Kitchener Rangers fans eager for the upcoming season

The Kitchener Rangers’ home opener may be more than three months away but die-hard fans are already looking forward to securing their spot in the stands.

Season tickets for the 2024-2025 season officially went on sale Monday.

The team’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Joe Birch, said season ticket sales are their number one source of revenue.

He said that 4,600 of last year’s season tickets are being retained for this year – marking a 200 seat increase compared to the year before.

There are also several hundred fans on a waitlist to buy their own season ticket packages.

"What drives people to come to the building are to see our bright stars, the National Hockey League stars of tomorrow, the leaders in our community, to watch players through the four or five years of their career, to be really close to them and to have that connection, and that story, is a really important piece,” Birch said. "We have an amazing fan base that continues to grow."

The Rangers will kick off their new season, after coming off their eighth straight playoff appearance, on Sept. 27. Opening night will also be a rematch of last year’s first round meeting with the Erie Otters.

Other dates to note – Remembrance Day this year will be a home game against the Sault Greyhounds. There will also be another Teddy Bear Toss game on Dec. 3 where the Rangers will host the Brantford Bulldogs.

"We've gone to every game except for two last year and we're hoping to do the same this year," said Sean Dugas, a season ticket holder and lifelong Rangers fan. "There's a few players on the team now that are amazing with my daughter. They'll go out of their way to stop and talk to to her. They'll have a conversation with her.

"It's going to be a very fun atmosphere [at The Aud]. It's going to be loud. It's going to be entertaining."

Matthew Sop, a Kitchener native and Rangers centreman, has signed on to play with the Iowa Wild for a one-year one-way American Hockey League contract with the club.

Sop is now the third player from the Rangers’ 2023-24 roster to secure a professional contract, following Hunter Brzustewicz (who went to the Calgary Flames) and Carson Rehkopf (playing with the Seattle Kraken).

Sop originally was drafted in 2019 by the Rangers in the seventh round and joined the team full-time in 2021.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Tyler Kelaher