GAME DAY: 67's host the Bulls for final regular season home game

The Ottawa 67’s host the Belleville Bulls for the final time this regular season.  Despite their pretty easy ride with Belleville this season, the 67’s look to gain some more space between them.  They currently sit 9th in the Eastern Conference, 4 points ahead of the Bulls but 4 points back of the Mississauga Steelheads for the final playoff spot. The good news?  The 67’s have four games in hand against the Steelheads.  

With 3 games in 2.5 days including a home-in-home with the Bulls, the 67’s will look to get off to a good start – especially against teams they have won easily against before.  While they have won 3 of the 4 games so far in the season-series, the 67’s can’t take any team lightly.  Rewind to December 13, 2013, the 67’s found themselves in a 3-0 hole early in the 1st period.  The 67’s battled back but came up short 4-3 in regulation.

There have been a couple changes to each lineup.  The 67’s exchanged 19-year olds with the Barrie Colts; 67’s leading scorer Joseph Blandisi went to the Colts while Erik Bradford joined the 67’s.  Bradford has already made an impact with the team notching 7 points in his first two games.  He will be wearing number 33 to honour his cousin, Tye McGinn, who used to play for the 67’s.  Bradford’s other cousin, Jamie McGinn also played for the 67’s.

Two other trades for the 67’s included acquiring two goaltenders.  Connor Hughes was acquired in December, but never saw any playing time.  He was re-assigned and is now playing with Trenton in the OJHL.  Liam Herbst has suited up for one game for the 67’s and should be expected to start in one of the 3 games this weekend. A once highly sought out prospect, Herbst was plagued with injuries.  From our reports, he looked solid despite a sloppy defense in front of him in a 10-5 loss.

New to the Bulls is goaltender Michael Giugovaz who was acquired from the Petes (G Jason Da Silva sent to the Petes).  Giugovaz may be most known for the goaltender that slipped on the ice while skating to hiscrease.  Giugovaz was just acquired and has yet to see icetime with the Bulls.  Graham is still considered their starting goaltender.  The Bulls also called up Maurizio Colella from the Wellington Dukes of the OJHL.  He was their 5th round selection in 2013.

Other notes:

• Cameron Brace returns from suspension after being sidelined five games for actions stemming from a game on December 31st against the Niagara IceDogs.
• Round 3:  Trudeau vs Harper.  Stephen Harper had two points in a Bulls’ win in their first game against each other.  Philippe Trudeau kept Harper off the scoresheet and registered a shutout in game 2.
• Taylor Davis appears to be a couple weeks away from returning.  He’s been sidelined with a concussion since October.
• Jacob Middleton was ranked 87th on NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm rankings.  He was also listed at 22 on Ryan Kennedy’s rankings in The Hockey News.  He participated in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects game this past Wednesday and got into a scrap with Niagara IceDogs defenseman Aaron Haydon.  But it nearly cost them the game.

2013-14 Regular Season Record

Ottawa 67's:  14-23-1-3 (GF: 142 / GA: 180)

Belleville Bulls:  12-26-2-2 (GF: 128 / GA: 184)

Leading Scorers

Ottawa 67’s

Ryan Van Stralen – 18 goals, 40 points in 41 games

Travis Konecny – 13 goals, 39 points in 36 games

Dante Salituro – 14 goals, 37 points in 41 games

Belleville Bulls

Remi Elie – 18 goals, 42 points in 41 games

Cameron Brace – 15 goals, 30 points in 29 games

Jordan Subban – 8 goals, 30 points in 41 games

Players To Watch

Ottawa 67's

Jacob Middleton – NHL draft eligible 2014, 87th on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings

Alex Lintuniemi – NHL draft eligible 2014

Travis Konecny – 1st overall pick in OHL, NHL draft eligible 2015

 

Belleville Bulls

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

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

Niki Petti – NHL draft eligible 2014, 163rd on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings

David Tomasek - NHL draft eligible 2014, 182nd on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings

Overagers

Ottawa 67’s: Ryan Van Stralen, Philippe Trudeau

Belleville Bulls: Scott Simmonds, Jake Worrad, Cameron Brace

Leadership Squad

Ottawa 67’s:  Brendan Bell (C), Taylor Fielding (A), Ryan Van Stralen (A),

Belleville Bulls:  Remi Elie (A), Jordan Subban (A), Scott Simmonds (A), Adam Bignell (A)

Potential Scratches

Ottawa 67's:  Mike Vlajkov, Taylor Davis

Belleville Bulls:  

*follow us on twitter (@msconduct or @A_Quevillon) for game day scratches

Belleville Bulls

Who's Gone?

Jason Da Silva – traded to the Peterborough Petes

Brendan Gaunce – traded to the Erie Otters

Garrett Hooey – traded to the Barrie Colts

Daniel De Sousa – traded to the Saginaw Spirit

Luke Cairns – traded to the Saginaw Spirit

Brady Austin – traded to the London Knights

Michael Curtis – traded to the Erie Otters

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

Who's New?

Michael Giugovaz – acquired from the Peterborough Petes

Maurizio Colella – called up from Wellington of OJHL, 5th round selection in 2013

Alex Yuill – acquired from the Barrie Colts

Stephen Harper – acquired from the Erie Otters

Jake Marchment – acquired from the North Bay Battalion

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: 3-1-0-0 for Ottawa

Combined score:  22-11 for Ottawa

Past game preview:

Sept 20/13 Belleville Bulls @Ottawa 67’s

Nov 19/13  Belleville Bulls @ Ottawa 67’s

Dec 13/13  Belleville Bulls @ Ottawa 67’s

Past game reviews:

Sept 20/13  5-4 67’s win (regulation)

Nov 19/13  9-4 67’s win

Dec 13/13  4-3 67’s loss (regulation)

Dec 28/13  5-0 67’s win

Top scorers

Ottawa 67's

Brendan Bell – 4 goals, 4 assists in 4 games

Dante Salituro – 3 goals, 4 assists in 4 games

Nevin Guy – 1 goal, 5 assists in 4 games

Belleville Bulls

Remi Elie – 0 goals, 4 assists in 3 games

Jordan Subban – 3 goals, 0 assists in 4 games

Cameron Brace – 1 goal, 2 assists in 3 game