Game Recap (vs Oshawa)

The 67s won 5-2. The OHL game summary is here.

Overall, the team played extremely well. Lots of energy. Lots of goals. The defence was strong. And they scored two power play goals! Temper this though, as Oshawa is ranked lower than the 67s, so they should be a better team.

OTTAWA SCORING:
1, Akeson, (Kaspar, Bonello), 08:06 (PP)
1, Bonello, (Mancari, Wharton), 19:21 (PP)
2, Bonello, (Van Herpt), 03:17
2, Petruzalek, (Bickell, Kaspar), 04:24
3, Mancari, (Akeson, Van Herpt), 13:06

OSHAWA SCORING:
2, Kavanagh, (Heshmatpour), 02:57
3, McBride, 08:16

The OHL three stars were awarded to (1) Bonello, (2) Van Herpt, and (3) Battochio. I think that every time Battachio has played, he has been awarded a star – deservedly!

The Ottawa lines were:

1st - Petruzalek, Kaspar, Bickell
2nd - Bonello, Mancari, Akeson
3rd - Talbot, Alphonso, Todd
4th - Ouellette, Lahey, McGinn

Some thoughts on the players:

Bickell played on the first line, but did not centre - Petruzalek did. Bickell played well. He didn’t get a goal, but he skated fast and hard, fore-checked, had some chances, and made some nice passes to teammates in front of the net - one to Petruzalek resulted in a goal.

Kaspar had a better game. He was playing the point on the PP again, and he did okay. There were a few cringe-worthy moments when he was trying to get the puck out of his end (passing too close in front of his net for my liking). I’m sure this is what he needs to work on for his skill repertoire. Overall, great game.

The Alphonso, Talbot, Todd line could be interesting if they stay together, but Talbot spent half the game in the penalty box. He was given 2 min, 5 min, and a 10 minute misconduct for instigating a fight with Prentice-OSH, who knocked over Battachio but wasn't called for it by the ref. Talbot spent more than 20 minutes in the box. The people around us were asking if they were ever going to let Talbot out, and I commented that maybe they had forgotten he was in there.

Alphonso played well. He has such an amazing amount of confidence for a rookie. I think he will be quite the handful next year, with one OHL season in his pocket plus a little bit more muscle.

Van Herpt had an outstanding game. He made one of the sweetest passes to Bonello, which led to a break-away and goal. Very strong on defense.

And Bonello – another great game. He drew as many penalties as he took (he drew two that I remember). He scored two goals, had one assist. Really hoping for a hat trick. He played a lot of minutes. The break-away goal was the play of the game for sure. Oshawa had just scored (Kavanagh at 02:57), but Ottawa came right back to re-capture the momentum (Bonello at 03:17). Bonello was awarded first star, and when interviewed after the game he said he had made the same play earlier that day in practice on Dominick Hasek . . . and scored on him! So, if it works on Hasek, you can bet it’ll work on Gibb-OSH.

Mancari and Akeson also had solid games. Akeson has really stepped up his play. Killer has called for more from the veterans, and it is obvious that they have heard him.

Battachio . . . Oh, what to say about Battachio. He is so good. I cannot believe some of the saves he makes. He had just made a huge glove save on an Oshawa break-away (Hulit) when Colbert who was trying to beat Hulit, tackled him and they both fell into Battachio. Hulit was awarded a penalty shot, and Battachio made another fantastic glove save. Almost the exact same shot from Hulit. It was unbelievable. Battachio got a standing ovation for that one.

Some thoughts on the Oshawa Players:

Heshmatpour is one very large lad. I think they said 6’6”, 238lbs. He is also very good at disturbing the peace. He and Mancari had many words last night!

Gibb made some great saves, especially in the third period.

Kavanagh had a good game. Very steady player.

To be honest, I really wasn’t paying as much attention to the opposition as I usually do, as the 67s were so exciting to watch for a change!

On the reffing:

Brad Beer was accidentally hit in the mouth by the stick of Waddell-OSH, cutting his lower lip and knocking out some teeth. Beer was caught behind Petruzalek and Waddell, who were battling for the puck - 'wrong place, wrong time' kind of situation. They had to call the end of the second period with ~ 5 minutes left, so that Beer could get some medical attention. Beer did return to ref the rest of the game, though. So good on him. It couldn’t have felt very good --- having to blow a whistle with that kind of mouth injury. Overall, the calls were okay. Beer is not the best ref in the OHL (and that’s saying something). StatsGuy said it was "pretty bad". Yes, there were some obvious mistakes or missed calls. On the other hand, a lot of the players (both teams) had academy award performances out there, so what do they expect to happen when they cry wolf all the time?

On the parking situation:

A wood-working show was being held at Lansdowne Park, and when there are multiple events at the same time, the parking lot becomes very small. We arrived early, and were able to find a spot without too much difficulty --- we sat in the car and waited until a wood-worker left! The season ticket holders that sit in front of us were told by the traffic police that the lot was closed. She said she thought about going home, but she’d check one more entrance, and they were able to get in. Also, they still haven’t removed the seating from the Grey Cup, so this is also taking up spots. Lack of parking is one reason I think they will have trouble drawing Senators fans. You can bet that people who pay thousands of dollars for season’s tickets are not going to take public transportation to get to a $15-a-seat hockey game. There are tons of parking spots around the Corel Centre, but it is a mad house at the Civic Centre.