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January 15, 2011

Good Effort Effort but Ottawa Loses 6 - 3 to Windsor

The Ottawa 67's started their hardest three-in-three weekend of the year so far on a losing note with their 6 - 3 loss to the Windsor Spitfires at the Rona Centre. The 67's played better than the score suggests but they were unable to get pucks behind a sometimes very floppy/sloppy Jake Campbell and Petr Mrazek had an characteristically bad game. It was a good game to watch even in the loss.

Click here for the game sheet.

With the trade deadline having come and gone last Monday, we now see the teams that are set for the rest of the season.

The 67's stayed pat having added what they believe were the necessary pieces well before the deadline. The Windsor Spitfires however, did not stand pat at all. In fact, once it was clear that there weren't any takers for the Ellis - Kassian pair, Windsor decided to go for it and acquired D Adrian Robertson from Peterborough, F Jake Carrick from Sault Ste. Marie, F Taylor Carnevale from Barrie and F Jeff Brown from Oshawa. So Windsor is pretty loaded with talent heading down the back stretch (the also have three medalists from the WJHC2011 tournament).

The 67's started the game a little in awe of their opponents - giving them a lot of space. The Spitfires easily kept Ottawa from generating any effective offense. Alexander Khokhlachev opened the scoring for Windsor on their 4th SOG just 4 minutes into the game. It took Ottawa almost 11 minutes to get their first SOG but they slowly started picking up their game and carrying the play to Windsor. Tyler Toffoli tied it up with 29 seconds left in the first period with a wrist shot from the faceoff circle. Shane Prince got the first assist for his heads-up pass from behind the net.

Tyler Toffoli gave the 67's their only lead of the game on the power play when he one-timed a pass from Travis Gibbons and fired it upstairs on Jake Campbell.

But two quick goals (20 seconds apart) restored Windsor's lead and another one before the period ended would be all the scoring that they needed to take the game.

Ryan Martindale pulled the team within 1 by finally capitalizing on another misadventure by Jake Campbell with an easy shot into an open cage. Tyler Toffoli with the only assist.

The 67's continued to play hard and kept up with Windsor with shots but they did not not create a lot of great scoring chances nor did they take advantage of the ones they had. Goals from newly minted Spitfire Jake Carrick and tough guy Zac Kassian sealed the deal for Windsor but to their credit, the 67's played hard right to the final buzzer.

The 67's are on the road for a game tonight against divisional rival Oshawa (who lost in Kingston on Friday) and a game on Sunday against the conference leading Mississauga St. Mike's Majors who also made moves at the trade deadline. This weekend will be a good measuring stick for the team.

3rd Star - Tyler Toffoli (Windsor players Jeff Brown and Jake Carrick did not take a turn for the many Windsor fans present)


Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67's
Hardest Working 67's as selected by the Team1200: Dalton Smith


Random Thoughts:
  • The 67's are still unable to ice 4 lines with Jon Carnevale, Steven Janes and Cosimo Fontana still out due to injuries. Jon should be skating soon and Steven's schedule has him ready by the playoffs (hopefully) but there is no timetable for Cosimo. Remy Giftopolous was quietly sent down after the holiday break. Fielding is playing as a forward and Shipley is the 7th D.
  • The Windsor coach bellowing instructions from the bench reminded me of the minor coaches yelling at their young charges at the Bell Capital Cup.
  • The 67's were able to convert on one of their 3 power plays and were able to hold Windsor off on both of their chances.
  • If the team has aspirations of going deep in the playoffs, they will have to get some secondary scoring going. A one-line team will not do it.
  • The Ottawa 67's lost long-time fan Walt King on Wednesday. Until this season, Walt was a familiar face to the fans in section 21. He prepared and shared his great game sheets and was always up for a long chat. I particularly remember Walt for his encouragement for the blog and my photography. He always had a kind word and it was appreciated. My condolences to his daughter and co-67's fan Elizabeth, and the family and friends of Walt.
More Pictures: Click here to see more pictures from the game.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How might I get a copy of one of the pictures from this game; specifically LK6W0057... thanks.

Valerie said...

That's a good one of Gibbons isn't it. Probably my favorite. email me at bruggbllitz@hotmail.com