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October 23, 2010

67's Out Battled by the Battalion

After the 5 - 1 drubbing at the hands of the 67's last Sunday, Stan Butler's Brampton Battalion came to Ottawa with revenge on their minds and they delivered. They outplayed Ottawa in every aspect of the game and without the stellar goal tending, once again, of Petr Mrazek, the score would have been much higher than 3 - 1. Click here to see the game sheet.

It's quite simple: Brampton came to play and Ottawa didn't. Name any aspect of the game, except goaltending, and Brampton did it better. Battles on the boards - decisive victories. Aggressive forecheck - check. Puck possession - downright greedy. Penalty killing - almost criminal. The Battalion were 20 players operating like one smooth machine. Ottawa? Not so much.

Ottawa's best cycle came in the first minute and a half in the first period. And then Brampton took over and never relinquished control.

With first period goals from Michael Santini (PPG) and Ian Watters, the Battalion scored all the goals they needed for the win. The more telling stat is that after 20 minutes, Ottawa managed only 4 shots on goal to Brampton's 15. Ottawa had 3 powerplays in the first period and did not register one shot at all while Brampton had at least one shot shorthanded in each of their PKs.

With Marc Zanetti out of the line-up to recover from an injury from the Kingston game on Wednesday, Ryan Hanes moved to the blue line and Remi Giftopolous drew into the line up as a member of the 4th line. And he took advantage of his appearance to notch his first OHL goal of the season early in the second period to break the potential shut-out. Cody Lindsay assisted.

Chris Bryne called a timeout in the second period to settle his team down had it a bit of an effect but it wasn't enough to overcome the serious momentum that Brampton had built up. Fights from Janes, Smith (that was a heavy-weight bout) and Tyler Toffoli (!?) could not inspire the team enough to get the puck into the back of the Brampton net.

When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Brampton won 3 -1 and out-shot the 67's 31- 18. It wasn't pretty.

Game's Three Stars as chosen by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67's as selected by the Team1200: Taylor Fielding


Random Thoughts
  • Enough said about how the 67's played. Full marks to the Brampton Battalion for an exquisite display of control, skill, speed and teamwork. It was great to watch.
  • Petr Mrazek currently sits third in the league for the amount of shots he has faced (290 in 8 games). If this keeps up at this pace, both he and his equipment will wear out before the season is over.
  • Announced attendance at the 67's game: 7184. At the last Phoenix Coyotes game: 6706. Thank you Ottawa 67's fans for making major junior hockey a success here in Ottawa.
  • A shout-out to long-time 67's fan, Walt. He's not feeling so well right now and could use all the good vibes we can send his way. Your friends in Section 21 miss you. Best wishes Walt!
More Pictures:





Time out!




Celebrating Remi Giftopolous' first goal of the season (and only goal of the game)


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Tyler Graovac's academic achievement recognized


Click here to see more pictures.

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