»

February 07, 2014

GAME DAY: 67's host the Sting in 5th last regular season home game

The Ottawa 67’s host the last-in-the-West Sarnia Sting for the first and final time of the regular season tonight.  



The Sting are one of the youngest and least experienced clubs in the OHL comprising of 9 rookies.  With 13 players moving on to other teams or other leagues, the Sting boast a total of 15 new players on their roster.  Most notable of departures are the Canadiens’ Alex Galchenyuk and the Coyotes’ Connor Murphy who are playing for their respective NHL clubs. 

Included in the 13 players that have moved on include 3 of the Sting’s top 4 scorers from the 2012-13 regular season.  Ottawa native Charles Sarault, Islanders’ prospect Reid Boucher and the Canadiens’ Alex Galchenyuk combined for 111 goals and 271 points last season.  That’s 46% of their goals last season.

While the Sting are missing a lot of goal scoring from last season, their current goals-for has suffered as well.  They currently hold first place in most goals allowed by an OHL team so far this season.  They have allowed 242 goals in 51 games; the next closest is Niagara at 221 goals also in 51 games.  Their goal differential is -74 while the 67’s come in slightly better at -49.

Neither team has NHL draft picks left on their roster this season, but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of talent.  Ottawa aside, the Sting have two players who are expected to be drafted in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.  Sting leading scorer Nikolay Goldobin is ranked 14th, Anthony DeAngelo is ranked 19th and Kevin Spinozziis ranked 149th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.  The Sting have three big scorers, but it drops off after that (75 points, 60 points, 55 points and then the next highest has 33 points).

Right now, Belleville is in the lead for the “Jakob Chychrun Sweepstakes” with only 32 points through 50 games but Sarnia and Ottawa aren’t far behind with 36 and 38 points, respectively.  It’s clear that both teams are struggling this season and they could still both end up in last place in the OHL. 

If Ottawa wants to make a run for the playoffs, they need to start stringing wins together.  In a tight conference, every game and every point matter.  The Guelph Storm did 67’s a favour last night with a big 8-0 win against the Mississauga Steelheads.  But the 67’s can’t start depending on other teams to win for them, if they do, they will end up on the outside looking in.

2013-14 Regular Season Record
Ottawa 67's:  17-29-1-3 (GF: 167 / GA: 216), 9th in the Eastern Conference
Sarnia Sting:  15-30-1-5 (GF: 168 / GA: 242) , 10th in the Western Conference

Leading Scorers

Ottawa 67’s
Ryan Van Stralen – 26 goals, 52 points in 50 games
Travis Konecny – 16 goals, 51 points in 45 games
Erik Bradford – 18 goals, 45 points in 51 games

Sarnia Sting
Hunter Garlent – 11 goals, 46 points in 41 games
Nick Ritchie – 19 goals, 38 points in 37 games
Eric Cornel – 16 goals, 37 points in 44 games

Players To Watch

Ottawa 67's
Jacob Middleton – NHL draft eligible 2014, 87th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings
Alex Lintuniemi – NHL draft eligible 2014, was ranked on preliminary rankings
Travis Konecny – 1st overall pick in OHL, NHL draft eligible 2015
Erik Bradford – 8 goals, 19 points in 12 games since being acquired

Sarnia Sting
Anthony DeAngelo – NHL draft eligible 2014, 19th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings
Nikolay Goldobin – NHL draft eligible 2014, 14th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings
Kevin Spinozzi – NHL draft eligible 2014, 149th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings

Overagers
Ottawa 67’s:  Ryan Van Stralen, Philippe Trudeau
Sarnia Sting:   Nickolas Latta, Jimmy McDowell

Leadership Squad
Ottawa 67’s:  Taylor Fielding (A), Ryan Van Stralen (A), Joesph Blandisi (A)
Peterborough Nickolas Latta (C), Daniel Nikandrov (A), Anthony DeAngelo (A)

Potential Scratches
Ottawa 67's:  Mike Vlajkov, Taylor Davis
Sarnia Sting:  
*follow us on twitter (@msconduct or @A_Quevillon) for game day scratches

Sarnia Sting

Who's Gone?
Alex Carnevale – playing with the Wellington Dukes (OJHL)
Alex Galchenyuk – playing with the Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Brett Hargrave – traded to the Owen Sound Attack
Charles Sarault – graduated, playing with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL)
Reid Boucher – playing with the Albany Devils (AHL)
Bryan Moore – traded to the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds
Jordan Addesi – traded to the Plymouth Whalers
Mike Dipaolo – released, playing with the Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
Craig Duininck – traded to the Sudbury Wolves
Tyler Hore – traded to the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds
Alex Basso – traded to the London Knights
Connor Murphy – playing with the Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
J.P. Anderson – graduated, playing with the San Francisco Bulls (ECHL)

Who's New?
Noah Bushnell – Sarnia’s 2nd round pick, 33rd overall, in 2013
Nathan Mater – Sarnia’s 8th round pick, 142nd overall, in 2010
Vladislav Kodola – Sarnia’s 1st round pick, 29th overall, in 2013 (Import)
Hayden Hodgson – acquired from the Erie Otters
Brandon Lindberg – acquired from the Saginaw Spirit
Patrick White – Sarnia’s 5th round pick, 89th overall, in 2012
Brenden Trottier – free agent
Nick Sproviero – Sarnia’s 15th round pick, 286th overall, in 2011
Ryan Vendramin – Sarnia’s 13th round pick, 255th overall, in 2012
Nikita Korostelev – Sarnia’s 1st round pick, 9th overall, in 2013
Jimmy McDowell – acquired from the Erie Otters
Connor Schlichting – Sarnia’s 3rd round pick, 41st overall, in 2013
Jeff King – Sarnia’s 10th round pick, 195th overall, in 2012
Kevin Spinozzi – acquired from the Sault Ste Marie
Taylor Dupuis – acquired from the Sudbury Wolves

Ottawa Connections
Patrick White – native of Orleans, played with Ottawa in OEMHL & Gloucester in CCHL
Alexandre Renaud – native of Gloucester, played with Ottawa in OEMHL

So Far This Season…

2013-14 Head-To-Head Stats
Record: 1-1-0-0
Combined score:  8-5 for Sarnia

Past game reviews:
Feb 1/13 4-3 67’s regulation win in Ottawa
Jan 12/13 5-1 67’s loss in Sarnia

Top scorers

Ottawa 67's
Joseph Blandisi – 2 goals, 1 assist in 4 games
Mike Vlajkov – 2 goals, 1 assist in 4 games
Brendan Bell – 2 goals, 0 assists in 4 games

Sarnia Sting
Reid Boucher – 6 goals, 0 assists in 2 games
Charles Sarault – 0 goals, 6 assists in 2 games
Anthony DeAngelo – 1 goal, 1 assist in 2 games

No comments: