Hulit will be wearing #9. And, Petruzalek has switched his number from 91 to 19 (Tsimikalis’ old number).
Matt Haimer joined Schreibs for the radio broadcast, while AJ Jakubek joined Lee Versage for the television broadcast.
The 67s came out strong. I think they wanted to score quickly in order to ensure the teddy bear toss happened, and to get it over with. Petruzalek scored at 1:28, fists pumping in the air --- he’s still got the dramatic flair.
They were only 1 for 7 on the PP, which is not good. Toronto did a good job of blocking the shooting lanes during the PK.
The lines for the 67s were:
1st Bickell, Kaspar, Petruzalek
2nd Bonello, Mancari, Akeson
3rd Talbot, Hulit, Todd
4th Ouellette, Alphonso, McGinn
Lahey was the healthy scratch. Reid (shoulder) and Lawrance (hip) still out with injuries.
OTTAWA SCORING:
1, Petruzalek, (Bickell, Colbert), 01:28
1, Alphonso, (McGinn), 11:14
1, Colbert, (Hulit, Talbot), 16:41 (PP)
2, Alphonso, (McGinn, Wharton), 09:42
TORONTO SCORING:
3, Good, (McIver, Boyce), 13:39 (PP)
Impressions of the 67s:
Alphonso had a great game. Scored twice --- his first career/OHL goals. And what a wonderful smile when he was shown on the bench. He worked very hard, in fact was awarded first star by both OHL and TEAM 1200. He donned the hard hat for his first TV interview after the game.
The article on the game in The Ottawa Sun written by Don Brennan (67's rookie scores relief) offers this quote:
"As soon as I saw the puck cross the line ... I was pretty happy," said Alphonso, a second-round draft pick who turned 16 last month. "I felt like it was a load off my shoulders. It's a huge confidence boost."
Battachio, oh Battachio. What more can I say about Battachio. He had another wonderful game. He was awarded another star (also by both OHL and TEAM 1200).
Hulit worked hard every shift, and he was out there a lot --- PP, PK, regular line. I was very impressed with his debut, considering he had one practice with the new line. While he didn’t score, he did get an assist and had many scoring chances due to hard work and second effort. He was interviewed during the television broadcast, and said that he had met Killer that day at 5pm to sign papers. He added that growing up in minors he was enemies with Talbot --- who now centres his line! He said everyone has been very welcoming.
Bickell remains strong on the first line. Moving up seems to have rejuvenated him. He’s working hard; skating through checks etc. Akeson is also showing consistent effort.
Mancari’s using his size to power through checks, drawing a penalty tonight when the Toronto player pulled him down.
Bonello continues to work hard, and take and draw penalities. One particular incident stood out: Bonello and McIver were doing the dance, circling, jawing the whole time. Bonello started shaking his gloves as if to say, ‘I’m dropping my gloves’, ‘You gonna drop your gloves’, ‘Let’s go’ . . . Then McIver dropped his gloves and guess what Bonello did? He skated away. It was hilarious . . . until Mancari came storming in gloves off ready to fight. I’m not sure he caught the delicate and beautifully executed slight that Bonello delivered (or maybe Bonello didn’t intend it that way). All three ended up with penalties (Unsportsmanlike for McIver and Bonello, Roughing for Mancari), with not a punch thrown. (Not that I’m endorsing fighting or anything.) When McIver was interviewed on the television broadcast about the jawing-with-Bonello-incident, he said “I thought I’d take care of it.”
Impressions of the Majors:As I said above, I was impressed with the team’s PK. They really were able to close up lanes to the net. Boyce is the leading scorer for Toronto. He played well . . . McIver is one feisty guy. Gets up players’ faces, specifically Bonello and Mancari. I like these S-disturber types – Bonello is one. They really add to the team. Vitarelli – speedy player, good puck handling. Clutterbuck – seems like a strong player; steady in his position. I also noticed Mrazak out there too.
Savage – although he had a S/O last night, he was pulled after the 4th goal in the first period. He went to the bench and kept his mask on --- looked like he was trying to shrink down between his shoulder pads. I felt bad for the kid, but I guess that comes with the position.
Parking: not a problem. We arrived at7:15pm and had to wait in line but once in had no trouble finding a spot. Nothing was happening in the Aberdeen Pavilion, though. The Grey Cup seats are starting to come down, slowly piece by piece. Seems like a huge job.
Attendance: 8219, though there were many seats in the upper bowl empty.
Reffing: Okay. This 'trying to be non-biased and more lenient with the refs' thing is really rather difficult. Washkaruk made a lot of mistakes. After several obvious haul downs by Toronto, plus a few exaggerated falls by the 67s, he finally called Toronto for hooking. By the third period, the crowd was fully into the "we want a ref" chant. StatsGuy said that he thought he saw Washkurak smirking during the chant. All in good fun I suppose.
What’s next: Another game tonight versus Belleville, then to face Toronto tomorrow at the Corel Centre. Also, they reported on the television broadcast that it will be Mother’s Appreciation night next Friday, and some of the players’ moms will be honoured.
No comments:
Post a Comment