67's weekend preview: Oct 29th to Nov 1st

The 67’s are coming off a successful week where they took 4 of a possible 6 points and improving their record to 8-5-0-0. After opening the season with 3 straight losses, the 67’s have won 8 of their last 10 games and look to challenge for first in the Eastern Conference only 4 points back of the Kingston Frontenacs.

Much of the turnaround can be pinpointed to Head Coach Jeff Brown’s callout of the team’s lack of identity and lack of heart after their third straight loss to start the season. Brown questioned the leadership group and they stepped up.

Captain Travis Konecny tallied 6 points over the 3 games last week. He has been on a tear with 20 points in his last 9 games – good enough for a first place tie in OHL scoring with Erie’s Alex DeBrincat. After going goalless in 11 games, Konecny appears to have regained his scoring touch with 3 goals in the last two games. He will look to extend his 9-game point streak with their first stop in North Bay.

The 67’s top line has come to form with newcomer Drake Rymsha centering Travis Konecny and Travis Barron. Rymsha has been solid on face-offs with a 64.1% success rate – second best on the team next to Sam Studnicka with a 65.6% success rate. Konecny has taken Rymsha under his wing and is looking more confident each game.

“He’s teaching me a lot. First round (pick) in the NHL, just watch him play – he plays hard, he’s a good leader and he’s someone I look up to,” said Rymsha.

Leadership group

This week Jacob Middleton and Sam Studnicka were rewarded with an ‘A’ on their jersey. Up until this week, no other letters other than the ‘C’ on Konecny has been worn this season.

“They’ve been our leaders, so we thought we’d reward them. (Konecny) sometimes leads by example and not so much in the locker room where those guys are more the voice in the locker room. They haven’t disappointed me,” said coach Brown about Middleton and Studnicka.

Roster update

Ottawa will be without rookie forward Austen Keating for the next two weeks as he was named to Team Canada White’s roster for the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. The annual tournament runs October 30th to November 7th in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, BC.

Thursday, October 29^th @ North Bay

TV: Rogers 22

Radio: TSN1200
Additions: Brady Lyle, Cam Dineen, Jacob Ball, Max Kislinger, Kyle Potts, Brett Hargrave, Justin Brazeau, Brad Chenier, Jake Ramalho, Mat Woroniuk
Departures: Marcus McIvor, Brenden Miller, Ray Huether, Nick Paul, Nick Moutrey, Ryan Kujawinski, Alex Henriksson, Hampus Olsson, Owen Green, Kyle Locke
Drafted players: Riley Bruce (CGY), Kyle Wood (COL), Mike Amadio (LAK), Miles Liberati (VAN)
2016 NHL CSS’ Players to Watch: Cam Dineen & Zach Poirier both ranked as a ‘C’ prospect

After a big playoff push last season, the North Bay Battalion find themselves sitting 7^th in the Eastern Conference with a 5-6-1-0 record.

Zach Bratina, who took OHL player of the Week honours last week, leads the team in scoring with 15 points in 12 games. Next close is Mike Amadio with 12 points and Brett McKenzie with 9 points. After the top 3 team scorers, the scoring drops off. As you can see from the stats, lack of scoring has been an issue for the Battalion as it would for any team who loses 4 of their top 5 scorers from last season.

North Bay is winless in 3 games, so they will be hungry for a win.

Friday, October 30^th @ Sault Ste Marie

TV: Rogers 22

Radio: 580 CFRA
Additions: Bobby MacIntyre, Liam Hawel, Anthony DeMeo, Morgan Frost, Connor Timmins, Theo Calvas, Makar Tokarev  
Departures: Darnell Nurse, Nick Ritchie, Sergey Tolchinsky, Anthony DeAngelo, Justin Bailey, Bryan Moore, Jean Dupuy, Connor Boland
Drafted players: Brandon Halverson (NYR), Gustav Bouramman (MIN), Colton White (NJD), Blake Speers (NJD), Zach Senyshyn (BOS)
2016 NHL CSS’ Players to Watch: Tim Gettinger (B rating), Jack Kopacka (B rating), Joseph Raaymakers (C rating)

The Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds are also coming off an impressive season where they finished 1st in the OHL with 110 points. With several key departures and graduates, they find themselves struggling to start the season. Greyhounds are tied for 7^th in the Western Conference and only have 3 wins in their last 10 games.

With the loss of guys like Darnell Nurse, Nick Ritchie, Jared McCann and Sergey Tolchinsky, they find themelves with a goal differential of -12. The Greyhounds are missing their top 5 scorers from last season and the goals are not coming in like they use to. While the scoring is down, the scoring is spread out this season. The Greyhounds have three guys tied for 1^st in team scoring with 10 points and 7 players with at least 8 points or more.  

Sunday, November 1^st @ Sudbury

TV: Rogers 22

Radio: 580 CFRA
Additions: David Levin, Dmitry Sokolov, Patrick Murphy, Alan Lyszczarczyk, Macauley Carson, Ben Garagan, Nicholas Romero, Brandon Bastasin, Zach Bowman
Departures: Jeff Corbett, Brody Silk, Ivan Kashtanov, Charley Graaskamp, David Zeppieri, Pavel Jenys, Travis Wood, Matt Schmalz, Austin Clapham, Jonathan Duchesne, Jeff Corbett, Jessie Morin

Drafted players: Kyle Capobianco (ARI), Pavel Jenys (MIN), Matt Schmalz (LAK)

2016 NHL CSS’ Players to Watch: Dmitri Sokolov (B), Troy Timpano (C)

It’s been a rough couple seasons for the Sudbury Wolves but there are already a couple improvements that are slowly coming around this season. After finishing last in the league by 26 points, the Wolves had some big opportunities in the upcoming drafts.

Leading the charge offensively is rookie Alan Lyszczarczyk who is originally from Poland but isn’t considered an Import player. He was picked up as a free agent as his family has been US residents for the last 3 years. Third overall CHL Import selection, Dmitry Sokolov and first overall OHL selection, David Levin are also making an impact sitting 3^rd and 4^th in team scoring.

Still, the Wolves have a big hill to climb before becoming a solid contender in the East. The team has a -24 goal differential and only one player has reached the 10 point mark through 14 games this season. They’ve only won 4 of their last 10 games.

The wolves will be missing goaltender Jacob McGrath and forward David Levin while the 67’s are in town as they were also selected to play for Team Canada at the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in BC.