This was the 8th and final regular season game between these two teams with Belleville having the advantage going into tonight’s game. Three of the previous games went into overtime with each club taking one overtime win and Ottawa winning in the lone shoot-out. But despite what appears to be a close record between these two teams, Belleville is clearly the stronger of the two based on the numbers below. The CHL pre-game report was pretty generous in describing Ottawa’s potential as an opponent.
Game Day Set-Up
Ottawa 67s
Belleville Bulls
26-31-2-3
Record
43-13-4-2
57
Points
92
East – 7th
Conference – Rank
East – 1st
189
GF
255
224
GA
161
3-7-0-0
P10
8-1-1-0
15th - 0.174
PP – Rank and %
3rd – 0.226
10th – 0.816
PK – Rank and %
11th – 0.817
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
50
27
28
55
+10
Logan Couture
C
45
20
34
54
+11
Matthieu Methot
LW
62
22
18
40
-14
Additional Ottawa Player Notes: Scratches for the game were Jason Bailey (hip), Jamie McGinn (shoulder) and Michael Latta (3 game suspension – when did that happen and for what crime against humanity and hockey – they are two different considerations!!) Adam Courchaine got the call.
Top Guns - Belleville
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Matt Beleskey
LW
56
40
43
83
+31
Adam Perry
LW
62
29
46
75
+17
Shawn Matthias
C
47
28
44
72
+21
Additional Belleville Bulls Player Notes: didn’t catch any of lineup changes
Game Summary One of the rarer games we got on ExpressVu. As I was preparing the head-to-head stats for the game I was thinking to myself,…self, this could be a tough game for the boys. By the numbers, Belleville has it all over Ottawa including being the 4th ranked team in the entire CHL.
But give the 67s credit, although they didn’t generate much in the way of dangerous offense they sure did a dandy job of playing responsibly in their own end. Adam Courchaine also did his part in keeping the team in the game. It took Belleville two and a half periods to get the game winner against an impressive Ottawa defensive attitude. I think this was the best defensive performance that I have witnessed from this team all season.
I didn’t actually get to see ALL of the game (damn Blackberries and work!!) but I really liked what I saw from the whole team. I lost track of the lines after the first period but once again, the rookies with the leadership of the likes of Kiriakou and Methot were outstanding. I haven’t bothered with working out the details but I would hazard a guess that the Ottawa team on the ice tonight was quite a bit younger than the Bulls.
No running around, no panicking, good positioning generally. It was great to watch. Also, aside from the dirty hit on Cuma at the end of the second period, it was also a relatively clean game. All penalties came in the second period which is statistically interesting. Both teams trying to rely on skill rather than thuggery.
Ottawa was seriously outshot in the first period (3 – 15) but managed to get closer to even in the second period and eventually outshooting the Bulls in the third for a final shot count of 35 – 21 for Belleville.
Ottawa had a couple of good scoring chances but Murphy was there for some good saves.
Adam Courchaine was the second star according to the TSN guys; he got the third star in the rink. I would not suggest that either of the two goals were soft.
Yup – another loss for the 67s but not an ugly loss. And against a pretty hot team. As a fan, I don’t feel bad about this game – in fact I thought the team played really competitively. Sure, a goal or two would be great but they really held their own quite well. Watching this game was not a waste of my time.
From a tour of internet, it would appear that he knows how to pull up stakes and move because he’s been doing a lot of it in the three years since playing with the Ottawa 67s in their 2005 Memorial Cup run.
Now with the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL, his tour has included Grand Rapids (AHL), Toledo (ECHL), and Greenville (ECHL) during the 2005-2006 season, and Port Huron (UHL), Bloomington (UHL), and Long Beach (ECHL) during the 2006-2007 season. A whole season in Dayton so far – wonder if he’s unpacked!
That’s a lot of moving around for what has to be the love of the game ‘cause it doesn’t look like these players make alot money. According to ECHL rules, the weekly salary cap is $11,200 and the salary floor is $8,200. Rookie minimum salary is $340 a week; a returning player minimum is $375 a week. If a team went to the cap and had a full roster, the average weekly salary for each player would be $560. Say the regular season is 6 months long - that winds up being a whopping $13,440. Even if he triples that, it’s clearly a beer budget salary. Also, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of longevity in the ECHL. Each team can carry only 4 veterans and a veteran is any player that has played 260 professional games. Brad has played 165 professional games as of this writing. I guess it’s off to Europe after that if he gets the chance. Or some other “plan B” scenario. I haven’t done any research but my bet is that not too many players make the leap from being an ECHL veteran to the NHL.
He seems to be doing well enough, as of this writing he is ranked 117th out of what is around 450 or so skaters in the league. He has 13 goals and 20 assists in 53 games. He’s a minus-6 and has 66 PIMS on a team that appears to be in the middle of the pack total PIM-wise.
A quote from the Dayton Daily News neatly summed up what I remembered of him here in Ottawa:
"There's a saying that you can teach a big guy to skate but you can't teach a small guy how to grow," he said. "In this sport, you have to have a willingness to compete and battle no matter what your size.
"If you don't have the height, you need to play like you're 6-1 or 6-2 through your effort."
He certainly played like that here. Thomas Nesbitt seems to be growing into this role in the current incarnation of the Ottawa 67s.
So, he’s a grinder in the minors still playing hockey probably because he loves it. Doesn’t sound like he took advantage of the OHL scholarship program to get a degree to fall back on when his playing days are over.
Assistant Coach Chris Byrne was on the line today rather than Brian Kilrea (no reason given).
Losing all three games this weekend was disappointing - they were three tight checking playoff type games. The defensive play was good but Ottawa just couldn't find the goals (2 goals in 3 games). While not the results they had hoped for there were some bright spots in the play of some of the guys. He thought they had their best game on Sunday even though they had a few guys out of the lineup (they had 5D and 9F). Courchaine was the third star in both road games. No complaints about the guys in net.
The team has to put the puck to the net more and just keep it simple on their power plays. If they can get Bailey, McGinn and some other guys back in time for the playoffs and playing to their capabilities, the scoring could pick up again although the returning players will need some time to get their timing and confidence back. They could hit their stride during the playoffs.
Jon Carnevale has had a good return from mono; he and Martindale were two of the better forwards this weekend.
The team is not worrying about who they will meet it the playoffs. They are trying to get back into the playing form they were in during December when they beat Belleville and Oshawa each twice.
The tough road trips are done for the year. There’s one trip to Belleville this week and another trip to Kingston next week; the remaining 4 games are here in Ottawa.
I need to correct something from Friday's game blog. I stated that Jamie McGinn had been benched during the game. Schreibs kept mentioning it during the broadcast so of course it had to be true...but I wasn't so sure about it myself.
The spousal unit, Bob (the guy who sits next to us) and I were chatting about it as we walked to our vehicles. I was in the corner where Jamie went into the boards and could see that he hurt his shoulder. He tested it out, made a few faces to indicate that it hurt but then looked fine on the very next faceoff and actually was out there for a few more shifts. So we thought maybe it wasn't so bad.
click on any one to see a larger image
I noticed during the third period that Jamie was sitting in the middle of the bench rather than at the end behind the gate which appears to be the norm when a player is sent to Coventry (i.e. benched). So when Schreibs kept going on about Jamie being benched I had my doubts...but then again, he is The Voice and has forgotten more about hockey that I will ever hope to know.
I read in today's Ottawa Citizen that Jamie did not play in yesterday's game due to a shoulder injury.
So, my apologies to Captain Jamie for trusting The Voice rather than my own instinct on this.
As for yesterday's game, I didn't listen to it (watched the Sens - Pens game - whoo! finally a win. not pretty but two points with energy and emotion). I kept an eye on the score via the OHL site and noticed the 1-goal lead by Ottawa and just caught the final: 1 - 2 for Missy.
I guess the upside is that the last two games have been 1-goal games rather than blow-outs.
Here's the game sheet if you like looking at that stuff. Ottawa has now clinched a spot in the playoffs.
This was the 7th game between these two clubs this season with Peterborough winning 4 of the previous 6. Peterborough came into town after beating Oshawa the night before in overtime in Peterborough.
Game Day Set-Up
Ottawa 67s
Peterborough Petes
26-28-2-3
Record
25-32-0-3
57
Points
53
East – 6th
Conference – Rank
East – 8th
187
GF
181
219
GA
230
4-5-0-1
P10
2-8-0-0
14th - .0180
PP – Rank and %
9th – 0.190
10th – 0.817
PK – Rank and %
15th – 0.783
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
49
27
28
55
+10
Logan Couture
C
42
20
33
53
+12
Matthieu Methot
LW
59
22
18
40
-14
Additional Ottawa Player Notes: Jason Bailey (hip) and Tye McGinn (healthy?) were the scratches. It appears I must have mis-heard about Jason as Chris Byrne mentioned in the pre-game show with Buzz that Jason has started skating again, is not yet pain free but he is a hopeful start for next weekend. (I gotta get these ears cleaned out!) Jon Carnevale was back from his bout with mono. Chris Perugini was in the net.
Top Guns - Peterborough
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Zach Bogosian
D
52
10
46
56
+8
John Armstrong
C
58
20
34
54
-10
Pat Daley
RW
54
24
18
42
-1
Additional Peterborough Player Notes: missing in action were D-Chad Lowry, F-Mike Ryan, D-Bobby Davey and C-Liam Heelis. Added to the roster was Ardian Robertson. Trevor Cann was their goalie.
Game Summary As was done in all OHL arenas, the tribute video to Mickey Renaud was played after everyone stood and observed a moment of silence. If you want to see clips of the tributes in Windsor's first game since the death of their captain, go here (on the NOOF), go to page 9 and scroll down; someone has been kind enough to post them. Keep your tissues close – they are very touching. Both clubs are to be commended on how this was handled.
Well, as Screibs kept saying during the third period, Peterborough played a perfect road game, whatever that is (if someone wants to send me a message to explain that I would be truly grateful). I guess winning the game would be a good place to start.
The game started with a whole lot of skating but not a lot of shots on the goalies. By the time first period hit the half-way mark, I noted that only 4 shots had been generated by both teams together. Ottawa had its fair share of puck possession but really didn’t generate much in the way of scoring chances. Peterborough played a physical game and sitting right at the glass gives you a really good sense of how hard these guys try to hit and work along the boards.
On their second power play of the game, former Ottawa 67s Pat Daley scored the game’s only goal on a shot that was screened by Zach Harnden. Zach Bogosian and Arturs Kulda got the assists. Daley has had a lot of success against his former team. Well, a lot of former 67s have had really good games against the 67s. Hmmm.
Later, during a late-period gathering of the clans in front of Chris Perugini after a goal-crease scrum, things escalated from tugging, to a couple of face-washes into a pretty intense fight between Zach Bogosian and Matthieu Methot. Methot managed to shirt Bogosian, good hits were exchanged and Methot got the take-down. When it was all sorted out, the main combatants got each 5-for-fighting; Michael Latta was tagged for slashing and Pat Daley for roughing.
I was expecting that this would spark the team to pick their game up and play with more intensity but, alas, it didn’t quite happen.
It sure seems that the Petes have assembled the players, and former Ottawa 67s assistant coach Vince Malette (again note the word "former") has coached them into a team that is much more physical and aggressive than the Ottawa 67s. I wonder if this was among the reasons why Vince decided to break out on his own – for a chance to lead a tougher team than Kilrea tends to build and coach.
The Petes pressed hard even on the penalty kills and kept Ottawa from having too many real scoring opportunities on their 6 powerplay chances. There was a point in the third period where Ottawa had two powerplays back to back and were unable to get even one puck through to Trevor Cann in the entire 4 minutes. That’s essentially where they lost this game. They should have been able to capitalize on this 4-minute advantage mid-way through the third period against a team that played a tough game the night before and traveled to Ottawa. The rested home team should have been able to raise their game and get that tying goal. But, clearly some players were not up to it. Killer benched the captain in the third period for at least the second time at home this season. Messages are being sent but it appears that some guys are not listening. Maybe they need "The Total Transformation" (man those radio commercials are annoying!).
The 67s had a stronger second period with few scoring chances but they were unable to finish. To their credit, they collectively held the Petes to only one goal between some great defensive plays by all the players and snow-angel saves by Perugini, but overall they were unable to connect for any goals. For starters, their passing was pretty bad – ahead of players, behind players, anywhere but the tape in too many cases. They did manage to up the shot count in the third period but Trash-Cann (as serenaded by his hecklers) kept all of them out of the net. Realistically, I don’t think any of them were real scoring chances as they hit him pretty much in the crest and he didn’t let out any rebounds.
In the final minutes of the game the Petes kept the 67s from breaking out and pulling their goalie and thus protected their one-goal game.
The team headed out in the snow last night on their way to Mississauga with an overnight stay in Belleville. They play Saturday afternoon in Missy and then head to Oshawa for an afternoon game on Sunday. This team will be in tough for both these games.
The Game's Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200
1st Star
2nd Star
3rd Star
Trevor Cann
Pat Daley
Matthieu Methot
Team1200 Hardest Working 67s: Thomas Kiriakou
More pictures – click on any one to see a larger image
It certainly was quite a week. It started with the tragic news of Mickey Renaud’s death in Windsor. It captured the hearts and attention of pretty much everyone involved in hockey. By all reports he was quite the young man both on and off the ice; a credit to his family, his team and his town. An impressive impact in 19 short years.
The Ottawa 67s were on the road for one of those hard 3-in-two-and-a-half day swings through the Western Conference. Not quite the results they had hoped for (again). I didn’t listen or watch any of the games so can’t offer any summaries. They lost 4-1 in Guelph on Friday, won 5-4 in a shoot out on Saturday in Erie and got blown out of the water on Sunday in Brampton 6 – 1. That can’t feel good.
As they do on Team1200 every Monday during the hockey season, Buzz and the Kulkster chat with Coach Brian Kilrea.
The team didn’t manage to put together a 60-minute performance at any of the games this weekend. Actually, from all descriptions it sounds like they barely put together a total of 60 minutes in three games together and they were lucky to get the two points that they did against a team that is in last place in the league. Killer said it wasn’t any one or two particular players who underperformed but rather the entire team more or less (although he had some good things to say about Chris Perugini – more on that later). There were too many mistakes and too many of the same mistakes (it’s OK to make mistakes – just make new ones I guess). He thought that the defensive corps did pretty well considering the amount of pressure they had to deal with all weekend; the forwards were not putting any pressure on the other teams. Killer made a comment that caught my attention when talking about how the younger players are working so hard because they think they’re not good enough. He mentioned that some of the older players think they are better than the really are. The heads of too many players are not in the game and he wonders what these guys think will happen come draft day (my interpretation: one or more of the draft eligible players are pretty high on themselves and may not be focusing on the tasks at hand. If continued, they may be in for a nasty crash to earth in June).
Killer thought that Chris Perugini played well, particularly coming in cold on Sunday in Brampton. Chris could feel pretty good about himself even though the team results are lousy. He’s working hard and pushing Adam. Goalies need competition to stay sharp and it’s to the point where Killer thinks he has a 1 and 1A situation in goal. Chris certainly appears to be earning his keep and I would not be a bit surprised to see him get more time as the season winds down and the playoffs start.
The upcoming weekend has the Petes coming to town on Friday and the 67s on the road to play Mississauga on Saturday and Oshawa on Sunday which could be preview of the playoff bracket.
In case you missed it, Jason Bailey is done for the season. He has what is called a "sports hernia" and requires surgery. And so ends his Major Junior hockey career. That's a tough loss for the team and for him.
Since the 67s were on the road on Friday, we took a trip across the river to see the Olympique play last place Drummondville. We were hoping to see Claude Giroux but he had just returned from his brief call-up to the Flyers. Well, it can happen to any team and on Friday it happened to Gatineau. Having beaten the Volts the previous Sunday 9 – 2, they lost in overtime on Friday. The arena staff was very helpful in finding me a good spot to take pictures and I was right beside the Drummondville bench. They were some excited about gutting out a win against one of the top teams in the league. One of 10 wins this entire season for Drummondville. The Bob is one of those great character arenas and it’s fun to catch a game or two each year. Before the game started, they observed a moment of silence in memory of Mickey Renaud.
Sorry this is late and kind of rough – I wasted over $200 and four hours of my life at Scotia Bank Place last night instead of doing productive stuff like writing this blog. That was pathetic.
So, let the people you love know it ‘cause you never know….and let’s all look forward to better efforts all around. With luck, the success will follow.
Mickey Renaud's life is going to be remembered and celebrated in a number of official ways.
The OHL and the Spitfires have developed a tribute video to be shown before the next home game in each OHL city. The 67s are on the road this weekend so it will be a while before 67s fans get to see it. Here is what I believe to be the video:
Also, all OHL players will wear a commemorative #18 sticker on their hemets for the rest of the season.
In Windsor, players will wear a special jersey crest for the rest of the season and Mickey's jersey will be retired; plans will be announced in September.
These are just a few of the many ways this young man is being remembered.
Armchair Coach Monday once again with the Team1200 Over the Edge gang.
The discussion started with the game against London yesterday. The third period was their undoing and too much went wrong. The team certainly has to take advantage of every scoring chance, but let the forwards got to the net. But yesterday a defensemen (not named in the interview) got caught up-ice and it lead to an easy goal. Then a lost face-off resulted in another goal. Just too many mistakes. The momentum shifted to London and the Ottawa boys were unable to respond.
For the rest of the season, Killer is looking for some players to improve and show that they are ready to take on a bigger role or they will be sitting out. The return of Jason Bailey and Jon Carnevale may lead to some others watching rather than playing.
The best line for the last little while has been Methot, Kiriakou and Nesbitt who have been pretty consistent. The team needs two scoring lines…the other expected scoring line needs to get on with it.
Lots of kudos to Nesbitt who took a load of stitches in repairs on Friday both inside his mouth and on his face and came back to the game. With all the troubles on the right wing, Thomas has been working hard and double shifting at times. It was disappointing that his hard work was wasted in the loss.
Speaking of the right side, it has been quite the year for injuries on that side and it’s a challenge to adjust. It’s not just a matter of shifting someone else to that side.
On the subject of Logan Couture and whether he’s back up to speed, Killer thought that he had a lot of jump in the game yesterday (I thought I actually saw Logan getting physical too but I might have been imagining it). He skated pretty well but that whole line needs to get better results; they need a better two-way game.
As for Chris Perugini and the goaltending decisions for the stretch, Killer is not about to decide who will get the nod in the playoffs. It’s too early with something like 12 – 13 games left. Who ever gets hot will get the nod. It’s likely that both players will get starts this weekend.
Tough road trip ahead to Guelph, Erie and Brampton. It’s a tough trip but all the teams get these weekends (witness London’s weekend) so nothing unfair about it and the good teams succeed at it.
And that’s about all the key points I picked up in the chat. I expected a grumpier Coach Kilrea after those two losses but he seemed to be in a rather good mood….considering.
On a much more serious note, and not discussed during the interview, later today we learned the tragic news of the sudden death of Windsor Spitfire captain Mickey Renaud. The NOOF is about the best place to keep up with this news.
Words fail at this time to express one’s feelings. A life lost so young. Heartfelt sympathies to the family, team mates, friends and fans.
This is the second time these two teams met this season. London had a decisive 8 – 2 win over Ottawa in London back in October. This was London’s third game in three days as they completed their swing through the Eastern Conference. London lost 4 – 6 to Kingston on Friday and pulled out a 4 – 3 overtime in Belleville yesterday. In the last 5 years, London has beaten Ottawa 9 out of 11 meetings.
Game Day Set-Up
Ottawa 67s
London Knights
25-25-2-3
Record
32-19-3-2
55
Points
69
East – 5th
Conference – Rank
West – 4th
176
GF
203
199
GA
186
3-6-0-1
P10
6-3-1-0
14th - .0181
PP – Rank and %
6th – 0.208
8th – 0.827
PK – Rank and %
15th – 0.787
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
45
26
26
52
+12
Logan Couture
C
38
19
31
50
+15
Thomas Kiriakou
C
55
14
23
37
-8
Additional Ottawa Player Notes: Tyler Cuma was back in the lineup but Ottawa was still missing the usual suspects: Jason Bailey (hip flexor), Jon Carnevale (mono) and Matt Lahey (shoulder). Chris Perugini (aka J.T. Petit) was in the nets.
Top Guns - London
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Patrick Maroon
LW
52
32
48
80
+19
Akim Aliu
RW
53
23
29
52
+7
Phil Varone
C
55
10
38
48
+15
Additional London Player Notes: missing in action were D-Scott Aarssen (what you call a fire set by a pirate – aarssen!), D- Steven Tarasuk, F-Jadran Beljo, D-Matt Clark, F-Cody Smith, and F-Jordan Shine.
Game Summary For a team playing with a short bench and for the third day on the road, they sure had a lot of jump. And troubled child Akim Aliu started it with a quick goal just 26 seconds into the game picking up a rebound and going top shelf on Chris. Daniel Erlich got the assist. I was sitting by some London fans and they mentioned one nickname for this diminutive hockey player (5’6” and 150 lbs) is Timbits. He may be small but his hockey skills seem concentrated.
Back to the game.
Ottawa responded quite well despite the early goal, killing an early penalty, getting physical and checking aggressively. In their first penalty kill, Ottawa actually had the better scoring chance when they put one off the mask of Jason Guy. The delay to fix his mask and the faceoff in the London zone gave the Ottawa defenders time to rest. And right off that face-off, Justin Taylor tripped Couture to end the London power play.
With the Ottawa penalty expired and the 67s on the PPLogan Couture tipped a Michael Latta shot into the back of the net. Julien Demers got the second assist. So, just four minutes gone in the game the score was tied at one a-piece.
Ottawa had a number of scoring chances but they just couldn’t finish. I lost count how many times one of the players just could not find the puck with an open net yawning in front of him. It was a fast-paced, up and down 20-minutes with lots of ooh-ahh moments. You sure couldn’t tell that London was playing its third road game. After 20 minutes Ottawa had out-shot London 15 – 5 and had pretty much dominated.
Thomas Nesbitt got things going early in the second period when the London Knights turned over the puck and he took a shot at Jason Guy. Jason made the first save but Matthieu gave Ottawa the lead just 2 minutes into the second period he swatted the rebound while sprawled on the ice. Thomas Kiriakou got the second assist. This was followed up a few minutes later when that line struck again with Thomas Nesbitt setting up Thomas Kiriakou with a pass from intercepting a London clearing attempt. Kiriakou beat Guy with his shot from the face off circle and put Ottawa up by 2.
For some reason, it was London that got all fired up after the goals and they turned up the pressure. But Ottawa was still working hard. At the end where I was sitting, there was a lot of body pounding along the boards including one series where Tyler Cuma was shoving London players hard on the boards to gain possession. But slowly and surely London was gaining more control of the play as Jason Guy made good saves, the Knights cleared the front of the net and completely shut down Ottawa’s only penalty of the period.
London’s overager Sean O’Connor got London back within one at 13:05 minutes in with the assistance of Tony Romano and Kevin Montgomery. Perugini made the first save but was unable to corral the rebound. Tyler Cuma was clearing a London player and the puck bounced past him and a sprawled Chris Perugini.
But with just under 2 minutes left in the period, Matthieu Methot scored his second of the game and 22nd of the year when Thomas Nesbittmade a perfect pass from the boards right to the stick of Matthieu who finished for the goal. Thomas Kiriakou had the other assist.
But that would be it for Ottawa goals for the game.
The period ended with Ottawa up by two (4 – 2) and the shot count at 28 – 19 for Ottawa. Both teams had put a lot of pucks on the opposing goalies that period (13 for Ottawa and 15 for London).
One might have forgiven London if they would have been tired in the third but it appears they didn’t get that memo. London took the play to Ottawa and severely limited any chance for Ottawa to set up any sustained offence. And their reward was four unanswered goals. You could just sense that Ottawa was going to get this one get away as the period unfolded.
Just like he started the first period, Akim Aliu scored relatively early in the period. Nineteen year-old rookie (!) Patrick Maroon got the assist. Then it was followed up with goals by Kevin Montgomery (Andrew Wilkins), Sean O'Connor (Patrick Maroon and Akim Aliu), and finally Sean O'Connor with the EN (Patrick Maroon with the assist). Chris Perugini made some great saves to keep the game as close as it was.
Unlike the game on Friday where Belleville was clearly the better team, this was a game that Ottawa could have and should have won. Despite the first shift, Ottawa played quite strongly for the better part of two periods but for some reason could not close the deal with a strong third period. Plus, they just couldn't finish on the many chances that they had.
They looked more than PO’d with themselves at the end of the game and they should have been. The game ended with London winning 6 – 4 and shots 38 – 31 for Ottawa.
But, having been at the Senators – Devils game the night before, I must say that this game was by far more entertaining. (the first period last night was dead booooring not the least bit helped by Ottawa not bothering to show up)
Rather than the usual player in profile, for the first intermission they had London trainer Don Brankley in profile. He’s been with the club for close to 40 years and has decided to pull the plug at the end of this season. Brian Patafie got his start in this field after a chance encounter with Don a long time ago here in Ottawa with an offer to be a stick-boy. He’s almost 60 years old and had decided to go while he was still enjoying it. His interview included several shots at Windsor just to reminisce about the rivalry. Trash talking, even by the bench, is clearly part of the game, done in good spirit. As Buzz gave Don the names of a few players, Don had good things to say about each of them. A guy leaving the game with a lot of memories and having made quite the impression on many – some of them a bit irritating.
Talk about getting scoring from the secondary – three of four Ottawa goals came from the line of Methot, Kiriakou and Nesbitt. Nice work gentlemen. Unfortunately the top six forwards were also on the ice for pretty much all of the London goals.
So with this loss and Mississauga’s win, Ottawa drops to 6th in the Conference with another long road trip coming up with games against Guelph, Erie and Brampton next weekend. Hopefully they will have Jason Bailey back and they can figure out how to play strong for 60 minutes.
The Game's Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200
This was the 7th of 8 regular season games between these two clubs with all previous games decided by one goal and the series even at 3 apiece.
Game Day Set-Up
Ottawa 67s
Belleville Bulls
25-24-2-3
Record
37-12-3-2
55
Points
79
East – 5th
Conference – Rank
East – 1st
174
GF
225
194
GA
139
7-3-0-0
P10
3-6-0-1
14th - .0185
PP – Rank and %
3rd – 0.226
8th – 0.826
PK – Rank and %
11th – 0.810
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
44
24
26
50
+11
Logan Couture
C
37
19
29
48
+14
Thomas Kiriakou
C
54
14
23
37
-5
Additional Ottawa Player Notes: Tyler Cuma (ankle), Jason Bailey (hip flexor), Jon Carnevale (mono) and Matt Lahey (shoulder) remained out of the line-up. Adam Courchaine got the start in nets.
Top Guns - Belleville
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Matt Beleskey
LW
51
37
38
75
+29
Shawn Matthias
C
39
23
43
66
+20
Adam Perry
LW
54
26
39
65
+19
Additional Belleville Player Notes: Out for Belleville were Robert Stellick, Stephen Johnston, Tyler Randell, Michael Neal and Andy Bathgate. Parker VanBuskirk got the call between the pipes.
Game Summary
Well, like the headline says, Belleville isn’t in first place for nothing. They are an old team by OHL standards (9-19-year olds) and loaded for a run at the Memorial Cup. They have some guys with serious experience in Shawn Matthias (WJHC and at least one call-up to the NHL) and P.K. Subban (WJHC) and university drop-out Andrew Self. Belleville clinched a playoff spot a week or so ago and they currently enjoy a 7-point lead over John Tavares’ Oshawa Generals. Belleville was also ranked 5th in the entire CHL in the last rankings.
For their part, Ottawa is returning from a 5 – 4 road win in Peterborough last night. They battled back from one-goal and two-goal deficits and took the lead for good on Adam Zamec’s goal late in the third period. It was a long trip back with bad weather so the team was playing today a tad short on good rest. Chris Perugini got the win in Peterborough.
The first period wasn’t so good for the 67s as it seemed that the Bulls were better able to control the puck and keep the play in the Ottawa end of the ice. And that was despite Ottawa having 4 power play opportunities. The only goal of the period came at about the mid-point on an odd-man rush with Eric Tangradi notching his 21st goal of the season with assists going to Andrew Self and Nigel Williams.
Adam Courchaine kept the game close with some good saves including a situation where he lost his stick, the puck was still in play and he still managed to make the save. Before the period was half over, Thomas Nesbitt went down in the corner in Belleville zone and it looked like he might have been clipped in the face by a skate. From the report on the broadcast, it took 20-stitches to repair the damage. He was back on the ice later with a full cage to protect his face (click on the picture to see a larger image).
They started the second period with their 5th power play but were again unable to get past Parker VanBuskirk. But they did manage to put some sustained pressure on the Bulls with better puck control in the offensive zone. The play was pretty good, up and down and some good transitions and it was the transition that resulted in the second Belleville Bulls goal. The defense collapsed on Courchaine and he was screened on Nigel Williams’ shot. Again, Nick Pageau and Keaton Turkiewicz got the assists. And with that goal, the momentum turned to Belleville. It was a better period for the 67s but they were unable to get on the scoreboard. By the end of two periods the shots on goal were 18 – 22 for Belleville.
The third period was Ottawa’s strongest yet it was Belleville that did most of the scoring. The Bulls went up by 3 when Shawn Matthias was left alone at the side of the net and took a nice feed from PK Subban and he had the easy goal into pretty much an empty net. Cory Tanaka had the second assist.
But the 67s didn’t give up. Their first goal wasn’t pretty but there’re no pictures on the game sheet. It was quite the goal-mouth scramble and VanBuskirk was down because Michael Latta was pushed on top of him by a Belleville player. Jamie McGinn was in the right spot to put the puck in the net. Logan Couture and Michael Latta got the assists.
Belleville’s captain, Matt Beleskey was seriously PO’d about the goal being allowed and complained vociferously including pushing the net off its moorings to start his diatribe. The ref didn’t appreciate Matt’s approach and gave him a couple of minutes for a quick remedial lesson in communicating under stressful conditions. Ottawa had a couple of good scoring chances on the power play but VanBuskirk was able to stop them all.
Shawn Lalonde restored the three-goal lead shortly after than when he knocked down the puck and beat Courchaine with an unassisted goal.
And just a minute and a half later, Jamie McGinn scored his second of the night when his shot found its way through VanBuskirk. Logan Couture and Sean Ryan got the assists and Ottawa was back within 2.
With a Belleville penalty for tripping with just over two minute left, the Ottawa 67s called a timeout and came back to the ice without Adam Courchaine for the extra attacker making it a 6-on-4-man advantage which again was rebuffed by the Bulls.
With the penalty successfully killed, it was back to 6-on-5 play. Shawn Matthias beat Paryzek to a loose puck and scored the EN to seal the deal. Cory Tanaka got the assist.
And so, despite a pretty good effort from the 67s, who were still missing a couple of key players (Cuma and Bailey) and after a road game last night, they couldn’t beat the faster, bigger, older Belleville team. Neither team scored on the powerplay which is more telling for the 67s as they had 7 of the 9 powerplay opportunities. Ottawa ended up out-shooting the Bulls 36 – 31. The 67s didn’t lose for lack of trying – it was a good effort.
The Game's Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200
This will be really quick. As usual, the guys gathered for a Monday-morning look-back at the weekend where Ottawa took 3 of a possible 4 points.
Coach mentioned that on Friday, all the pieces of the team were back but not quite gelled (as one might expect). He thought the team played really well but just didn't get the bounces like they did on Sunday.
But the good news didn't last too long as Cuma was out on Sunday with a swollen ankle from the shot he blocked on Friday and Bailey was also out on Sunday with a hip flexor problem. If Jason listened to the program he heard Killer say that Bailey would not be playing this weekend either. Team staff want to give him the time to heal up properly and be ready for the playoffs. Seems they are taking a page out of Alfie's book on taking the time to get it right.
Killer agreed that with all the injuries, the rookies are getting much more time and in more situations than one might have normally planned for them and he is really pleased how they have risen to the task.
Among the notable rookie performances is Chris Perugini who will likley get more than the 1000 minutes that was planned for him this year. The team had targetted him in the draft but Brampton had indicated to Chris that they were going to pick him. Brampton had 2-3rd round picks and when it came up for their first one, they took another player that came available. While they were on the phone assuring Chris that they were going to pick him with their second pick.....never mind...Ottawa just picked you. Killer likes the look of his goalie situation for the short and long term (for as long as it lasts in junior hockey). As with Bailey, Killer will likely play Chris more right now to let Adam heal his broken finger and be ready for the playoffs.
He is also very high on Latta who will continue to improve and be a force to reckon with (as if he's not already). He works hard, goes anywhere on the ice and will only get better.
The boys discussed the return of Logan and how he seemed to be targetted on the weekend, especially on Friday. The refs missed the head-shots and attempted head-shots. It's one thing to hit a key player but it seems that the opposing teams were aiming higher.
Another tough weekend coming up with a road game in Peterborough on Thursday with home games on Friday (Belleville) and Sunday (London). That Thursday - Friday part of the schedule is hard on the kids as they get home at about 2:00 am, have to get up for school later that morning and then play a game that night.
That's about it. Again, Killer seemed upbeat and pleased with his team.
Killer really likes what he has as building blocks for the future.
This was the third of 4 regular season games between these two clubs. Ottawa had won both of the previous outings by one goal with scores of 5-4 and 1-0.
Game Day Set Up:
Game Stats
Conf
Rank
GP
Record
PTS
GF
GA
P10
East
6
52
23-24-2-3
51
163
189
2-7-0-1
East
7
53
22-25-3-3
50
148
172
3-4-1-2
Power Play
Team
Rank
GP
ADV
GF
%
Ottawa
15
52
314
56
0.178
Barrie
16
53
304
52
0.171
Penalty Kill
Team
Rank
GP
TSH
PPGA
%
Barrie
7
53
296
22
0.824
Ottawa
10
52
289
52
0.820
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
42
23
25
48
+10
Logan Couture
C
35
18
28
46
+12
Thomas Kiriakou
C
52
14
21
35
-4
Additional Ottawa Player Notes: Tyler Cuma was out of the lineup today due to a swollen ankle from a blocked shot on Friday. It looked like it stung him pretty badly when it happened. Jason Bailey was also out – his problem is a strained hip flexor. With Alfie’s recent experience with that, we are all a little more informed about that part of the anatomy. Jon Carnevale was still out with mono and Matt Lahey with his shoulder.
Top Guns - Barrie
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Alex Hutchings
C
53
22
18
40
+7
Tomas Marcino
C
33
15
19
34
-5
Cory McGillis
LW
35
-5
14
29
-3
Additional Barrie Player Notes: Out for Barrie were Kyle van de Bospoort, Stephen Gaskin, Daniel Michalsky, Adam Payerl and Jaroslav Kruzik. Vladimir Nikiforov was traded from Barrie after playing 36 games….he’s still the highest scorer for the Colts with 53 points.
Game Summary It was more of a case of My Little Ponies than Wild Mustangs from the Barrie Colts today.
OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But to the victors go the spoils and that includes the spin of the game. In all fairness, it was much closer than the score would indicate for some of the game.
Ottawa started strongly, for about...oh I’d say ...the first 4 minutes? Then it was all Barrie. They pretty much played the rest of the first period in the Ottawa zone. They forechecked hard, they cycled the puck and they pretty much shut down Ottawa anytime they attempted to get anything started. Even with two power play opportunities, Ottawa only managed 7 shots on Hutchinson for the entire 20 minutes. Chris, however, saw a bit more rubber, 15 shots. As he was kicking out pucks and making saves, I kept thinking about the McDonald’s promo for their latest gimmick – mini goalie sticks:
Our mini goalie kept all pucks out of the net.
Early in the second period, with Stefan Della Rovere finally getting called for interference Jamie McGinn was in the slot when Logan’s shot rebounded off a Barrie skate right to him. He buried it for an unassisted goal and his 24th of the year. That was at about 4:30 into the game. You could see a change in the Ottawa game; the goal seemed to lift them. But the next goal they got was certainly not a pretty one. Less than two minutes later, former Ottawa 67s Tyson Aitcheson was being chased back into his zone by Logan Couture and somehow he made the mistake that all players dread – he scored on his own net. So Logan Couture was credited with Ottawa’s second unassisted goal of the game. For once a former player worked in our favour.
A mere 14 seconds after that, with Della Rovere sprung from the joint, Captain Jamie McGinn had a few words with him – with his fists. I couldn’t get any good pictures of this tilt as the officials and other players got in the way. It looked like a pretty good tilt (sorry Rose Ann), and although Della Rovere got the take down, it looked pretty even to me. I’m gonna give it to the home boy.
It seemed that one of Barrie’s strategies must have been to get in Chris’ kitchen ‘cause they were taking their runs at him. And it cost them a goal to be called back. At about the mid-way make of the game, Marcus Pepe pretty much straddled Chris which seriously limited his ability to attempt a save on a Barrie shot. The puck went in but it was a no-goal with Pepe getting the goaltender interference call.
It took Matthieu Methot 33 seconds to score. That too (or, more precisely three) was an unassisted goal. Ottawa was ahead 3 – 0 and the shots had crept up to 13 – 19 in favour of Barrie. And that spelled the end of the game for Michael Hutchinson. Having allowed 3 goals on 19 shots, he was pulled in favour of Peter Di Salvo.
Ottawa kept up the pressure and on one of their penalty kills, they generated more of a threat than the Colts did, including a great short-handed chance by Sean Ryan that went off the post.
After 2 periods it was Ottawa 3, Barrie zippo and the shots were 18 – 25 for Barrie.
So, what were we going to see in the third period? Well, a whole lotta penalties for one thing. 15 to be exact. Pretty evenly distributed too. Ottawa did a pretty good job of not only defending against the PP, but generating some offense too. They smelled blood and were going for the kill. Precisely what we wanted and needed to see. These ponies needed to know just who was riding who here.
Ottawa notched three more goals in the last half of the third and they were nicely spread around the roster. Matthieu Methot scored his 18th of the year on the power play when Michael Latta worked hard in front of the net, keeping control of the puck and eventually getting it to Methot who had the open net. Thomas Kiriakou got the other assist.
Then, 35 seconds later, Adam Zamec scored from his knees. Thomas Nesbitt got the assist on that one. And to round out the scoring for Ottawa, Martin Paryzek beat Di Salvo with a bullet from inside the blue line for his 2nd goal of the year. Logan Couture and Michael Latta got the assists.
But, before that goal, Dalton Prout and Thomas Nesbitt mixed it up. Nesbitt had been itching for someone to hit for quite a while and he had a taker in Prout.
The shut-out for Chris was spoiled when, with under two minutes left in the game, Colt Kennedy (perfect name for a Barrie Colt doncha think?) had an easy goal into the open side as Chris could not get back from a great first save. Mitch Lebar and Kyle Clifford got the assists.
So, Chris Perugini kept Ottawa in the game in the first period and the rest of the team got their collective acts together for the rest of the game to hand the Barrie Colts a pretty decisive 6 – 1 loss. Final shots were 37 – 38 for Barrie.
The Game's Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200
1st Star
2nd Star
3rd Star
Chris Perugini
Matthieu Methot
Michael Latta
Team1200 Hardest Working 67s: Martin Paryzek
Random Thoughts:
When I heard that both Cuma and Bailey were out of the lineup, I was not sure about how this game would unfold. Great for the team to pull out a solid win. But everyone on that team owes Perugini big time for his performance in that first period.
Alotta goal tender contact by the Barrie team. Even with two refs and refs not afraid to blow the whistle (27 penalties called today), the Colts got away with a lot of “incidental” contact with Chris including a pretty brazen cross-check. Unfortunately my picture is out of focus or it would have been published here. But Chris stood tall. Waydago kid!
I noticed from the game sheet that, what looked like a fight in the last minute of the game started by McGillis, was only recorded as a roughing call by the refs. If I understand the rules correctly, he dodged a two-game suspension for starting a fight in the last 5 minutes of a game when the team is down by 5 or more goals. Hmmm. Martindale got an unsportsmanlike in the same incident. Maybe he offered McGillis his sister’s set of My Little Pony dolls.
What’s with the fighting with the helmets on? Let’s see…from the official roster information, Prout has 4 inches and 20 lbs on Nesbitt. He could at least man-up and take the brain bucket off. Someone a few seats back from ours suggested that he was missing some pieces of his anatomy.
Doug Wilson, former Ottawa 67s and current GM of the San Jose Sharks was in town to check out his two prospects – Jamie McGinn and Logan Couture. In an interview that was aired in the first intermission he noted that Derek Joslin is doing really well in Worcester; basically taking over the leadership of the defensive core. Doug foresees an NHL career for Derek.
Only 6 more home games left this season. In the Eastern Conference, Belleville, Oshawa and Brampton have clinched playoff spots. In the Western Conference, Kitchener clinched a playoff spot a couple of weeks ago. Going into today’s game, teams were only separated by 1 point in each of the 5 to 8 spots. Someone is going to have to go on a real tear if they are going to make it to the fourth spot. So for the bottom four, it will be about trying to pick your poison. With today’s win and the Major’s loss, Ottawa retakes 5th place in the conference.
Today’s Ottawa Citizen reported that former Ottawa 67s Brodie Beard had three assists the final game of the Carleton Raven’s first men’s varsity hockey season in 33 years. The Carleton Ravens beat the Ottawa GGs 7 – 1 and have made it to the playoffs. They take on McGill in the first round starting Wednesday.
This was the return engagement with the Whalers after last weekend’s Ottawa 7-3 win in their barn. Let's get to some set-up information:
Game Stats
Conf
Rank
GP
Record
PTS
GF
GA
P10
East
6
51
23-24-2-2
50
161
186
3-7-0-0
West
5
51
28-19-2-2
60
174
159
5-5-0-0
Power Play
Team
Rank
GP
ADV
GF
Plymouth
13
51
320
60
Ottawa
14
51
304
55
Penalty Kill
Team
Rank
GP
TSH
PPGA
%
Plymouth
7
51
350
62
.823
Ottawa
10
51
283
51
.820
Top Guns - Ottawa
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Jamie McGinn
LW
41
22
25
47
+9
Logan Couture
C
34
17
28
45
+11
Thomas Kiriakou
C
51
14
21
35
-4
Additional Ottawa Player Information: Jon Carnevale is yet another mono victim; Matt Lahey is facing shoulder surgery; Tye McGinn was the healthy scratch.
Top Guns - Plymouth
Player
Position
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
Chris Terry
C
51
35
46
81
+15
Andrew Fournier
C
47
29
31
60
+2
Wes Cunningham
D
51
6
41
47
+6
Additional Plymouth Player Information: Josh Bernis was a scratch; Leo Jenner was in the middle of a 20-game suspension for an illegal use of an elbow to rearrange the face of Sarnia's Vladimir Nikiforov. The elbow-face encounter broke Nikiforov's jaw. Nikiforov had surgery to insert a plate and screw instead of the jaw being wired shot. Nikiforov is expected to be out of the lineup until mid-March.
Game Summary This was Logan Couture’s return to the lineup after missing 17 games recovering from back-to-back concussions. Killer had warned earlier this week (Over the Edge on Monday) not to expect much because Logan would need time to get his game conditioning and timing back. Well, he was right…it took Logan all of 9 seconds to get it all back. Tying a franchise record, Logan Couture scored the first goal of the game just 9 seconds into the game off a turnover caused by Michael Latta. Unassisted. Nice start.
Thwarted Scoring Chance - Penalty Called
Then the penalty parade started – 8 in this period alone. Ottawa had 4 power play chances and were unable to cash in on any of them. Plymouth had two and were likewise unsuccessful. Ottawa dominated for most of the period but you could see them sagging in the last 5 minutes and a goal was inevitable. With just a 1:31 left in the period, Patrick Lee scored on a rebound. Assists went to Jozef Sladock and Tyler G. Brown.
Ottawa played a very strong second period despite another penalty filled 20-minutes (7 in all). And Ottawa finally made good on one when Jamie McGinn scored his 23rd of the year on the rebound putting it in high bloker side. Assists went to Michael Latta and Julien Demers getting the assists.
The third period was not so good for the 67s. Either they sagged or Plymouth stepped it up a notch that the 67s could not match but they spent the vast majority of the period in their own zone. With their sticks on auto-dump, they were unable to clear their zone, much less generate any serious offense. Chris Perugini faced 15 shots, many of them real scoring chances and he made some amazing saves to keep the team in the game. But he couldn’t stop them all. With Cody Lindsay off for hooking and Ottawa failing to clear the puck, AJ Jenks was left alone in front and he was able to get it past Chris. Joe McCann and Chris Terry got the assists.
The game ended in a tie and overtime didn’t resolve it so off to the shoot out.
Shootout Round 1 - PLY - Chris Terry - X Round 1 - OTT - Jamie McGinn - Yes Round 2 - PLY - Ryan Hayes - Yes Round 2 - OTT - Logan Couture - X Round 3 - PLY - Andrew Fournier - Yes Round 3 - OTT - Adam Zamec - X
So in a case of the fish that got away…coming back twice from a one-goal deficit, the Plymouth Whalers take it in a shoot out: 3 – 2. Final shots on goal were 35 – 39 for Plymouth.
The Game's Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200
1st Star
2nd Star
3rd Star
Chris Perugini
Jeremy Smith
Andrew Fournier
Team1200 Hardest Working 67s: Michael Latta
Random Thoughts:
Great start for Logan.
It sure looked like the Whalers were targeting Logan for hard physical play. I’m guessing it was a combination of his long lay-off, his early goal and the possible same scouting opinion that the Windsor Spitfires left behind (that Logan was soft) that inspired their attention.
First time we’ve had anything close to the normal first line in a long time.
They played a really solid two periods – fore checking hard, cycling the puck well, working hard on the boards. Just needed to find that in the final frame.
Are my eyes deceiving me or was Kiriakou getting more physical?
Another strong game for Chris Perugini. He made some great saves (all away from the end where I was) including a great save during the overtime period. From my vantage point all I could see was a pile of bodies in the crease and suddenly Perugini sprung out from somewhere and pounced on the puck.
I guess that Adam was scheduled to start but he broke one of his fingers in the skate earlier today. Not too much damage apparently as he was good to dress and backup Chris.
Pre-game show included a chat with Greg Stefan, coach of the Plymouth Whalers. Still stinging from the loss at home last week to the 67s. About the incident…apparently it all started when fans behind the Plymouth bench started offering the ref some pointed opinions and the ref thought they came from the bench and that’s why they got the bench penalty. In his best “that’s how the whistle goes sometimes” fashion, he said that Ottawa played well and deserved the win.
More Pictures (click on any photo to see a larger image):
Nesbitt working hard for the puck
Scholar Couture
Jason Bailey: Ready for his role in a fright movie
Was able to catch the regular Monday morning chat with Killer and the guys on Team1200’s Over the Edge. Here’s what he had to say about the hockey (I don’t care much for football so I won’t bother with his comments on the Super Bowl).
He is really happy with the young guys – especially with the way they have stepped it up with all the injuries lately. He’s already looking forward to how they will be even better next year. I believe he actually said that they will be “dandies”. I’m sure every aspiring hockey player would just love to be called a dandy. Oy!
He commented on how Kiriakou came to the defense of Jon Carnevale who was nailed by a good hit. Killer noted that it looked like Ottawa was going to get a PP with the game tied in the third period but not only was that negated by the 2 minutes Thomas got but then he was out for an additional 5 and 10. But on the other hand he seemed to understand that Thomas was coming to the defense of one of the young guys. (Can hardly fault him for that and there have been more than a few comments from various fans in various fora regarding the seemingly lack of toughness from our guys – that’s my comment not Killer’s).
In discussing the goaltending, Killer was very complimentary noting that it’s been strong all year in his opinion but was excellent this past weekend. He noted the 6 PPGs, 1 allowed on the PK (2 according to the game sheets), 3 goals allowed in each of the games on the road and thought it was pretty good.
It looks like Cuma and Couture will be back but Killer cautions on expecting too much from Logan. Due to his time off, his own conditioning and timing will be off. But Killer is looking forward to a better team down the road as everyone rounds out into form again.
On the Cuma front, Killer decided that the OHL All Star game is a no-go for Tyler. He needs time to recover from his various illnesses.
Which brings us to Julien Demers and Killer getting as close to gushing as I have heard in a while. Julien is going to the OHL All Star game in Tyler’s place and Killer thinks that’s great. He said that Julien is a star every night as he does lots of small things that don’t get noticed on the score sheet. His skating is getting better, he’s the toughest kid on the team, he can QB on the PP, can play a ton of minutes and continues to get better. He’s getting greater visibility as scouts come out to see Tyler play and his chance to play at the All Star game will just give him greater visibility which Killer really believes he deserves.
Finally, the discussion turned to Michael Latta and his highlight reel goal in Plymouth. Again, Killer noted that Michael’s timing and conditioning needs a bit more time due to the length of Michael’s recovery from mono.
Regarding the Greg Stefan incident in Plymouth, Killer has seen different things over the years including sticks, water bottles, pucks and towels thrown on the ice that have taken time to clear up. He understands that Greg was trying to make a point but in the end, the ref is going to carry the day which is the way it’s supposed to be. Apparently Jason Bailey was encouraging the ref to roll the clock ‘cause they had to play a game the next day in Saginaw.
So a long road trip is out of the way and a weekend at home without any mid-week games is coming up. This is a welcome break in the travel. January and the first couple days of February were pretty tough, a bit more later in February but then March looks pretty good.
All in all, the Coach was as upbeat as we have heard in a long time. He didn’t seem at all bothered about getting only two points on the road; he seemed pleased with the effort from the team. Which is pretty much what we all want – a good solid effort. The rest will come in due course.
The team was on the road for the weekend starting with a game in Windsor on Thursday night. I didn’t catch this one on the TV or radio as I was at the Ottawa – Boston game. (Another stinker by the Senators – heavy sigh.) I kept track on my portable device and quite honestly thought that it might have been much worse considering the game against Windsor here in Ottawa last week. Tyler Cuma was out of the line up due to a bout of bronchitis, but Jason Bailey and Michael Latta were back in the line-up. Ottawa had 7 powerplay opportunities but couldn’t convert on any of them. Adam Courchaine faced 41 shots but only three made it to the back of the net. (So much for my suggestion about limiting the SOGs – unless they are all listening to Anne Murray right now). Final score 3 – 0 for the Spitfires.
Then it was the short trip to Plymouth to face the Whalers the next day. This was a different game entirely. I listened to most of the game on the radio (was watching the Vancouver – Tampa game and forgot to get back to the radio a couple of times). It was a pretty close game – closer than the score would suggest. Ottawa had a 2-goal lead going into the second period, Plymouth then tied it up but Ottawa took the lead again with less than a minute to play. Plymouth came back early in the third to tie it up again but Ottawa took the lead for good with its third power play goal of the game. The scorers to this point were Martindale, Latta, Demers and Bailey. Plymouth was pressing hard and getting shots through to Chris Perugini and he was making some big saves. Then all hell broke loose to speak of.
From what I understand from the radio broadcast, the Plymouth coach was really annoyed with the refereeing. He got a bench minor for his efforts and Thomas Kiriakou promptly scored to put Ottawa up by 2. With just over a minute and a half left, Plymouth pulled its goalie. Shortly thereafter Jamie McGinn got the EN to put Ottawa up by 3. The Plymouth coach went apoplectic for some reason and was ejected but he wouldn’t leave, he apparently wanted the ref to go over and chat with him about it. The ref didn’t (can’t say that I blame him – what possible positive outcome could there have been??) and we had a stand-off. The ref assessed a delay of game and misconduct, and Greg Stefan finally left the bench. Plymouth was assessed one more penalty and Adam Zamec scored Ottawa’s 4th PP goal with just two seconds left. Final score 7 – 3 Ottawa. Chris Perugini faced 40 shots and was named the first star both in the building and by the Team1200 guys. The rematch on Friday should be interesting. It will also be interesting to see if Stefan gets suspended for his dramatics.
The final road trip game was played just an hour and a half away in Saginaw last night. I listened to most of it (was again watching the Sens play – I am a sucker for punishment). It sounded like a really tightly played game with our goalie (Adam Courchaine) again playing strong. Saginaw opened the scoring in the second period but Ottawa got that one back (Martindale on the PP) and then went ahead near the end of the period on another PP goal (Methot). Before the first minute was played in the third period, Saginaw tied it up again and it stayed like that until former Ottawa 67s (and just about every other team in the OHL) David Jarram found the back of the net with just under 5 minutes left. Thomas Kiriakou was lost to the team early in the period when he came to the defense of Jon Carnevale I believe. Kiriakou was assessed 2-5-and-10 (instigating, and fighting) and Ottawa lost a key player. Nonetheless, had some scoring chances but Saginaw goalie Ryan Daniels stopped them all. The final score was 3-2 for Saginaw. And for the second time in as many games, the Ottawa goalie was one of the three stars – Adam Courchaine got the nod as the third star in the building. He faced 42 shots.
Random Thoughts:
Sounds like the team played much better this weekend. Sure they came out with just one win, but it sounds like the Saginaw game could have gone either way.
Some stats for the weekend: shots on Ottawa: 123, shots on the other guys: 86; GF 9, GA 9; 6 PP goals on 21 PPs, 2 goals allowed on 13 PKs; 8 different players scored the nine goals. Not entirely bad numbers in my estimation.
While the Sens game against Boston was horrible, I got a chance to take a behind the game-day scenes tour. It was interesting. Actually it was the best part of the day. Didn’t get a chance to ask nearly all the questions I had. I was right beside Gerber’s locker and noticed that he was going to wear a jersey that was crudely repaired and had puck marks all over it. Not sure if he is was too superstitious to change it for a new one. Didn’t help him too much (well – neither did his team).
I haven’t done any long-term research but lately whenever both the 67s and the Sens play on the same day, it seems that both teams lose. I’m blaming it on the Sens.
Upcoming games this weekend against Plymouth and Barrie. We just might see a full line-up for the first time in a long time. That would be novel.
It will be interesting to hear Killer’s take on the weekend when he drops in on Over the Edge. If I get a chance I will post a summary tomorrow.
