Game Recap (at Barrie)

67s win 6-5! What a game. See OHL game summary here. This game was broadcast on Rogers television, and TEAM 1200 with Schreiber and Jakubec. And from SLAM! Sports: Ottawa hobbles Colts. From the Ottawa Sun: Mancari still hot for 67's.

Interesting: Mike Kelly, Windsor GM, was in Barrie to ‘watch’ the game.

A little tinkering to the 67s line ups from the game last night.

1st McGinn, Bonello, Mancari
2nd Todd, Talbot, Hulit
3rd Bickell, McIlveen, Akeson
4th Lawrance, Ouellette, Alphonso

Battachio given the start.

So, Bickell moved to the McIlveen line, with Akeson. Lawrance takes Lahey’s spot on the energy line.

Overall impressions:

The 67s came out with energy. They were quick to the puck, made good passes, the defence were able to move the puck out of their zone. Good stuff. The 67s started the scoring off with two PP goals by Talbot. Barrie came back to tie it up. The second period was a little weaker for 67s, but they picked it up again in the third. Overall they were 3/5 on the PP. Which is a good sign. Ottawa scored the first two goals, but Barrie came back and scored 4 straight. The 67s continued to work hard, scoring the next 3. Each team got one more. That the 67s were able to come back when they were down is another positive.

Impressions of the 67s:

Mancari had another great night. He worked hard, and had a couple of beautiful goals. The way he has played the last two nights, with his size, you can see what an overall asset he is to the team. Talbot and Hulit continue to impress. Battachio had a better game tonight. He made saves at some critical moments, but he did let in 5, so not the best we’ve seen from him. The defence still looks a little unsteady, especially when opposition forwards skate down the ice to the net. They seem to have a hard time physically checking/blocking these guys. Bonello, Todd good. Akeson had some moments – second effort, forechecking moments.

Impressions of the Colts:

Little is an amazing player. It seemed like he was on the ice constantly. At the beginning of the second, he was cut in the face by Colbert (accidental high stick), left the bench, and eventually came back to score in the third. Also impressive: Hisey, Crombeen.

OTTAWA SCORING:
1, Talbot, 08:41 (PP)
1, Talbot, (Hulit, Todd), 09:54 (PP)
3, Mancari, (McGinn), 01:01
3, Mancari, (Wharton, Bonello), 04:09 (PP)
3, Hulit, (Talbot, Todd), 05:13
3, Bonello, (Mancari, Van Herpt), 18:52

BARRIE SCORING:
1, Hisey, (Hotham, Little), 12:57 (PP)
2, Fuller, (Hisey), 00:34
2, Tremblay, (Martine, Little), 08:47
2, Hisey, (Fuller, Crombeen), 12:39
3, Little, (Fuller), 09:36

TEAM 1200 three stars: 1. Talbot, 2. Little, and 3. Mancari

OHL three stars: 1. Talbot 2. Little, and 3. Hisey

Attendance was 4170, and the Barrie Rogers television guys (John Bartlett and Gene Pereira) said that this was a good turnout. As an aside, I thought these two did a good job. I couldn’t believe how positive they were for Ottawa though --- I’m used to homerism with Rogers broadcasts. These guys had an interesting feature, where they focus on an opposition player and then show highlights at the intermissions and end of the game. What a great idea. Another way to learn more/see more about the different players in the league. They focused on Hulit.

Next up: Sunday in Mississauga. The first (of four) meetings. I’m interested to see how the 67s match up against this team, although the Ice Dogs are without one of their top guys – O’Sullivan – who is away at the USA World Juniors.