Interview With The Coach

"We're not a good team but we have good players."

The 67s won 1, and lost 2 games this past w/e. Killer was interviewed on The TEAM 1200/Dean and Gord. Some notes from the interview:

Regarding the game on Friday in London, Killer thought they played pretty good. They played well in the first period, took four straight penalties in the second, and then played a little better in the third. They worked on some of the mistakes made in the London game for the game in Owen Sound. They had a lead, but couldn’t couldn't give themselves a safe lead. Battachio held them in the game to hang on to the win. In Guelph we took some bad penalties . . . "and I mean bad" [quote]. They made mistakes off of face-offs and then the next thing they knew the game was tied. He was disappointed with the forwards who didn’t muster an attack.

He said it has been very frustrating. They give their opponents chances to beat them. Good teams don't need these extra chances. They’re also taking too many penalties.

Regarding the healthy scratches of late, Killer said the coaches are sending a message. He said they are sending the message that in the players' minds they might think they're playing well, but they're not in the coaches' minds. The coaching staff is sitting various players in an attempt to 1) get some sparks going, and 2) see how the scratches react to being sat.

Players are being sat because they are not making the impact they should be. Killer said there were two ways it could go if the players "are worth their weight in salt" [quote]: 1) they will come back and do better, and 2) "not pout" [quote].

He also said that some players will never be taken out of the line up, but didn’t mention names.

Tsimikalis and Wharton were the healthy scratches for the game in Guelph. Apparently, this didn't go over well with Tsimikalis who was not on the team bus when they returned from Guelph. Killer said that he hasn't spoken with Tsimikalis, and doesn't plan on speaking with him. He also said that Tsimikalis can say whatever he wants, to whomever he wants. Doesn't sound too good . . .

And as expected, there is a lot of speculation, mixed with some overheard snippets and displays on both the Ottawa 67's message board and NOOF.

Regarding Colbert playing in the Canada-Russia Challenge this Thursday, Killer said the Colbert is a defensive defence-man who plays every night against the opposition's best. He gives him credit for what Colbert has done with the team. Colbert is an anchor on the defence, and Killer is happy that he has been recognized.

Regarding the upcoming back-to-back games against Oshawa, Killer said that they're going have play better as no team is out --- they are only points away. He said that games in hand are only good when you win. He said that Oshawa just beat Sudbury, so they must have done something good.