliver bog Sam Dickinson. This is
their third run through, and we could name other names
as well, but this is a time of year when

(03:48):
not everything is going to go your way, and if
something doesn't go your way, how do you react? And
that if we look at the NHL, that's often a
big difference in the way that's go and maybe the
best examples or the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadians, they're
very new. How do you react to things when they
don't go your way or when you don't get to

(04:09):
do the things that maybe you normally did or that
normally worked in the regular season. And so having the
London Knights having that core that has seen a lot
of that. There was a game against Owen Sound very
early on where the Knights built a four to nothing lead,
all of a sudden, it's four to three, but it
never got to four to four. So Owen Sound put

(04:29):
on this tremendous push. The Knights were able to kind
of regroup and constrict things and change some of the
stuff that they were doing, and then in the third
period they limited Owen Sound to very few chances and
they won the game. And against the erie Odters, Eriie
had certain moments too where you would say, Wow, this
team and they have an awful lot of skill, naive

(04:49):
and a lot of heart. I mean, to get through
like they did. You mentioned the guys who were out.
Martin Michiak missed Game four to be able to go
out and push the London Knights into overtime in Game four.
That took an awful lot from that erie Otters squad
and so it gave the Knights a good run in
the second round. It might have been a series that

(05:10):
is fourth straight, but they still had to work, they
still had to connect, and they still had to take
advantage of their chances, and that's essentially what got them through.
This team has scored a lot and that's something that
they hope continues. But it's going to get even tougher
facing Jackson Parsons in the Kitchener Rangers.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Mike Stubbs, the voice of the London Knights, is with us.
Mike when we talk. I remember talking to you a
few years ago when the London had made that OHL
Championship against the Peterborough Pets, and when I had spoken
to you for our episode, you said this team might
be a little bit ahead of schedule, and they were
a very young team at that time, making it to
the final, losing to Peterborough eventually, but then coming back
the next year last season and being able to win

(05:51):
the Ohl Championship, make it to the Memorial Cup Final
and obviously losing the Sagoa after they had beat them
in the playoffs and beat them in the round robin
of that Memorial Cup time ornament. Speaking with Your Color
Great Color commentator Jim van Horn, it seems like going
into this season they wanted to run it back one
more time and they had some unfinished business because yes,
they won the Jay Ross as they call it, the

(06:12):
Ohl Championship, but that last thing that this group hasn't
won is that Memorial Cup, and they could have tasted
it last season against Saginaw and they thought that they
would have won it. So going into this season, obviously
they won fifty four games in the regular season and
so far in the playoffs, looks like they're just a
team on a mission that is looking to accomplish one
more great thing together as this corp is going to

(06:34):
graduate on to do great things in Pro hockey. But
for somebody that's around you know, this group all the
time on the road at home. What makes this group
so special? As they tried to, you know, finally put
the final check mark on this. You know this, I
guess core of London Nights.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Brandon, you did a great job alluding to it. There's
a real appreciation of that last opportunity and it's almost
like your last year of high school, your last year
of university. You want to make sure and soak in
everything because you know that next year you're going to
be moving on to other things, or in some cases
you're going to see close friends moving on to other things.

(07:14):
That's the kind of appreciation that this team has, where, yeah,
this is one last chance. And while they had success
last year and winning the Jay Ross Robertson Cup, and
you can never take that away, the Memorial Cup is
a tournament and we always have to remember that it
is a tournament and it's featured one game finals forever

(07:35):
and that means that anybody can go out and win,
and that's just part of it. You want to soak
in winning that Jay Ross Robertson Cup. You want to
truly appreciate that you were playoff champions in your league,
and the Knights were able to do that after the
heartbreak of losing to Peterborough. But at the same time
both seasons they have had to watch another team celebrate

(07:57):
and so you want to get true and kind of
finish it off, like you say. And while the team
doesn't talk about getting back to the Memorial Cup, the
team doesn't talk about getting back to the OAHL Championship Series.
Right now. The only thing the team is talking about
is game one of the Kitchener Rangers, and that's part
of that maturation process where no, they take nothing for granted.

(08:20):
This is a club that, yes has been able to
do good things and great things with a lot of
these players. Doesn't mean that you can repeat it. And
the Knights have seen that in their history. They won
back to back OHL titles, had a similar core comeback
in twenty fourteen, but a certain piece didn't come back
and only matter and then injuries were forcing them to

(08:43):
use forwards on defense in round two against the gwelf
Storm and they were the hosts of the Memorial Cup.
But it just never came together that year. So it
can happen that way. You never know what injuries are
going to do. Take a look at the windsor Spitfires.
Who would have thought that there would be a game
where you would be missing nine regulars during the game.
Once Jean Christophe Lemieux left the game due to injury,

(09:06):
it just is unfathomable. So you never know what's going
to happen. So that really has this team soaking in
every moment and really trying to do everything they can
to win that next game. And so far in the
playoffs they've been able to do it. Now Kitchener is
going to keep them from well, try to keep them
from doing it from this point on.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
And I think people just take for granted that the
London Knights are always going to be in the Western
Conference Final or the OHL Championship, But as you mentioned,
it's so hard from team to team to be able
to get back there on a yearly basis. So many
different factors can happen. Injuries, things like that, players not
coming back from their NHL teams, so so many things
can happen that can stop you from making it. To
this point. The last three years that they've done consecutively

(09:49):
really shows just to you know that they have to
put in the work and so many things have to
go your way as well, but these special players have
been able to get to the Western Conference Final the
last three years for the London Night Mike, as we
look at, you know what makes this team tick. Obviously
you talk about Sam Dickinson led the team this year
with ninety one points from the back end. The San
Jose Sharks first rounder thirteen NHL draft picks on their team,

(10:11):
Denver Barkie as the captain, Easton Cowen obviously, the highly
toted Toronto Maple Leafs first rounder. They've got some great
pieces up front end on the back end, but Austin
Elliott obviously a guy that they picked up, you know,
from the Western Hockey League after for his overage season
and only lost one game this season and taking nothing
away from their other goaltender Medvedev, who's going to be

(10:35):
a drafted to goaltender in this upcoming NHL draft. But
what have you seen from Austin Elliott and why he's
kind of been the Knights X factor back there as
we've seen in past years with Michael Simpson and other
goalies that they've kind of picked up and have really
led the way for them to be successful.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
It is that experience. He's been through hard playoffs series
with the Saskatoon Blades, so he knows those elements of
the game. And if you add up all of his
wins and losses this year on one side, you have
three wins in Saskatoon. Then there was a choice that
the Blades had to make. They had four overage players.
They had two goaltenders who would be number one goaltenders.

(11:12):
One is eighteen, one's twenty. You're going to go with
the eighteen year old. That's just the way that hockey's
going to work. Austin Elliott was able to find a
home in London, so he won thirty two games in
the regular season and he's won eight in the postseason.
Add that up, he's got forty three wins this year.
He's got one loss. That's it. One loss, and that

(11:35):
maybe speaks a lot to the way that Austin Elliott
is able to play, where if you talk to Austin
Elliott after a game and you ask him but a
particular play, he's probably not going to remember much about
it because he's always focused on that next save. And
so if he allows a goal, he allows a goal,
he gets over things like that so quickly because he's

(11:57):
not focusing on that. So he's not thinking, Oh, I've
got to win this game three to one, or my
goals against average or my save percentage, not about that.
This guy is about going out and making saves at
key times. And how many goalie coaches will tell their
goaltenders that, hey, don't worry, you know, pucks are going
to go into your net. That's going to happen. It's

(12:20):
about making saves at the right times in games, and
Austin Elliott is he's one of the best at doing that.
His demeanor is so cool. He doesn't talk on the ice.
You can talk at him, you can say anything you
want to him. He's just not going to engage. He's
not going to get rattled. He's there to stop pucks.
He's very good at it. And that's been a real

(12:42):
steadying factor for the London Nights. And you mentioned Alexi
Medvedev and he and Austin Elliott split the net basically
throughout the regular season. Elliott just has that playoff experience
and you know, all the Knights have gone with a
rotation before. So far it's been Austin Elliott all the way.
Through and he has performed so well in getting the

(13:02):
Knights to the eight and no record and getting the
Knights to the conference championship.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Where they're going to play against the Kitchener Rangers. Mike,
as we transition here to again another chapter in the
storied rivalry between the London Knights and the kitchen Rangers.
Two of the best buildings and not only all the
ohl but all the chl as well, and the two
fan bases that go at it. It's pretty incredible to see.
I look forward to covering those. But this season and
the six games that London and Kitchener played against each other,

(13:28):
London went for to one and one against the Kitchener Rangers.
And again you can't put too much stock into regular
season record, but they have played each other a lot
this season and are familiar with each other, especially from
the playoffs last year as well, where London came out successful.
So what did you see from the London Knights this
season that gives them confidence and gives them I guess

(13:50):
you know the positive edge here that they can beat
this Rangers team in a seven game series.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
Well, I think you look at the secondary scoring and
this is going to be key if you look look
at that line, and Andrew Vermullen is a former ice Dog,
and then you look at Cameron Arcqutt, Cameron Mercer, and
you look at how they have played against some of
the top players on either the windsor Spitfires or the
Flint Firebirds. We don't necessarily focus in on checking lines

(14:17):
as much as we used to. Maybe it's because there's
more skill, more ability to score in players coming up,
but they have a checking line and it makes it tough.
And Kitchener. Kitchener is very good and they're very well coached,
and one of the things that they do is old
Bill Belichick style. They'll take away something that you do
really well, and whether it's a top line, whether it

(14:41):
is a play that you make, whether it's something that
you like to do, they'll take that away and then
you'll have to figure it out from there. And so
when you look at this past season and Knights captain
Denver Barkie is a guy who started the year with
Mono and it really took until you can almost draw
a line umber thirty first before you could really see

(15:03):
Denver Barky looking like Denver Barkie. Since then, he's been
on a rocket ship. Since then, he's just under three
points per game, and in the playoffs he started at
three points per game, so he has been remarkable. The
Kitchener Rangers limited him to three assists in those games
in the regular season, so you take away something you
need something else. Well. Blake Montgomery is a guy who

(15:26):
led the Knights in scoring in that season series, so
there's some of that secondary scoring. You'll look to Will Nickel,
You'll look to Casper Halton, and the Knights have that depth.
The other thing the Knights can do is however you
want to play it, they can play it. You want
to play a speed game, go, you want to make
it physical, do it. They can perform and participate. And

(15:48):
we saw Owen Sound at times try and change the
way that the game was going to be played. And
I can remember a moment where there were a lot
of hits. Owen Sound was throwing a lot of hits
on a particular shift and all of a sudden, Casper
Halton and then steps up and throws his shoulder into
the chest to Ben Cormier, and Cormier went down like
dropping a bag of flour on the ground. Now he

(16:08):
got right back up he was fine. It was a
completely legal check, but it was just okay, if you
want to do that, we can do that too, and
here's what can happen. And so that's something that the
Knights will bring into this series. But let's face it,
if you let Kitchener create off the rush, they have
a lot of very smart players, and they changed their

(16:29):
fore check a little bit against Windsor and it really
had a lot of success. And so a guy like
Tanner Lamb, you let him come in across the blue
line and look to make that little drop pass that
he likes to make, you're gonna be in trouble. Kitchener's
gonna create some scoring chances. You let Jack Pridham get
too deep too fast. There are guys who on the
fore check can force you. There are guys who can

(16:50):
turn pucks over, and there are guys who can make plays.
Very rare, especially at the junior level, that you got
somebody who can do that on a regular basis in
all three fats at of a for check. But Jack
Pridham can go in, he'll pressure you, he'll turn pocks over,
and immediately he'll make plays. And so there are a
lot of players that can make things happen on the
Kitchen Rangers side, you have to find ways to make

(17:12):
it impossible or at least difficult for them to do that.
So that will be part of the chess match very
early on in this series and a really fascinating one
to watch out for.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
Mike Stubbs, the voice of the London Nights, is with
us a couple more questions for you, Mike, as far
as I guess the buzz every season, the fans expect
the London Nights to be very good, and obviously they've
been able to have some great seasons. But from you
being being in that area, you know, taking the calls
of London Live and things like that. You know, before

(17:43):
and after the games, what's the buzz around this London
Knights team as opposed to maybe what we've seen, even
with this group the last two years and some of
the great Memorial Cup champions over the years. You know,
what's the confidence level? And I guess the team and
the fan base so hopefully I know you talk about
them wanting to look at one game at a time,
but you know, as far as their expectations to raise

(18:05):
another banner to the rafters at least one, maybe two
or three. What have you thought of what? You know?
This season's I guess vibe has been you know what.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
It's been great. I mean the Knights are sold out
and that is due to the fan base. It's hard
to fill nine thousand and sixty one seats game after
game after game, whether it's a Tuesday night and it's
a school night, but they do it game after game
after game. And the Knights players don't take that for granted.
And there's a guy by the name of Sav Neth

(18:36):
and Sav has just done a tremendous job taking the
fan club and the support that the Knights get away
from home to a whole new level. He's the president
of the London Knights Official Fan Club. And you will
look around the rink and you'll see twenty five lightsabers.
That's Sav. You'll look and you'll see a bus trip

(18:57):
on the road full of green and gold and all
kinds of get ups flashing lights on heads. That's Sav.
And so the fan support is tremendous and year after year,
the fan support is just consistently great and it's something
that hey, the players again notice as soon as they

(19:18):
arrive here, because as soon as you start playing for
the London Nights, people know who you are in this city.
You're walking down the street, they'll say hi. Because as
much as football helmets maybe take the face away, there's
enough that shows the face of the hockey players that
they get recognized. And so it's pretty wild to watch
some of the things that happened. Denver Barki had a

(19:40):
uniform and equipment drive this year and he did it
at London Source for Sports and you watched people come
in kind of throughout the day and you would think, wow,
this is this is pretty good, this is pretty steady.
And then you walked around the corner and you saw
the mountain of equipment that was donated. And again that's
just supporting an initiative that a Knight's pl player had,

(20:01):
an idea that a Knight's player had and so it's
that kind of stuff that you don't want to take
for granted, because if something is at a consistent level,
sometimes you stop noticing it. If there's background noise and
it's always at the same volume, eventually your brain will
stop noticing it. And I think that's something that the
London Knights fan base deserves a lot of credit for

(20:23):
because they've never let it dip, and while maybe it
might seem like years past, it's still overwhelming the electricity
that is in there. There was a game that was
played against the Eerie Otters and the Knight's draft class
had just been introduced and a guy named Jasson Kaylor
was singing Star Spangled Banner and O Canada, and he

(20:43):
sang the Star Spangled Banner and he turned to O
Canada and sometimes he'll turn the mic on the crowd
and it was it was loud, it was I mean,
the Edmonton Oilers fans, they may hold the record for
decibels during a sung anthem, but out a Life Place
gave them a run. And so it's that kind of passions.

(21:04):
It's that kind of love and appreciation for this team
because I think I think the fan base appreciates the
fact that this has been three years in a row
where the Knights have had a team that is a
top contender. They won the Hamilton Spectator Trophy, winning the
regular season title again this year, and so you don't
want to take that for granted because junior hockey is

(21:26):
so cyclical and they've been lucky where the work of
Mark and Dale Hunter and their staffs. They keep the
team competitive more often than not, and so you just
want to maybe give a shout out to the fans
because of that consistent love and passion for this team
that just seems unwavering.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
So when we look at it, Mike, the series is
going to start tomorrow on Friday, as we look at it,
and the Knights haven't played a game in over a week. Again,
they've been practicing. Being able to rest up is a
good thing as well. So there's a double edged sword
there because Kitchener obviously had to go to a Game
seven Gauntlet against the Winter Spitfires come back from three
to nothing down, you know, to win that series and

(22:06):
four straight. So when you look at a Kitchener might
be the more game ready team, if you want to
put it that way. But as far as the Knights,
they've been through a lot of these series where they
finish them off early and they're still able to come
out in games one and two and have that same
intensity in that same mindset. So do you think that
that is based off of, you know, the coaching staff
and making sure that they have those hard practices, those

(22:27):
simulated games that they're able to do during practice because
there's nothing like being in game action things like that.
But obviously London will be well rested when they do
place Kitchener tomorrow night. In game one.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
You cannot simulate overtime of Game seven. Kitchener's got that
in their pocket. You cannot simulate coming back from a
three to nothing deficit because that's only happened six times
in ohl history. So Kitchener's got that in their pocket.
Are they maybe a little bit more in a rhythm? Sure,
But I think again it goes to the experience. If

(23:00):
this was the Knight's first trip deep into the playoffs,
first trip to the Western Conference Championship in a few years,
I think it may have more of an impact, and
I think it may be something the Kitchener would go
looking to take advantage of. But I think you'll see
a Knight's team that's ready. Kitchener is gonna come out hard,
They're gonna come out flying, and that's just them. So
you have to be ready, and that will be something

(23:21):
that the Knights have been talking about, will keep reminding
themselves about. But that's the thing that I think you
point to the experience they've had is going to be
helpful here, because if you get to the point where
you know what it's going to feel like, you know
what the other team is going to bring, and you
are ready for that pace and that ferocity, then that

(23:44):
rest is actually really helpful. And rest is something that
the Knights talked about last year a whole lot, being
able to win series early, early on and then give
themselves a few days just to feel good again, and
then you're right, the hard presses begin and that game
style begins. You can't simulate a game, and you can't

(24:05):
simulate what the Rangers have been through, but having been
through similar things in the way of the way the
playoffs escalate, I think you'll see the Knights prepared for
period number one, and if Kitchener should happen to get
the jump, I think you'll see them prepared to adjust
and feeling okay to adjust.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Yeah, No, that's a that's a great way to put it,
and we'll have to see that first period of game
one if that is kind of what you're mentioning there
with Kitchener coming out flying in London, needing to up
their intensity. So last question for you, Mike, everybody talks
about Eastern Cowen Denver Barkiy, Samuel Riiley, the top line
being so good with twenty one points twenty and fifteen respectively.
Talk about Sam Dickinson on the back end, Oliver Bonk,

(24:47):
Casper Halton, and you know, so many great players up
and down this London Night's team. But for somebody that's
you know, covered them for all sixty eight regular season
games and now eight games through the playoffs, what's maybe
one name, one X factor player think that's gonna have
a great series for the London Knights to help them
elevate to that oays shel championship that might be flying
under the radar.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
I think I'll give you two. I'll give you a
forward and I'll give you a defender. And a forward
would be Will Nickel. Will Nickel was tremendous in the
face off circle early on. He's the draft pick of
the Edmonton Oilers. He's somebody that has this quickness that
if you're not ready, he can go by you. And
he's someone that again no moment is too big, and

(25:30):
so Will Nickel would be a guy up front and
on defense. Henry Prestovitch is underrated because because of a
guy like Sam Dickenson or because of Oliver Bonk, or
because of Jared Woolley, or because because you have a
lot of guys who you would look at and say, wow,
they're ahead of him on the depth chart. And it's
not the statistics. But if you're watching Henry Prestovitch, I

(25:52):
don't know if you want to do this during a game,
but if you ever go back and watch a game
a second time, watch how many times Henry Prestovitch breaks
up a play doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
Just watch how many times he knocks away a pass
in front of the net, or he steps up and
keeps a puck in, or he steps up and gets
a puck out. All the things that don't show up
on the stat sheet that he does that impact games.

(26:15):
So I would say, Henry Bristovitch, if he keeps doing
the things he's been doing in the first two rounds,
that's a really positive sign. And then you mentioned a
lot of players. It is going to take depth to
beat the Kitchener Rangers, and that depth scoring has got
to be there for the Knights. That's something that will
be important. So a lot of those guys not named Denver,
Barkie Easton Cowen and Sam Ol'reiley should be a focal

(26:37):
point absolutely.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Austin Elliott versus Jackson Parsons also going to be a
fun one to watch in the net. So with that said,
Mike Stubbs, the longtime radio voice of the London Knights
on nine eighty CFPO, Mike, thank you so much for
taking the time to give our listeners the amazing analysis
of the Knights and previewing this series. For us, it
should be fun look forward to Game one down there
a kid of the life place and then the game's

(26:59):
also back at the odd and Kitchener should be you know,
one for the ages here in the Western Conference Championship series.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Randon, thanks for the job that you do covering this league.
You do it so well and really appreciate the coverage
here because this is going to be a great series.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Absolutely. So we're going to take a qui commercial break
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Rangers perspective from the They radio voice, Mike Farewell. So
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Speaker 4 (29:10):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network, the Niger
regions best local source for North American sports podcasting coverage
by sports fans for sports fans.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
Welcome back to Part two of today's HL overtime episode
and our preview of the Western Conference Finals between the
London Knights and the Kitchener Rangers for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy,
and once again another chapter in the rivalry of the
Kitchener Rangers and London Knights. The first half we heard
from the voice of the Knights, Mike Stubbs, and secondly,

(30:01):
here we're gonna hear from the play by play voice
for the Kitchener Rangers on five seventy news Radio. That
would be Mike Farwell, also the host of the OHL podcast. Mike,
thanks so much for taking the time. I know you're
running on a few hours of sleeping caffeine after what
was a crazy series ender against the windsor Spitfires, going
to seven games, going to overtime, so really appreciate your time.

(30:22):
And how are you feeling after that gauntlet.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
It's great to be here and I'm so happy to
have been invited, So thank you for that, Brandon. And
as to how I'm feeling, underslept, overcaffeinated or not, probably
still riding a little bit of the adrenaline. Look, obviously
I'm a little bit biased, and I'm quite pleased with
the outcome of the game. But what a treat we
got on a Tuesday night at the WFCU Center in Windsor,

(30:49):
two very good teams putting on a very good performance
for almost five thousand passionate fans. And if I can
add to it, referees sewers Jason Faced and Chad Ingalls
going the hole. Let the players decide it and in
a good way. This wasn't you know, Hudson Bay rules
out there where players were doing ridiculous things. It was

(31:10):
a well managed game by the officials top to bottom.
I would say, one of the best showcases we've had
in quite some time for the league and a thrilling
Game seven overtime finish.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
That's exactly what you want to see. And we saw
some penalties in the Eastern Eastern Game seven as well
between the Barry Colts and the Kingston Frontenac. So again
I'm with you, let the players play, don't let it
get out a hand. But last night's game was just
a great Game seven playoff matchup that we saw between
the Winsor Spitfires and the Kitchener Rangers. Might get the
beginning of this thing. We didn't know that we'd get here.

(31:43):
We thought maybe we would see a game seven, but
we didn't know that we would see winsor jump out
to a three to zero lead in the series and
then have Kitchener roar back with three straight wins of
the rown to force a Game seven and then being
able to win it in overtime. A game seven. It
doesn't get any closer than that, and I believe only
the sixth time that has happened listening to your call
last night on five seventy news radio for the Kitchener

(32:05):
Ranger side. So what was the vibe? Because you're around
the team, you travel with the team between the first
three games and then what we saw with them roaring
back the final four to advance to the Western Conference Final.

Speaker 5 (32:17):
There was a quiet confidence about this team for sure, Brandon,
and I'll point to an interview that we did postgame
with one of the Rangers overagers, Trent Swick, and what
stood out to me, and this is early in the series.
I think it was after the Game two loss. Regardless,
he made it very clear in that interview that he
was not ready for this season and as an overrager,

(32:41):
his OHL career to come to an end. There was
a players only meeting after Game three, and what we
really ended up with when you look at the final tally,
was a tail really of two different serieses. Right. There
was the first three games, and then there was the
next three games, maybe the next four, although the last
one that we got was the most closely contested of

(33:03):
all seven. The other funny thing about this, though, is
coming into the series, most people were picking it to
be a seven game series. I picked a six game
series just because everybody else was talking about a seven
game series. But it was expected to be a lengthy series.
The teams just took a very unconventional way of getting
to game seven. If I had told you when the

(33:23):
series started it would go guaranteed game seven, you'd be like, yeah,
of course, because these are two evenly matched, very talented
hockey clubs. It's just the way that we got to
game seven that was strange, and you definitely saw that.
Like I said, tale of two series is the first
three games winsor scores sixteen goals, six of them on
the power play, and then in Game four, Jackson Parsons

(33:46):
posts his first of two shutouts in the series, and
all of a sudden, over the final four games of
the series, all the Winsor Spitfires can muster is three
goals total over four games against sixteen goals in the
first three games, three goals in the final four games,
and no power play goals in those final four games
after scoring six two per game in the first three.

(34:08):
It was a banged up Winsor squad. Everybody knows that.
I credit the team for not making any excuses, but
you got to look at the roster. Rangers were battling
through some things too, There's no question about it. But
at the end of it all, we got treated to
what I think many of us expected coming in a
long series, a hard fought game seven. And it was
just a really strange way to end up in that

(34:30):
seventh game with one team winning three and then the
next team winning all four. And just to close your
point about the Rangers being the sixth yes, joining the
eighty eight Autawa sixty sevens, the five and twenty ten
winsor Spitfires who did it against Kitchener. By the way,
one of our fans sent me a message saying, I've
waited fifteen years for this revenge. So in twenty ten,

(34:50):
the Spits pulled off the reverse sweep against the Rangers.
In twenty fourteen it was Peterborough over Kingston and twenty nineteen,
who could forget the comeback kids that year the gal Storm.
They sweep Kitchener in round one, they come back from
three to nothing down to beat London. In round two,
they come back from three to one down to beat
Saganaw in the West Final and then they come back

(35:11):
from two nothing down to beat Ottawa in the LHL Final.
But the Storm were quite the story in twenty nineteen,
and now the Rangers join that club.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
The Rangers, maybe they're the next team of destiny like
those golf store and being able to come back. We'll
have to wait and see. But you mentioned just a
banged up Winsor team and obviously they have some really
top end talent there, but only three games in the
or three goals in the final four games or as
you mentioned, it was definitely a tale of two series
for the Windsor Spitfires and for the Kitchener Rangers as well.

(35:40):
When you look at it, you talk about Jackson Parsons
and obviously Luke Ellen is missing the first two games
of the series was big, a big loss for the
Kitchener Rangers. As well. But you know, when you talk
about what we might see here as far as what
the Rangers will look like and going forward against this
London Night's team, like when you go through a seven
game series and your opponent's been off for about five

(36:02):
or six days of London Night's sweeping the first two
series that they had, do you think that that might
benefit the Rangers because they've been playing in games as
of late, and London is. As hard as their practices are,
there's nothing like getting into games and when you've been
off for six days might be a little bit tough.

Speaker 5 (36:19):
I forget who said it, and forgive me for that
with the London Knights, but he talked about how intense
it is at practice for the London Knights because you're
practicing against elite players, right, and you look at that
London Night's roster, and let's be honest, if you're giving
your best defensively when you're practicing as a London Knight,

(36:39):
and you're giving your best offensively when you're practicing as
a London Night, you are probably practicing against better talent
than you're gonna face on most nights in this Ontario
Hockey League. And that's not a slight to the other
nineteen teams. I think that's just reality when you look
at the depth and the talent on that night's roster.

Speaker 4 (36:57):
So I have little doubt.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
That they will be very well prepared. But to get
to the crux of your question, Brandon, yes, I would
say there is a little bit of an advantage for
the Kitchener Rangers here. It's the whole and the next
forty eight hours we're going to be talking about this
right the rest versus Rust conversation. But for the Kitchener Rangers,
I think that they have found these last four games.
You talk about Jackson Parsons. You look at how few

(37:21):
goals Windsor was able to score over the last four
games because the Rangers got back to playing as a
team defensively. They assembled a shutdown line of Andrew ver
Mule and Cameron Mercer and Cameron Arquette who were really
effective at keeping Windsor's big guns in check. But it
begins and ends for me with Jackson Parsons in goal.

(37:42):
At the beginning of the series. He was probably average,
and a lot of teams would love to have average goaltending,
but Jackson Parsons was so good all year. You looked
at a save percentage which was around eight to ten
through the first three games of the series, and you're
wondering the heck when the series started he went out.
By the time the first three games were done, Jackson
Parsons was down to an eight eighty eight save percentage

(38:04):
in the playoffs after winning four or five versus Flint.
And now by the end of this series with Windsor,
you'll find Jackson Parsons's name right back up there at
the top of the HL Playoff goaltending statistics. I think
when the guy is playing that well, he can't wait.
He'd probably want to play today if he could, because
he's feeling it right now. And I think the Rangers
are feeling it right now, so I might give them

(38:25):
a slight edge in that this momentum carries over and
probably bodes well for the Rangers heading into Game one
in London.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
The overage player of the year in Jackson Parsons, been
so good for the Kitchener Rangers, as you know quite well, Mike.
Continuing on here, we talk about head to head Obviously,
last year the Rangers going down to the London Knights
in the series and you look at this season, they
had a two to four record against the Knights this season,
one of the games go into overtime, and again just

(38:54):
the London Knights with thirteen NHL prospects on their team,
the Rangers have their window might be open for the
next for years. We know the Memorial Cup in twenty
twenty six is something that they're they're looking at as well.
So when you look at what the Rangers are stacked
up against here, Mike, given that it's such a rivalry,
you know, two storied buildings, the history between both teams

(39:15):
on and off the ice, including yourself. When you look
at it, how do you think that if Kitchener comes
away with the victory in the series, what do they
do in order to defeat the top seeded London Knights,
who are obviously the favorite going into winning not only
the OHL Championship but also the Memorial Cup.

Speaker 5 (39:35):
I love the way you put this, Brandon, what the
Rangers are stacked up against, because they're stacked up against
a stacked team again. And you'll have to forgive fans
in Kitchener for just rolling their eyes and saying, oh boy,
here we go again, because look, if I had been
a better guest on your excellent podcast, I would have
brought the statistics with me. I ran them a season

(39:58):
ago over the past decade of games regular season and
playoffs between the Kitchen Arrangers and the London Knights, and
the numbers you wouldn't believe me if I said them
out loud to you, because they are so lopsided in
favor of the London Knights, Like it's preposterous the winning
percentage that the Knights have against the Kitchen Rangers. Now,

(40:22):
I've told other fans, if you ran those numbers for
every team in the OHL, you're probably going to find
it pretty lopsided because the London Knights, as we know,
for the past quarter century, have been a dominant franchise
in the Ontario Hockey League. So Rangers have had some
good teams, and Rangers fans can get excited about a
good team and then they go, oh God, we got

(40:42):
to play London again. So that's the situation the Rangers
are in. But they need look back only three years.
It was in twenty twenty two in the first round
of the playoffs when the seventh seeded Kitchen Rangers knocked
off the number two seed London Knights Game seven time,
Mike Petezi and the ot hero for the Rangers that year.

(41:04):
I think, though, when it comes to this season, there
are two things that are going to have to fall
the Rangers way if they want to knock off the
London Knights, and one of them is going to be
the guy in goal, Jackson Parsons, who we've already talked about,
so I don't have to go into any greater detail.
We know what he's meant to the team all year,
we know what he meant to the team in the

(41:24):
final four games versus Windsor. He's going to have to
be at his above average best for the entirety of
this series with the London Knights. And that line that
the Kitchener Rangers were able to assemble that kept Liam Greentree,
Noah more No and Ilia Protests in check over the
final four games of the Windsor series. They're going to
have to be able to keep the London Knights in check.

(41:46):
And then, of course, if you keep Barkie and Cowen
and Halton and check, well what are you doing with
the rest of the guys? I mean, it just goes
on from there. So London has a lot of firepower
to throw at you. The Kitchener Rangers will have to
be damn near perfect, if you'll forgive the turn a phrase,
if they want to knock off the London Nights.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
And we look at the Rangers, the last time that
they had made it to the Western Conference Final was
twenty seventeen eighteen when they lost in Game seven to
the Sue Saint Marie Greyhounds. So again, it's kind of
been a long time coming for Kitchener. I know they've
had some like you mentioned some series over the past
five or six years, including the break in COVID that
series against Windsor when Windsor was a number one ranked

(42:24):
team going into the into the playoffs and Windsor swept
them and really ended their their runway too early. I
mentioned we talk about the London series, but Kitchener hasn't
won the Ohl Championship since the seven eight season, and
then as well they won in lost in the Memorial
Cup final. Excuse me. So when you look at it, Mike,

(42:46):
it's a long time coming for the Rangers. Such a
storied franchise, one of the best fan bases in the
Ontario Hockey League, and all the chl from your perspective,
and you have fan collins and things like that after
every postgame there on five seventy news radio and Kitchener
what is the buzz and the vibe from the fan
base as far as what they might see from this
team this season and as well like the optimism going

(43:09):
into the next few years as I mentioned with the
window being open, like what is the I guess do
you see a different vibe in the way that the fans,
in the way that the organization, maybe the team looks
at this season and then going ahead, you know, to
what's to come as well.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
First of all, I love that you brought up the
last time the Rangers were in the West Final. Thanks
for like why you gotta be that way?

Speaker 4 (43:32):
Be like what if I know?

Speaker 3 (43:33):
Really that?

Speaker 5 (43:34):
So going into last night another Game seven, and you
got the two days between the games, it gave me
a chance to do some reflection, look back on some things.
And last night's Game seven was the eighth game seven
I've I've had the privilege of being a part of
with the Kitchener Rangers. And even though in twenty eighteen
in sus Saint Marie, the Rangers came out on the

(43:56):
wrong end of it, Jack Kopaka in double overtime. I
still haven't forgiven you Kopaka, let me tell you right now.
But in double ot it was a tremendous series. It
was a tremendous game and somebody just had to lose,
and it was the Kitchener Rangers in that one. But
that was another one of the game sevens I was
reflecting on even even though the Rangers came out on
the wrong side of it, couldn't have been happier with

(44:19):
that season in that game and how much fun we
all had. And then you go back to that last
OHL Championship in eight, and what did the Rangers have
to do to win that Ohl Championship in eight? Go
to a Game seven versus the Belleville Bulls after by
the way, Kitchener had been up three to nothing in
the series and Bellville roars back to force a Game seven.
So I was thinking of all of these things going

(44:41):
into that game last night because of all of the
comparisons to it. So again, to get back to do
I do roundabout answers or what I should be a
politician or something, To get back to what.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
You were in for in the election, period exactly.

Speaker 5 (44:55):
That's true, So I vote for Farewell on Monday. I
will say, in a word, the fan base here in
Kitchener is rabbid. And I know that probably sounds like
an overused word in sports, right, the rabid fan base.
But listen for a franchise that has the history, tradition
and pride of the Kitchener Rangers. We're at seventeen years

(45:18):
between appearances in the Ohl Final. That's a long ast time. Again,
if you'll forgive the turn of phrase, oh, it's been
eight years or seven pardon me since that twenty eighteen
Western Conference Final appearance. Just consider we'll throw out the
North Bay Battalion as an example. Three straight runs to
the East Final. So this is only the second time

(45:38):
in seven years for the Kitchener Rangers. The fans are
hungry for this, and dare I say they're getting hungrier
because of what the coaching staff that this Rangers team
has instilled in not just the team, but the fan base.
You see a hokus Jeff Kerzakis, Brad Flynn, Jordan de Court,
the goaltending coach, and Brandon Murley who helps out on

(45:59):
the straight and conditioning side. As a unit as a
five man unit has really done tremendous work to change
the culture internally and then externally on the ice. The
fans are into this. It was supposed to be a
rebuilding year in Kitchener, Brandon, the Kitchener Rangers traded away
a fifty two goal scorer for draft picks in the offseason,

(46:22):
and the rebuild was on and lo and behold, what
do we end up with but a forty seven win
season and one hundred points for just the fourth time
in franchise history. So the fan base is ready for this.
The coaching staff has got them primed to go and
the next couple of years, as you point out, looking
forward to the potential of that twenty twenty seven Memorial
Cup bid for the hosting of the tournament, they're ready

(46:46):
for it in Kitchener big time.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
Yeah, it definitely looks like the stars are aligning for
Kitchener at least the next couple of years, and a
pleasant surprise this season making it to the Western Conference Final.
Last question for you, Mike. Everybody talks about, you know,
the big names, the Ajor Misseljaviks, the Trent's Wicks, Jack Pridham,
cam Reid, you know Luke Ellenis has been fantastic for
them in the playoffs despite missing two games, still their
their leading point getter. What's one player that you're looking

(47:10):
at as like an X factor if Kitchener is to
win the series that you're thinking is going to have
themselves a big series going forward to be able to
reach the Ohl Championship series.

Speaker 5 (47:22):
That is an excellent question. And because you used X factor,
I might point to Jacob zu just a young defenseman
who had a glorious scoring chance. Joey Costanzo makes an
unreal save in Game seven last night could have been
Zoo's first career Ontario Hockey League goal. It's just a
sixteen year old kid back there on the blue line
for the Rangers in him so he's getting decent minutes

(47:45):
for a young player in critical situations. And I think
I'll stick with the blue line and add in Jakub
Kromiac to being a bit of an X fast factor.
I've seen this kid play his very best hockey since
the playoffs have arrived. He really is enjoying himself out
there and he's been terrific on the back end for
the Kitchener Rangers. And throw in one more if I can,

(48:07):
one of the more unsung heroes or players, if you will,
in Cameron Mercer chugging along at about a seventy five
percent success rate on defensive zone face offs. It's an underappreciated,
in my opinion, asset for a team, and Cameron Mercer
has got it in spades. So when you need a
big face off one, it's usually Cameron Mercer out there

(48:27):
getting the job done. It's a quiet job, it's usually
a thankless job. But I think if the Rangers are
going to be successful, win those key face offs and
get those contributions from some of the unheralded guys on
the blue line in Jacob Zuo and Yakub Kromiac.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
Amazing stuff from Mike Farwell, the radio play by play
voice of the Kitchener Rangers on five seventy news Radio
in Kitchener and also the host of the OSHL podcast. Mike,
thanks so much for taking the time. I know it's
going to be an exciting series. London, Kitchener never disappoints.
Look forward to seeing you down at the rink and
look forward to seeing what the this next chapter in
the Rangers and Night's storybook has to offer. Us here

(49:04):
in the Western Conference Final.

Speaker 5 (49:06):
I can't wait to get to London. It's my favorite
place to be and Brandon, I can't thank you enough
for inviting me on your show.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
I'm a big fan of you and the show and
really happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
Thank you for this awesome Thank you so much, and
thank you everybody that's tuned in on our video version
on YouTube and those listening on your favorite on demand
audio platform. Thank you to Mike Stubbs from the London
Nights and as well to Mike Farwell from the Kitchener
Rangers radio broadcast. That's gonna wrap it up. We'll see
you guys down in London and we'll talk to you
again very soon. Right here on OHL overtime on the
Armchair GM Sports Network. You're listening to the Armchair GM

(49:39):
Sports Network.

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