Game Recap at Oshawa (02-Jan)

It's a tie for the 67s and the Generals, 6-6 in OT. See OHL game summary here.

IN THE NEWS

From SLAM! Sports, Mancari's goal with 1:07 remaining gives 67's a 6-6 tie with Generals.

And from the Oshawa Generals’ site, Two Hats make a tie , comes this great picture:

OSHAWA – Adam Berti and Brett Trudell scored three goals apiece Sunday night to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 6-6 tie with the visiting Ottawa 67's.

The game was broadcast on both radio (TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber) and television (Rogers). It was also late starting by 1/2 hour, as Ottawa arrived in Oshawa late d/t the freezing rain. Schreibs said that it took four hours just to get to Belleville. The 67s arrived at 5:50pm, and had to unload the bus, and get dressed, with limited/no warm-up.

LINE UPS

1st Todd, Talbot, Akeson
2nd Bickell, Bonello, Mancari
3rd McIlveen, Ouellette, Jarram
4th none*

7 defencemen – Colbert and Joslin, Van Herpt and Reid, Lawrance and Beard, and Jarram.

Battochio gets the start.

* 67s have 9 forwards. 9. Which means 3 lines.

The following are out:

Kaspar and Petruzalek (World Juniors), and Lahey and McGinn (Under 17).

Aitcheson is out of the line up because he will be traded tomorrow to the Soo. There will be an official announcement tomorrow, so says Schreibs.

Hulit is also out, d/t the flu. He remained in Ottawa. (I thought there was something not-quite-right with him the other day – he was battling a bug.)

Kiriakou has played his three games in the OHL, and is therefore no longer eligible.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

Oshawa came out strong, scoring three goals in the first period. The 67s played the first period like they just got off the bus . . . (Okay, bad pun.)

Two fights, not surprising Heshmatpour was involved in the first. However, it was with Bickell, not Mancari.

Round 1 - Heshmatpour OSH vs Bickell - Decision: Leaning slightly to Bickell who gave a few good ones (I counted 6) to Hesh’s face, and managed to keep his own helmet on. But Heshmatpour is tough, so this was nothing to him.

Round 2 - Thompson OSH vs Jarram - Decision: Definitely goes to Thompson.

Mancari was interviewed during the first intermission on the Rogers broadcast. Talked about how the late start negatively affected their play for the first period. Talked about playing in the Corel Centre record-setter. “It was a thrill.” Talked about being OHL player of the week, with help of his line mates. Talked about having only three lines for this game – realizing that it will mean a lot more ice time. On being drafted by Sabres, he said it was a dream, a thrill, something that he will never forget.

The second period was much better for the 67s offensively – they scored 4 goals. Third was even for both teams. In OT – Oshawa had some good chances, but Battochio kept it a tie.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE 67s

Mancari scored 2G and had 1A. He continues to play well. Got the game-tying goal.

Akeson had a good game, playing with Talbot and Todd.

Alphonso stepped up tonight. He scored a goal, and played ‘tough’, as usual.

Todd had another good night. Scored a nice PP goal to tie up the game at the end of the second. He was in the right place at the right time, and scooped the puck into the net.

Reid. 3 assists. Seems to be playing well.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE GENS

Trudell and Berti both got hat tricks. Played really well.

Nasby. Seemed to get some good scoring chances.

Piva. I really like watching this guy.

Tsimikalis looks like he has settled in with his new team and line mates, had a couple of assists.

SCORING

OTTAWA
2, Talbot, (Todd, Akeson), 06:52
2, Alphonso, 08:13
2, Mancari, (Reid, Bickell), 10:37
2, Todd, (Reid, Akeson), 14:41 (PP)
3, Bonello, (Reid, Mancari), 10:06
3, Mancari, (Bickell, Bonello), 18:53 (PP)

OSHAWA
1, Berti, 06:24
1, Berti, (McBride, Piva), 15:51
1, Trudell, (Nasby, Tsimikalis), 19:47 (PP)
2, Trudell, (Tsimikalis, Gibbons), 12:15
3, Trudell, (Tsimikalis, Halasz), 13:43
3, Berti, (Piva, McBride), 15:50

THREE STARS

OHL three stars were: 1. Berti OSH, 2. Trudell OSH, and 3. Reid.

TEAM 1200 three stars were: 1. Mancari, 2. Trudell OSH, and 3. Berti OSH

REFFING

Reid.

ATTENDANCE

2612.

FUNNIEST (ROGERS) COMMENTATOR QUOTES, OR SHOULD I SAY QUOTES THAT MADE ME THINK WTF?

During the first period, one of the commentator dudes says, "See the Ottawa defence are so smooth, that Brian Kilrea and the scouting staff draft. They skate, they carry the puck, and can skate all day with it."

Hah! They can skate and carry the puck as long as no one tries to take it off ‘em.

And then the dude follows up with, "There’s no shortage of skilled defence on the Ottawa 67s."

Again, Hah! He said this in the first period . . . I’m sure he'll re-think the statement after watching the rest of the period.

Okay, now he’s getting it: "This is a real disjointed game, if I’ve ever seen one." He blames it on the 67s’ arriving late . . . Unfortunately, and little does he know, this is the 67s' standard op.

At the start of the second period, Oshawa got a good scoring chance right off, and that led to this doozy, "Once again, though, a turnover by Battochio and a lack of communication with the Ottawa defenceman. That’s something you’re not really going to see a whole lot from an Ottawa Brian Kilrea-coached team."

Oh ho ho, want to bet? He hasn’t seen many Ottawa games this year, I guess.

And then the other guy responds, “I’m sure he’s [Killer] not too happy after the first 20 minutes of play.” Now this dude – he’s spot-on.

But wait, I think dude number one is catching on!

After Kaufieldt OSH takes a penalty he says, "You don’t want to give a team life where this is none." [As his pardner quips, "That’s right."] "And Ottawa, having their two defencemen run into each other kind of shows their . . . shows the way their game’s been going for them."

And hey, it's only the second period!

** UPDATE by Sid **
StatsGuy just read the above, and said that I should maybe also point out how nice it is to be able to see the game on Rogers, regardless of the commentators. And, yes, I agree. I appreciate the above two dudes and all the volunteers who work for the Rogers OHL broadcasts.

NEXT UP

Ottawa plays at home this Friday against Erie (link).