GAME DAY: Knights @ 67's

The 67’s are back in action tonight hosting an always-exciting London Knights squad who are 4-0-0-1 in their last 5 games. 

Stuck on a 3-game losing streak, the 67’s are 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games.  They are coming off a dissappointing 4-3 shootout loss against the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday afternoon (game review here: http://ottawa67s.blogspot.ca/2013/11/rangers-shoot-down-67s-4-3-in-shootout.html).  The 67’s were lucky to get a point out of the game after a couple bad periods of play leaving them with a lot to work on in practice this past week.

The London Knights are on a 5-game winning streak with help from their two star players Max Domi and Bo Horvat who both currently hold a 5-game point streaks with a total of 18 points combined.  Despite losing a lot of talent from last season, they are still expected to battle for first in the West as they host the Memorial Cup later this season in the spring.

Missing Olli Maata, Max Domi, Bo Horvat and Nikita Zadorov, the Knights got off to a great 7-1 start, but midway through the start and now, things started to go sour.  The Knights were in the midst of an uncharacteristic 3 game losing streak which gives some perspective of the 5-4-1-1 record in their last 11 games.

DEFENSE  

Still missing from their roster is Maata and Zadorov who are still playing with their respective NHL squads after being drafted in the 1st round in last year’s draft.  This is a big blow to the Knights’ defensive core who are also down four veteran defenseman, Tyler Ferry and Tommy Hughes graduating from the OHL and Scott Harrington who left for the next stage of his hockey career in the AHL.  With a lot of 1993 birthdays from last year, Justin Sefton was traded to the Saginaw Spirit earlier this season.

Lack of depth on defense will give sophmore players Dakota Mermis and Miles Liberati a lot more icetime and chances to step up.  The acquisitions of Alex Basso and Brady Austin will help add some more stability and experience with three rookies on the blueline (Santino Centorame, Tim Bender and Aiden Jamieson).

FORWARDS

London’s offensive core is in much better shape than the defensive core.  Despite Alex Broadhurst and Seth Griffith advancing to the next level, the Knights still see 6 of their top 8 scorers from last season return.  Max Domi, Bo Horvat, Chris Tierney and Josh Anderson lead the way.  The Rupert brothers also return.  Griffith and Broadhurst will still be missed combining for 56 goals and 144 points and the leadership which is unmeasurable.  Luckily, the Knights had a very balanced attacked last season and should remain again this season. 

Most notable addition to the forwards is Habs’ first round pick Michael McCarron.  McCarron was set to go the NCAA route, but the Knights were able to convince him otherwise.  Knights’ first rounder, Mitchell Marner, has shown the most offensively sitting 3rd on the team in scoring with 18 points in 19 games.

Here are some more stats to look at before tonight’s game.

2013-14 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  7-11-0-1 (GF: 66 / GA: 84)

London Knights:  12-5-1-1 (GF: 77 / GA: 57)

Leading Scorers

Ottawa 67’s

Joseph Blandisi – 12 goals, 21 points in 17 games

Travis Konecny– 7 goals, 20 points in 18 games

Ryan Van Stralen – 7 goals, 19 points in 18 games

London Knights

Bo Horvat – 8 goals, 23 points in 16 games

Chris Tierney – 9 goals, 22 points in 19 games

Mitchell Marner – 3 goals, 18 points in 19 games

Players To Watch

Ottawa 67's

Joseph Blandisi - drafted 6th round to Colorado in 2013, leads team in scoring with 20 points in 17 games
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

London Knights

Bo Horvat – drafted 1st round, 9th overall by Vancouver in 2013

Chris Tierney – drafted 2nd round, 55th overall by San Jose in 2012

Max Domi – drafted 1st round, 12th overall by Phoenix in 2013

Josh Anderson – drafted 4th round, 95th overall by Columbus in 2012

Ryan Rupert – drafted 6th round, 157th overall by Toronto in 2012

Kyle Platzer – drafted 4th round, 96th overall by Edmonton in 2013

Michael McCarron – drafted 1st round, 25th overall by Montreal in 2013

Brady Austin – drafted 7th round, 193rd overall by Buffalo in 2012

Miles Liberati – drafted 7th round, 205th overall by Vancouver in 2013

Anthony Stolarz – drafted 2nd round, 45th overall by Philadelphia in 2012

Christian Dvorak - NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list

Santino Centorame - NHL draft eligible 2014, NHL Central Scouting C list

Overagers

Ottawa 67’s: Ryan Van Stralen, Philippe Trudeau

London Knights: Paxton Leroux, Alex Basso, Brady Austin

Leadership Squad

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

London Knights:  Josh Anderson (A), Dakota Mermis (A), Chris Tierney (A), Ryan Rupert (A), Brett Welychka (A)

Potential Scratches

Ottawa 67's:  Mike Vlajkov, Taylor Davis, Adrian Sloboda (also scratched last game: Trevor Dulong, Ryan Duhaime)
London Knights:  Matt Rupert (suspension)
*follow us on twitter (@msconduct or @A_Quevillon) for game day scratches

London Knights

Who's Gone?

Alex Broadhurst – playing in the Chicago Blackhawks farm system, Rockford (AHL)

Seth Griffith – playing in the Boston Bruins farm system, Providence (AHL)

Remi Elie – traded to the Belleville Bulls

Jacob Jammes – traded to the Mississauga Steelheads

Olli Maatta – playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins

Scott Harrington – playing in the Pittsburgh Penguins farm system, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)

Tommy Hughes – graduated from OHL, Hartford (AHL) – free agent

Tyler Ferry – graduated from OHL

Kevin Bailie – graduated from OHL, Queen’s University (OUAA)

Who's New?

Mitchell Marner – London’s 1st round pick, 19th overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Tim Bender – London’s 2nd round pick, 118th overall in the 2013 CHL Import Draft

Michael McCarron – Belleville’s 6th round pick, 107th overall in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection

Tait Seguin – London’s 6th round pick, 118th overall in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection

Christian Dvorak – London’s 8th round pick, 163rd overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection

Aiden Jamieson – London’s 10th round pick, 119th overall in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection

Brady Austin – acquired from the Belleville Bulls

Alex Basso – acquired from the Sarnia Sting

Ottawa connections

Bo Horvat – cousin of 67's forward Travis Konecny

Last season

2012-13 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  16-46-0-6 (10th in the Eastern Conference)
London Knights:  50-13-2-3 (1st in the Western Conference)

2012-13 OHL Playoffs

Ottawa 67's:  Did not qualify
London Knights:  Defeated the Barrie Colts in 7 games to win the OHL Championship (J Ross Robertson Cup)

2012-13 Head-To-Head Stats

Record: 2-0-0-0 for London
Combined score: 21-6 for London

Top scorers

Ottawa 67's

Michal Cajkovsky - 1 goal, 3 assists in 2 games
Joseph Blandisi - 0 goals, 4 assists in 5 games

Sean Monahan - 2 goals, 0 assists in 2 games

London Knights

Max Domi – 5 goals, 3 assists in 2 games

Bo Horvat – 3 goals, 3 assists in 2 games

Seth Griffith – 2 goals, 4 assists in 2 games