For the second season in a row, one of the 67’s top young
centers re-joins the team in January after representing Ontario at the IIHF
Under-17 Championships, both coming back with fifth-place finishes in the
tournament.
Travis Konecny, the captain of Team Ontario, had a goal and
three assists for a team that steamrolled through their first two games only to
lose a heartbreaker to Russia.
“I’d heard he had played well,” said Chris Byrne. “It’s tough that their team didn’t do as well
as they wanted but apparently he played well out there.”
Dante Salituro represented the 67’s at last year’s event.
Backstopping Team Ontario for two of their five games was
Ben Blacker, a 67’s prospect playing for the Milton Icehawks in the OJHL.
As promising as Blacker has been, his commitment to Western
Michigan University seems like an obstacle that may prevent him from ever
playing a game with the Barberpoles.
“We know he’s a project for the summer to try and get him
signed,” added Byrne, who selected Blacker 120th overall in the OHL draft.
“We had been working on it in the summer, he’ll play the
rest of the year in Milton, and we’ll take a run at him in the summertime.”
With Philippe Trudeau graduating out of the CHL at season’s
end, Ottawa will be in search of a new starting netminder.
Konecny is expected to be back in the lineup for Ottawa’s
re-match against Windsor next Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment