The OHL has been posting videos of various things, most notable is the "Plays of the Week" feature. I noticed it a few weeks back but failed to monitor it regularly. The latest update includes Thomas Nesbitt's goal against Brampton.
Other videos:
Ottawa 67s in the community and on the ice.
Chris Byrne behind the bench.
Goals from Cody Lindsay were featured in weeks 3 and 4.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Plays of the Week and other OHL Videos
Game Set Up - London
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | London Knights |
|---|---|---|
| 5-9-2-2 14 points | Record | 12-4-0-1 25 points |
| 9th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 4th Western |
| 63 | GF | 62 |
| 74 | GA | 51 |
| 3-6-0-1 | P10 | 7-2-0-1 |
| (17/86) 19.8 (11th) | PP% (rank) | (14/89) 15.7 (15th) |
| (20/86) 76.7 (16th) | PK% (rank) | (18/108) 83.3 (3rd) |
| Ottawa 67's | London Knights |
|---|---|
| Martindale (10-17-27) | Kadri (10-6-16) |
| Lindsay (9-12-21) | McRae (5-10-15) |
| Nesbitt (9-9-18) | Erlich (5-10-15) |
| Nigro (3-11-14) | Varone (3-11-14) |
| Toffoli (6-6-12) | Knight (7-5-12) |
London tidbits:
- #12 former 67s Pieter Schinkelshoek's stats in the 6 games he has played since joining the Knights after Thanksgiving: 1G, 1A and 9PIMs
- #6 Scott Harrington (D) is London's 2009 first round pick (19th overall) and is London's highest performing rookie this year so far with 4 assists, a +10 with 0 PIMs in the 8 games he has played
- #41 Michael Hutchinson (G) is the 2008 third round pick (77th overall) of Boston
- #71 Philip Varone (F) is the 2009 fifth round pick (147th overall) of San Jose
- #77 Zac Rinaldo (F) is the 2008 sixth round pick (178th overall) of Philadelphia
- #91 Nazim Kadri (F) is the 2009 first round pick (7th overall) of Toronto
- #93 Justin Taylor is the 2007 sixth round pick (180th overall) of Washington
- I have read many comments regarding Killer's apparent penchant for acquiring local players, often couched as a criticism. A quick look at the London roster shows 9 players who's hometown is listed as London. There are no players on the roster from Ottawa.
I haven't had a chance to watch last night's game against Guelph (PVR'd it) but caught the last two minutes on the radio on my way home from my evening's outing. Sounds like the team (and it's finally a full team) played a strong game. If you missed the Team1200 call, Jon Abbott and Kenny Walls of the Team 1200 made it a 67s sweep for the three stars: 1st - Gibbons (2 goals against his former team); 2nd - Thomas Nesbitt (1G, 2A); 3rd - Julien Demers (2A); Hardest Working 67s: Tyler Cuma. Here's the game sheet.
With his goal and assist, Ryan Martindale has increased his league-leading game streak to 16 games and is now in 9th place in the league in scoring with 27 points. He's the second best scorer in the Eastern Conference, only behind Barrie's Luke Pither who also has 27 points but has two more goals than Ryan.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Logan Couture Scores First NHL Goal!
Logan Couture's first NHL point came in San Jose's win against the Carolina Hurricane last Sunday. He assisted on former 67s Brad Staubitz's goal (which stood up as the GWG).
And then scored the only San Jose goal and the first of his career last night. Unfortunately, his team lost 2 - 1 to Detroit.
UpdateThanks Frank for the link to Logan's goal. What's even more impressive is who Logan was playing with - he was on the same line as Joe Thornton and Dany (selfish) Heatley. Well done Logan!!
Again, there were 3 former 67s in the line up as Derek Joslin has been called up as Rlob Blake has been placed on IR.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Game Set Up - Peterborough
The Peterborough Petes come to the Urbandale Centre for a new event: School Day. Kids from across the region will watch the game and participate in learning events. I hear the place will be full so it should be noisy!
I won't be at the game but here's the set-up.
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | Peterborough Petes |
|---|---|---|
| 4-9-2-1 11 points | Record | 8-9-0-0 16 points |
| 10th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 4th Eastern |
| 53 | GF | 57 |
| 66 | GA | 65 |
| 2-6-1-1 | P10 | 4-6-0-0 |
| (14/75) 18.7(13th) | PP% (rank) | (16/66) 24.2 (6th) |
| (18/75) 76.0 (17th) | PK% (rank) | (17/83) 79.5 (11th) |
| Ottawa 67's | Peterborough Petes |
|---|---|
| Martindale (8-15-23) | Spooner (9-13-22) |
| Lindsay (9-11-20) | Daley (7-13-20) |
| Nesbitt (7-7-14) | Doornbosch (2-17-19) |
| Nigro (3-8-11) | Theberge (8-3-11) |
| Toffoli (5-4-9) | Puempel (7-2-9) |
- Local connections: Coach Ken McRae is a native of Winchester, #23 Ryan Spooner is a Kanata native and #19 Joey West hails from Orleans
- #18 Matthew Puempel was their 2009 first round pick 6th overall.
- #9 Zach Kassian is a Buffalo Sabres 2009 1st round pick (13th overall)
- #10 OA Pat Daley is a former 67s where he played 69 games over two seasons and scored 10 goals and 6 assists
- #55 Barron Smith is a Toronto Maple Leaf 2009 pick (7th round 188th overall)
- #27 Mike Lomas was traded from OS on October 29
Enjoy the game everyone and let's hope that the 67s have turned it around.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
67s Win the Battle
The 67s battled back twice from 2-goal deficits and with 4 unanswered goals, starting with a goal in the dying seconds of the second period, they put in a convincing winning performance on home ice.
Forward Combos:
Nigro, Martindale, Nesbitt
Lindsay, Merrett, Toffoli (starters)
Sointu, Graovac, Carnevale
Janes, Anderson, Stevens
D-pairs
Birkhoff, Gibbons (starters)
Zanetti, Ceci
Hartwick, Hanes
Goal: Perugini
Scratches: Demers (knee), Cowick (shoulder), Smith (shoulder), Cuma (suspended)
The game started with good speed and chances by both teams with Ottawa getting more shots on goal early but it was the Battalion who scored first when Matt McLeod beat Perugini short-side over his glove from a sharp angle before the game was 5 minutes old. And then Sean Jones put his team ahead with less than 5 seconds left in the period with a shot off the far post that ricocheted in.
But Ottawa got one back two minutes later when Jon Carnevale got the puck under Killeen in a goal-mouth scrum. Tyler Graovac got the assist but he should have had two assists credited to him for his hard work to set up the goal.
But the rather porous defense made this game harder to win than it should have been. Matt McLeod notched his second of the game when two 67s allowed Barclay Goodrow to throw the puck from the corner right to the front of the net where Matt had the easy point-blank shot.
Thomas Nesbitt got Ottawa back within one again with a back-hand shot that over the shoulder of Killeen. It was the finishing touch on a two-on-one with Anthony Nigro feeding him the puck. Ryan Martindale got the other assist to continue his league-leading point streak at 14 games.
And just over a minute later, Tyler Toffoli tied up the game when he capitalized on a neutral zone turn-over caused by Matias Sointu's pressure on the Brampton defenseman. Andrew Merrett got the other assist for starting the whole thing off by flipping the puck from the half-boards into the neutral zone.
Brampton took the lead for the last time with Sean Jones' scoring his second goal of the game on a break-away when Sointu had his pocket picked just inside the Brampton blue line.
We finally saw the 67s bear down and take over the scoring game for good. First it was Ryan Martindale tying the game up again with just 34 seconds left in the second period when he buried the pass from a hustling Thomas Nesbitt who got the puck from behind the net.
The third period was all Ottawa with three more unanswered goals. It was Brian Birkoff's first goal of his OHL career that broke the tie and stood up as the GWG. It was a laser-guided shot from the point that picked off the top corner of the net. Tyler Toffoli and Cody Lindsay with the assists. I think I saw Toffoli go get the puck for Brian as well.
With second goals from Jon Carnevale and Ryan Martindale (a PPG) and some stellar saves from Chris Perugini, the 67s put the game away and gave their fans a home game to cheer about.
Final score: 7 - 4 Ottawa with SOGs of 31 - 26 for Ottawa.
Here's the game sheet.
Brian Birkhoff was selected by the Team1200 as the Hardest Working 67s. I didn't get a decent in-game picture of him (which is unusual as he seems to get into camera range for most games).
Random Thoughts:
Here are some pictures from the game. Be sure to check out the gallery on the 67s web site for more.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Game Set Up - Brampton
The Brampton Battalion roll into town for a Friday night game at the Urbandale Centre. They are coming off an at-home 4-0 loss to Kitchener on Thursday. They are not likely to be happy.
Ottawa players should definitely be playing with more intensity. They haven't played since last Sunday and haven't traveled in a while. There really aren't any excuses (unless the flu bug hits the room - I haven't heard anything along those lines).
They will still be missing Cuma, Demers, Cowick and likely Smith but they have enough talent on the ice to compete against Brampton. If the 67s are going to turn the season around, now would be a good time to start.
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | Brampton Battalion |
|---|---|---|
| 3-9-2-1 9 points | Record | 5-6-1-1 12 points |
| 10th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 7th Eastern |
| 46 | GF | 37 |
| 62 | GA | 39 |
| 1-7-1-1 | P10 | 5-3-1-1 |
| (13/71) 18.3 (12th) | PP% (rank) | (10/75) 13.3 (19th) |
| (18/71) 74.6 (19th) | PK% (rank) | (13/64) 79.7 (11th) |
| Ottawa 67's | Brampton Battalion |
|---|---|
| Martindale (6-14-20) | Carrick (7-5-12) |
| Lindsay (9-9-18) | Jones (8-3-11) |
| Nesbitt (6-6-12) | Tanski (3-8-11) |
| Nigro (3-6-9) | Peroff (0-8-8) |
| Smith (6-2-8) | Thorne (4-3-7) |
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Catching Up with 67s Alum
Just decompressing with a bit of surfing and adult beverages after a tough day in the bureaucratic salt mines. Here's what I found about some former 67s:
- After the whole Dany Heatley thing, I really don't want to care about the San Jose Sharks but I would be doing a huge disservice to the many McGinn and Couture fans out there. In fact, Couture, McGinn, Staubitz and Joslin are all making their marks. It seems the only bust was Lukas Kaspar. Logan made his NHL debut when the Sharks were on their eastern road trip. McGinn was also called up. Here's a quick item from the baby Sharks site. Here's a news item from the Sharks site. It seems that McGinn, Couture and Staubtiz are still with the mothership. Derek Joslin has also experienced a call up. Here's some news too! Derek is wearing an A when he's in Worcester. Great news for the former 67s players. We will continue to watch with great interest.
- Update: McGinn, Couture and Staubitz were all in the lineup for last night's game against LA.
- Adam Courchaine was sent back to junior and as a result of the off-season trade he is with the Sarnia Sting. Looks like he got some 'tude since leaving the 67s - he actually got into a fight (!) and earned himself a few days rest as a result. Hope Perugini and Mrazek are ready to drop 'em if challenged by Adam.
- A faithful reader enquired about former eruo D-man Martin Paryzek. He's alive and presumably well playing in the Czech Republic.
- Who else should we track down...how about Mark Mancari. He's still with the Buffalo AHL team, the Portland Pirates where he leads his team in points. It seems that Mark asserted himself during contract negotiations (see the last line in this article). He finally signed a one-year deal. Here's a clip of a post-practice interview.
- Thomas Kiriakou is at Guelph University playing varsity hockey and making a difference.
That's all the news I can come up with now. Listening to the Sens vs Panthers on the Team 1200 and settling in for the evening. If you have news to share, please pass it along for the benefit of all your 67s fans-in-arms.
Cheers!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Spirit Too Strong
The 5 - 2 score does not tell the whole story. The seriously depleted 67s played two solid periods and even though they were really outplayed in the third - they were in it until the last minute and change.
Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Nesbitt, Nigro
Sointu, Martindale, Toffoli
Janes, Merrett, Carnevaleb (starters)
Graovac, Anderson, Stevens
D-pairs
Zanetti, Ceci
Birkhoff, Gibbons
Hanes, Hartwick
Goal: Petr Mazrek
Scratches: Demers (knee), Cowick (shoulder), Smith (shoulder), Cuma (suspended)
The 67s put up a good fight (4 of them to be precise) against the Saginaw Spirit. The first period was fast-paced and for the first 7 minutes, neither team spent any length of time in the offensive zone. Saginaw didn't get their first shot on goal until the 11:21 mark but it was a good one - a goal after finally getting something going in the previous shift. It was Josh Shalla who got the Spirit on the board with his 12th goal of the year on a bad line change that led to a three-on-two.
But Tyler Toffoli got it back less than 4 minutes later on a play that started with Ryan Martindale's back check in his own end. Tyler drove to the net and despite losing an edge on the way, managed to tuck the puck 5-hole on Pasquale before hitting the net off its moorings.
While Ottawa played well, Saginaw started taking over. The shots started creeping up and they tended to control the puck more than Ottawa. They were fast, crisp and accurate in their execution. Vincent Trocheck gave the Spirit the lead again when he wrapped around the back of net and bounced it in off Mrazek.
But the 67s kept at it and got a luck bounce later in the second when Cody Lindsay's shot from the blue line managed to find its way behind Pasquale to tie the game again. Travis Gibbons and Thomas Nesbitt assisted.
But once again, Saginaw took the lead early in the third period when Tyler Murovick's quick shot from the face-off dot beat Mrazek short-side over the shoulder. By now the strength of Spirit forecheck was wearing the 67s down and they pretty much had them pinned in their end for most of the period - putting 17 shots on Mrazek. They scored two goals 12 seconds apart late in the third to put the game away.
It ended 5 - 2 for Saginaw with the shots 44 - 27 for Saginaw as well.
Here's the game report.
Random Thoughts:
I'm trying out a new site to host my pictures. Click here to see pictures from the game.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Game Set Up - Saginaw
The 6th place Saginaw Spirit visit the Urbandale Centre to return the favour from last weekend's game in Saginaw. The 67s put up a good fight against the Eastern Conference leaders on Friday - let's see what they have for the Spirit on Sunday.
Here are the stats going into the game:
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | Saginaw Spirit |
|---|---|---|
| 3-8-2-1 9 points | Record | 7-4-2-0 16 points |
| 10th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 6th Western |
| 44 | GF | 54 |
| 57 | GA | 43 |
| 2-6-1-1 | P10 | 4-4-2-0 |
| (13/68) 19.1 (12th) | PP% (rank) | (21/75) 28.0 (1st) |
| (18/68) 73.5 (19th) | PK% (rank) | (19/79) 75.9 (16th) |
| Ottawa 67's | Saginaw Spirit |
|---|---|
| Martindale (6-13-19) | Skellett (6-15-21) |
| Lindsay (8-9-17) | Shalla (11-5-16) |
| Nesbitt (6-5-11) | Crawford (3-12-15) |
| Nigro (3-6-9) | Brodie (2-13-15) |
| Smith (6-2-8) | Telegin (7-7-14) |
Break out the Buckely's...
...there was waaay too much coughing (up the puck) in this 7-4 loss to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.
The 67s played with a seriously depleted blue line and managed to claw their way back into the game late in the third period, but before they could complete the come-back, a very ill-timed turn-over in their own end turned into the 6th goal by St. Mike's (and Devante Smith-Pelly's 4th goal of the game) to seal the deal.
Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Nesbitt, Nigro
Smith, Martindale, Toffoli
Sointu, Merrett, Carnevale (starters)
Janes, Graovac, Stevens
D-pairs
Hartwick, Ceci
Birkhoff, Zanetti (starters)
Hanes, Anderson
Goal: Perugini
Scratches: Demers (knee), Cowick (shoulder), Gibbons (ankle), Cuma (suspended)
It was not pretty in pink that's for sure. The team and officials wore limited edition pink jerseys for Pink Night to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
With two veteran defensemen on the sidelines, the 67s took on the Conference leading Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Gibbons was out with a sprained ankle walking down a set of stairs and Cuma served his first of a four-game suspension. Apparently referee Mike Pearce didn't appreciate Cuma's comments at the end of the Plymouth game last week and handed him a game misconduct for abuse of officials which carries an automatic two-game suspension. It appears that no one on the team knew that and Cuma played in the Saginaw game. The league handed him another two games to make sure that he won't forget it in the future.
The play was pretty even between the two teams for most of the first period until Mississauga got two quick goals within a minute of each other. The first was tipped through the 5-hole by Riley Brace and the second one was off a rebound that Dustin Ekelman buried. And just like that the 67s were in a two-goal hole.
Tyler Toffoli got the team back into game before the period ended with a top-shelf laser shot off a face-off win by Ryan Martindale.
Mississauga's Devante Smith-Pelly was a one-man wrecking crew getting the next 4 (!) goals for the majors: two early in the second and two in the third.
But Ottawa kept battling. Nine seconds into the second PP for Ottawa, Ryan Martindale beat Anderson 5-hole with a shot from the top of the face-off circle, closing the gap to two. Tyler Toffoli and Cody Lindsay with the assists.
With the score 5 - 3 for the Majors in the third, Ottawa got within one with two unanswered goals on the PP. The whole thing started when Jon Carnevale was hit from behind by Josh McFadden and sent into the boards. In the ensuing scrum Smith and Flemming emerged as the major combatants. Smith clearly won the tilt responding to the dangerous hit on his teammate. 
When the refs sorted it all out, Ottawa ended up with a 5-on-3. On the first shot, Tyler Toffoli blasted one from the slot past the screened goalie. Assists to Lindsay and Nigro. They still had the PP for 1:38 but it wasn't close to being dangerous.
With time running out on the 67s, the Majors took another penalty that Ottawa took advantage of. Anthony Nigro brought his team within 1 when his sharp angle shot went in 5-hole off the goalie. Martindale and Ceci with the assists.
With just over 3 minutes left to play and riding the momentum of two PPGs, Ottawa was ready to complete the come back with.....oh no! Not a turn over!! Yup, Anthony Zanetti turned over the puck in his own end and Smith-Pelly buried it to end Ottawa's chances. Riley Brace book-ended the Major's scoring with his second goal of the game just to put an exclamation mark on it.
And so it ended 7 - 4 for the Majors.
Here's the game sheet. 
Random Thoughts:
* Thanks for the reader who sent me the correction. I had incorrectly identified Hartwick as the 67s player.
More Pictures:
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Mississauga Game Set-Up
The Eastern Conference leading Mississauga St. Michael Majors visit the Urbandale Centre riding a 4-game winning streak. The Ottawa 67s are at home after a tough weekend trip where they managed to get 2 out of 6 points against tough opposition. It's worth mentioning that they were without Tyler Toffoli and got their win in the third game of the weekend.
As I mentioned in the weekend wrap-up, the numbers on their specialty teams were much better; no PPGs allowed and they managed a few PPG's of their own.
The key to St. Mike's success is the very low goals against after 12 games (24 goals allowed). Goalie Chris Carozzi is first in the league in both GAA (1.76) and Save % (.937) in the 8 games he's played. Their backup, JP Anderson ranks 4th and 14th respectively in both categories. Goaltending really makes a big difference.
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | Mississauga St. Michael's Majors |
|---|---|---|
| 3-7-2-1 9 points | Record | 9-3-0-0 18 points |
| 10th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 1st Eastern |
| 40 | GF | 42 |
| 50 | GA | 24 |
| 2-6-1-1 | P10 | 8-2-0-0 |
| (10/63) 15.9 (16th) | PP% (rank) | (17/65) 26.2 (5th) |
| (18/67) 73.1 (19th) | PK% (rank) | (10/54) 81.5 (6th) |
| Ottawa 67's | Mississauga St. Michael's Majors |
|---|---|
| Martindale (5-11-16) | Wallen (8-6-14) |
| Lindsay (8-7-15) | Smith-Pelly (5-6-11) |
| Nesbitt (6-5-11) | Cizikas (4-7-11) |
| Smith (6-2-8) | Gaunce (2-9-11) |
| Nigro (2-5-7) | Mayer (7-3-10) |
Monday, October 19, 2009
Real Men Wear Pink!
...when they're supporting a good cause.
This Friday's game-day sponsors A Touch of Light and their friends at Otto's BMW have joined forces with the Ottawa 67s to support the CIBC Run for the Cure that took place on October 4, 2009.
Players will wear pink jerseys donated by the sponsors and you can own one of these limited-edition game-worn jerseys through the online auction that has already started. Bidding on these jerseys closes on next Monday (October 26th) at 4:00 PM.
But to bid on the jerseys for Ryan Martindale, Cody Ceci, Andrew Merrett and Jon Carnevale, you will have to be at the game. These jerseys will only be available then!
All proceeds from the auctions go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Show your support and wear pink to the game!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Weekend Wrap Up
The team is on it's way home from one of the longer road trips of the season (about 2000km round trip). They went up against some top-ranked teams and were without Tyler Toffoli who was sick. They also continue without the services of Demers and Cowick but Jon Carnevale was back in the lineup.
The first game was on Thursday in Windsor where the Spits were likely remembering the loss in Ottawa not so long ago. I only caught a bit of the game listening to Team1200 and despite getting a two-goal jump on the Spits, they lost 8-5. They allowed 7 unanswered goals! Here's the game sheet - you can tell as good a story as me from looking at it. On the upside: they capitalized on two of their 4 power plays and didn't allow Windsor to score on either of their two power play chances.
Then it was a short trip to Plymouth for the Friday game where they were unable to get the tying goal after Cody Lindsay closed the gap in the third. Here's that game sheet for you. Again, specialty teams appear to be getting better; a PPG and they held off Plymouth from scoring on all 6 of their power play chances. Mrazek held his own - 38 saves in a 3-2 loss.
The final leg of the trip was in Saginaw where the team met up with former Ottawa67s trainer Brian Patafie and the third place Saginaw Spirit for a Saturday night game. Saginaw had just returned from Sault Ste Marie where they beat the 'Hounds 4-1 the night before, scoring 3 of those goals on the powerplay. Ottawa dug deep and won that game 3-2 getting two PPGs and not allowing any PPGs against. This is starting to look good for the specialty teams. Here's that game sheet for you.
Some observations after 13 games (almost 20% of the season):
So, they end their 7-game losing streak playing the third-game in three on the road against a pretty good team. They are trending in the right direction on specialty teams. Hopefully this will contribute to trending in the right direction for wins too!
See you on Friday when the (currently) third-place Mississauga St. Michael's Majors pay a visit.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Pieter Schinkelshoek is a London Knight
Pieter Schinkelshoek has been traded to the London Knights for Sudbury's 2010 6th round pick. Here's the press release from London.
The London native is now playing in his home town. Good luck Pieter.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Another 1-Goal Loss
This was the second game in the home and home series that started in Ottawa on Friday. The 67s were hoping for a better result, and things looked pretty good for a while. Nigro was back in the line-up but Cuma was out...apparently very sick.
Specialty teams weren't working well for the 67s. They allowed 3 PPGs (having taken 5 penalties) and only capitalized on one PP - including a 53 second 5-on-3). Kingston had the best PK in the OHL going into the game and Ottawa the worst.
Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Martindale, Toffoli (starters)
Sointu, Smith, Nesbitt
Janes, Merrett, Schinkelshoek
Nigro, Graovac, Stevens
D-pairs
Birkhoff, Ceci (starters)
Zanetti, Gibbons
Hanes, Hartwick
Goal: Mrazek
Scratches: Carnevale (mono), Demers (knee), Cowick (shoulder), Anderson, Cuma (sick)
With Cuma out of the lineup Ryan Hanes got the opportunity to play his natural position at D and for a guy who has not been in the lineup regularly and normally as a forward when he gets in the lineup, he did a pretty good job.
The backup goalies from both teams started the game but neither one saw the end of the game.
Once again, Ottawa scored first in the very early going of the game - on their first shot on Cullen at 1:21. It was Matias Sointu tapping in a pass from Thomas Nesbitt. The lead only lasted a few minutes when Ethan Werek's shot from the faceoff dot beat Mrazek high on the short side.
In his first game of the regular season, Anthony Nigro contributed immediately with an assist on Derek Hartwick's first goal of his OHL career. Nigro's centering pass to Graovac went off a Kingston skate and Derek picked up the puck and tucked it past Cullen. The other assist went to Tyler Graovac.
The rest of the goals were scored in the second period with Ottawa starting out with its only PPG of the game just 34 seconds in the second period. Ryan Martindale got behind the Kingston defender and tapped in Anthony Nigro's cross-crease pass. Cody Lindsay had the second assist and continued his point streak and Ottawa had a two-goal lead.
But then the wheels came off. First it was a PPG, again on the first shot of the PP. Zach Harnden was all alone at the corner of the crease - and I mean all alone - Mrazek was hung out to dry and could not get across fast enough to block the shot. As a result (?) of the PPG, Kingston pulled their goalie! Cullen got the hook and Big Beskorowany was back in net early in the second period. Guess Gilmour was not taking any chances.
Kingston's Clouthier tied it up at the half-way mark when he put it past Mrazek in a bit of a crowd in the blue paint.
Kingston got their first lead of the game a minute and change later, on the PP when Mrazek went way out of his crease to go after the puck and Ethan Werek just threw the puck at the net. It likely went in off one of the 67s skates. Three unanswered goals and Kingston finally had the lead.
Ok, we're still in the second period and the scoring isn't done yet.
Ottawa fought back and tied it up when Travis Gibbons' wrist shot from the blue line went over the shoulder of a screened Beskorowany. Merrett and Schinkelshoek with the assists.
The final goal of the game came on a Kingston PP with Cody Ceci in the box for slashing Ethan Werek's stick in half. And in another odd goaltending decision, Mrazek was pulled for Perugini at this very moment. Perugini had to take the start of the PK at the end of the second period. Of course he was cold and on the very first shot of the powerplay Alan Quine beat him five-hole to go ahead for good.
Ottawa played hard in the third period but Beskorowany was big in net, making a couple of big saves to protect the lead.
The game ended with Kingston's big come from behind 5-4 win although Ottawa outshot the Fronts 31 - 28.
There are 5 teams in the Eastern Conference with 7 points but Ottawa is in last place having played 10 games. The other four teams (Niagara, Belleville, Sudbury and Brampton) all have games in hand.
Ottawa has a big road trip ahead of them next weekend, playing Windsor (4th place in the West), Plymouth (5th) and Saginaw (3rd).
Here's the game sheet.
Random Thoughts:
More Pictures:
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Ick at the UC
The recently re-branded Urbandale Centre (UC) has not been a really lucky place for the 67s thus far. With their 3-1 loss to Kingston on Friday, their home record is 1-3 and they sit in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 2-4-2-1 for 7 points. Also with 7 points in this young season: Niagara, Belleville, Sudbury and Brampton so there's plenty of time and room to move up.
| Ottawa 67's | Head to Head | Kingston Frontenacs |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3-2-1 7 points | Record | 4-4-0-0 8 points |
| 7th Eastern | Conference - Rank | 4th Eastern |
| 25 | GF | 24 |
| 29 | GA | 26 |
| 2-3-2-1 | P10 | 4-4-0-0 |
| (4/40) 10.0 | PP% | (7/50) 14.0 |
| (14/46) 69.6 | PK% | (6/44) 86.4 |
| Ottawa 67's | Kingston Frontenacs |
|---|---|
| Lindsay (5-5-10) | Farrell (5-5-10) |
| Martindale (3-7-10) | Harnden (3-3-6) |
| Nesbitt (4-4-8) | Werek (3-2-5) |
| Smith (5-1-6) | Moon (1-4-5) |
| Sointu (2-3-5) | Gudbranson (0-5-5) |
Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Martindale, Toffoli (starters)
Smith, Merrett, Nesbitt
Sointu, Graovac, Stevens
Janes, Anderson, Schinkelshoek
D-pairs
Birkhoff, Cuma
Zanetti, Gibbons (starters)
Hartwick, Ceci
Goal: Perugini
Scratches: Carnevale (mono), Nigro (mono), Demers (knee - going under the knife), Cowick (shoulder), Hanes
Cody Lindsay started the game off in the right direction when he took a cross-ice from Ryan Martindale to beat a moving Tyler Beskorowany just 21 seconds into the game.
But it didn't last long.
In a communication failure between Hartwick and Perugini, Kingston's Derek Froats was able to tuck the puck under Perugini in a wrap around just 1:14 later to tie up the game and on the very next shot on goal 45 seconds later off a face off, Kingston went up by one on Ethan Werek's goal. Three goals between the two teams just 2:20 into the game.
Ottawa had a few good shifts and managed to pull even with Kingston for shots but I would venture to say that Kingston played a better first period. They kept more of the play in Ottawa's end.
In the second period, it was the other way around. Ottawa kept most of the play in Kingston's end and got a lot of shots through to Beskorowany, including about 8 shots in the 3 PP opportunities they had, but he's such a big guy, unless you get him moving, pretty much everything hits him in the crest and he didn't give out too many rebounds.
Despite working hard for most of the period, Ottawa's undoing was undisciplined penalties. Chris Perugini was screened on Brian Lashoff's shot from the mid-point early in the first 5-on-3 that Ottawa gave Kingston. Ottawa killed the rest of the penalties but the damage was done and Ottawa was unable to capitalize on any of their 5 PP opportunities.
With the man advantage for the last 46 seconds of the game, Byrne pulled Perugini for the 6th player but Ottawa was unable to score.
So, with this loss to a Divisional rival, Ottawa falls to last place in the Conference. These teams meet again on Sunday in Kingston. I plan to be at the game. Hopefully we will see a better result.
Here's the game sheet.
Random Thoughts:
- Cody Lindsay has been on a tear lately and is the team's top scorer with 6 goals and 11 points so far.
- Chris Byrne might not want to cut the team any slack about the key players out of the line-up but you gotta admit that missing Nigro and Cowick up front is not great. Between the two of them last year, they had 129 points with Nigro being a point-a-game guy. But as the coach said, this is an opportunity for the other guys to step up and show what they are all about. Tyler Toffoli is having a slow start.
- As for the D, there's only one rookie back there, Cody Ceci, and he seems to be doing very well as a rookie. Gibbons had his struggles on the point last night.
- In looking at how old the teams are that were iced last night, Kingston put an 'older' team in play with 6 18 year olds, 6 19 year olds and 2 20 year olds in comparison with Ottawa's 5, 5, and 2. Ottawa had 3 16 year olds which includes Ceci who is does not turn 16 until December 21 (the youngest player in the OHL this year).
- I shot from between the benches in the first period and overheard the friendly exchanges between Kingston backup goalie Cullen and former Front and recently acquired Peter Stevens. Likely to spend a lot of time on the bench backing up Beskorowany this year, I suppose Cullen has to amuse himself somehow.
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