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October 25, 2016

67's (4-7-2) Week In Review: Brown's former home

Something had to give on Sunday when Jeff Brown headed back to his old stomping grounds; he was either going to see his team win on this road trip -- they had lost the previous two -- or he was going to see a Sudbury Wolves team leading the conference in points -- something he didn't see in four sub-.500 seasons with the Wolves as a player.

Ultimately, a 6-2 67's thumping prevented the Wolves from taking the Eastern Conference lead, ending a four-game skid in the meantime.

The Barberpole squad that hit the ice in Sudbury was night-and-day in terms of puck possession and holding a third-period lead compared to many games early this season, just as the OHL is night-and-day compared to when Brown played at this level.

Rookies don't typically rack up big minutes on the blueline as Brown, a standout 16-year old, once did.  But he had no problem throwing out Peter Stratis and Kevin Bahl in those situations.

Brown continues going to the well with young blueliners; "it's all we have, most of our guys are 16 or 17," he conceded after Ottawa's last home game.

If anything translates from his playing days, he has no problem giving most of his team's defensive icetime to Hudson Wilson -- who he made a point to single out as a positive after a losing weekend in Ottawa -- and Noel Hoefenmayer, who was named OHL's third star of the week.


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Dominant as he was as a young player, Brown did the full four-year go-around in Sudbury, and has to be appreciative of what a 20-year old brings to the room.

Earlier this week he picked up 20-year old Jared Steege, who played his Midget AAA and Junior A in the Ottawa Valley, to fill an OA spot on the roster. 

He quickly made his mark, putting up a goal and an assist on Sunday.


Ottawa returns home for a quick two-game homeset against Hamilton and Flint this weekend.

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