Rangers’ COO, GM get five-year extensions
The brain trust is sticking around.
The contracts of Kitchener Rangers chief operating officer Joe Birch and general manager Mike McKenzie have been extended for another five seasons, the team announced Thursday.
Birch was hired four years ago after former COO Steve Bienkowski retired. McKenzie started with the club in 2012 as an assistant coach before working his way up to GM in 2017.
The Rangers have been successful on and off the ice under their watch.
Birch helped the team emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic on stable footing despite the cancellation of the 2020 Ontario Hockey League playoffs and the entire 2020-21 season.
The team has had an operating surplus of about $1.6 million combined over the past two seasons.
“Joe joined us in the infancy of the pandemic and has been instrumental in leading the organization through the recovery,” Rangers president Jeff Emrich said in a news release. “His impact has been felt throughout our operation, most importantly building the Rangers into a leader of equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives within the CHL.”
McKenzie built a team that made it to the OHL’s Western Conference final in 2018, where the Rangers lost to Sault Ste. Marie in double overtime in Game 7.
The Blueshirts were tied for third overall in 2020 and ready to make another run before the season was shut down due to the pandemic. This year’s squad sits fourth in the west after owning the best record in the OHL for the first half of the season.
“Mike has been amazing with leading our hockey operations for the past seven seasons and this extension is well deserved,” Birch said in the release. “He is one of the best general managers in the Canadian Hockey League in addition to being a tremendous person.”
The Rangers have never missed the playoffs since McKenzie took over and have already clinched a post-season berth this season.
“Looking back, I am proud of many of the things we have accomplished, our consistency and the culture we have built,” McKenzie said in the release. “Looking ahead, I am as hungry and passionate as ever about building on this, continuing to be a consistent threat in the league and, ultimately, getting us to the top of the mountain.”