Ottawa 67s Fan Report: Game Recap vs Toronto (09-Jan)

67s win 5-2 over the Majors. See OHL game summary here. And the Majors have a game summary posted (Power-Play Dry Spell Costs Majors).

IN THE NEWS
From SLAM! Sports, 67s finish Majors.

"We had a little meeting and said this is a game we have to win," said Mancari. "St. Mike's was doing well. They got two good players so we took this game real importantly and we worked hard."

From the Ottawa Sun, Killer makes his power play.

67's 5, Majors 2 Brian Kilrea has a message for the OHL: Lay off his team.
While the 67's coach and GM was pleased to see his club take care of business yesterday with a 5-2 win over the St. Mike's Majors, Kilrea was seeing red after his club was forced to kill off nine power plays.
That, coupled with 10 power-play opportunities for the Petes in a 4-1 over Ottawa on Saturday, left Kilrea with one of the most-penalized teams in the OHL.
"You get frustrated when you have so many penalties called against you," said Kilrea, who stopped referee Carman Cox in the hallway to have a short chat as the teams went to the dressing room following the game.
"I made a mistake when I said that we wanted to have a team that was aggressive, tough and took care of business. It looks to me like the league took note of it and we're getting all kinds of penalties.
"I'm going to tell my players not to be aggressive and not to be tough. Maybe that way, we won't get so many penalties."

And from from the Toronto Sun, Donati debuts not enough for St. Mike's.

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on radio (The TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec), as well as television (Rogers/Scott MacArthur, Ed Hand, and John Chabot).

In his pre-game interview, Killer complemented both Talbot and Guadagnolo for their play in the previous game against the Petes. He said that Talbot worked very hard all night, as he was the only one working on the PK. Killer said that Guadagnolo came into the game, and prevented the team from an embarrassment (by the Petes).

The Donati brothers, Justin and Tyler, have been traded to Toronto (for Cal Clutterbuck and a 5th round pick), and will be in the line up today.

LINE UPS
1st Bickell, Petruzalek, Kaspar
2nd VanderVeeken, Bonello, Mancari
3rd Akeson, Talbot, Hulit
4th McGinn, Lahey, Alphonso

Defence pairings: Staubitz, Colbert; Joslin, Reid; Van Herpt, Lawrance.

Starting in net: Guadagnolo.

Sitting out: Ouellette (inj-mono), Beard (inj-shoulder), and McIlvene and Jarram (healthy scratches).

Killer was interviewed on Rogers during the first intermission by Scott. On the difference in home vs road record: If I could figure it out we’d be a better team; we’re inconsistent; don’t play the same game. On the game last night vs Peterborough: Our PK was good and Guadagnolo had a tremendous game; not too many other positives. On acquiring Staubitz: Needed a right hand shot, more flexibility, size, and toughness. On trading Wharton: He put a lot of pressure on himself; tried to do too much; tried to do everything perfectly, frustrated himself. On last minute trade moves: We have a card left; we’ll be looking; nothing for sure; we’ll be listening; never sure what will come up.

Staubitz was interviewed on Rogers during the second intermission by Scott. It’s been exciting, being new. This is his second game in this arena. It’s unreal to play in front of the best fans in junior hockey. He was a little disappointed to leave the team that he’s played with for 4 years, but glad to come to this organization. He heard rumours of a trade, but didn’t know if they would be true. But to get traded to a team like this, it’s exciting. His first thought after the trade, was to get down here quick and meet the guys and become part of the team. Killer has asked to mostly keep his game simple, and work hard with his partners. When asked about taking a leadership role, he said that being one of the older guys on the team, it’s something that comes with being in the league for 4 years.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The 67s came out a little slow – again – seemed like they were sitting back a little; timid. They didn’t seem to be going after their man – leaving guys open, especially around their own net. The Majors scored first, the goal resulting from poor defensive coverage by the 67s. Fortunately Ottawa came right back to get themselves tied. It was 2-2 at the end of the first. The second period was better, although the 67s started getting a lot of penalty calls. (I thought Killer had a "special relationship"?) Some were justified, some were just bad calls (as per usual). The good news, is that they were successful in killing off all of them (Toronto 0/9 on the PP). Peters (TOR) was pulled from goal at the end of the second period. The 67s scored 2 more goals in the second. Things started to get quite physical in the third. Guadagnolo made some great saves to keep the 67s in the game throughout the PKs. Also, the fourth line got very limited ice time this game – Alphonso and McGinn did get some shifts with the other lines d/t penalties. This was r/t the number of PKs Ottawa had, combined with the lines that the Majors were throwing out there. One last goal by Mancari in the third.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE 67s
This is getting repetitive, but that’s a good thing in this case. The same guys seem to be working hard, game after game. Nice to see it.

Guadagnolo. Started off a little shaky in the first period, with poor defensive coverage by his teammates. But then he got into his zone, and by the second and third he was making some absolutely amazing saves. His play in the third saved the 67s the game, when they took a number of penalties, including a 5 on 3. They finally won a game with Guadagnolo in net, and scored 5 goals to boot!

Talbot. Underrated Player Of The Year? He is the most consistently hard working, reliable player on the team. He was sporting an ‘A’ on his jersey (as the position vacated by Wharton). He logged so much time on the ice – regular line, penalty killing, face-offs.

Mancari. Another great game. While he didn’t have as many nice passes as Friday night, he did score a couple of nice goals, had a fight, was physical, worked hard. Awarded OHL first star. Mancari scored his 20th goal, and is now tied with Hulit (20 G) for team scoring leader (followed by Talbot 17 G, Bonello 15 G, and Petruzalek 14 G).

In terms of game stars, I'd call it a draw between Guadagnolo and Talbot (Talbot getting the slight lead), with Mancari a close second.

Bonello. Drew another penalty in the third!

Kaspar. Had a better night – still not consistent effort throughout the game, though. Scored a goal from top of the circle. Got called for ‘illegal equipment’, after the Majors called for a stick check. This is the second time this season that Kaspar has been called on this. StatsGuy noted that it’s interesting that Kaspar hasn’t been able to score lately, and then when he does it turns out he’s been using an illegal stick. (John Chabot says that the penalty call for ‘illegal equipment’ costs the team $200.)

Bickell. He’s fighting everyone! He had 2 tonight. That’s 5 fights in 4 straight games.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE MAJORS
Justin and Tyler Donati. They came into this came playing hard. Had some good chances – were dangerous when they were on the ice. Seems like the 6 weeks off didn’t do too much harm, condition-wise. Haskins, playing with the Donati brothers, had a great game. The only offence by the Majors.

McIver and Lehman were causing all sorts of trouble for the 67s – drawing penalties for their team. Lehman refused to fight after egging on a couple of 67s players – drawing jeers of ‘coward’ from the fans behind the visitor’s bench. Finally fought with Bickell at the end of the third. Franchin is one big guy.

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Mancari, (Bonello, VanderVeeken), 04:13
1, Talbot, (Akeson, Hulit), 04:43
2, Kaspar, (Petruzalek, Bickell), 05:44
2, Akeson, (Hulit), 10:37
3, Mancari, (Bonello, Bickell), 15:20

PETERBOROUGH
1, Haskins, (Donati, Donati), 03:45
1, T. Donati, (Haskins, Donati), 05:57

THREE STARS
OHL three stars, all from Ottawa, were: 1. Mancari, 2. Talbot, and 3. Guadagnolo. The second time this w/e all the stars for Ottawa home games were Ottawa players. To be fair, though, they have a case for today's selection. These three players were the best on the ice.

The TEAM 1200 three stars, all from Ottawa also, were: 1. Talbot (scores; kills penalties; wins face-offs; hard working; on his ‘A’: not the most talkative guy in the room, but leads by example), 2. Guadagnolo (had a sharp game today, great saves), and 3. Mancari (consistent play, hard worker, 20 G). Honourable mention to Akeson.

REFFING
Cox. He is so bad. Linesmen were pretty bad in this game as well.

ATTENDANCE
7633.

NEXT UP
This Wednesday (12.1.2005) at Belleville. Taking a look at Belleville's stats: