Game Recap at Kingston (29-Dec)

67s tie the Frontenacs 2-2. See OHL game summary here. SLAM! Sports has 67's tie Frontenacs. From the Ottawa Sun, Battochio saves the night for 67's

"Danny was the star of the game again (last night)," said 67's coach/GM Brian Kilrea.

What a surprise - not! In other news . . . OurSports Central has a summary of the game for Kingston: Frontenacs tie 67's.

Pre-game notes via TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec (not on television).

• First, condolences to Jeff Hunt and family. His father passed away Tuesday night.


• Kingston players out of the line up: Anthony Stewart, who is at the World Juniors (which is good news for the 67s), and Shutron and Emerson, who are at the Under 17s.


• And, the same guys out for Ottawa - Kaspar, Petruzalek, McGinn, and Lahey, and newly out is Aitcheson. Btw, watched a bit of the Czech/Swiss World Junior game and Kaspar and Petruzalek seemed to be doing okay out there. They had some really good chances, and had assists. Now if only they can continue when they come back to Ottawa!


• David Jarram will be in the line up tonight. AJ spoke with him, and he said he knows he’s there for his physical ability.

Some notes from Schreibs’ pre-game interview with Killer:

• On Mancari’s record of late, Killer said: He’s working hard, he’s getting ice time, he’s being rewarded. I hope it rubs off on a few other guys.


• On Bonello and the penalty shot, Killer said: He’s had a couple of break-aways this year and I was hoping that he would score to take them [Oshawa] out of the game. I was looking for the game, if I was being sentimental I would have chosen Mancari for the hat trick.


• On Kingston without Stewart, Killer said: They’ve got a good hockey club. They’re one of best teams in the league. They have great talent with or without Anthony Stewart.


• On Jarram’s role, Killer said: We know that he’s not the total answer, and we’re not going to put that kind of pressure on him. He just has to work hard.

They didn’t give the line ups on the radio, so looking at the OHL game summary and listening to the radio, I get something like this:

Line up:
1st Bickell, Bonello, Mancari
2nd Todd, Talbot, Hulit
3rd Akeson, McIlveen, Alphonso
4th Kiriakou, Ouellette, Beard

Defence pairings:
Colbert, Joslin
Van Herpt, Reid
Lawrance, Jarram
And on the PP, they are splitting the defence, so that Colbert is with Reid and Van Herpt is with Joslin.

Staring goalie: Battochio (Davis starting for Kingston)

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General impressions of the game (note, these are auditory impressions, not visual):

First period.

Ouellette had a fight with Mangan – according to Schreibs, Ouellette got the better shots in – got Mangan’s helmet off and landed four or five shots in a row. Frontenacs score first, off the rush, by Griffith from Smolenak. Battochio keeping his team in the game. Kingston having the better scoring chances. Kotsopoulos getting SH chances. The 67s continue to have problems with the PP. Schreibs and AJ seem to be getting disconnected - cutting out. Todd tied up the game during the ‘technical difficulty’. Todd seems to be having a good game. Had another good scoring chance. Good second effort by Talbot. Shots even at the end of the first: 13-13.

Second period.

Great play by Todd to spring a 2 on 1. Talbot and Hulit also working hard. Van Herpt injured – fell into the boards awkwardly, but apparently he will be okay. Bonello, Mancari, and Bickell had some good chances. Davis KIN making some good saves. Kingston scores again. Good work by the Frontenacs, good possession for about 20 seconds, Rizzi KIN let a quick wrister go, beats Battochio. Smolenak seems to be getting a lot of scoring chances in the second. Bickell scores - a high light reel goal. A tremendous, tape-to-tape pass from Alphonso. Bickell made a power move around the d-man, and roofed puck. Bonello draws a penalty just after the goal. He's so good at that!

Third period.

67s continue to take penalties. Jarram gets two in the beginning of the third, Bonello another. An enormous save by Battochio, from a shot by Smolenak. Jarram has been benched, presumably for taking all those penalties. He might be just a little over-eager, this being his first game with Ottawa.

OT.

Davis makes a big save right off. Battochio also making saves. Van Herpt making a lot of good defensive moves. An enormous save by Davis. He stones Hulit. Smolenak getting one good last chance before the end of the game. It's a tie. They each come away with 1 point.
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OTTAWA SCORING
1, Todd, (Hulit, Colbert), 10:11
2, Bickell, (Alphonso), 18:56

KINGSTON SCORING
1, Griffith, (Smolenak, Kotsopoulos), 02:43
2, Lyons, (Rizzi, Petrow), 06:01

OHL three stars: 1. Davis KIN, 2. Battochio, and 3. Griffith KIN

TEAM 1200 three stars: 1. Battochio (at his best tonight; especially good in the third, during three consecutive penalties; 43 saves), 2. Davis KIN (solid as a rock; outstanding; really shone in second period, late in third, and OT), and 3. Bickell (like a bull in a china shop; a force offensively all night long.)

Attendance: 2147.

Reffing: Two refs - Parlette and Burchell.

Next up is the big game or ‘the attendance record-breaker’ at the Corel Centre (not the horn . . . I so hate that horn). According to the Official 67s site yesterday (link) there are only 450 ‘overflow’ tickets available.

The Corel Centre announced tomorrow’s Ontario Hockey League (OHL) game between the Ottawa 67’s and the Kingston Frontenacs has only 450 overflow tickets remaining at $10 each (excluding CRF and convenience charges). Fans are encouraged to purchase remaining overflow seats before tomorrow as all other bowl seating and standing room is sold out.

Overflow seating allows fans the opportunity to purchase a general admission ticket and to sit in a seat that is unoccupied by someone unable to attend the December 30th game for any number of different reasons. It is anticipated that a number of variables will lead to some seats not being occupied at game time and overflow seating allows the maximum number of people into the Corel Centre to be part of this historic game.

Interesting article on the Frontenacs site regarding the big game, by Patrick Kennedy, Fronts to play in front of big crowd:

Next Thursday in Ottawa another major-junior record is likely to tumble, and the Kingston Frontenacs will share in it.

The Dec. 30 Ontario Hockey League game between the Frontenacs and the Ottawa 67’s is a sure bet to establish a new standard for largest audience ever to watch a junior hockey game.