GAME DAY: Belleville Bulls @ Ottawa 67's

On Tuesday morning, the Ottawa 67’s host the Belleville Bulls for the second time this season during their annual school kids’ game.  The club expects to play in front of 13,000 screaming fans from local elementary schools.  This will create for a great atmosphere much like the home opener between these two same teams.  

Taylor Fielding scored a pair of goals last game.

The Ottawa 67’s defeated the Belleville Bulls by a score of 5-4 in front of a home crowd of 12,379.  Travis Konecny had two assists and showcased his talents for the first time in the regular season.  He was awarded with the first star of the game.  The team looked very good and much more positive from last season.  But somewhere down the road, things started to change.

There are many differences between these two squads from two months ago.  67’s suffered a couple injuries to key players while both teams added a couple more bodies to their rosters.

One key trade made by the Bulls was sending overage defenseman Brady Austin to the London Knights in exchange for Remi Elie.  Elie has made a big impact on his new team’s top line.  He has 8 goals and 15 points in his first 15 games with the Bulls.  The move allows Elie to get top 6 minutes whereas in London, he was behind several other forwards.  

The Bulls filled Austin’s overager spot with Cameron Brace from the Owen Sound Attack.  Brace was acquired for a 2nd and 4th round draft pick.  He will add experience and leadership to this very young team.  The team also acquired defenseman Mark Raycroft.  Raycroft bring good skating, passing and puck movement to the Bulls’ blueline. 

New players added to the 67’s roster from the last time facing the Bulls include Owen Stewart and Ryan Duhaime.  With Sloboda’s return from injury, Duhaime was the odd man out and was assigned to the Kanata Stallions in the CCHL.

The Bulls were last in action on Saturday night where they fell 6-3 to the visiting London Knights.  The Bulls are right behind the 67’s in the standings and have a familiar 10-game record.  The Bulls have gone 3-5-1-1 while the 67’s have gone 2-6-1-1 in their last 10 games.

The 67’s are coming off an embarrassing 8-0 loss to the Kingston Frontenacs where you could not draw from too many positives.  The team will try to build off their other recent losses including a shootout loss in Oshawa where the team played extremely well in the final two periods.  In the midst of their 6th game losing streak, the 67’s will look to snap and 6 game skid.

2013-14 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  7-13-1-1 (GF: 71 / GA: 100)

Belleville Bulls:  5-13-2-2 (GF: 66 / GA: 95)

Leading Scorers

Ottawa 67’s

Joseph Blandisi – 13 goals, 22 points in 21 games

Travis Konecny– 8 goals, 22 points in 22 games

Ryan Van Stralen – 7 goals, 19 points in 22 games

Belleville Bulls

Brendan Gaunce – 10 goals, 22 points in 19 games

Garrett Hooey – 12 goals, 19 points in 20 games

Remi Elie – 9 goals, 18 points in 21 games

Players To Watch

Ottawa 67's

Joseph Blandisi – drafted 6th round to Colorado in 2013
Jacob Middleton – NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list

Alex Lintuniemi – NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list
Travis Konecny – 1st overall pick in OHL, NHL draft eligible 2015

Belleville Bulls

Remi Elie – drafted 2nd round, 40th overall by Dallas in 2013

Brendan Gaunce – drafted 1st round, 26th overall by Vancouver in 2012

Jordan Subban – drafted 4th round, 115th overall by Vancouver in 2013

*David Tomasek - NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list

Overagers

Ottawa 67’s: Ryan Van Stralen, Philippe Trudeau

Belleville Bulls: Scott Simmonds, Jake Worrad

Leadership Squad

Ottawa 67’s:  Taylor Fielding (A), Ryan Van Stralen (A), Joesph Blandisi (A)

Belleville Bulls:  Brendan Gaunce (C), Adam Bignell (A), Garrett Hooey (A), Scott Simmonds (A)

Potential Scratches

Ottawa 67's:  Mike Vlajkov, Taylor Davis (also scratched last game: Trevor Dulong, Owen Stewart, Andrew Abou-Assaly)
Belleville Bulls:  
*follow us on twitter (@msconduct or @A_Quevillon) for game day scratches

Belleville Bulls

Who's Gone?

Malcolm Subban - in the Boston Bruins farm system still fighting for a roster spot with the Bruins

Tyler Graovac – in the Minnesota Wild farm system still fighting for a roster spot with the Wild

Daniil Zharkov – signed contract with Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo in the KHL. He is still in the Edmonton Oilers farm system

Carter Sandlak – traded to Plymouth for a 4th round pick in the off-season

Austen Brassard – in the Winnipeg Jets farm system

Joseph Cramarossa – graduated from OHL last season

Stephen Silas – graduated from OHL last season

Jake Cardwell  – graduated from OHL last season

*Brady Austin – traded to the London Knights

Who's New?

Jake Marchment – acquired from the North Bay Battalion

Luke Cairns – acquired from the Erie Otters

Jason Da Silva – acquired from the Guelph Storm

Andrew Ming – 7th round pick in 2012 OHL Prority Selection

Brody Morris – 9th round pick in 2012 OHL Prority Selection

David Tomasek – 1st round pick in the 2013 CHL Import Draft

Justin Lemcke – 1st round pick in 2013 OHL Prority Selection

Jake Bricknell – 2nd round pick in 2013 OHL Prority Selection

Adam Laishram – 4th round pick in 2013 OHL Prority Selection

Justin Bean – 9th round pick in 2013 OHL Prority Selection

*Remi Elie – acquired from the London Knights earlier in the season

*Cameron Brace – acquired from the Owen Sound Attack earlier in the season

*Mark Raycroft – acquired from the North Bay Battalion earlier in the season

Ottawa Connections

Andrew Ming – native of Williamstown (near Cornwall ), played with Cornwall Colts (CCHL)

Remi Elie – native of Green Valley (near Alexandria), played with Hawkesbury Hawks (CCHL)

So Far This Season…

2012-13 Head-To-Head Stats

Record: 1-0-0-0 for Ottawa
Combined score:  5-4 for Ottawa

Past game preview:

Sept 20/13

Past game reviews:

Sept 20/13 5-4 67’s win

Top scorers

Ottawa 67's

Mike Vlajkov – 1 goal, 2 assists in 1 game
Taylor Fielding – 2 goals, 0 assists in 1 game

Joseph Blandisi – 1 goal, 1 assist in 1 game

Brendan Bell / Travis Konecny – 0 goals, 2 assists in 1 game

Belleville Bulls

Brady Austin / David Tomasek – 1 goal, 1 assist in 1 game

Garrett Hooey / Scott Simmonds – 1 goal, 0 assists in 1 game

Luke Cairns / Jake Marchment / Jordan Subban – 0 goals, 1 assist in 1 game