Game Recap vs Kingston (16-Jan)

The 67s lose 4-3 to the Frontenacs.
See OHL game summary here.

IN THE NEWS
From the Ottawa Sun, Don Brennan writes, 67's struggle Fronts to back.

“I don't think our guys matched their desire level,” added Kilrea. “Kingston outworked us.”

This is why I believe this team isn’t going anywhere this year . . . I’ve decided to face reality. A team with less skill, conditioning, etc., can train harder. But you can’t train desire. You can’t train attitude. You either have it or you don’t have it, and clearly this group is in the ‘don’t have it’ column. It doesn’t matter who Killer brings in. They don’t want it more than the other guys.

“Maybe our guys thought (the Fronts) were going to be tired,” said Kilrea.

Well, that’s always a great winning tactic. Moving on. From the Kingston-Whig Standard, Claude Scilley writes, There's no place like … the road?

“We showed good resolve every time Ottawa scored,” [Coach] Hulton said. “It looked like we were in a bit of danger when they tied it early in the third but we scored almost right away, which kept the crowd out of it and stole the momentum from Ottawa.

“Then we did a great job of protecting the lead. We planted four guys in the neutral zone and tried to stuff everything, cut their speed down. We did a good job. We frustrated them and forced them to ice the puck a few times. They were stuck on the same shot total for a while. We did a great job of bottling up the neutral zone.”

And a game summary from OurSports Central, Fronts squeeze by 67's on Smolenak's tally.

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on both radio (TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec), as well as television (Rogers/Andy Hannan, Lee Versage, and Ed Hand).

LINE UPS
Forwards: Bickell, Petruzalek, Kaspar; VanderVeeken, Bonello, Mancari; Akeson, Talbot, Hulit; McGinn, Alphonso. (The starting line up was VanderVeeken, McGinn, and Alponso.)
Defence pairings: Colbert, Staubitz; Joslin, Reid; Lawrance, Van Herpt
Starting in net: Guadagnolo. Spezza was on the bench.
Out: Battochio, Ouellette, Beard, Jarram, and Lahey.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The game began with poor defensive coverage – what is new, why do I bother saying it anymore – letting guys stand in front of the net. And penalty after penalty . . . It really drags the game down. The penalties continued into the second period. In the third, the 67s had long periods where they couldn’t get the puck out of their zone – but Burchell put the whistle away, so at least it didn’t drag on and on and on.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE 67s
Akeson. Worked hard, scored 2 goals!, had chances for the hat trick, was physical. Great game by Jeremy.
Bickell. Another good effort by Bickell. Had a physical game, forechecked.
Staubitz. Did a good job on the PK, clearing pucks. Has a nice hard point shot.
Kaspar. Another game of consistent effort. He looked really good this w/e. Petruzalek as well.
Guadagnolo. He was playing the puck more – clearing himself, etc. Out of position a few times, weak puck control/rebound coverage.
Bonello. Continues to draw penalties.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE FRONTS
Hughes. THE. BEST. PLAYER. ON. THE. ICE. The fastest skater I’ve seen in a long time. Dangerous. And his linemate, C. Stewart was not too bad himself. He was dominant on the ice. A very dangerous line.
Smolenak and A. Stewart also worked hard.
Davis stopped a helluva lot of SOGs (39/42).
I also really like Kotsopoulos and Griffith.

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Akeson, (Talbot, Hulit), 05:52 (PP)
2, Akeson, (Staubitz, Talbot), 04:53 (PP)
3, Bickell, (Petruzalek, Lawrance), 05:14

PETERBOROUGH
1, A. Stewart, (Smolenak, Emmerton), 04:06
1, Hughes, (C. Stewart), 15:08
2, C. Stewart, (Hughes, Petrow), 13:24
3, Smolenak, (Kotsopoulos, A. Stewart), 07:00

THREE STARS
OHL three stars were: 1. C. Stewart (KIN), 2. Akeson, and 3. Hughes (KIN).

TEAM 1200 three stars were: 1. Hughes (KIN), 2. Akeson, and 3. C. Stewart (KIN).

REFFING
Burchell.

ATTENDANCE
8372.

NEXT UP
This Friday night (1.21.2005) vs Saginaw Spirit and then on Sunday afternoon (1.23.3005) vs London. (They were reporting today on The TEAM 1200 that the game vs London is already sold-out.)