Travis Konecny likely played his last game as a member of
the Ottawa 67’s this year. Tomorrow morning he will join 30 hopefuls at the
Team Canada selection camp in Etobicoke, ON. There are no guarantees, but
Konecny is looked to as one of the “for sure” players to make the U20 squad which
means he would miss the remaining 67’s games in 2015 and a couple games to
start 2016.
Should Konecny make the squad, he would be the first 67’s player
to represent Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship since Brendan
Bell in the 2003 tournament breaking a 12-year drought.
“It's indescribable. It's an honour,” said the 67’s captain Travis Konecny. “It's
one of those moments where I'm just going to try to sit back for a second and
realize that (I have) the opportunity to make the team.”
Less than 24 hours before camp, Konecny’s Ottawa 67’s took
on the division rival Kingston Frontenacs for crucial ground in the OHL Eastern
Conference standings. Despite a well battled first 40 minutes and a great push
in the final 5, the 67’s fell 4-3 to the Frontenacs in regulation. The
Frontenacs are now 8 full points ahead of the 67’s for first place in the East.
“The game was there to be taken,” said 67’s coach Jeff
Brown. “We talked about it after the second period and we went out and gave up
16 shots in the third period. That doesn't look like a team with much heartbeat
which is a little disappointing at this stage, especially after our horrendous
roadtrip.”
The game was tied through two periods of play with a goal
from Embrum native Ryan Cranford for Kingston and Travis Konecny’s first goal
in 5 games for Ottawa. Both goaltenders had to make some great saves to keep
the game tied through 40 minutes.
The third period is where the wheels fell off for the 67’s.
They allowed 16 shots on net and two go-ahead goals. The 67’s were without
Jeremiah Addison in the final 20 minutes. It is believed that he suffered an
upper body injury late in the second but coach Brown wouldn’t comment. Coach
Brown felt that the loss of Addison really affected the team’s offensive depth.
“You got Todd out, (now) Addison out and all of a sudden
we're just not that deep. We rely so much on the top 3–4 guys that when two of
them are out of the lineup, well you saw what it did to us (in the third),”
said Brown.
With the overage situation still looming and face-off
specialist Drake Rymsha out with a long-term injury, Sam Studnicka has played
the last 8 games. Suiting up for only 2 times in the last 7 games, it’s clear
that Nathan Todd has been the odd man out. The overage deadline will be coming
up fast and Jeff Brown will need to address the situation soon.
“There's been a lot of stuff going on. Nothings imminent but
when the right deal happens, we're going to make it and not until then. But so
far, that deal hasn't come along,“ said Brown.
The 67’s will be in tough with Stephan Falkovsky also missing
a month of games to represent Belarus at the World Junior Championship.
Falkovsky, the first round pick of the 67’s in the Import Draft, has come a
long way and has been logging a lot of minutes in his rookie season. After
three bad plays leading to goals, Nevin Guy was demoted to the third paring while
Falkovsky was moved up top with Jacob Middleton.
The Frontenacs had a two-goal midway through the third
period with goals from other Team Canada hopeful Spencer Watson and rookie Jason
Robertson. With just over 5 minutes remaining in the game, the outcome was
starting to look bleak for Ottawa until Trent Mallette scored his 8th
of the season to get the 67’s within one.
Never afraid to pull his goalie early, Jeff Brown called
Liam Herbst to the bench with just over two minutes remaining in the third for
the extra attacker. Moments later, Conor McGlynn scored on the empty net. Jacob
Middleton gave the 67’s more life notching his 4th just 17 seconds
later.
But it was too little too late and the 67’s were unable to fully
clawback to force overtime. The 67’s drop their 4th straight game
and look to rebound Friday night when the Erie Otters come to town.
Game summary here.
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