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October 31, 2010

A 4 -1 Victory In Peterborough

After giving up the first goal to Peterborough again the 67's turned to solid teamwork in the second and third periods to take the game to Peterborough and take the home-and-home series. With two goals from Tyler Toffoli and a goal each from Shane Prince and Ryan Martindale, the top line lived up to their billing.

Click here for the game sheet.

I joined the 67's for their road trip to Peterborough and the back half of the home and home series.

It was a quiet ride down highway 7, perhaps too quiet as the 67's started the game rather tentatively and the Peterborough Petes were able to get the early jump. Ottawa didn't register their first shot on O'Hagan until over 5 minutes into the game. Ottawa native and Boston prospect Ryan Spooner got the first goal of the game and the only Peterborough goal before the period was half over on a two-on-one with Matt Puempel that he kept and beat Mrazek 5-hole. He was assisted by Zach Tatrn and Barron Smith.

Ottawa started picking up its game about two thirds of the way through the first although their second powerplay of the period wasn't all that powerful - they got two shots on goal and Peterborough got one.

The start of the second period saw a whole lotta skating by both teams but not a lot of shots or scoring chances. Shane Prince evened up the score with his 7th goal of the season on a pretty puck moving play among Toffoli, Martindale and Prince that found the puck on Prince's stick for the tip in.

Ryan Martindale got the go-ahead and eventual GWG on the transition after a wild scramble in the Ottawa zone that started with Matt Puempel blocking a clearing attempt. The Petes kept control and for a few moments, Mrazek had no idea where the puck was but Marc Zanetti finally got it under control and to Ryan Martindale who passed it up ice to Tyler Toffoli. Tyler sent it back to Martindale who put it past O'Hagan stick side.

There is no quit in the young Peterborough team and with just a one-goal deficit going into the third, they were working hard to tie it up. They outshot Ottawa 17 - 11, in that frame, including some great scoring chances, but Petr Mrazek was solid.

Tyler Toffoli scored both goals in the third with his 9th of the year as a quick wrist shot from the hashmarks that beat O'Hagan over the stick side for the insurance goal and he closed out the game with a SH/EN with two seconds left.

So with the two wins, the 67's stand atop of the East Division by one point over Oshawa (who has a game in hand) and third in the Conference. Tomorrow they host the Kingston Frontenacs for the second School Day game. Kingston is coming to Ottawa off a shoot-out road win over Owen Sound.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200 (I decided to go with Jonny's choices)


Hardest working 67's as selected by the Team1200
Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Shane Prince

Random Thoughts:
  • When the 67's play as a team, they are strong, aggressive, possessive and effective. They need to start every game skating and working hard. Better teams will get them into an early hole that the 67's will not score their way out of if they continue to take the first period to get with the program. For example Mississauga, the stingiest team in the league, is 5-0 when leading after 1 period and 8-0 when leading after 2. Not gonna make up lost first period ground on this team too often.
  • The Petes were very aggressive in their PK, effectively keeping Ottawa to the outside and limiting their real scoring chances. By my reckoning Ottawa only had 3 SOGs total in their 4 PPs whereas the Petes had at least 2 SOGs short handed. For the most part they maintained good possession but were unable to penetrate the perimeter and generate good scoring chances.
  • In his first return to his old barn, Adam was welcomed with a few hellos from fans and being charged into the boards by Myles McCauley. A mixed reception I would say.
  • Not nearly the scrappy game I expected after Friday's game. I guess Peterborough wanted to play a bit more disciplined and it was their third in three.
  • With 3 drafted players, 3 OAs and 17 eligible for 2011 draft (including their goalies), Peterborough is icing a pretty young team.
  • The person on the shot clock in Peterborough is liberal in his/her interpretation of the guidelines. Anything that came remotely close to Mrazek from anywhere in the rink was registered as a shot. Improves his save %.
More Pictures: Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Team1200's Jon Abbott talking to himself in the visitor's broadcast booth


Click here to see more game-day pictures.

October 30, 2010

Ottawa Takes Game 1 in a 5 - 4 Win over Peterborough

The score was closer than the game would suggest due to the outstanding play of Peterborough goalie Andrew D'Agostini but the Ottawa 67's played a strong game for the 5 - 4 win. Between some solid saves and a serious quantity of horseshoes, D'Agostini kept his team in the game as he faced 54 shots. On the other hand, Shayne Campbell got his first win in his Ottawa 67's debut behind the solid play of his team. Click here for the game sheet.

Both teams started tentatively, perhaps sizing each other up early in this first of eight meetings this season. Ottawa seemed a little disorganized and the Petes got the jump both with shots on goal and with the first goal (a PPG) of the game by Ottawa native Ryan Spooner as he beat a screened Campbell with a wrist shot over the stick side. But Ottawa's top line struck back with their own PPG from Tyler Toffoli to tie it up before the period ended with a nice give-and-go with Martindale that he put past the glove of D'Agostini.

And the top line would be tops three more times before the game was over with another goal from Tyler Toffoli and two from Ryan Martindale. Shane Prince was in on all four goals. Scoring was rounded out with Sean Monahan getting his second of the season with assists from Steven Janes and Taylor Fielding.

Going into the second period tied at one, it took just 34 seconds for Ottawa to take the lead with Sean Monahan taking a pass from Steven Janes and wristing it top shelf over the stick side. But a sloppy back half of a PP allowed Austin Watson to tie it up on a short handed goal with a backhand over the shoulder of Campbell. And just over two minutes later, Ryan Spooner notched his second of the game to give Peterborough the lead once again as he skated through the 67's and wristed it over the stick side.

But Ottawa kept up the pressure and it paid off with Ryan Martindale tying it back up with just over 4 minutes left in the second with a quick one-timer from Shane Prince.

Ottawa started the third with 1:54 of a PP that they didn't convert but they maintained the momentum from that advantage. They must have possessed the puck for 17 minute of the 20-minute period including some great cycling by the rookie line. Goals from Toffoli and Martindale gave Ottawa the lead for good although Peterborough did close the gap to one on a late period goal by Matt Puempel.

So Ottawa took the first of the 8 matches between these two teams and the first of this home-and-home series with a 5 - 4 win and SOGs of 54 - 30. It should be a good rematch in Peterborough tonight.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Shane Prince


Random Thoughts:
  • Shane Prince was a monster out there. His hard work and energy was instrumental to his line mates' success. He took some rough stuff too.
  • The top line combined for 10 points. They need to keep playing hard and being productive.
  • Ryan Spooner has some success against Ottawa - something like 8 goals

  • A major overhaul with the Petes does not appear to have changed their chippy attitude - lots of post-whistle nonsense as well as in-game dirty play including a nasty spearing of Dalton Smith by Barron Smith.

  • The original pairings for Ottawa were Sedlak - Gibbons, Zanetti - Ceci, and Shipley - Fielding but something must have happened to Shipley as we didn't see much of him and Shipley and Gibbons saw ice time together.

  • Dalton Smith could lose the Chris Neil post-fight-skate-to-the-penatly-box moves.
More Pictures: Click here to see more pictures from the game.

October 29, 2010

Game Set Up: Ottawa versus Peterborough

Ottawa gave away another 2 points with their 4 - 2 loss in Belleville on Wednesday. Once again, they were set on their heels by a team that came at them quickly. Tonight's game is the first of a home-and-home series between these two teams and the Peterborough Petes are coming to town after a 3 - 2 OT win over Oshawa in Peterborough last night.



Peterborough PetesHead to HeadOttawa 67's
4-7-0-1 9 pointsRecord8-5-0-0 16 points
7th EasternConference - Rank2nd Eastern
38 GF52 
59 GA39 
4-5-0-1P107-3-0-0
(12/73) 16.4 (17th)PP% (rank)(9/54) 16.7 (16th)
(12/58) 79.3 (12th)PK% (rank)(8/63) 87.3 (2nd)





Top Guns
Peterborough PetesOttawa 67's
Puempel (8-9-17)Prince (6-13-19)
Spooner (7-8-15)Nesbitt (7-7-14)
Martschini (3-5-8)Martindale (6-8-14)
Ekelund (5-2-7)Toffoli (6-7-13)
Robertson (2-5-7)Lindsay (5-6-11)

October 24, 2010

Ottawa Gets the Shoot-out Win

Unable to hang onto a 3-goal lead going into the third, it took Ottawa 67's captain Thomas Nesbitt as the 9th shooter and Petr Mrazek's save on Boone Jenner to bag the win. It was quite the nail biter.

The first period was a much better effort by the 67's this afternoon getting goals from Tyler Toffoli (unassisted) and Cody Ceci (assisted by Sean Monahan). With the rest of the team going for a line change, Tyler harassed Oshawa's Scott Valentine creating a turn over that he quickly flipped over the glove hand of Michael Zador.

Cody's goal was a blast from the point that beat Zador over the glove (again). After the first 20, the shots were even at 10 apiece.

Then things slowing started shifting in Oshawa's favour although it was Travis Gibbons who scored the only goal of the period, his first of the year. He picked off the top corner from near the hashmarks to give his team a three goal lead near the end of the second period. Thomas Nesbitt and Sean Monahan assisted. But despite the score, it was Oshawa that was pressing well and getting shots through. Ottawa didn't get their first shot through to Zador until 5:23 left in the period. They only had 3 shots for the entire period to Oshawa's 14.

The third started to look alot like the game on Friday. Oshawa took the game to Ottawa and had them on their heels. Under pressure, the 67's were unable to get back into the same form as the first period. They had difficulty breaking out and they could't sustain pressure in the Oshawa zone. As a result, the Oshawa Generals got goals from Berger (PPG), Laughton, and de Haan (PPG with the goalie pulled) to take the game to OT.

With nothing resolved in OT (and Ottawa getting its only PP of the game - hmmm), it was off to the shootout. Mrazek had been solid but with all the shots and traffic he had faced, did he have enough left in the tank?

Oh yeah! Ottawa shot first and it was Thomas Nesbitt, the 9th shooter who got any puck past either goalie. It was then up to Petr Mrazek to stop Boone Jenner to end the game - which he did - followed by much relief and celebration by his team and the Ottawa fans.

So Ottawa remains atop of the East Division by two points.

Click here for the game sheet.

Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200


Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Hardest Working 67's as Selected by the Team1200: Petr Mrazek


Random Thoughts:
  • It will be difficult to keep winning if they don't start getting more shots on the net. 3 shots in each in the 2nd, 3rd and OT. Not nearly enough.
  • And it looks less and less likely that Shayne Campbell will get a start anytime soon with the team letting upwards of 30 shots through each game.
  • When Toffoli and Smith were on their game, they were very pesty - causing turnovers and making Oshawa's life a tad miserable.
  • From my angle, the late third period call on Toffoli was marginal at best. The refs were letting worse infractions go.
More Pictures: Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Ceci's goal
Click here for more pictures from the game.

Game Set Up: Ottawa versus Oshawa

The Ottawa 67's look to regain their form after being thoroughly outplayed by Brampton here at the Rona Centre on Friday. The Oshawa Generals are coming in after a Friday night 4 - 3 win in London. With only a 1 point lead over the divisional rival Oshawa Generals, who have a game in hand, the Ottawa 67's cannot afford to let this opportunity slip away.

Oshawa GeneralsHead to HeadOttawa 67's
6-3-0-1 13 pointsRecord7-4-0-0 14 points
5th EasternConference - Rank2nd Eastern
49 GF46 
39 GA32 
6-3-0-1P107-3-0-0
(9/53) 17.0 - 13thPP% (rank)(8/51) 15.7 - 18th
(14/67) 79.1 - 12th PK% (rank)(5/56) 91.1 - 1st


Top Guns
Oshawa GeneralsOttawa 67's
Thomas (10-5-15)Prince (6-12-18)
Andreoff (4-7-11)Martindale (6-7-13)
Jensen (6-4-10)Toffoli (5-7-12)
Lessio (4-6-10)Lindsay (5-6-11)
Valentine (2-8-10)Nesbitt (5-6-11)

October 23, 2010

67's Out Battled by the Battalion

After the 5 - 1 drubbing at the hands of the 67's last Sunday, Stan Butler's Brampton Battalion came to Ottawa with revenge on their minds and they delivered. They outplayed Ottawa in every aspect of the game and without the stellar goal tending, once again, of Petr Mrazek, the score would have been much higher than 3 - 1. Click here to see the game sheet.

It's quite simple: Brampton came to play and Ottawa didn't. Name any aspect of the game, except goaltending, and Brampton did it better. Battles on the boards - decisive victories. Aggressive forecheck - check. Puck possession - downright greedy. Penalty killing - almost criminal. The Battalion were 20 players operating like one smooth machine. Ottawa? Not so much.

Ottawa's best cycle came in the first minute and a half in the first period. And then Brampton took over and never relinquished control.

With first period goals from Michael Santini (PPG) and Ian Watters, the Battalion scored all the goals they needed for the win. The more telling stat is that after 20 minutes, Ottawa managed only 4 shots on goal to Brampton's 15. Ottawa had 3 powerplays in the first period and did not register one shot at all while Brampton had at least one shot shorthanded in each of their PKs.

With Marc Zanetti out of the line-up to recover from an injury from the Kingston game on Wednesday, Ryan Hanes moved to the blue line and Remi Giftopolous drew into the line up as a member of the 4th line. And he took advantage of his appearance to notch his first OHL goal of the season early in the second period to break the potential shut-out. Cody Lindsay assisted.

Chris Bryne called a timeout in the second period to settle his team down had it a bit of an effect but it wasn't enough to overcome the serious momentum that Brampton had built up. Fights from Janes, Smith (that was a heavy-weight bout) and Tyler Toffoli (!?) could not inspire the team enough to get the puck into the back of the Brampton net.

When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Brampton won 3 -1 and out-shot the 67's 31- 18. It wasn't pretty.

Game's Three Stars as chosen by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67's as selected by the Team1200: Taylor Fielding


Random Thoughts
  • Enough said about how the 67's played. Full marks to the Brampton Battalion for an exquisite display of control, skill, speed and teamwork. It was great to watch.
  • Petr Mrazek currently sits third in the league for the amount of shots he has faced (290 in 8 games). If this keeps up at this pace, both he and his equipment will wear out before the season is over.
  • Announced attendance at the 67's game: 7184. At the last Phoenix Coyotes game: 6706. Thank you Ottawa 67's fans for making major junior hockey a success here in Ottawa.
  • A shout-out to long-time 67's fan, Walt. He's not feeling so well right now and could use all the good vibes we can send his way. Your friends in Section 21 miss you. Best wishes Walt!
More Pictures:





Time out!




Celebrating Remi Giftopolous' first goal of the season (and only goal of the game)


Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Tyler Graovac's academic achievement recognized


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October 12, 2010

Chris Perugini Now a 'Hound

What been long speculated and somewhat expected, goalie Chris Perugini was traded today to the Soo Greyhounds for their 2nd and 7th round picks in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection Draft, a 3rd round pick in 2012 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2012 if Perugini plays his overage year in the OHL.


Chris, popular with fans and his team mates, ended his 4-year run with the 67's on a winning note with yesterday's 4 - 3 victory in Oshawa. The next time we see him will be on Sunday November 14th when the Greyhounds come to Ottawa.

As much as this was expected, and it's really in Chris' best interests, it's still sad to see him go.

Thanks for all you have done for the club and best wishes moving forward.

October 09, 2010

Ottawa 67's Skills Competition

The Ottawa 67's held their first skills competition today as a special perk to season ticket holders. It also served as a creative way to get a different type of practice in as the boys have two days off before Monday's game in Oshawa.

They were broken into two teams and I tried to get all the numbers. Wearing the white jerseys (in no particular order): Zanetti, Prince, Ceci, Nesbitt, Shipley, Lindsay, Graovac, Hanes, Smith, and Fantana. In black jerseys: Monahan Martindale, Toffoli, Fielding, Foglia, Carnevale, Giftopolous, Janes, Sedlak. Perugini, Mrazek and Campbell were pretty much on their own team really. Gibbons was there (more on him later) but did not play.

Jon Abbott and Lee Versage were the hosts.




The first skill test was the team puck control where the competitors had to skate to the far end of the ice, pick up a puck and slalom skate with it through some pylons. Team White had Hanes, Shipley and Prince and Team Black had Janes, Foglia and Fielding. Janes blew a tire picking up the puck and Hanes gave Team White a big lead. Foglia and Fielding tried their best to close the gap but Team White took the first point.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

Then it was a head-to-head test between Thomas Nesbitt and Ryan Martindale. It was really close but the line judges gave it to Nesbitt and Team White was up by two.

The second event was the fastest skaters with each team having three players skate a full circuit of the ice. Team White made up of Nesbitt, Ceci and Smith handily beat Team Black skaters Carnevale, Foglia and Sedlak. Score: 3 - 0 for Team White.





Next up, the shootout. Each team had four players take a shot on two of the goalies. Cody Lindsay of Team White was the only player to score a goal. Team mates Fontana, Graovac and Hanes were stoned by Mrazek while Perugini was perfect against Team Black members Toffoli, Giftopolous, Martindale (I think) and Janes. Team White was up by 4 after this.



Event 4 was the hardest shot and once two of Ottawa's finest realized that they had to get in the line of danger (get on ice behind the net) for the radar gun to register the puck, the competition was on.



I lost track of the shooters but Adam Sedlak from Team Black clearly had the hardest shot - by a decent margin. On the other hand, Dalton Smith ended up with the not-so-hardest shot. He had to take a lot off his shot because he kept missing the net and the puck bounced off the glass back at the police officers. Lindsay and Toffoli offered their helmets to the officers which they accepted. Team Black was finally on the scoreboard with their first point.

Then there was another shootout, this time with different players. I really lost track of things at this point but I think Team Black was starting to get back into the game.

For the accuracy test each player had 8 pucks to put 1 through each corner of the shooter-tutor. It was Tyler Graovac of Team White who accomplished the mission to give his team another point.

There were more shootouts with players now trying to get fancier in their attempts to deke out the goalie.

Team Black made it close, getting within one but it was Team White prevailing in the first Skills Competition.

To wrap things up, there was a 4-on-4, 20-minute, non-stop scrimmage between the two teams - no slap shots. By all indications, the boys had a good time. Team Black took an early lead that they kept building but slowly Team White picked away at it and actually had a 1-goal lead going into the final seconds. Team Black tied it up and they were off to sudden death overtime. I believe it was Shane Prince of Team White who quickly ended the game with the GWG. So, full bragging rights of the day go to Team White.







Closing Thoughts
  • It looked like the team really enjoyed themselves today and the coaching staff had an opportunity to throw some variety into what might have been just another Saturday practice. While they were having fun, they were also working hard and there was enough healthy competition to keep up a good tempo to the scrimmage.
  • The goalies were getting a good workout too and fans had a chance to see Shayne Campbell, the newest addition to the team.


  • Had a chance to chat with Travis Gibbons. Fortunately (!) his knee is not injured; he was charley-horsed. He's moving about with the aid of a cane and taking the appropriate treatments to get him back in his skates as soon as he is ready.
  • The Plymouth Whalers were just wrapping up their practice when I got to the rink and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Peter Krupsky, long-time broadcaster of the Plymouth Whalers.
You can see more pictures from the day here.

Ottawa 67's Win Second Home Game With Good Team Effort

After trading goals in the first period, both goalies kept the game tied until Nicholas Foglia scored his first OHL goal and the GWG on the way to a 67's 4 - 1 over the Plymouth Whalers.

Playing their second game in as many nights on their annual swing through the Eastern region of the OHL, the Whalers were feeling strong after their 7 - 0 shut out against the Peterborough Petes. The Ottawa 67's were looking for another strong performance after last Sunday's strong win against the Mississauga St. Mike's Majors.

As both teams were limiting shots on their goalies, it was 67's veteran and Oilers prospect Ryan Martindale started the scoring with a deft shot over the outstretched leg of Wedgewood at just 5 minutes into the game. Thomas Nesbitt and Shane Prince assisted.

With all the energy expended by both teams, only 4 shots had made it to both goalies at at that point.

Garrett Meurs tied it at about the halfway mark on a rebound after Mrazek made several great saves. Mrazek tried to make a case for interference but the ref didn't see it the same way.

With a scoreless second period that saw Plymouth out shoot Ottawa 13-6, the third period appeared to be for the taking for either team.

The Whalers had the early pressure but just over 5 minutes in, the hard working 4th line of rookies created the pressure that put Nicholas Foglia in position to beat Wedgewood over the shoulder with a wrist shot from the hash marks. Sean Monahan assisted on this all-rookie GWG.

We hadn't heard much from Toffoli or Lindsay in terms of scoring this year yet so when Toffoli created his own break away, it looked like that would change. But Whaler Trutmann hooked him on the way in and Tyler's shot just missed the net. In the ensuring PP, Cody Lindsay scored his first for the season as Tyler Toffoli's shot deflect off him and into the net to give Ottawa a two-goal lead. Zanetti assisted.

Down two and with almost two minutes left in the game, Vellucci pulled his goalie for the extra attacker. Plymouth was unable to threaten and Stephen Janes finally put an end to the extra-man drill by the Whalers with an unassisted EN.

Click here for the game sheet.

The 67's have a couple of days off before traveling to Oshawa to take on the team that is ranked as second-best in the CHL. Oshawa is 4-0-0-1 in this early season. The 67's will be looking to turn in a much better performance than they did against Oshawa in their 6 - 3 home opener loss on October 1.


Three Stars as selected by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Cody Ceci

Random Thoughts:
  • Lots of post-whistle and behind the officials shenanigans by the Whalers. They got away with a few stunts.
  • The young guys are working hard and bringing lots of energy to their shifts. They kept their feet moving, were hard on the puck, hard on the Whalers and caused more than a few turn overs. Liking this fourth line a lot.
  • Travis Gibbons took the worst in a mid-ice crash with Garrett Meurs. He left the game in the first, came back briefly in the second and left for the rest of the game. It appears to be a knee. This does not look good.
  • On the bright side (well - there really isn't a bright side when a key player goes down with a serious injury), the rest of the team really stepped up to make up for Travis' absence. Sustaining that intensity over the long haul will be tough. I wonder if Ryan Hanes will find himself back on the blue line.
  • Ottawa had some great pressure and fore checking - pinning the Whalers at length on occasion.
  • Not sure if there were any issues with the ice - there was a lot of falling down by both teams.
More Pictures: Ryan Martindale goal
Ryan Martindale starting the scoring
Great glove save by Mrazek
Foglia celebrating his first OHL goal
Click here to see more game-day pictures.

October 03, 2010

Major Thumping by the 67's

The Ottawa 67's completely redeemed themselves with a solid 7 - 2 win over the Mississauga St. Mike's Majors at the newly named Rona Centre. Tyler Graovac led the way with his first OHL hat trick. See the game sheet here.

After their indifferent play on Friday, the Ottawa 67's came to play today. This was a completely different team. In addition to getting 3 goals from Tyler Graovac, Ryan Martindale had a three point afternoon with 2 goals and an assist, Adam Sedlak had his first as an Ottawa 67's and 2 assists and Sean Monahan scored his first OHL goal.

After cycling back to pick up his stick near the goalie, Ryan Martindale put the 67's on the board early with a shot from near the blue line that didn't look like he was trying to score. It certainly caught JP Anderson napping and it was in the back of the net. Adam Sedlak assisted on that goal.

But the Majors responded right back within a minute when Rob Flick scored his first of the season. But that would be their last goal for a very...very...long time.

Ottawa simply dominated...they did everything that they didn't do on Friday. They were hard on the puck, their passes were crisp and on-target and they were plain old tough to play against. And they got some luck along the way.

The run of five goals started with an innocent-enough looking shot when Tyler Graovac drove hard to the net. It looked like he might go around but with a deft back-hand he slid it under the left pad of Anderson and the 67's were back on top for good.

Adam Sedlak's goal, the eventual GWG came on the 67's first power play when his shot from the blue line beat Anderson to the blocker side. He may have been screened by Nesbitt. Now lest you think that the Majors were not trying - it should be noted that at this point, the SOGs were 9 - 7 in Ottawa's favour. The big difference being that Ottawa had scored on 3 of their 9 shots while the Majors only scored once in their 7 shots.

It's interesting to look at the SOGs and recall how the game was played. Although the 67's only outshot the Majors by 1 in the second, the 67's completely outplayed the Majors for most of that frame. But when the Majors got their second goal of the game, a puck that was redirected past Perugini by his own player, the Majors were rejuvenated even though the score was 6 - 2. But they were unable to convert their new-found inspiration into goals.

With Graovac's third goal of the game to make it 7 - 2 in the third, the 67's kind of laid-off and the Majors tried to make a game of it. But they lost valuable time taking penalties and the 67's, especially Perugini, played well enough to hold them off.

So the 67's end the winning streak of the Majors with a strong 7 - 2 and now have a 2-2 record in this early season.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200


Hardest working 67's as selected by the Team1200
Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Ryan Hanes


Random Thoughts:
  • The Majors were playing their third games in three days having hosted Windsor on Friday (winning 5-1) and traveling to Belleville on Saturday (winning 5-3) but Anderson did not play on Saturday.
  • Ryan Hanes has way more attitude this year. He's not taking any gruff from anyone and is dropping the gloves without hesitation. He's also thriving in a steady gig as a forward - a game star on Friday and the Hardest Working 67's today. Tyler Graovac's second goal was the direct result of Ryan's hard work to bring the puck to the front of the net.
  • And Tyler Graovac is starting the season very strongly having amassed 4 points already in 4 games (3 goals and an assist) considering that he had 9 points all last season in 52 games.
  • Antony Peters replaced JP Anderson after the 6th Ottawa goal at about the halfway mark of the game. He is rather territorial about his space, regularly slashing the ankles of opposing interlopers.
  • The 67's scored on 3 of their 7 power plays and for the other 4, they maintained effective control and possession for the most part. They were good power plays.
  • As for their 2 penalty kills: first off - good on them for staying out of the box and second - they limited the Majors to three shots between the two advantages.
  • Perugini had a strong game - he made some amazing saves including a hard shot that went off his mask. That one looked like it stung.
More Pictures: Celebrating Adam's first goal as a 67's.
Celebrating Adam's first goal as a 67's
Ryan Hanes and Brett Flemming going at it
Sean Monahan
And that's the hat trick!!
Click here to see more pictures.

October 02, 2010

67's Drop Home Opener 6 - 3 to Generals

Classes may have started a month ago but the Ottawa 67's were schooled by the very confident Oshawa Generals who were missing many of their top players. The Ottawa 67's started the game strong but missed early opportunities to score and the Oshawa Generals slowly took over the game to the point where it the 67's almost 5 minutes to register their first shot on goal in the third period. You can check out the game sheet here.
After splitting the opening weekend on the road with a loss in Sault Ste. Marie and a win in Sudbury, the Ottawa 67's were looking for a strong home opener in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 9987.

They started with a lot of jump in their skates and had a couple of early scoring chances but the Generals quickly moved the puck out of danger. It was the Generals who got on the scoreboard four and a half minutes into the game when J.P. Labrado picked up a rebound and put it past Mrazek top shelf.

Ottawa responded with goals from Shane Prince and Cody Lindsay to take a 1-goal lead into the first intermission.

But it took the Generals only 1:48 into the second frame to tie the game up with a goal from rookie Lucas Lessio. And the Generals pretty much took over from there scoring two more goals to take a 4-2 lead. The last goal lit a brief fire under the 67's and they stepped up their play in the dying minutes of the middle frame resulting in a goal from Ryan Hanes, assisted by Zanetti and Foglia.

But the 67's spent the third period penned in their own end, getting only 7 shots on goal. Mrazek held down the fort, turning away 16 of the 17 shots in the third but Christian Thomas' goal with 5:08 left sealed the deal. Lucas Lessio's EN with less than a minute left was simply a formality.

So the Ottawa 67's drop to 1-3 for this early season and look forward to taking on the St. Mike's Majors, the 10th best ranked team in the country and the team that bounced them in the playoffs last year. The 67's will have Jon Carnevale and Dalton Smith back in the line up each having served their two-game suspensions.

Three Stars as Selected by the Team 1200


(I didn't catch the hardest working 67's)

Random Thoughts:
  • The Oshawa Generals came into the game as the 4th best ranked club in Canada. They looked like it was well deserved.
  • Early predictions for the OHL had the Ottawa 67's pegged as possible repeat Divisional winners. They have a way to go based on this outing. Perhaps they have been reading too much of their own press.
  • The Ottawa 67's went 0/5 on the powerplay, getting only 8 shots through. By comparison, Oshawa had 4 shots on Mrazek during these same advantages.
  • There were some bright moments. Ottawa's penalty kill was equally effective, limiting Oshawa to 3 shots in their two, back-to-back penalties late in the third.
  • Under pressure, the 67's handled the puck like a triggered hand-grenade - lobbing it anywhere hoping for the best. It usually landed in the possession of the Generals.
  • On a final note, the rink formerly known as the Urbandale Centre is now the Rona Centre. Jeff Hunt made the draw for the naming rights during the second intermission.

Picture from the game will be posted later or you can go here to see them.