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August 31, 2005

How Do You Know The Summer Is Over?

Pre-season tickets arrived in the mail today. That signals the end of summer, the advent of fall, back to school, etc. Here's a blurb from the accompanying letter by Jeff Hunt:
This year's edition of the Ottawa 67's team will be solid with returning veterans Danny Battochio, Julian Talbot, Chris Hulit, Byran Bickell (Chicago Blackhawks draft pick), Elgin Reid, Robbie Lawrance, Brodie Beard, and David Jarram. Exciting rookies from last season, Jamie McGinn, Pat Ouellette, Arron Alphonso, Derek Joslin (San Jose Sharks draft pick), and Matt Lahey will add plenty of energy to the 67's lineup in their sophomore season, and the 67's First Round Draft Pick in this year's OHL Priority Selection Logan Couture will look to make an impact in his rookie year with the team. Also joining the 2005-2006 edition of your Ottawa 67's will be highly touted European prospects Jakub Vojta (Carolina Hurricanes draft pick) and Tibor Radulay. Leading the way for his 29th OHL Season will be Hockey Hall of Fame Head Coach and General Manager, Brian Kilrea. (emphasis mine)
Season Ticket Holder Pick Up Night is Thursday September 29, 2005 in the Salons of the Civic Centre - bring photo ID. If you can't make it on the 29th, you can pick them up at the 67s store in the Coliseum building between Monday the 26th to Wednesday the 28th from 9am to 8pm.

The training camp roster is posted by Cappy on the BB:

White Sweaters

1 Anthony Guadagnolo 55 David Scamurra

77 Derek Joslin 10 Steven Tarasuk
4 Patrick Campbell 5 David Jarram
85 Elgin Reid 31 Jordan Gallea

88 Jamie McGinn 89 Logan Couture 9 Chris Hulit
21 Pat Ouellette 20 Adam Sponseller 44 Cory Battista
32 Allan Campbell 24 Scott Pitt 25 Shea Kewin
29 Michael Budd 36 Brandon Timm 19 Brandon Edge

Black Sweaters

51 Matt Spezza 45 Ryan Cote

39 Sean Ryan 2 Brodie Beard
23 Kevin Mole 33 Jakub Vojta
35 Julien Demers 22 Robbie Lawrance

8 Joe Pleckaitis 27 Julian Talbot 18 Pat Daley
62 Tibor Radulay 43 Kyle Locke 71 Arron Alphonso
26 Julian Cimadamore 16 Paul McIlveen 28 Craig Dawson
11 Marc Roedger 12 Thomas Kiriakou 41 Trevor McKinney
42 Zackery Morbeck 37 Jamie Begin 34 Damian Cross

The 2005-06 season schedule is posted on the 67s' site here.

An article I missed posting, on Mark Mancari in the Ottawa Sun by Barre Campbell, 67's Mancari hopes to wow Sabres at camp. He's off to training camp, and we wish him all the best. I hope that he wows 'em and continues on his hockey journey.
"I'm not ruling anything out, and I could return to Ottawa, but that's a last-case scenario," he said. "My goal now is to play in the American league."
Also, Campbell reports that Lahey is out until November d/t knee surgery.

And I should point out that the blog is one year old ... plus a few days. Slipped past me there. The post that started it all? Corey Locke. It's been a long year. Not sure if we're up to blogging another one.

August 24, 2005

Update On The 67s

Whew... finally some news from the 67s via a post on their BB. And it's chock full of info.

First, congrats to GG for his new gig w/ the Sens. I'll be watching to see what he puts together for them. His enthusiasm really came through in his work. And it will be interesting to see the style of the 67s' new talent. Other news:

  • The 67s are switching from TicketMaster to Capital Tickets, complete with barcoding and scanning.

  • The Sharks are excited about Joslin, and have asked Staubitz to training camp as well. Colbert likely won't be attending.

  • 67s training camp dates:

    Septempber 1: 11-12 and 4-6
    Septempber 2: 9-11 and 2:30-4
    Septempber 3: 9-11 and 2:30-4
    Septempber 4: 10-12

    According to the post, "Camp is open to everyone, there is no charge and parking will be available here at Lansdowne."

  • There will be 2 pre-season games at home:

    September 5 (Labour Day Monday) at 2:00 p.m vs. Belleville and Sunday, September 18 at 2:00 p.m. vs Kingston. The team will be in Cornerbrook, Nfld for two exhibition games against the expansion FogDevils (Q) on September 10 & 11. They will also visit Kingston on September 13 (7:30pm) and Belleville on September 17(7:15pm).

  • STHs should receive their letters next week:

    Season Ticket Holders and Package Holders should be receiving a letter from us next week that will include their pre-season tickets, as well as details on this year's Season Ticket pick up night. Right now, it is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 27 from 5p.m. to 8p.m. but we have a couple of issues we need to iron out before this is confirmed.

  • And finally, the Top Prospects game will be at the Corel Centre.

Also, this interesting snippet from an article in the LFP by Ryan Pyette (Knights' day):

On a Hall-designed day to honour the Knights and their unforgettable season yesterday, high-scoring forward Corey Perry took a long, hard look at the display case, trying desperately to recall snippets of what has been the game of his life so far. Later, he admitted he remembered little of the Cup final at the John Labatt Centre because of a suspected concussion he suffered a few minutes into the first period.

"The truth is I was kind of on auto-pilot after that," the Anaheim Mighty Ducks signee said.

With 10 minutes left in that nationally-televised 4-0 win, Perry turned to long-time linemate Dylan Hunter and actually asked, "What game is this?"

"It's the Memorial Cup final," Hunter responded.

"Are we winning?" Perry asked.

"Yes," Hunter replied while giving his teammate a strange look. "We are."

Yikes.

August 17, 2005

Danny Battochio Invite

Another quick update... Heard this morning via TEAM 1200/Steve Lloyd, Danny Battochio has been invited to the Chicago Blackhawks training camp. Good luck Danny!

67s BB has a thread here.

Battochio's got things under control.

August 14, 2005

Quick Update: U18 Wins Gold and Adam Smyth Goes to Atlanta

A quick post to highlight a couple of 67s (current and former) making news.

First, Jamie McGinn... Canada's U18 Team won 5-3 over Czech Republic to take gold. From Hockey Canada:
PIESTANY, Slovakia—Canada’s men's under-18 team won the gold medal on Sunday in the Junior World Cup tournament final, overcoming a spate of early penalties before taking control of the game for a 5-3 victory against the Czech Republic.

Canada won the Junior World Cup Under 18 event for the ninth time in 10 years, with some clutch penalty killing in the first period opening the door to victory.

Despite three quick trips to the penalty box, the Canadians managed to stay level through the early going and eventually found a level of contact that wouldn't get them into trouble with the officials.

The early penalty kills helped shift momentum away from the Czechs, who had the support of the crowd behind them, and as the Canadians got their legs going, they gradually started dominating the play.

They built a 4-1 lead in the second period, and while a pair of Czech goals late in the third made it close, Mitch Fadden of Victoria iced things in the dying moments by scoring into an empty net, his second goal of the game.

Zach Himill of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Logan Pyette of Milestone, Sask., and James Sheppard of Sackville, N.S., also scored for Canada, while Jonathan Bernier of Laval, Que., made 21 saves.

Canada outshot the Czechs 39-24.

"It was a great way to cap off a super tournament for our team," said Camp. "The guys got better every game we played and today was the icing on the cake."

The Canadians went 3-0 in the preliminary round - including a 6-2 whipping of the Czechs - and then beat Finland 3-2 in the semifinals. The Czechs beat Russia 3-2 in a shootout in the other semifinal.

The rematch with the Czechs was a much bigger challenge for Canada.

"This game was a bit more of a wrestling match," said Camp. "We had to kill some penalties first, then we got the momentum and took control of the game and the goals in the third made the game close."

Despite the tight finish Canada was able to maintain its dominance at the tournament, which serves as both a breeding ground for the national team which takes part in the International Ice Hockey Federation's under-18 tournament in the spring and the national junior team.

"This is a great tournament for our team," said Camp. "We play the best teams from Europe and the U.S. It's a great measuring stick for our young players in the program of excellence with the goal being that we develop these players for the national junior team."

Canada is scheduled to fly home in the early hours of Monday morning, with the departure from their hotel set for 3 a.m.

"We'll have a quiet evening together and celebrate as a team before we go in our separate directions. This is our last chance to be together," said Camp.

"Our players are young so they won't be too rowdy, that's for sure. And with our flight so early, there's not a lot of time for the guys to get too crazy."

Here's a link to the team stats. McGinn didn't get any Gs or As, but he made the scorer's sheet in PIMs [link]. Not tops though, he was 18th (6 minor penalties).

Congrats Team Canada!

And the Atlanta Thrashers sign Adam Smyth. From the Thrasher's site:

Smyth, 21, split his first full professional season with Gwinnett (ECHL) and Chicago in 2004-05, notching 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) and team-best 217 penalty minutes ;^) in 49 games with Gladiators, and was scoreless in three games with the Wolves.

The 6-1, 215-pound right wing was scoreless in four games with Port Huron (UHL) in 2003-04. The native of Wiarton, Ontario collected 44 points (23 goals, 21 assists) and 556 penalty minutes in 172 OHL games with Ottawa and Owen Sound from 2000-04.

Way to go Adam!

August 05, 2005

Congratulations and Happy Birthday To Jamie McGinn

Congratulations to Jamie McGinn on making the U-18 team. He definitely impressed last season, contributing significantly on a top line with Talbot and Hulit. The official word from Hockey Canada via press release:

Hockey Canada announced on Thursday the roster of 22 players that will represent Canada at the upcoming Under-18 Junior World Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia, from August 9-14. Hockey Canada held a week long development camp in Kitchener, ON, that began on Saturday July 30th where 40 of Canada’s top under-18 players were vying for a spot on Team Canada.

Director of Player Personnel for Hockey Canada Blair Mackasey headed the selections along with Head Coach Shawn Camp (OHL-Sarnia Sting) and Assistant Coaches Cory Clouston (WHL-Kootenay Ice) and Curtis Hunt (Regina Pats). “We are extremely pleased at the level of intensity these young men showed during this past week” said Mackasey. “The group of players selected today have showed the skill and determination necessary to succeed at the international level.”

Canada will look to defend their title and win their ninth Junior World Cup gold medal having captured gold at eight of the previous nine events that have been held annually in August. The Junior World Cup in 2003 was the only year in which Canada failed to medal at the August event when they finished fourth.

Ten of the twenty-two players play in the WHL, six are from the OHL, five are from the QMJHL and there is one player from the NCAA.

Canada’s Under-18 program and the Summer Development Camp are part of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence beginning with the regional Under-17 teams and ending with the National Junior Team. The primary objectives of the Under-18 program are to identify, evaluate and condition players for the rigors of international competition by giving them their first exposure to international hockey and travel. Many of these Under-18 players will move on to play with Canada’s National Junior team, and many will be high NHL draft picks in 2006.

The released players will continue to be evaluated and monitored along with other Under-18 Canadian players for possible future involvement in the Program of Excellence. This could come as early as the 2006 IIHF World Under-18 Championship on April 12-22, 2006 in Angelholm and Halmstad, Sweden.

And the Roster:

Goaltenders:
Bernier, Jonathan
Irving, Leland

Defence:
Alzner, Karl
Bodnarchuk, Andrew
de Gray, John
Ellerby, Keaton
Pyett, Logan
Shutron, Ben
Wishart, Ty

Forwards:
Armstrong, John
Calla, Brady
Chaput, Stefan
Emmerton, Cory
Fadden, Mitchell
Hamill, Zach
Marchand, Brad
Maxwell, Ben
McCrae, Justin
McGinn, Jamie
Sheppard, James
Staal, Jordan
Toews, Jonathan

See this link for the 2005-06 National Men’s Under-18 Team site. Here's a Q&A after being selected for the team, via Hockey’s Future/Jason Ahrens here. The 67s BB thread on the selection is here. And a couple of my photos from last season (not the best quality, but not bad considering they're taken through the glass and while the guy was moving):

McGinn, fits in well on top line.
McGinn, shooting the puck.

August 02, 2005

67s In The 2005 NHL Entry Draft ... Or Should We Say The 2005 San Jose Entry Draft

Well, it was San Jose all the way. Which is not so surprising when you consider San Jose's GM Doug Wilson, and his relationship with Killer. (San Jose also selected Lukas Kaspar 22nd, 1st Round in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.)

Derek Joslin went #149 (5th Round) to the San Jose Sharks. Position is interesting in light of the great scouting reports we heard throughout the season. From SJ's site:

With the 149th overall selection, the Sharks selected defenseman Derek Joslin of the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League. Joslin posted 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) in 68 games with Ottawa, the second-highest scoring defenseman on the team, behind fellow Sharks draft selection William Colbert (6th round, 183rd overall).

“We watched him for a couple of years,” said Burke. “He has a lot to his game and we feel he can add to it with our coaches.”

And Will Colbert, who had been previously selected by the Ottawa Senators, was also selected by San Jose, #183 (6th Round). From SJ's site:


In the sixth round at 183rd overall, the Sharks selected defenseman William Colbert from the Ottawa 67s (OHL). Colbert scored 32 points (six goals, 26 assists) and 65 penalty minutes in 68 games last season. Colbert, a 2003 seventh round selection (228th overall) of the Ottawa Senators, led all Ottawa 67’s defensemen in scoring last season.

“Colbert was a kid the Senators didn’t sign and we feel he has improved,” said Burke.

And Battochio was not selected. Most likely due to his history of injury, along with his walk-on vs invite status. Good news for the 67s next year possibly.

The 67s' first pick in the Import Draft, Jakub Vojta, went #94 (4th Round) to the Carolina Hurricanes. From Carolina's site:
In the fourth round, Carolina selected defenseman Jakub Vojta with the 94th overall selection. Vojta played in 38 games with Sparta of the Czech junior league in 2004-05, scoring two goals and adding seven assists (9 points).
67s fans discuss the draft and implications here and here.