Who Made The Cut?

The team hasn't made an official announcement but Don Brennan has some news in today's Ottawa Sun about who made it and who didn't.

In case you're too impatient to check out the link, here's what he had to say....


Known for his fleet feet, Dylan Anderson sped by other 67's wannabes to make the team's 2008-09 roster over the weekend.

He was not the lone training camp surprise.

A Greely native and the only son of Danny and Judy Anderson, the 6-foot-1, 175-lb. centre-right wing was Ottawa's eighth-round pick in last June's OHL priority selection. If that doesn't speak enough to the digging done by the team's scouts, consider that left winger Riley Sonnenburg and defenceman Brian Birkhoff also survived final cuts, and they were 10th- and 11th-round picks in 2007.

All told, there were nine new faces at yesterday's practice, with some tinkering still to be done.

The one veteran to be given walking papers by 67's coach and GM Brian Kilrea was Tye McGinn, the younger brother of last year's captain, Jamie McGinn. The 6-foot-2, 195-lb. left winger had three goals and eight assists in 59 games for the 67's last season.

"That was a tough cut," said Kilrea. "Tye is a super kid who would do anything for the team. He took his lumps when he was benched and he never said a word. But we added Corey Cowick and he took his spot ... I just didn't think Tye was going to be a regular.

"Right now I have 15 forwards. I don't want 15, 13 is ideal, but that's the talent that showed up at camp."

Anderson scored 29 points with the CJHL's Orleans Blues last season.

"He has just great speed, he gets on defencemen in a hurry," said Kilrea. "That's why you have camp. To find out."

Had he not made the team, Anderson was headed back to the CJHL, where he would have been playing for Gloucester.

"I surprised myself," said Anderson. "Before camp I thought I had a shot at making the team, and when I found out I did I was really happy."

Among the 15 forwards is injury-plagued veteran Matt Lahey, who recently had his knee scoped and has been told to steer clear of body contact for a couple of weeks. On the bubble is European draft pick Yakov Vorobyov, who played for Kazakhstan in the world juniors last season.

While Vorobyov arrived last week, his skates did not. He's been borrowing a pair from assistant coach Chris Byrne.

"Poor kid, first his bag didn't show up, then he fell and really hit the side of his face," said Kilrea. "We've got to give him a little more time before we make a judgment. The one thing we know is he's got a quick release and good shot."

The 16-year-olds who solidified their spots are forwards Tyler Toffoli and Pieter Schinkelshoek, as well as defenceman Derek Hartwick.

Toffoli, who scored 68 goals as a midget last season, is currently skating on a line with Ryan Martindale and Mike Latta, the team's top two picks in 2007. He'll likely get a chance to play with star centre Logan Couture and Cowick at some point.

"From what I've seen in four days, he's going to be outstanding," Kilrea said of Toffoli. "He's got gifted hands and he sees the ice so well. He's the kind of guy who could play on any line and he'd be a star."

From today's Ottawa Sun.

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Given the enthusiasm expressed during the press conference this morning, we could be looking forward to a stronger year than the last couple. It's pretty honourable for Killer to keep a spot for Lahey but I we get a signal sooner rather than later on how long he might last. He may be good but he's been very unlucky with the injuries and the total time off certainly cannot have done much in terms of improving his skills as a hockey player. With an abundance of forwards something will have to give.

First pre-season game on Friday - hope to see you there (if our tickets arrive in time!).

Cheers!