67s win 3-2 over the Otters.
See OHL game summary here.
IN THE NEWS
From SLAM! Sports, 67's edge Otters. A snippet:
From the Ottawa Sun, Don Brennan writes Newest 67's beach Otters. A snippet:Bonello's goal at 5:15 of the first period put an end to Erie netminder Josh Disher's shutout streak at 148 minutes and 51 seconds. Disher, who finished with 26 saves for the Otters (19-12-4-4), had recorded shutouts in his last two starts.
And from the Erie Otters’ site, 67's Hang on to Beat Otters.Most obviously, Jamie VanderVeeken's second-period goal turned out to be the winner in a 3-2 victory over the Erie Otters in front of 8,615 fans. But overager Brad Staubitz was also solid as part of a restructured defence that made goalie Danny Battochio's life a little easier than the 37 shots on goal he faced would indicate.
[. . .]
"I was impressed," 67's coach Brian Kilrea said of VanderVeeken and Staubitz, both of whom were acquired from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds earlier this week. "I thought we played better in our own end ... tougher in our own end ... and we limited the rebound chances.
[. . .]
"I'm not used to playing in front of a big crowd ... I think it gave me a boost," said VanderVeeken, a 6-foot-2, 215-lb. winger. "I wanted to play a physical game ... use your size to your advantage to let people know who you are. I'm not much of a goal scorer, I just try to chip in when I can. Mancari made a great pass."
PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on both radio – The TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec, and television – Rogers/Scott MacArthur, Ed Hand, and John Chabot.
According to Schreib’s, Hulit will play. Hulit told Killer that he wanted to play, even though the Doc said he should sit out. They all discussed, and Hulit’s playing.
LINE UPS
1st VanderVeeken, Bonello, Mancari
2nd Akeson, Talbot, Hulit
3rd Bickell, Petruzalek, Kaspar
4th McGinn, Lahey, Alphonso
Defence pairings: Reid, Joslin; Staubitz, Colbert; Van Herpt, Jarram
Starting in goal: Battochio
Sitting out: Ouellette, McIlveen, Beard, and Lawrance
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Both teams started off a little bumbly – falling down, running into each other. Erie, especially, seemed to have a hard time keeping upright. The 67s looked like they had worked on their defence – at times it seemed as though they had some kind of system working (Yippee!). Both Staubitz and VanderVeeken had impressive debuts, and Jarram also had a good game. The team was also very physical – like they collectively decided that no one was going to push them around anymore. Battochio did get knocked a couple times, but it was done so that the ref couldn’t call blatant G-tending interference. The 67s allowed very few odd-man rushes, which were so common in the last few games. They still seem to have trouble controlling the puck when stripping it from the opposition. Many times, after getting the puck, they ended up passing it directly to an Erie player. Overall, though, good stuff.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE 67s
Mancari. Love him. He continues to play with speed, skill, physicality, energy. He had some beautiful passes - tape-to-tape, nice, crisp, solid passes. He impresses me.
Bonello. Love him. He had a beautiful PP goal, off of one of those wonderful passes from Mancari discussed above. He was left all alone to the left of the Erie net. He broke Disher’s (ERI) SO streak.
Talbot. Love him. He is such a steady, hard working, skilled player. No drama, but you can always count on him. I think that he goes unnoticed for a lot of what he does. Battochio. Love him. Another great game. I was amazed at the rebound control he showed in this game.
Hulit. Had an okay game, but you could tell he is still not 100% yet.
VanderVeeken. Had a really good game. He’s big – surprised me as he appears small on his photo. He’s talented and physical, works hard. He scored a goal in his first game – the game winner, no less. Hope there are many more to come.
Petruzalek. Came back working hard. He had a few chances, but missed the puck with his stick, or overskated the puck. He was also very physical – finishing checks etc. A carry-over from the World Juniors maybe?
Kaspar. Had an okay night. I think that he’s missing something, not sure what though. He seems to take shifts off. Hmmm.
Bickell. Had one of the most entertaining fights of the year so far with Lee (ERI). I think he was taking one for the team – some stuff was being said, some after the whistle jabs etc. Bickell stared him down, then they dropped the gloves, circled, and locked up. Bickell’s helmet came off first, it took a bit to get Lee’s off. Bickell got a number of shots in, but Lee did get some too. Lee left the ice immediately to get treatment (?hand) but did come back into the game. Unfortunately, Bickell was also injured. He took shifts off at the end of the period, and he didn’t return to play the third. McGinn was moved to the Kaspar/Petruzalek line in his place.
Akeson. Had a better night. He was working hard on his shifts. He was physical – had a number of really good, clean, hard hits. In the best one, he came roaring out of the penalty box to hit Greene (ERI) who was standing next to the 67s’ bench. Akeson checked him, and Greene went skates-up over the boards, and disappeared into the 67s’ bench.
Staubitz. Steady in defence. I feel he made an impressive debut. The team actually played some sort of defensive system – it wasn’t spotless; there was still lots of missed plays – but my God, you could actually see it! How can it be that one new guy makes such a difference on the defence – is he the cause?
Reid. Got his first OHL goal off of a nifty pass from Petruzalek. I think that Disher (ERI) expected Petruzalek to shoot, then when he passed to Reid, Reid appeared to hesitate as well. Good for him. He also played a great defensive game. I’m actually seeing why he was a first round pick.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE OTTERS
Platt. Wow. This guy is something special. He was speedy and skilled. You can see why he is the current scoring leader in the OHL – he’s number one for goals scored. He’s also feisty, you know, an S-disturber, gets in guys’ faces. Love that. They said on the Rogers broadcast that Platt himself is responsible for almost 50% of the teams’ goals this season.
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| 39 | 31 | 17 | 48 | 3 | 54 |
Hotham. Great on defence. Seemed to be very steady.
Shennan. Another in-your-face player. Seemed to have Van Herpt’s number in the third – checking him very hard a few times.
SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Bonello, (Mancari, Colbert), 05:15 (PP)
2, Reid, (Petruzalek, Kaspar), 00:57
2, VanderVeeken, (Mancari, Bonello), 04:31
ERIE
2, Herring, (Heller, Platt), 12:52
3, Platt, (MacLean, Galasek), 19:11
THREE STARS
OHL three stars were: 1. Battochio, 2. Reid, and 3. Talbot. All Ottawa – Who picks these? Bunch of homers. But they did recognize Talbot . . .
The TEAM 1200 three stars were: 1. Mancari, 2. Platt (ERI), and 3. Battochio. And an honourable mention to Reid. This is why I try to include the TEAM’s three star selections – they are generally more realistic – and tend to not be so biased toward the 67s. The players I think stood out are usually the ones that they select or are given honourable mentions. I mean, with the above OHL selection – the score was 3-2 – and there were some very good Erie players.
REFFING
McQuigge. He started off with some bad calls – on both sides. Then he settled and let them play. He did put the whistle away at the end of the third, letting a number of penalties go in the last minutes.
ATTENDANCE
8615. A good crowd.
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Kudos to the anthem singer – an older woman. Sang both American (they remembered this time!) and Canadian anthems. She is usually quite speedy, doesn’t add additional warbles, on key, great job.
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