Low Scoring Excitment! Ottawa 2 - 1 in the Shoot-Out

Well, wasn't that a great game! Who says only the high-scoring games are fun to watch? This may have been the best game we have seen this year so far (I know, I said that before).

It was fast, momentum shifted between the the two teams, there were great scoring chances and great saves and the iron got into the action as well. Full value for our entertainment dollar last night.

Forward combos:
Cowick, Couture, Nesbitt
Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
Blunden, Kiriakou, Carnevale
Sonnenburg, Lindsay, a double-shifter

D-pairs:
Paryzek, Cuma
Demers, Ryan
Hartwick, Zanetti
Hanes,

Goal: Perugini

Scratches: Schinkelshoek, Birkhof, Anderson

Ottawa jumped into the game right from the first face-off getting a couple of quick shots on Murphy and keeping the Bulls penned for the first couple of minutes.

Then the Bulls broke out and had Ottawa on their heels for a while but Ottawa rounded up the steers and regained control. With only 5 minutes left in the opening period, Ottawa had outshot the Bulls 9 - 3 but were unable to score on the two powerplays that they had including the penalty that Mike Murphy was assessed for tripping Jon Carnevale.



Both regulation goals came within 36 seconds of each other in the second period. But not before some great scoring chances and a terrific penalty kill by Ottawa. First it was Nesbitt going off for slashing and then Sean Ryan getting called for hooking creating a 5-on-3 for 57 seconds. Belleville only managed a total of 3 shots on Perugini for the entire stretch.

The Bulls were starting to maitain momentum and finally with just over 5 minutes left in the period, Ottawa native and frequent-scorer-on-Ottawa Shawn Lalonde was gifted an open-net goal when Stephen Johnston's cross ice pass found him all alone at the corner. Andy Bathgate got the other assist.

But before the announcer was finished with that one, Thomas Kiriakou tied it up with his 11th goal of the year when he took a feed from the corner to beat Murphy. Stephen Blunden and Ryan Hanes got the assists. That's Blunden's first point against his former team.

Late in the period Derek Hartwick was drilled into the boards by Spencer Anderson. Anderson was kept to short shifts in the third which didn't leave the 67s much of a chance to settle it up. We'll see what happens in the return engagement.

Both teams kept the pace up in the third looking for that go-ahead goal. But the goalies were also doing their bit to keep the puck out. Corey Cowick was called for diving and earned himself a 10-minute misconduct mid-way in the third. Cuma was hit by a puck and laboured at end of the period. Logan also got stung. And Paryzek was called for trippng late in the period. But the team prevailed and the game went into overtime.

Overtime did not end the game despite Ottawa's powerplay when Subban called for holding Toffoli.

So it went to a shoot-out. Belleville went first.

Bryan Cameron X
Logan Couture GOAL!! He got Murphy moving and beat him with a back-hand.
Stephen Johnston X
Corey Cowick GOAL!! it looked like Murphy had it initially but...NOT!

And Ottawa takes the 5th meeting of these two teams in a shoot-out. Here's the game sheet.


Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest working 67s as selected by Team1200: Julien Demers

Random Thoughts:

• Thank you, thank you, thank you. After that craptastic display of hockey by the Senators on Thursday, I was really looking forward to seeing some good hockey. I think Hartsy needs to bring the big boys to the Civic Centre to see what working hard and playing with heart looks like. That was brutal!
  
• It was Alyn McCauley night at the game. He played before I was a 67s fan but it was clear that he was a fan favorite. He's now coaching at Queen's where former 67s Brady Morrison is tending goal.
  Photo courtesy of Mike Carroccetto (613-266-8505)
  
• Toffoli sure doesn't appear to be intimidated by anyone. Subban was in his face frequently and the two of them were jawing at each other. Tyler was right up into the Subbinator's face.
  
• And speaking of Tyler Toffoli, watching him skate reminds me of Dany Heatley.
  
• Well attended game and the crowd was into it.
  
• Adam Zamec has moved on to play in Penticton.
  
• Cudos to the Team1200 team for giving Murphy the first star. You don't often see the losing goalie getting a first star much less a visiting losing goalie but he was outstanding and the reason this game was so close with 50 saves.
  
• Tyler Cuma and Logan Couture have been named to Team Ontario for the ADTCanada-Russia challenge.
  
• Tyler Toffoli has been named to the Team Ontario for the Men's U-17 2009 World Hockey Challenge that will take place in Port Alberni, British Columbia from December 29th, 2008 through January 4th, 2009.
  

Toffoli and Subban

Toffoli and Subban

One of Murphy's great saves - no stick!

Jeff Hunt presenting the OHL jerseys to Logan Couture and Tyler Cuma

For you Riley Sonnenburg fans out west - yes I know you are out there.

Now That's more like it! - Ottawa 6 - Belleville 3

The Ottawa 67s came into tonight's game after a pretty lousy effort against Kingston on Wednesday. Don't know what happened there but my guess would be that the boys went into the 0-4-1 game with a tad too much confidence. They deservedly were taken down a notch or two.

Belleville came to town riding a 4-game winning streak and looking to improve their CHL standings - having taken a hit when they last met the 67s.

Lines:
Cowick, Couture, Zamec
Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
Carnevale,Kiriakou, Nesbitt
Sonnenburg, Lindsay, Schinkelshoek

D-Pairs:
Paryzek, Cuma
Demers, Birkhoff
Hartwick, Ryan

Perugini in goal

Scratches: Zanetti, Vorobyhov (has been released by the team), Anderson, Hanes

This was an effort that we have come to expect and this time the team came out on top of the score.

It seems they are able to get motivated for the "teams to beat" but were lacking something in their game against the Division bottom-feeders on Wednesday. This would suggest that they have what it takes, they just need to bring it to every game. The most dangerous team is the one with nothing left to lose.

Anyhoo - about tonight's game. It was another stellar example of everyone doing most of the little things right and the big things taking care of themselves.

I'm not the only one to suggest that the second line is really the first line. The TML boys generated so many chances and kept the Bulls at bay - no goals were scored against them and they accounted for 6 of the 16 points accumulated tonight.

It looks like the 67s can roll three strong lines and a reasonable 4th line. Zamec was playing on the right wing of Couture tonight and Kiriakou centred a pretty strong 3rd line that saw a decent amount of ice time and produced an even strength goal and a short-handed one too!

Killer had his 4th line out in all three periods and they held their own reasonably well.

If the warm-up was any indication of the energy tonight, it was lead by Corey Cowick. He just seemed ready for this encounter and it must have been infectious with the rest of the team.

There was energy, the feet were moving, they looked organized (for the most part) and their sticks were in the way of everyone and everything. They beat Belleville to the puck so often one would have thought that the 67s were used to the bigger ice than the other way around.

Subban sure is a piece of work. This veteran started chirping our rookie Toffoli seconds into the game and he considered every call against him (3 all game) a personal insult. He certainly needs a couple of pegs taken out of his self-image.

Ottawa dominated most of the game but they, once AGAIN, allowed a short-handed goal. You could see the Bulls PK challenging the points as the 67s passed it around, passed it around, passed it around, looking for some perfect play. It was only a matter of time that a pass would be intercepted and the breakaway into Perugini.



Speaking of Chris, one might suggest that Perugini has played himself into the starter position. No 1A, 1B thing happening here so far. It looks like 1 and 2 (it just wouldn't be Ottawa without a goalie controversy!).

Once Belleville tied it up with a short-handed goal in the dying seconds of the second period, I thought it was over for the 67s.

But they came back in the third with three unanswered goals including a shortie of their own. They almost had a couple more goals on that same PK. The Bulls were clearly unable to turn it around at this point.

Here's the Game Sheet. for all the details.

Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring with his 3rd goal of the season at the half-way mark of the first period. Linemates Martindale and Latta got the assists. The Bulls Eric Tangradi responded a minute and a half later to tie it up. Cory Tanaka assisted on the goal. But Ottawa ended the period with a one-goal lead on a Sean Ryan powerplay goal. Julien Demers and Thomas Kiriakou assisted.

Just 19 seconds into the second period, Logan Couture scored his first goal of the season and put Ottawa up by two. Corey Cowick assisted. But despite dominating the play for that entire period, Bellville managed to tie the game first with a goal from the gift-to-hockey-P-K-Subban (assist by Cameron) and then a short handed goal in the dying seconds from Ottawa native Shawn Lalonde.

Ottawa took control of the game and the scoring in the third period with an even-strength goal from Michael Latta, a powerplay goal from Logan Couture and a short-handed goal from Thomas Kirakou.


Celebrating the short-handed goal (Thomas Nesbitt with the assist)

It was a good game with high energy, skilled play, strong defensive coverage by everyone and a bit of luck to boot. The Bulls had a string of a PP, a 5-on-3 and a PP and the 67s allowed only one shot.

There were some "Oh NO!" moments but all in all it was a great game to watch. There is a different attitude with the team this year and it's wonderful to watch.


Three Stars:
1. Michael Latta
2. Thomas Nesbitt
3. Chris Perugini


Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Logan Couture


Nesbitt before the unscheduled dental work


After


Subban was called for tripping on this one - you be the judge


Great save by Chris!


Slo-mo goal

Likely won't catch the game Monday. See you Friday when the high-flying Windsor Spitfires are in town (am selling my Sens - Coyotes tickets so I can see this one!!).

Return Engagement

Going to catch the game on TV tonight and blog as it unfolds. Here's hoping to another great effort by the team tonight. Can Murphy pull off two great performances back to back? We were at the Memorial Cup and saw Mike steal one game and then the total collapse the next. A repeat performance? We can only hope....

7:00: Just settling in with a nice selection from the wine cellar (a little over stated) and watching the pre-game stuff on Rogers from the Yardman. Much chatting about last night's game especially about Murphy who was the goalie of the year.

Their anthem singer is better than ours. The rink isn't full. Must be pretty hoppin' in Belleville on a Saturday night to keep the crowds away (it's not that big an arena).

First Period

19:04 - Mike Murphy bowled over by Corey Cowick. Cowick gets the penalty and the Bulls on are on the PP early. Good kill by the Barber Poles - only a couple of shots through to Perugini.

15:45 - Riley Sonnenburg gets his first OHL regular season goal top shelf when he gets a rebound. Ryan Hanes gets the assists.

14:02 - The TML line (not Toronto Maple Leafs!! They should be so lucky to have such a line!!) but Toffoli, Martindale and Latta are back at it - working hard and drawing a penalty for Ottawa's first PP. And now Belleville's Cantin has just put it over the glass for a delay of game. Now some 5-on-3 for 1:30.

13:11 - Corey Cowick gets his third of the season with a quick shot from the face-off circle. It may have gone in off another player. 2-0 Ottawa with more PP to go! Julien Demers and Michael Latta get the assists.

9:50 - Bellevlle has a good cycle going. They eventually take a shot from the outside by Perugini smothers it. It's the most control they've had all game.

8:50 - These Cogeco guys are interesting. They note that Courchaine is still at his NHL camp - he didn't even make it. And they are reporting rumours of Tavares to Ottawa. I've heard of John going to just about every other team in the OHL but Ottawa was not among them.

4:45 - Ottawa has been dominating and Latta takes a tripping penalty in their offensive zone. A few chances by the Bulls but Perugini stops them. The PK units kept the Bulls to the outside.

:45 - Another PP for the 67s. They keep up the pressure but can't score.

First Intermission

The 67s are really playing well. They are getting the puck deep and controlling it. In their own end, they aren't giving the Bulls much of a chance to set up and Perugini is making the big stops. This time they are on the right side of the goals. For his part, Murphy is still making some pretty good stops. Shots on goal 20 - 9 for Ottawa.

Interview with Demers: thinks the team is faster than in previous years. Strategy is to keep getting pucks to the net and hopefully bury some rebounds. As for the San Jose Sharks, it's like the 67s have taken over. Everything is run precisely, hard and high tempo. Take-away: keep a good attitude.

A quick look at what's happening with the Senators. Nick Foligno gets the tying goal with assists from new guys Winchester and Kuba.

Second Period

20:00 - Ottawa starts continuing the PP from the end of the first. No goal.

18:39 - Latta has a breakaway but Tangradi lifts his stick.

18:13 - Belleville scores. Bryon Cameron gets the rebound and quickly gets it past the post. The Cogeco guys muse whether this will be the start of a hot streak for him.

14:44 - Mike Murphy robs Zanetti on a breakaway out of the penalty box. Ottawa did a great job killing the penalty including Latta playing keep-away from Tanaka killing off time in the Belleville zone.

11:19 - Another PP as Latta is tripped up. Good puck control for the first minute. Murphy makes a big save. This guys is looking to steal another game. Oh Crap! Another short handed goal by Belleville. Shawn Lalonde backhands it off the post on a 2-0n 1 rush. Geez Louise! I need a voo-doo doll of Murphy.

8:ish - (Rogers is not consistently showing the time on the screen) 4-on-4 and Martindale and Toffoli are out against Tangradi and Tanaka. Toffoli to Martindale and Ryan nets his third of this early season! Sean Ryan set it all up from his blue line.

4:45 - Vorobyov is hard to move off the puck. I wonder what he thinks of all this. Kazakastan is a looooong way away from Belleville. Just wait for his long bus ride to Sault Ste. Marie.

:58 - Nick Pageau is called for a hit to the head of Vorobyov while his head was down. The Cogeco guys are incensed as they believe anyone losing his brain bucket with his head down deserves it. The resulting PP is once again dangerous as Tipoff and Lalonde get a rush on Perugini but Chris stops this one. On the transtion Kiriakou sends it out in front from the corner and Julien Demers gets it past Murphy from the high slot with 36 seconds left. Thomas Nesbitt gets the second assist. And Ottawa finishes the period up by two.

Second Intermission

The Bulls had something going there for a bit but Ottawa still dominated the period. 39 - 19 SOGs for Ottawa.

Announcers are interesting creatures. I have found that they often use the same adjectives to describe some players so often, you begin to wonder if that's what their real name is. Tonight for example, they keep saying "OHL-goalie-of-the-year-Mike-Murphy". I've heard the Ottawa guys do it too.

Third Period

18:37 - Belleville seems to be a bit more organized to start the period. Expect to see their shots climb up. They are starting to play a bit more physical. And they're getting it in deeper more often.

15:44 - Ottawa is just dumping it in without following up with much pressure. Are they out of gas?

12:52 - A great poke check by Perugini on Tipoff!!

11:15 - Belleville is playing better this period...or Ottawa is playing less better. There seems to be more time in Ottawa's zone.

7:26 - An excellent save by Murphy point blank from Carnevale after some great cycling and puck control by Ottawa on the PP. Ottawa is now on a 5-on-3 with Tangradi in the sin bin. The Bulls are frustrated and are committing more penalties. Does not look good for them in the final minutes of the period. Ottawa moves in - they have lots of time and are patient. It finally pays off when Thomas Kiriakou is parked on the corner, waits for Murphy to commit and puts it in the net. Latta and Toffoli get the assists.

0:00 - Ottawa delivers Belleville their first loss of the season - on their home ice no less - with another stellar game - this time with goals. Murphy did what he could having faced 51 shots but the rest of the crew didn't do their part. Perugini faced 28 shots. I would expect that Belleville's national rating will drop this week.

Game Stars according to Cogeco:
1. Julien Demers
2. Thomas Kirakou
3. Shawn Lalonde (Belleville)

Game Stars according to Team1200:
1. Ryan Martindale
2. Michael Latta
3. Eric Tangradi (Belleville)

Hardest working 67s: Tyler Toffoli

Click here for the game sheet.

67s Drop Home Opener…

…in an exciting game. Sorry for the late posting. Life , the universe, and everything else….

The Ottawa lines:
Cowie, Kiriakou, Nesbitt
Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
Vorobyov, Lindsay, Carnevale
Sonnenburg, Anderson, Schinkelshoek

Defensive Pairings:
Demers – Ryan
Hartwick, Paryzek
Anderson, Zanetti

Perugini in goal

Scratches: Courchaine (injury), Zamec (game 4 of a 6-game suspension), Cuma (Minnesota camp), Couture (San Jose camp), Hanes (healthy scratch?)


Belleville lines:

Tangradi, Johnston, Cameron
Neal, Blunden, Tipoff,
Anderson, Bathgate, Randell
Howe, Tanaka, Judson

Defensive Pairings:
Silas, Lalonde
Krupp, Pageau
Cantin, Stellick

Murphy in net

Scratches: Mackie, Subban (Montreal camp)

The 67s organization created a lot of energy to start the night with the Japanese drummers in the concourse and to open the game. If the guys weren’t already pumped, this would have helped. But judging from how the game started, they were already seriously up for this game.

The Ottawa immediately controlled the game getting quick shots on Murphy early in the game from Ryan Martindale. They were moving, stealing the puck, rubbing the Bulls players off the puck, getting shots on Murphy, basically keeping the Bulls on their heels for the most part. There were numerous good scoring chances but they just could not finish and Murphy played strong.

Finally, with 8:40 to go in the opening frame, Ryan Martindale scored on the backhand from the top of the crease on a feed from the back of the net from Tyler Toffoli on a play that started with the hard work of Michael Latta. I think that’s a line we are going to see a lot of this year and we are going to LOVE it! They quickly followed up with another good scoring chance by Carnevale.

Belleville finally got organized in the offensive zone and for some reason the 67s kinda fell apart and the Bulls evened it up on a questionable non-call when Neal was draped over Perugini. It was only their 3rd shot on goal.

The goal gave the Bulls some spark and they briefly controlled the game getting a couple of good scoring chances. But the 67s prevailed ending the period with a good scoring chance from Latta.

Belleville started the second period with some jump but the 67s eventually got control again, with scoring chances again but unable to finish. Belleville drew first blood when Tyler Randell picked off a juicy rebound and had the open net. But the lead was short-lived as the 67s scored right off the next face off. Michael Latta got the first shot and Corey Cowick picked up the rebound and beat Murphy top shelf. Thomas Kiriakou had the second assist (for winning the face off that started it all).

Ottawa regained the lead on a great play when Michael Latta chipped the puck up ice to a streaking Tyler Toffoli. Tyler couldn’t catch up with it but Ryan Martindale got it to Michael Latta just to the side of the net who put it home.

Then Jon Carnevale and Tyler Randell dropped the gloves right off the face off. I didn’t get any good pictures but I would give the call to Carnevale. He doesn’t look like a scrapper to see him but he sure likes throwing his body around and won’t blink at dropping the gloves. Some good throws by both players but Jon got the take-down.

Not a lot of penalties called in the first two periods but they proved to be Ottawa’s undoing. The first one was a short handed goal scored when Ryan was beat by a chip off the boards by Johnstone . Tipoff created the odd-man rush, received the pass and went around Perugini glove-side to score the tying goal. Then Belleville scored the game-winning-goal on a 5-on-3 for about 1:03 with Latta in the box first for hooking and later Demers for delay-of-game. Shawn Lalonde tucked it in the corner. Cory Tanaka and Eric Tangradi got the assists. And that was the scoring for the game.

Ottawa continued to press for the tying goal but there was no getting through the NHL-caliber Murphy. He made some great saves to steal this game for his team.

When it was all over, Ottawa had outplayed and outshot Belleville 43 – 25 but it was the Bulls who won the game. It was a great game to watch even in the loss. Everyone worked hard and this young team, still without three key players (2 at camp and 1 suspended) gave this 4th ranked team (in Canada) a very good run for their money. The Bulls were pretty much fully stocked – only missing PK Subban (who was playing in the Montreal game where the Sens were smoked 5 – 0. Subban’s claim to fame – a 5-minute fighting major). It looks like the 67s will be a whole lotta fun to watch and if Martindale gets any finish going, he’s going to be outstanding. And Toffoli is only getting getter by the game.

The organization put on a great game-day – from the Japanese drummers to the trampoline artists during the second intermission. It was really high energy. I always wonder what the kids from overseas think about all this fuss over junior hockey.

It’s on the road for the rest of the weekend with games in Belleville and Oshawa. That will be three in a row for Perugini. The rest of the team will have to be very strong defensively to help out their goalie.

Three Stars as Selected by Team1200:



I missed the Hardest Working 67s.

More pictures








Cheers!

No Bull Here - Ottawa 4 - Belleville 2

The pre-season concluded with Ottawa greeting (and beating) the CHL 2nd ranked team at the Civic Centre.

Both teams were missing quite a few players.

The Ottawa lines:

Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
Vorobyov, Kiriakou, Nesbitt
Sonnenburg, Lindsay, Carnevale
Anderson, Lahey

Defensive Pairings:
Hartwick – Paryzek
Birkhoff – Zanetti
Hanes – Ryan

Perugini was in goal.

Scratches: Schinkelshoek (injury – should be skating by Sunday), Demers (San Jose rookie camp), Zamec (6 game suspension for his hit on Kingston’s Pearson), Corey Cowick (I presume he’s off to Penguin camp but nothing posted on the Pens site), Cuma (Minnesota rookie camp) and Couture (San Jose rookie camp).

Belleville was missing Stephen Johnston, Michael Neal, Bryan Cameron, Nick Pageau and Eric Tangradi. They rolled 3 lines.


Missing 5 veterans gave Killer the opportunity to dress and play all healthy rookies and it was good to see them in action in all situations, especially the 5 PKs in the first period. The first was called just 15 seconds into the game and the 67s’ sharp play kept Belleville from even registering a shot on Perugini. On their fourth PK of the game, it was Tyler Toffoli who broke the ice with a nice short-handed goal over the outstretched pads of Mike Murphy. Ryan Martindale got an assist.



At one point in this parade of Ottawa penalties, including a 3-on-5 for 51 seconds, it seemed Ottawa had their best offense while on defense.

The second period was again a bit of a lackluster affair from both sides with the teams trading goals in quick succession in the middle of the frame. Belleville tied the game up when Cory Tanaka was left all alone on the right post while Perugini was still trying to see around the traffic in front of him. Cory had a completely open side and the easy goal. But before the goal was finished being announced, Matt Lahey, yes folks you read it right, ol’ number 8 himself, got the goal back after Dylan Anderson did some hard work to set him up.

You could see that the team was getting confident but it almost looked like they were getting a bit too fancy. They were trying the stretch passes and forcing passing into traffic. But they were playing really well defensively – all of them. Belleville had a good chance to tie it up late in the period when three Bulls got into formation and bore down on Chris. It looked like a sure thing but they hit him in the crest and he did what he had to do.

Either the 67s got a bit smarter or Belleville was getting tired/frustrated but it was time for the 67s to work on their PP including a long stretch while Bjorn Krupp was off for head-butting (!) and roughing in a disagreement with Thomas Nesbitt. He was assessed a 6-minute time out and on that powerplay Dylan Anderson was credited with what looked like a shot that squeeked by Murphy. Martin Paryzek assisted on Ottawa’s third goal of the night. Then the team really came together, pretty much playing keep-away with the puck in Belleville’s zone. Tyler Toffoli notched his second of the night with 1:29 left in the game with the assistance of Michael Latta.

With another 2-man advantage in the dying seconds of the game, Belleville was able to score another goal for pride.

The game ended Ottawa 4 – Belleville 2, final shots on goal were a lot-more-for-Ottawa (I didn’t note the final count).

Random thoughts:

• A lot of small things done well, back-checking, getting to the puck, blocking shots.
  
  
• Yakov Vovbyov looked pretty good any time I was watching. He’s very strong with the puck, doesn’t back down from anything, and he was moving any time I saw him (unlike last week when he was pretty much hanging around the front of the net).
  
  
• It was good to have Paryzek back. I saw him cover for his rookie linemate at least a couple of times. I guess he’s also able to speak with Vorobyov (although for all I know Yakov can speak perfect English). I noticed them chatting as they skated off the ice for a line change.
  
  
• Toffloi is something else to watch too. He just seems to be everywhere and the puck gets to him.
  
  
• The team has the hardhat for the hardest working player. I wonder what they have for the most penalized player. It would go to Ryan Martindale for sure. I didn’t keep precise numbers but I would guess he had 5 penalties, if not 6, including a pair (cross-checking and roughing) at the end that led to the 3-on-5 where Belleville scored.
  
  
• I thought I was at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing during the second period as the Bulls were doing their best .5 meter dives. The judges gave them all zeros for their efforts.
  
  
• Another foggy game that made it hard to get pictures.
  
  
• The team did a dry run of a new game-day fan experience that they will be doing with groups. It will involve the lucky fans to come to ice level at the end of the game and get high-fived by the team. Also, the first star of the game (I guess if the star is a 67s) will give a stick to a lucky fan. Not sure if it will be his game stick or not.
  
  
• Had a chance to chat with Pieter Schinkelshoek before the game. Says he’s feeling pretty good and may be skating on Sunday. Said all the right things (liking it here, the game is faster, higher skill level etc. pretty much what they all say).
  

So the pre-season wraps up with a record of 2-1-1. Everyone has had a pretty good chance to show what they can bring to the party. The regular season starts next Friday on the road with the 67s visiting Brampton and then playing Niagara on Saturday. Boston’s rookie camp starts on Tuesday and looks like it runs to the 21st so we may have another goalie for the weekend to back-up Chris.

The Game's Three Stars as Selected by Someone from the Ottawa Sun (Don Brennan ? sorry - didn't catch the name)

Chris Perugini 1st Star	Tyler Toffoli 2nd Star	P.K. Subban 3rd Star

More Pictures:

Belleville 2 - Ottawa 1 in Pre-Season Game

Stephen Blunden recorded a goal and an assist to help the Belleville Bulls defeat the Ottawa 67's 2-1 Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.

The Belleville Bulls improved to 2-0 in exhibition play with a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa 67’s Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. Veteran forward Stephen Blunden recorded a goal and an assist to pace the Bulls to the win.

After a scoreless first period in which Ottawa out-shot Belleville 9-5, the 67’s opened the scoring eight minutes into the middle frame when first round pick Tyler Toffoli wired a bullet wrist shot past the glove of Mike Murphy and into the top corner of the net. Midway through the second period Murphy was replaced in goal by Philipp Grubauer. The Bulls tied the score with just 27 seconds remaining in the period while on the power play when Michael Neal one-timed a Blunden pass past 67’s goaltender Adam Courchaine. Luke Judson also assisted on the goal. Shots on goal in the second period favoured Ottawa 10-9.

Blunden gave the Bulls the lead nine minutes into the third period when he jumped on a turnover at the 67’s blueline and snapped a low, hard shot past Courchaine from the face-off circle. Ottawa pressed for the equalizing goal throughout the remainder of the game but Grubauer was excellent in net for Belleville to preserve the victory. Shots on goal in the third period were 11-6 Ottawa and overall favoured the 67’s 30-20.

Murphy and Grubauer were both strong, making 16 and 13 saves respectively in the win while Courchaine stopped 18 shots in a losing effort for Ottawa. The Bulls finished the game one for five on the power play while Ottawa failed to score in two opportunities with the man advantage.

Taken from the Belleville Bulls website (a road game for Ottawa).

I can't find any information on the lineups so I don't know who sat out. Good to hear that Tofoli got a goal - he sure had his chances on Friday night. But nothing to show for their two power plays.

On another but completely unrelated point, here's a link to an article in the London Free Press about Akim Aliu. It's not that I'm particularly interested in Akim's progress; it's the gratuitous comment about the Eastern Conference from Dale Hunter that caught my attention:

While he's gone, the Knights will get a chance to see if they can survive without him. The team will miss his touch, his physical presence and they will lack a legitimate heavyweight to counter some of the Western Conference's toughest fighters.

"Maybe if you're in the Eastern Conference, you don't have to worry about it as much," Mark Hunter said, "but on our side, it's a concern. You have guys like (Richard) Greenop in Windsor. It's a tough conference."

Harrumph! Sounds like the gauntlet has been thrown down boys!

Finally, I was way wrong in Pearson's injury on Friday. It was his wrist or arm that was hurt in the perhaps-Zamec induced contact with the boards.

Memorial Cup - Game 4

	Belleville 6 vs Gatineau 3

Well, it sure seems like this is not Gatineau’s year. This was a tough game for them. Both teams started with the hits but it seemed that Belleville had the edge early. On his first shift out, Gatineau’s Labrie seemed to reinjure his knee but was soon back out there skating.

As a portent of things to come, Gatineau got into early penalty trouble and gave Belleville a 5-on-3 for 1:32 which was followed by a 5-on-4. Gatineau was defending really well but just as the penalties expired Jan Murzak deflected a shot by PK Subban to put Belleville on the board first on their 11th shot of the game.

But the groaner of the game came on Gatineau’s first power play kill when Mior felt it necessary to come out of his crease to play the puck. He mishandled it and Shawn Matthias was there to take it and score the short handed goal and put Belleville up by 2. It happened right in front of me and I was too shocked at what I was seeing to take a picture. Claude Giroux skated up to Mior and it looked like he was reassuring his goalie.

But les Olympiques were not about to go quietly into the night. Hugo Laporte got a wrist shot through from the point to make it a 2 – 1 game. And before the period was over they tied it up on a pretty 2-on-1 play Michael Stiniziani took a nice feed from Darryl Smith and beat Murphy short side.

Both teams traded goals in the second period (Cory Tanaka - another shortie - for Belleville and Claude Giroux for Gatineau) and it seemed like the could still go either way. And it stayed that way until just under seven minutes left in the game when it all fell apart for Gatineau. Three unanswered goals in under 5 minutes including a power play goal just put it away. It actually was sad to see.

The three stars of the game: Claude Giroux (3), Nigel Williams (Belleville – 2) and Shawn Matthias (Belleville – first star).

Random Thoughts:

• Interesting how you can “sense” the karma of a team. Gatineau is just not giving off the vibes of world-beaters. They certainly are playing heard, with heart, are skilled and fast and everything else you would expect from a team that is representing their league but they do not have the je ne sais quoi to bring it all together. They will be home by tomorrow night.
  
• Belleville certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves with all the off-setting penalties. That was just stupid.
  
• Belleville’s stretch passes were crazy-good. I am so glad that the red line has been taken out of play for passes.
  
• First time I’ve seen a goal called for interference. Murphy deliberately got in Claude Giroux’s way.
  
  
• ”Spiderman” from the previous game dropped by to take some pictures. He is a long time fan of the rangers (45 years – bleeds blue and white) and is getting back into photography now that the kids are getting into university. It was great chatting with him during the game and taking pictures.
  
• Each of the tickets features an OHL player from great Memorial Cup games. The tickets for this game featured Brian Campbell from the 1999 Memorial Cup.
  
• Akim Aliu came out of the tunnel and was escorted to a seat. He doesn’t look as big as he does on skates. He could lose the Don King look. I heard on the radio that Steve Downie is expected to show up in support of his team mate Claude Giroux.
  
• First golf game of the season. Played at the beautiful Glencairn in the Halton Hills. My game stunk but the walk was good.
  

More pictures (remember that you can click on any picture in the blog to see a larger image)

Memorial Cup - Game 2

	Belleville 4 vs Spokane 5 (OT)

Yesterday’s game featured the only team in the tournament that we have not seen before – the Spokane Chiefs. They are supported by a small but energetic crowd of family/fans.



The game started with some thundering hits by both teams and we thought we were in for a really physical game but neither team kept it up. It was as if each wanted to set a tone or send a message that they could hit if necessary. There were still some good hits but just not constant. Which is fine by me.

As with the Kitchener Rangers on Friday, the Spokane Chiefs got the early lead. Goals from Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl and again Drayson Bowman had the Chiefs up by 3 by the end of the first. Belleville was plain ol’ flat through that period and gave the puck up way too many times. At least one of the turnovers resulted in a goal (the second one I think).

The Chiefs fans have a score “song”. A little Italian (?!) ditty is played (you’d know it if you heard it) and at the key punctuation points the fans all yell “Chiefs!!”.

Up to this point, all the goals were at the OTHER end of the rink so we really didn’t see them (the disadvantage of being so close to the ice). So when the second period started, we all said “just watch, Belleville will turn it on and start scoring – at the OTHER end of the ice”. And sure enough – that’s what happened. This time it was Bryan Cameron scoring early in the period (on Belleville’s 5th shot of the game), Shawn Matthias scoring in the middle of the frame on the first powerplay of the game, and Cory Tanaka scoring in the final minute to make it a game! The Chiefs fans were noticeably quieter. The Belleville fans were not as organized (nor concentrated by location) in their cheering but they were there.

Belleville finally took the lead on Cory Tanaka’s second goal of the game before the halfway mark of the frame. By now Belleville was playing better and getting more shots through although they were still badly outshot overall. It looked like they might hold off the Chiefs….but Drayson Bowman got his hat trick when he tied it up during a scramble in front of the net with just under 3 minutes remaining.

Both teams played the last three minutes hard, trying for that game winning goal in regulation but time ran out. After 60 minutes it was tied at 4 with SOGs: 50 – 25 for Spokane.

Belleville came out strong in the overtime period, keeping the pressure on and getting 7 shots through before it all ended. But it was Spokane’s Levko Koper who was the right guy in the right spot to put it into an empty side when he took a nice cross-crease feed from Justin McRae at 4:46 of the OT period.


This was one of the two goals that we actually saw at our end of the ice. Final shots on goal were 54 – 32 for Spokane.

Random Thoughts:

• A good game but not as entertaining as the Gatineau – Ranger game. Neither of the teams seemed to contest the ice in front of the net very much (at least from what we saw at our end of the rink) and, while both teams were skilled, it seemed a little sloppier to me overall.
  
• Was standing behind some young men in the tunnel waiting for a break in play. They were in suits and so were obviously not just fans. They were the Spokane Chiefs scratches for the game (I asked). They looked like they were the rookies – not even a whisper of playoff beard. They were very polite (said “thank you” in unison when I wished them good luck).
  
• Neither of these teams play a “dirty” game – only 5 penalties called all game. I know you can’t count on the refs to call all of the shenanigans but there really wasn’t much to call that we could see.
  
• Spokane has the quick turn-around as they play a rested Kitchener Rangers today. This should be an interesting game.
  
• Getting our money’s worth – two come-from-behind efforts to tie the games and go into overtime. 11 goals in the first game, 9 in this one. High shot-counts by both winning teams. Some spectacular saves by all goalies (although I don’t think Unice was as tested as Mior).
  
• Ran into McGinn-Fan at the game. Had a quick chat before the game.
  
  
• Had dinner at Kelsey’s (wait time was too long at Moose Wisnewski’s – but we’ll get there before the week is done). We didn’t wear our jerseys into the restaurant but some fans did. There was a table with fans wearing Wolves, Bulls, Rangers, Fyers, Fog Devils jerseys and a couple wearing Chiefs jerseys stopped on their way out for a friendly chat.
  
• Did I mention how friendly everyone is? Not that I expected a brawl or anything – it’s just really nice to see everyone starting up conversations all over the place.
  
• Found a free hot-spot. Buh-bye Starbucks and bell hot-spot and hello Williams Coffee Pub (but the connection is sooo slow - guess you get what you pay for).
  

More pictures (remember that you can click on any picture in the blog to see a larger image)