Click!

It was as if someone threw a switch.

The Memorial Cup champs and third best ranked team in the country rolled into town Thursday for Friday's game. They are a team stacked with talent including two players who are being touted as possible 1-2 picks (Tylor Hall and Cam Fowler) in next year's NHL entry draft. They also iced 8 players who have been drafted in the NHL including two first rounders (Ryan Ellis 11th overall by Nashville in 09 and Greg Nimesz 25th overall by Calgary in 08).

Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Martindale, Nesbitt (starters)
Smith, Toffoli, Merrett
Sointu, Graovac, Carnevale
Hanes, Janes

D-pairs
Birkhoff, Cuma (starters)
Demers, Gibbons
Zanetti, Ceci
Hartwick

Goal: Perugini

Scratches: Schinkelshoek, Nigro (mono), Cowick (injury), Anderson

Like the game against the Soo last Sunday, Ottawa drew first blood. Just 32 seconds into the game Cody Lindsay scored his first goal of the season when he ripped the first shot of the game top shelf past Troy Passingham from the face-off circle. Ryan Martindale and Tyler Cuma were credited with the assists.

It was good up and down hockey but Windsor had the edge. It started with Ottawa's first PP...which wasn't so good although they managed to get a couple of shots through. Then it was Windsor's turn on the PP. The best in the league. And it only took one shot 30 seconds in. Adam Henrique's shot got by a screened Chris Perugini. Cam Fowler and Greg Nemisz got the assists. The rest of the period saw a lot of skating but not too many real scoring opportunities.

Ottawa had some good pressure early in the second but could not get a goal. Windsor went up by two with two PP goals. Like the first goal, these two were also scored on the first shot on goal on each of them. Cam Fowler got his first OHL goal with an easy tap in on the side when he was left all alone at the side of the net. Scott Timmins put the Spitfires ahead 3 minutes later. Ottawa had their chances but couldn't bury any of them. The shots after two were 22 - 14 for Ottawa but Windsor had the lead.

After two, it didn't look that good for the 67s but someone found the switch for these players during the second intermission.

The comback started just 2:40 into the period with Tyler Graovac notched his second goal of the season when he put Cuma's rebound past Passingham short side. Tyler Cuma had the only assist and it was a one-goal game.

The 67s continued playing aggressively, putting pucks on the net and going for the big fat rebounds coming from the Spitfire goalie and it paid off. About 5 minutes into the final frame, Thomas Nesbitt tied it up when his shot from below the goal line bounced into the net off Passingham. Cody Lindsay and Ryan Martindale assisted.

And it was just over the half-way mark when Cody Ceci scored a memorable first OHL goal that put his team ahead and stood as the game winner against the third ranked team in the country.

Cody Ceci celebrating his first OHL goal (and the go-ahead GWG)

Windsor poured it on in the third and certainly had their chances, including 3 PPs, one of which was a 5-on-3 for 32 seconds. The 67s played more aggressively on the PK, Perugini made some great saves and Ottawa had some luck to boot to come back with 3 unanswered goals, defend the PP and hold of the final push by the Spitfires with the extra attacker.

Here's the game sheet.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67 as selected by the Team1200: Brian Birkhoff

Random Thoughts:

• Practice this week clearly paid off. Among the good news, the 67s did not give up any 5-on-5 goals. And they kept the Windsor big guns from doing real damage.
  
• Scare with Gibbons going down in the second when he went hard into the boards feet-first. He had to be helped off the ice to the dressing room. But he managed to come back later in the game but he probably played with a lot of pain.
  
• The new players, Graova, Smith, Ceci, Sointu and Janes are all improving.
  
• Lots of scouts in the house again, as expected with Taylor Hall and other promising '91 birth years on the ice.
  
• The Spitfires are very aggressive on their PP. They are fast enough to defend all over their zone.
  
• Passingham gave out really juicy rebounds. The Windsor D had to be sharp to clear them out of harm's way.
  

More Pictures:
Chris Perugini making one of many saves

Steven Janes

Derek Hartwick and Taylor Hall

Tyler Toffoli shot on goal

Tyler Toffoli

Matias Sointu

News From Camps

Logan Couture was sent to the Worcester Sharks last week. Here's the news from the San Jose Sharks. McGinn, Staubitz and Joslin are still hanging in there right to the end (16 forwards and 10 defensemen still on the roster although according to the Worcester site, 3 more plaeyers were released yesterday). Couture and former 67s Wil Colbert both scored in the baby sharks pre-season win over the Hartford Wolfpack.

Former Ottawa 67s goalie Danny Battochio looks like he made the Peoria Rivermen (AHL). When I briefly chatted with him earlier, he had signed with the Rapid City Rush of the Central Hockey League but had a tryout with the Rivermen. Here's the latest news from the Rivermen...check the roster to see Danny as one of the two goalies left.

Opening Weekend One to Forget

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds is the hottest team in the league right now having won all 4 starts so far including a come-from-behind overtime victory over the 67s last Friday in Sault Ste. Marie. PPG's against were the 67s downfall last week and Perugini was peppered with 53 shots.

Ottawa 67's	Head to Head going into the game	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
1-1-1-0 3 points	Record	4-0-0-0 8 points
5th Eastern	Conference - Rank	1st Western
10	GF	16
11	GA	10
1-1-1-0	P10	4-0-0-0
(2/13) 15.4	PP%	(8/28) 28.6
(6/17) 64.7	PK%	(4/24) 83.3

Top Guns

Ottawa 67's	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Nesbitt (3-2-5)	Cooper (3-2-5)
Smith (4-0-4)	Cousins (3-2-5)
Martindale (1-2-3)	Beukeboom (0-5-5)
Birkhoff (0-2-2)	Quesnele (1-3-4)
Sointu (0-2-2)	Archibald (0-4-4)

Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Martindale, Nesbitt
Smith, Toffoli, Sointu (starters)
Graovac, Merrett, Carnevale
Hanes, Anderson, Shinkelshoek

D-pairs
Birkhoff, Cuma
Demers, Gibbons
Zanetti, Ceci

Goal: Mrazek

Scratches: Hartwick, Janes, Nigro (mono), Cowick (shoulder)

The 67s opened the game on the right skate, scoring the first goal just 44 seconds into the game when Ryan Martindale scored his second of the season beating big Robin Lehner 5-hole. Cody Lindsay got the lone assist. It was looking pretty good to start with.

Then, Tyler Cuma was called for tripping and during the PK, Gibbons was called on a cross-check giving the Greyhounds 1:13 of a 5-on-3 who were converting over 28% of their PP chances coming into the game. With 11 seconds left on Cuma's penalty, the Greyhounds made good on their chances when James Livingston evened up the score. Not sure if he deflected it in. Brock Beukeboom and Michael Quesnele got the assists.

The 67s had their own 5-on-3 opportunity for 1:34 late in the period but were able to only muster 2 SOGs.

The second period was pretty bad, again, with the Greyhounds getting goals from Carson Dubchak and Brock Beukeboom. Ottawa had moments of promise but nothing sustained. And, except for another late game charge, the third period didn't look much different.

With just over 4 minutes left in the game, Matias Sointu scored his first OHL goal on an innocent looking shot to the net from the slot. Thomas Nesbitt and Cody Lindsay assisted. The team picked up the pace for the rest of the game but it wasn't enough, again.

At the end of 60 (ahem 67s - notice the length of the game), the SSM Greyhounds swept their weekend trip and remained the only undefeated team in the league so far winning this game 3 - 2. Here's the game sheet.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67 as selected by the Team1200: Dalton Smith

Random Thoughts:

• I imagine the mainstream media will have lots to say about how this team is doing so far. Don Campbell from the Ottawa Citizen was pretty blunt in his assessment of Friday's game. Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun also thought there was a lot of room for improvement. With the Senators out of town bonding and prospect Robin Lehner in town, I'm sure both newspapers had coverage today. We'll see what tomorrow's papers bring. Not likely to be happy news.
  
• Update: I guess Don Brennan went with the "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all" approach. His article in today's Sun had more to do with Lehner than the 67s. Chris Yzerman's article was pretty much the same (link not available at the time I wrote this).
  
• Speaking of coverage, both the Sens and Wild had management in the rink today. Brent Flahr, formerly with the Ottawa Senators as Director of Hockey Operations and now assistant GM of the Minnesota Wild was at the rink as was Pierre Dorion of the Ottawa Senators. Both were checking out their prospects, Cuma and Lehner respectively.
  
• There were other scouts in the house today. If Dalton Smith keeps playing the way he has so far, he might just challenge Tyler Toffoli for the top 20 in next year's NHL entry draft. To steal a line from Pierre McGuire, Smith was a monster today. Even if Team1200 hadn't named him the hardest working 67s, I was going to. He was everywhere and worked and worked and worked....
  
• There are folks who are a lot smarter than me trying to figure out what ails this team but one thing might be that there are guys who are just trying to do too much by themselves. It doesn't look like a team just yet.
  

Next weekend doesn't get any easier...hosting the Memorial Cup Champion Windsor Spitfires and then hitting the road to play the Eastern Conference leading Barrie Colts on Saturday and then a Sunday afternoon stop in Oshawa on the way home.

More Pictures:
Sometimes you save them...

...and sometimes you don't.

New Season - Same Result

When these two teams last met, the stakes were a lot higher. It was game 7 of the playoffs. The IceDogs went on to win it 13 seconds into overtime.

Now it's a new season, a new coach, new uniforms and a reconfigured arena. The 67s were looking for a fresh start and a better result....but it was not to happen.

Forward Combos:
Lindsay, Martindale, Toffoli (starters)
Sointu, Smith, Nesbitt
Zanetti, Merrett, Carevale
Graovac, Anderson, Janes

D-pairs
Birkhoff, Cuma (starters)
Demers, Gibbons
Hartwick, Ceci

Goal: Mrazek

Scratches: Schinkelshoek, Nigro (mono), Cowick (injured), Hanes

There was a nice ceremony for the home opener including raising new banners to the rafters. This is a great touch - it's great to go into arenas and see teams honouring past players who made big contributions to the team.



The 67s started the game quite well, controlling the play and possessing the puck most of the period - especially for their first PP. But it was Niagara that scored the first goal, interestingly enough only 13 seconds into Niagara's powerplay. It was Alex Friesen who deflected it past Mrazek. Assists went to Insam and Agozzino. I was between the benches and you could just feel the deflation of the 67s - giving up the first goal (on Niagara's 5th shot of the game) after controlling the play for so long so it wasn't surprising when Niagara scored again on their very next shot. Andrew Shaw took a nice feed from Andrews and went top shelf glove side from the top of the blue plaint. Tracitto got the other assist. The two goals were less than a minute apart in the last four minutes of the period.

Dalton Smith got Ottawa on the board early in the second period to get the 67s back into the game but goals from Dylan Woods and Chris DeSousa put Niagara back up by two at the end of two. Niagara had stepped up their game in the second - getting 19 SOGs to Ottawa's 6.

An unassisted goal from Thomas Nesbitt at the halfway mark of the third period and Dalton Smith's second goal 5 minutes later made it a game. The 67s put on the pressure and had a few scoring chances but could not get past Niagara goalie Mark Visentin. With Mrazek pulled for the extra attacker, Chris DeSousa got the EN with 27 seconds to salt the game way.

The IceDogs skate of with a 5 - 3 win. Final SOGs were 32-25 for Niagara.
Here's the game sheet.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200


Hardest Working 67 as selected by the Team1200: Thomas Nesbitt

Random Thoughts:

• Tyler Cuma and Julien Demers will be co-captains this year. Tyler will be home captain and Julien road captain for the first half of the season and will swap for the last half. Wearing the A's this year are Nesbitt and Cowick. Demers wore the second A for this game.
  
• Wonder if the team had some jitters - first home game of the season - especially for the new guys and playing the team that bounced them last season. Seems they may have lost their focus a few times and stopped skating at times. Plus there were some plain old mistakes that the coaching staff will work on correcting.
  
• Nesbitt and Smith have jumped out of the gate early as the team's top scorers with 3 and 4 goals respectively in 3 games so far.
  
• The arena formerly known as the Civic Centre is now the Urbandale Construction Arena.
  
• Chris Perugini was hit at the end of the game in Sault Ste Marie and will be kept out of the game for precautionary purposes this weekend, although he will dress and take the warmup.
  
• Petr Mrazek apparently is still waiting for his own equipment to get here from the Czech Republic so he's making do with whatever the 67s can pull together for him (but it's his own mask). I'm pretty sure they have FedEx or the equivalent in Europe - how hard can it be to get the gear here (unless it's held up a the border for some reason that I cannot imagine).
  
• Ottawa currently ranks 19th in the league for penalty killing: in three games they have allowed 6 PPGs on 17 shots. Last year they were pretty much at the top of the league all year.
  

More Pictures:
Lined up for a new season

Sointu steals the puck.


Mrazek with a point-blank save.


Lindsay breaking up a possible break-away.





The anthem singers - Shockwave. They did a GREAT job! They can come back anytime.

Tyler Cuma Update

Tyler Cuma played his first NHL game of the season when the Minnesota Wild welcomed the Chicago Blackhawks. Former 67s Bryan Bickell was playing for Chicago.

Cuma got into a fight with Belleville Bull (and Ottawa native) Shawn Lalonde. Guess they will have some interesting chats if they both return to junior. Which may not be a given for Tyler.

Looks like Cuma may be making a case to be the 7th defenseman according to Star Tribune blogger Michael Russo. Check out his blog here.

Here's the Minnesota Wild's take on the game.

Meanwhile, the 67s return from their road trip with a 1-1 record. I only caught a bit of the game on Friday. They had just given up two PPGs but were still leading 3-1. From the game sheet it looks like it was open season on Perugini. They lost 4-5 in OT. But they had a better result in Sudbury on Saturday where they won 3-1. Nesbitt wore the C and Nigro and Gibbons wore A's. Here's that game sheet.

Home opener against Niagara on Friday. Hope to see you there!

This 'n That

Just a few news items to bring to your attention in case you missed them in your own internet surfing:

The OHL site is running a series of divisional previews. Here's the preview of the Eastern Division.

Nesbitt's thoughts for the team and the season as reported in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen.


Meanwhile, across the country at camp, Couture, Joslin and McGinn getting some club press in San Jose. All three survived the first round of cuts.

The Wild's site doesn't say too much really.

Matias Sointu was returned by Tampa Bay Tuesday.

The team hits the road this weekend to open the season in Sault Ste Marie and Sudbury.

Kissing their sisters

That's how ties are described by some.

A small crowd was on hand on a fine late summer afternoon to watch the last game of the pre-season. The 67s and Belleville Bulls tied it at 3. There wasn't even a shootout like there was in Gatineau.

By my reckoning they finish the preseason with a record of 2 wins, 3 losses and a tie.

Forward Combos:
Lindsay-Toffoli-Merrett
Smith-Martindale-Nesbitt
Janes-Anderson-Carnevale
Graovac

D-pairs
Hartwick-Gibbons
Birkhoff-Ceci
Hanes

Goal
Perugini

Scratches: Zanetti, Schinkelshoek (suspension from Friday's fight), Nigro, Sointu (on the roster for main camp for Tampa), Demers, Cowick, Cuma (main camp Wild)

Both teams played with short benches - Ottawa played with 10 forwards and 5 defenders; Belleville had 12 forwards and 5 defenders. Belleville was looking for redemption from their 5-0 shut out earlier in the week.

It was all Ottawa in the fist period with the 67s getting 2 goals on 5 shots. The first came just under 7 minutes into the game while Braeden Goddard was in the penalty box for hooking. Cody Lindsay at the top of the crease took the feed from Andrew Merrett and had it past Grubauer before he knew it. Brian Birkhoff got the other assist.

Before the goal announcement was finished, Thomas Nesbitt put the 67s up by two on a play that started with a sliding block by Derek Hartwick to break up a three on one play by Belleville. Hartwick then fed the puck to Nesbitt. Nesbitt wired it from the face-off dot past Grubauer on the far side. Tyler Graovac got the second assist.

After 20 minutes, the score was 2 - 0 Ottawa with SOGs 12 - 3 for Ottawa. Belleville just didn't get organized.

But that was not the case in the next two periods.

Belleville picked it up and scored the only two goals in the second period. The first one came 7 minutes in when the puck was deflected by Ceci over Perugini. Scott Howe was credited with the unassisted goal.

The Bulls then tied it up with just 5.9 seconds left in the game when Andy Bathgate buried a deflection into an open net. Jan Kaminsky and Stephen Silas had the assists.

After two periods, it was tied at two with SOGs 26-13 for Ottawa.

Rookie Tyson Teichman replaced Phillip Grubauer in net in the third period.

Tyler Toffoli gave Ottawa the lead with a sick goal just 56 seconds into the final frame. He came around the net, put the puck between the feet of the defender, turned around and shot it over the shoulder of Teichman. Cody Lindsay got the assist.

The lead was short-lived as Dylan Goddard tied it up a couple of minutes later when he Brett Mackie picked up the rebound and fed it to Goddard. Steven Strong had the second assist.

Belleville picked up their game and Ottawa didn't match it. It ended it a tie at 3 with the final SOGs 34 - 26.

Three Stars as selected by someone who's name I never hear clearly at the end of the game

Random Thoughts:

• Not sure if the 67s ran out of a bit of steam towards the end with a short bench. They didn't play with the same intensity and skill as the first period.
  
• The 67s have had a number of PPs in the last couple of games but have not converted them into a lot of goals. They had a full 2-minute 5-on-3 today that was underwhelming. They managed only three shots on goal. It seemed very slow.
  
• Tippof is a bit crabby - took shots at playes after the whistle a few times.
  

More Pictures:
Chris Perugini

Thomas Nesbitt

Ryan Hanes steps out of the penalty box and gets in the way of Michael Curtis

Belleville's second goal

Toffoli before his goal

See you in a couple of weeks at the home opener!!

Kingston Kept in Czech

There's no love lost between these two teams and this game was no different.

The 67s earned their second win of the pre-season against a divisional rival with their 4-1 win over the Frontenacs.

Forward Combos:
Smith-Martindale-Nesbitt
Lindsay-Toffoli-Schinkelshoek
Graovac-Merrett-Carnevale
Janes-Anderson-

D-pairs:
Harwick-Gibbons
Birkhoff-Ceci
Zanetti-Hanes

Goal: Mrazek

Scratches: Nigro (just returned from Blues camp), Sointu (Tampa camp), Demers (injured - knee), Cowick (injured - shoulder), Cuma (Wild camp), Perugini (just returned from Coyotes camp).

The Fronts were also missing an impressive list of players: Doherty, Moon, Lovatsis, Werek and Lashoff. But they had their veteran goalie, Mavric Parks in net.

Aside from the odd lapse and resting from time to time, Ottawa dominated pretty much all of the game. This was largely due to Kingston's penchant for attracting the attention of the referees who were inclined to call the game rather tightly. There's no game sheet and my notes are pretty messy but it would be safe to say that the Fronts spent the lion's share of time defending against the PP. And they did a pretty good job. The 67s only got one PPG out of the many many chances they had. It came with 20 seconds left in Ottawa's first PP of the game. Ryan Martindale with assists going to Dalton Smith and Ryan Hanes.

Despite having many more chances and outshooting the Frontenacs 19-4, they were unable to do more damage in the first period.

Kingston tied it up early in the second period on the powerplay. I didn't get the player names for Kingston but it was a rebound that was picked up and shot past Mrazek.

The 67s seemed a tad flat for the first half of the second period but managed to get it back together for a pair of goals. First it was Andrew Merrett getting what would be the GWG. Assists went to Jon Carnevale and Tyler Graovac.

This was followed by the the prettiest goal of the night when Dalton Smith broke across the Kingston blue line and fed the puck to Thomas Nesbitt who beat veteran Mavrick Parks topshelf. Cody Ceci got the other assist.

The game was pretty much salted away in the third period with a goal from Cody Lindsay assisted by Tyler Toffloi and Andrew Merret.

Things got testy between the teams a few times. Pieter Schinkelshoek took umbrage when Codi Ceci was drilled face-first into the boards (I didn't get the number of the Kingston player). The ensuing fight resulted in both Pieter and his opponent getting the gate for the rest of the game. Not much later, there was another set-to that resulted in Andrew Cloutier and Kaine Geldart being ejected and another Kingston player sitting in the box. Then, as the game was winding down (all these shenanigans took place in the third period), Thomas Nesbitt was ejected.

Good thing the game was almost over - it may have ended up with the two goalies glaring at each other across the ice.

The final score was 4 - 1 Ottawa with shots 48 - 22 for Ottawa.

Three Stars as selected by some name I didn't catch (again)

Random Thoughts:

• Demers, Nigro, Zanette and Perugini are back from their respective camps. Demers is injured, Nigro wasn't dressed and Perugini may not have just returned to Ottawa earlier in the day.
  
• You can see the improvements over the first couple of games against Gatineau. The team just needed more time. The passing was crisper, the positioning was better, they played really well in front of Mrazek.
  
• Speaking of our newest goalie, he sure likes to play the puck. Always makes me nervous. Despite not seeing a lot of traffic, he played really well (enough to qualify as first star). He made some dandy saves.
  
• Zanetti left the ice late in the third period. I didn't hear an announcement. Hope he's not injured.
  
• Cody Ceci is good now; he's only going to get better - much better.
  

More Pictures:
Dalton Smith


Petr Mrazek (you should click on the picture to see his face clearly)


Dalton Smith


Cody Lindsay's goal


Dylan Anderson double teamed

Update: Just found this clip on youtube. It clarifies a few items: Smith hit the cross-bar and Nesbitt buried the rebound on that sweet goal. And it was Froats that Schinkelshoek took on. Video courtesy of Frontenacs TV.

Nigro Gets Some Press

Check out the game recap here (scroll down). The Blues (Nigro) win in the shootout over the Wild (Cuma (and Kiriakou ?)). The Blues site has an update too.

Meanwhile, the 67s won 5 - 0 over Belleville in Belleville last night. Cody Lindsay got a hat trick. The team hosts Kingston on Friday and Belleville on Sunday.

Update: Thomas Kiriakou was in the lineup (ended up +1). Cuma was out with flu-like symptoms. Here's the game sheet and here's the Wild writeup.

The New Jerseys are Here

As you may or may not have known, the new Reebok jerseys were unveiled today. You can see them here

I have heard from one fan who is very unhappy with the home jersey. He thinks that, while change is good, sometimes tradition should be respected and for him that means leaving the barberpoles alone.

He may have a point. In their 2009 OHL rankings, The Hockey News ranked the 67s jersey as number one noting that the "Traditional striping is a classic". This was posted two days before today's unveiling. If you head over to the voting page, the 67s jersey is running second (to London at the time of this posting).

As I scroll through the new jerseys, I wonder if the league placed certain design restrictions on the teams. None of the jerseys show the amount of striping that the (now) old 67s jersey had. Perhaps the team didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Follow the discussions across the league at The Noof. It seems there were (are) many fans of the old barberpole.

Me? I like the jerseys. These are jerseys I can cheer for.

I wonder if they are wearing their new jerseys tonight. Old or new jerseys, I hope they have a good game.

Update: The team didn't have a choice in the matter. See this article from today's Ottawa Citizen.

Some Updates from NHL Rookie Camps

Here are some updates from rookie camps:

This site has good coverage of the Traverse City Tournament. Cuma is getting some good press. It looks like Kiriakou may not have seen any ice time yet. The Wild have their own updates too. An article from NHL.com about Tyler.

The Traverse City updates also cover the St. Louis Blues. Nigro has been in the lineup for both games.

From Boston, news of Courchaine's win in the mini-tournament in Kitchener. If you replay the live blog, you will see that Zanetti was a scratch. Maybe he'll be in the lineup against Ottawa tomorrow.

Nothing notable to report regarding 67s players from the Phoenix or Senators camps.

Enjoy!

That Was Better

I made it across the river for the second game of the home-and-home series with the Gatineau Olympiques. Ottawa lost 2 - 1 in a shootout (no overtime) but it was a much better product on the ice. Not terrific (yet) but better.

Lineups weren't available to me prior to the game; from what I could tell, there weren't any changes.

Forward Combos
Lindsay-Martindale-Merrett
Smith-Toffoli-Nesbitt
Sointu-Anderson-Carnevale
Janes-Graovac-Schinkelshoek

D-pairs
Hartwick-Gibbons
Birkhoff-Ceci
?-Hanes

Goal
Petr Mrazek (Josh Cooper was the backup)

Scratches: Cuma (Wild camp), Demers (Sharks camp), Nigro (Blues camp), Zanetti (Bruins camp), Perugini (Coyotes camp), Cowick (injured)

The passing got better (although there were still way too many passes to nowhere in particular) and everyone was working harder.

There were far fewer penalties called but I think the refs were letting a lot go too. It was still chippy enough but I think both coaches told their teams to tone it down a bit. It didn't stop them from the late'ish hits and the behind the play shenanigans.

Christian Ouellet of the Olympiques scored the 'Piques regulation goal, on the 4th shot of the game just 5 minutes in. Jean Gabriel Pageau got the lone assist.

Ottawa evened it up with just 40.1 seconds left in regulation. Mrazek was pulled for the extra attacker. It was a goal mouth scramble from what I could see from centre ice and when the ice chips settled, Dalton Smith was credited with the goal with assists going to Travis Gibbons and Cody Ceci.

In between was some decent pre-season hockey. Both teams were perfect on the penalty kills and which means both teams were shut out on the powerplays. I believe this was Petr Mrazek's first game. He had some good saves, gave out some really juicy rebounds and got downright lucky a few times. He also got caught playing the puck in the no-goalie zone which earned him his first penalty minutes.

In the shootout, it was Christian Ouellet, Alexandre Quesnel and Joshua Domingues shooting for Gatineau (Ouellet scoring) and Cody Lindsay, Ryan Martindale and Tyler Toffoli shooting for Ottawa (no goals - Toffoli rung his off the iron).

Final shots on goal: 24 - 22 for Ottawa (but the person doing the counting was either distracted or very cheap).

No Three Stars were named. If forced to pick a hardest working 67s, it would be a toss up between Ryan Martindale and Travis Gibbons.

Random Thoughts:

• It looks like this version of the 67s intend to be a bit tougher to play against. A few players tried too hard for the hit now and again though. It's still pre-season; they'll get their timing sorted out.
  
• Birkhoff got stung a couple of times; one had him hobbling around while the play continued. He finally got ahold of the puck to ice it so he could get to the bench.
  
• One of the linsemen was pretty fast between the whistle and puck drop. Martindale was caught out of faceoff position more than once.
  
• Ottawa will be missing yet another player on Friday's game against Kingston. Matias Sointu will have just wrapped up rookie camp with the Lighting (poor kid - what a mess of a franchise that has turned out to be). Not sure if any of the other camps will be wrapped up by then. We will only get players back who are not moving on to their main camps.
  
• The number changes are indeed temporary until the new sweaters are unveiled this week.
  

Pictures:
Petr Mrazek


Petr Mrazek


Andrew Merrett


Derek Hartwick


Ryan Martindale


Dylan Anderson


The Olympiques' reasons to be proud.

Keeping up with the boys at camp...

Time to take a peek at current and former Ottawa 67s at camp. I'll try to aggregate information from the various team sites from time to time. Some teams are better than others about the amount and quality of information they provide to their fans.

First up: Tyler Cuma figures prominently in the marketing material for the Minnesota Wild and their upcoming camp. Here's the link to their main page. If you follow the links to their roster, you will notice that Thomas Kiriakou has been invited to camp.

Next, the San Jose Sharks: They don't say much about specific players so far. Logan and Julien are noted on the rookie roster (check out the roster under the "Team" heading). Jamie McGinn, Brad Staubitz, Derek Joslin and Will Colbert go straight to the main camp.

Anthony Nigro is at the St. Louis Blues camp and will be playing against Cuma et al at the Traverse City Tournament.

The Ottawa Senators added Jason Bailey to their system and Kyle Wharton is getting a professional tryout.

Chris Perugini is one of two goalies going into the Phoenix rookie camp that starts today.

I can't seem to find the rookie roster for Boston to see if Adam was going to camp. I see that Radim Ostrci is still listed as "in the system" while Adam is listed on the main roster. Update: Mark Anthony Zanetti has been invited to the Boston rookie camp. Boston, Ottawa, Toronto and Pittsburgh are in a mini-tourney this week in Kitchener. Still no roster available but Courchaine is scheduled to start against Ottawa tomorrow.

Former 67s Mark Bell and Lukas Kaspar will be going to the Fylers' main camp starting on September 12.

That's the list I have compiled so far. I'm sure some were missed - drop me a line to add your finds.

Good luck to all the players - have a great camp!!

Um, Well....Hmmmm

Not sure what to make about that game.

The Gatineau Olympiques made their first trip across the river in 7 years. This was before I was a major junior fan but by all reports it was quite the rivalry. Given the looks, chirps and scrums, it seems that neither team missed a beat.

First, the line-ups.

Forward Combos
Lindsay-Martindale-Merrett
Smith-Toffoli-Nesbitt
Sointu-Anderson-Carnevale
Janes-Graovac-Schinkelshoek

D-pairs
Hartwick-Gibbons
Birkhoff-Ceci
Zanetti-Hanes

Goal
Perugini

Scratches: Cuma (Wild camp), Demers (Sharks camp), Nigro (Blues camp), Cowick (injured)

The Olympiques were missing Paul Byron (Sabres camp) and Tye McGinn (ankle injury). The 'Piques have a few Ontario players who were not drafted or were waived including former IceDog Thomas Middup

The 'Piques were certainly the better team in the first period. They were more organized, sharper and had kept up most of the pressure. They started camp a week earlier so Dupont has had more time for his systems to set in with the players.

It took Ottawa almost 5 minutes before they even had a shot on net.

The 67s had two power plays but it was Gatineau that scored first...on the PK. Thomas Middup took a sweet pass from Ouellet on a two on one breakaway and beat Perugini glove side.

Gatineau went up by two on a two minute 5-on-3 powerplay that was split across the first and second periods with 1:34 to start the second period. Martindale, Birkhoff, and Gibbons were unable to clear the puck and after holding off the 'Piques for more than a minute, Alexandre Quesnel scored on one of the few rebounds that Perugini let out.

Dalton Smith's game was shortened. It started with a pretty hard, open-ice hit on Hugo Laporte that had him on the ice for a very long time. Then, later in the period, Smith and Nicolas Boyer had a dust-up (Smith gets the call, including the take-down) which resulted in both of them hitting the showers.



Ottawa finally got on the board with just over 6 minutes left in the period when Tyler Toffoli beat Clermont top corner stick side on a two-on-one with Zanetti. Thomas Nesbitthad the second assist.

The tying goal came with Gibbons testing out the new penalty box and following Ottawa killing a 33-second 5-on-3, while still short-handed when Tyler Toffoli beat the Olympiques defensemen in a foot-race to the puck and then neatly beat Clermont glove-side.

The Olympiques scored two in the third...one that was a shot from the blue line that was deflected past Perugini and the winning goal was Middup's second shortie of the night.

Ottawa got one back when Thomas Nesbitt finished off the rush with Matias Sointu and Tyler Toffoli.

Chris Byrne pulled Perugini in the last minute for the extra attacker and the 67s had good pressure and had a couple of scoring chances but the game ended 4 - 3 in Gatineau's favour, final shots were 28-36 also in Gatineau's favour.

Three Stars

Hardest Working 67 as selected by me: Chris Perugini

Random Thoughts:

• Toffoli has changed since we last saw him. Not only is he bigger, he's now wearing number 19 and has developed some attitude. A couple of penalties, pushing and shoving, and generally dishing as much as he was getting.
  
• Cody Lindsay is also sporting a new number this year - 25.
  
• Travis Gibbons was wearing 5 but that's just a temporary thing.
  
• Schinkelshoek certainly was a target by the referees. I lost track of the number of penalties he earned. It won't take many more for him to qualify for the engraved name-plate in the penalty box.
  
• Ottawa certainly had a lot opportunities to practice their penalty kills - including several (at least 4) 5-on-3s.
  
• The third period was the weirdest of the three. It was hard at times to figure out what kind of hockey were seeing. Just before Ottawa scored its third goal, it was crazy out there - can't describe it - it was just...crazy.
  
• Ceci and Sointu had lots of specialty-team time.
  
• Corey Cowick's shoulder injury is bad enough to warrant surgery (scheduled for next Tuesday). It's a fairly big tear with other damage caused when his shoulder was dislocated in what some might consider a late hit. He won't be back for 4-6 months.
  
• The trainer from the Olympiques mentioned that drums, horns and other noisemakers are not allowed to be used behind player benches in the Q.
  
• Gatineau was pretty good at moving the puck.
  

The game on Sunday should be interesting.

More Pictures:
Cody Ceci


Brian Birkhoff


Thomas Nesbitt interviewed by Scott McArthur


Matias Sointu

Bryan Murray Likes Ottawa 67s

For the second time this year, the Ottawa Senators have added a former Ottawa 67s to their system. The Ottawa Senators traded prospect Shawn Weller to the Anaheim Ducks for Jason Bailey. Guess he won't be going too far for rookie camp.

Guess it can't hurt working out with some of the team during the summer.

Welcome back to Ottawa Jason!

Here's the story from TSN.

Brad Staubitz signed by San Jose for Another Year

Here's the announcement from TSN.com.

First Game of the Season is Costly

From this morning's Ottawa Sun:

By BRUCE GARRIOCH, PATRICK KENNEDY, Sun Media

KINGSTON — Gloucester’s Corey Cowick, the Ottawa 67’s and the Ottawa Senators all suffered a blow in Kingston Sunday.

Cowick, a 67’s winger and sixth-round Senators pick (160th overall) in this year’s draft, injured his right shoulder on the first shift of the 67’s first pre-season game, a 5-2 loss to Frontenacs at the K-Rock Centre.

Cowick, who was hurt on a hit by Frontenacs centre Nathan Moon, was to attend Senators rookie camp this Saturday.

There was no timetable on the return of the 20-year-old Cowick, who had 34 goals and 60 points last season. Indications are it didn’t look good.

What did look good was the debut performance of 67’s first-round pick Cody Ceci.

“We’re giving him time to adjust, but clearly he is a very good player,” coach Chris Byrne — also making his 67’s debut in the top job behind the bench — said of the 15-year-old defenceman.

Goalie Chris Perugini started for the 67’s, playing two periods and leaving with the score 2-2. Perugini arrived in camp as the clear-cut No. 1 after Adam Courchaine was dealt to the Sarnia Sting in the off-season.

Charles Sarault, Moon, Ethan Werek, Erik Gudbranson and James Marsden scored for the Frontenacs. The last three came in the third period on Paul Dorsey, who was facing his former team.

Thomas Nesbitt and Ryan Martindale replied for the 67’s as legendary former coach Brian Kilrea took in the proceedings from a private booth alongside long-time counterpart and pal Larry Mavety. Both are now GMs for their respective clubs.

*********************************

That's the second time Corey's NHL ambitions have been sidelined by a shoulder injury. Hope he recovers soon.

Woo-Hoo! It's Hockey Season Again!

This has been a loooong summer - bad, wet weather (and this sudden cold spell) and a long time without hockey. NHL fans were treated to a pretty exciting playoff season, regardless of what team you normally cheer for with the SCF being the best round (as it should be). Major Junior fans were also entertained by the amazing run of the Windsor Spitfires during the Memorial Cup. Talk about living on the edge. (I was in Edmonton for a family event and sneaked away to catch the third period of the final game - I think they have forgiven me.)

Since then, we have had drafts, the Dany Heatley and Patrick Kane dramas (both good examples of what not to do - kids please pay attention), the U18 in Europe (congrats to Tyler Toffoli and Team Canada) and camps for Olympics hockey hopefuls.

Those are just to pass the time until....Hockey Starts Again!!

The 67s had their camp this past week and concluded their last scrimmage before making the big cuts and heading out on the road for their first pre-season game (Kingston today).

So, I checked out the final scrimmage of camp to see what I could see.

This was the final opportunity for players to make a case for making the team. It was, for the most part, a pretty sloppy affair but that could be expected after three days of camp that included 5 scrimmages that were open to the public.

According to lineup sheet available from a Booster Club rep, there were 39 players (18 on Team Black and 21 on Team White). Despite being sloppy, there still was some intensity. The refs let them play and the boys took advantage of it. There were hits, slashes, holds and interference from the rookies and veterans alike. The coaches wanted to see their teams play competitively for the full 60 minutes (running clock).

I took a lot of pictures, thanks to the coaches for letting me behind the benches (well, actually right on the bench) to take pictures. But, this being the first time seeing the new players and watching the scrimmage through my view finder, I can't put names to most of the new faces. I did concentrate on the two imports: Matias Sointu and Petr Mrazek and their pictures are below.

Random Thoughts

• Tyler Cuma looked good. If he returns to the club after the Wild camp, it will be great to see him back and improved.
  
• While technically eligible to return, as expected, Logan Couture was not at camp.
  
• Matias is not a big player but seemed to be in the middle of things when he had the chance. He has what I would call a distinctive skating style - compact is the best word I can come up with. He will be hard to miss when you see him.
  
• Team Black won 5 - 1. They pretty much dominated the entire scrimmage.
  
• It looks like a few players got bigger over the summer.
  
• Cooper Rush (what a great sports name!!) is a tall lad - 6'7" at the tender age of 16. I think he may still be learning to control all those appendages - the messages have a long way to travel from his motor cortex to his feet.
  
• Articles in the Ottawa Sun: Chris Perugini and
  Tyler Cuma and Riley Sonnenburg
  
• Julien Demers heads off to San Jose camp at the end of next week.
  
• Danny Battochio was at the scrimmage. He has graduated from university (St. FX) has signed on with the Rapid City Rush of the Central Hockey League. But before he checks in there, he will take up the invitation from the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL (St. Louis Blues affiliate). We'll catch up more with Danny later this year.
  
• The Ottawa 67s first home pre-season game is against the Gatineau Olympiques Friday at the Civic Centre with a return engagement on Sunday in "The Bob" (great atmosphere). These will your only chances (barring a Mem Cup match up) to see Tye McGinn play against his old team (no hard feelings I'm sure).
  

Pictures:

Czech import goalie Ptre Mrazek


Finnish forward import, Matias Sointu scoring on a great breakaway


The imports, one-on-one.


Matias Sointu.

Welcome back everyone. Let the season begin!!

Canada Gets Gold!

It sounds like an easy win for Team Canada for the gold medal. Here's the story from TSN.

Here's Hockey Canada's summary (which is probably where TSN crafted their story).

Sorry I don't have anything more to offer but there is no coverage from Canada. Maybe one year (next year?) I'll just have to time my European trip to coincide with the tournament.

Congrats Team Canada!!

And It's On to the Gold Round for Canada

Tyler Toffoli scored a goal and had two assists as Canada shut out the host Czech Republic 9 - 0 today in the final game in the preliminary round. If I have my numbers correct, Tyler Toffoli had the highest points on Team Canada with 3 goals and 5 assists with Tyler Seguin coming in second with 2 goals and 4 assists followed by John McFarland with 3 goals and 2 assists. These three OHLers scored 8 of the total 18 goals scored by Team Canada in the preliminary round.

Canada (3-0) will play Russia (3-0) for gold on Saturday at 11:00 ET.

Here's the link to Hockey Canada.

And here's TSN's coverage.

Bring home the gold boys!!

Toffoli with the GWG in Canada's 6 - 3 win over Switzerland

Another preliminary round win for Canada with a 6 - 3 win over Switzerland. Tyler Toffoli notched the game winning goal on the powerplay in addition to an earlier assist.

Here's the game sheet from the Hockey Canada site (their game summary had not been posted at the time of this posting - I suspect they are awaiting translation).

Here's the article from TSN.

Keep going Canada!!

3-Point game for Tyler Toffoli as Canada wins 3 - 2 over Sweden

From the Hockey Canada site:

CANADA USES POWER PLAY TO TOP SWEDEN IN HLINKA OPENER

BRECLAV, Czech Republic – It wasn’t as smooth as its pre-tournament victories, but win No. 1 is in the books for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2009 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka.

The Canadians scored twice on the power play and once more just four seconds after the end of a man advantage as they scored a tight 3-2 win over Sweden in the tournament opener for both on Tuesday.

Tyler Toffoli (Scarborough, Ont./Ottawa, OHL), Tyler Seguin (Brampton, Ont./Plymouth, OHL) and Brandon Gormley (Murray River, P.E.I./Moncton, QMJHL) all scored once and added an assist for Canada, while captain John McFarland (Richmond Hill, Ont./Sudbury, OHL) pitched in with two assists. It was another six points for Canada’s top line, which combined for 11 in the final pre-tournament win over Slovakia on Sunday.

After outscoring the United States and Slovakia by a combined 13-2 in its exhibition wins, Canada found itself trailing on Monday after Gabriel Landeskog opened the scoring for the Swedes just past the game’s six-minute mark.

But the Canadian offence found its rhythm in the second frame, as Gormley and Toffoli put the Canadians ahead for the first time in the game.
After Victor Berglind pulled the Swedes even on a power play in the first minute of the final period, Seguin cashed in on a Canadian man advantage, set up by McFarland and Toffoli as the all-Ontario threesome continued to run roughshod over international competition.

The game belonged to the goaltenders, as Canadian netminder Calvin Pickard (Winnipeg, Man./Seattle, WHL) and Swedish counterpart Jonas Gustafsson both made more than 30 saves. Canada held a 39-36 advantage in shots on goal.

The Canadians return to the ice in Breclav on Wednesday when they face Switzerland in the second of three preliminary round games (9:30 a.m. ET).

Canada 7 - 1 Over Slovakia in Exhibition

It looks like Tyler is having a decent tournament, in the exhibition rounds anyway. He's on the top line on the U-18 team and they did some major damage today. Here's the full report from Hockey Canada.

Tyler also had an assist in Canada's 6 - 1 win over the U.S in a penalty-filled pre-tournament game. The game report is here.

The team travels to Breclav CZE for their opening game against Sweden on Tuesday at 9:30am Eastern.

Go Team Canada!

Tyler Toffoli Named to the U18 Roster

Tyler Toffoli has been named to the 2009-2010 National Men's U18 Team. The full roster is here.

The OHL has placed 10 players on the 22 man roster, including Ottawa natives Erik Gudbranson and Ryan Spooner.

With pre-tournament games scheduled for August 7th and 9th, I guess they will be off to the Czech Repulblic pretty soon.

Good luck Tyelr and team - bring home the gold!

Jakub Petruzalek going to Finland

Another former Ottawa 67s is on the move. You've already heard that Lukas Kaspar has signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. Well now his former long-time team mate, Jakub Petruzalek has signed signed with Lukko Rauma of SM-Liiga, in Finland. I stumbled across this little tidbit while surfing around the blogosphere.

Here are some thoughts from 'Canes fans. Seems he had some fans who were hoping to see him in the NHL.

I really enjoyed his play while here in Ottawa and wish him every bit of success in Europe.

Former 67s Lukas Kaspar now in the Flyers Organization

Former Ottawa 67s Lukas Kaspar didn't get a qualifying offer from the San Jose Sharks, who made Lukas their first round draft pick (22nd overall) in 2004. That made him an unrestricted agent on July 1. The Philadelphia Flyers announced on July 23rd that they signed him to a one-year contract. It's an interesting signing given that one the knocks against him is that he doesn't really use his size as much as he might.

A take on the signing from a Philly fan perspective.

Let's see how he pans out this year.

Tyler Cuma Goes Wild!

As faithful reader Mike2006 noted in a comment in the previous posting, Tyler Cuma has been signed to a three-year entry-level contract. It is expected to be announced on Friday according to Wild beat writer, Michael Russo of the StarTribune. Here's a link to his blog.

Waydago Tyler!

On another front, former 67s Nick Boynton has been signed by the evil Anaheim Ducks to a one year deal.

Update: The Wild make it official! Here's their announcement. Note his mug shot in the lower right corner of their site. A first round draft pick is pretty important. Too bad their jersey are so uuuuugly. They look like Christmas trees on skates.

Tyler Cuma at the Wild Development Camp

Now we get to follow Tyler at the Minnesota Development Camp. He was featured in today's video clip from camp.

Wonder if they will sign him soon.

Cowick at Deveopment Camp

Today was a Senators Season Ticketholder event for the Development Camp. The camp was open only to those STHs who had registered in advance.

We got to see the prospects go through a practice, a scrimmage (including a shoot-out contest) followed by a Q&A by some Sens management and then prospects and then an autograph session.

We didn't get there until about halfway through the drills. They looked pretty uptempo and intense. They practiced for an hour, got off the ice just long enough for a flood and then a scrimmage (2-20 minute periods, clock running except for the final minute).

Corey was on the "white" team and his team won both the scrimmage (4-1) and the shoot-out competition (Andre Petersson last man standing having scored in each round).

A lot of really good hockey players out there, each working hard for a spot/contract. The scrimmage was surprisingly fast and intense after such a pretty hard practice. Corey didn't score any of the goals but drew one of the three penalties in the game with a blatant trip at one of the faceoffs.

Here are some pictures from the day (most were taken through glass at a distance):

Who knew development could be such a drag!

Apparently it's harder than it looks - going fast enough to inflate it and then dealing with the resistance.

Driving for the net.

1-on-1 against Eric Karlsson, Ottawa's first rounder from last year.

Signing autographs.

Corey Cowick Blogging from Development Camp

In case you weren't following on the Sens website, click here to see what Corey has to say.

67’s revamp look in goal with pick from Europe

Also from today's Ottawa Citizen


The Canadian Hockey League’s annual import draft resulted in a new look in goal for the Ottawa 67’s.

On Tuesday, the 67’s shipped 20year-old netminder Adam Courchaine to Sarnia in exchange for the Sting’s first pick in the two-round draft of European players. With it, Ottawa flopped places with the Erie Otters, moving up from the 36th selection to No. 30, where it chose Czech goaltender Peter Mrazek.

Courchaine, from Kanata, is already signed by the NHL’s Boston Bruins and is unlikely to return to junior for an overage season. If he doesn’t suit up for an Ontario Hockey League game with the Sting, Sarnia will also receive a fifth-round draft pick from the 67’s.

Mrazek, 17, spent last season with Czech club HC Vitkovice Steel.

“Adam has already signed a contract, and we knew that we’d need a goalie,” 67’s general manager Brian Kilrea said. “(Mrazek) was recommended to us and Chris (Byrne, the 67’s coach) had talked to his agent, and he had said he wanted to come over.”

The 5-10, 170-pounder is expected to begin the season in Ottawa as the backup to Chris Perugini.

The 67’s also took Finnish leftwinger Matias Sointu with the 48th pick. The 5-10, 180-pound Sointu, 18, from Ilves SM Lugu, was a seventhround selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008 NHL draft. “He decided he wanted to come over and get the exposure,” Kilrea said.

******************************

Looks like a couple of new faces at camp this year.

Required Reading for Dany Heatley

From today's Ottawa Citizen, a great article about Corey Cowick


Living the dream

Since being selected by the Senators in the NHL draft, Corey Cowick has reveled in the little things, reports DON CAMPBELL.

One of the newest members of the Ottawa Senators family noticed one major difference from the moment he showed up Tuesday at Scotiabank Place for the start of the team’s development camp.

“Well, I got to go through the freight door and right into the rink, instead of climbing all those stairs to my seats up in the 300 level … where I usually sit,” a laughing Corey Cowick said. “That was different.”

Truth be known, nothing has been the same for the Ottawa 67’s standout since shortly after noon on Saturday, when the Senators made the home-town star their sixth-round pick, No. 160 overall, in the National Hockey League draft.

Cowick, 19, is having trouble taking it all in. He talks about all the little things. About his name plate in the dressing room with “the little Sens logo” on it. “It might seem like not much, but it’s big to me.” About the Senators-issued equipment, even the prospects’ strict schedule for the next several days.

Some draft picks immediately see dollar signs. Cowick prefers to look at all the little things, and he still can’t believe it’s all happening.

Fourteen months ago, Cowick was agonizing over another brutal season with the Oshawa Generals, and was seriously considering giving up on major-junior hockey and heading to university.

One breakthrough Ontario Hockey League season with the 67’s later, followed by the events of Saturday, Cowick is rooming with the Senators’ No. 1 pick, Jared Cowen, and looking ahead to possible American Hockey League employment in Binghamton, New York, maybe even some day to NHL duty at Scotiabank Place.

He doesn’t even mind that he was assigned No. 54, twice his No. 27 with the 67’s.

“I used to think I was good with words, but I really can’t describe what it feels like,” Cowick said after going through physicals and testing, then finally onto the ice in the afternoon. “I slept well (Monday night). Maybe because I didn’t sleep at all last week. “It has been unbelievable.” So was the post-draft gathering at the Cowick household in Beacon Hill after a slow start on Saturday.

Dwayne and Liz had no idea what team, if any, would choose their son.

Corey spent the morning watching a Little League baseball game in Orléans, then went grocery shopping with his mother.

Dwayne had spent the past week scouting all area sports stores to see who had which NHL team flags. He even made a list of who had what, just in case.

Then, in a rare show of great confidence, he went out and bought a flag pole, erected it on the front lawn, telling the neighbours something to the effect that, if they saw a team flag go up, there would be no shortage of beer in the back yard.

Conversely, if no flag went up, no party.

About 12:15, all hell broke loose around the Cowick household, triggering a series of comical events.

Dwayne checked his list for Senators flag suppliers and enlisted Corey and his friends, Alex Allard and Justin Guidreault, to travel to St. Laurent Shopping Centre, where they purchased a flag, a Senators jersey and some hats.

At that point, Corey decided no draft party would be complete without balloons, so that came next.

Only on the way home, though, he decided to stop in at the Beacon Hill Butchery to see his best friend, Marc-André Wathier, who was behind the counter.

Unfortunately, Corey and his buddies left the car windows down. By the time they got back, the balloons were floating high in the sky over a nearby McDonald’s restaurant. So back to the balloon store. Finally the party began. “I woke up (Sunday) and had 85 new friends on Facebook,” Cowick said Tuesday. “But lots of people helped get me to this point, so what’s wrong with that? Everything has just been kind of hectic.”

One of the first calls young Cowick made, and there were many, was to his uncle Bruce, a retired police officer who was away on a camping trip in the British Columbia woods.

Bruce Cowick, now 58, was an original Ottawa 67, then later a Philadelphia Flyer. He was also part of one of the worst expansion NHL teams ever, the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, and finally a St. Louis Blue.

“He just said, ‘Congratulations,’ and asked if I was heading to a good situation,” Cowick said.

Right now, Cowick couldn’t imagine a better one. He didn’t even tell his uncle about getting to use the freight entrance.

*************************

I like this kid - he will do well where ever life takes him (and I really hope it takes him to the NHL - certainly won't be for lack of trying hard).

Import Draft 2009

Ottawa picked 30th (after first trading with Sarnia (see previous post) and then swapping with Erie) and 48th today. Killer's picks:

Peter Mrazek: goalie who apparently played for HC Vitkovice Steel in the Czech Republic (although I have not been able to find him on a roster). He's not a big lad, 5'10" and 170 lbs. He's a '92 birth year. He was one of the goalies on the Czech's U-18 team. This is the only picture I can find of him online. This is (hopefully) a year or two ago - he's an inch shorter and 50 pounds lighter than the data posted today. It's a little reassuring that our imported, 16-year-old goalie is single and has no children (look at the bio information on the link - rather funny that they would even post it).

The other import pick is Matias Sointu a winger from Tampere, Finland. He's another not-so-big-guy listed at 5'10", 180lbs. He was drafted in the 7th round by Tampa Bay in 2008. Here's one summary of him. He was a member of Team Finland in the last WJHC. His numbers don't look all that great but I don't recall Finland having a spectacular tournament as a team either. A picture of him can be found here (scroll to the 6th picture My Finnish is non-existent but his name appears under that picture so I'm taking a wild guess here that it's him).

It will be interesting to see how the club summarizes their picks and their expectations.

Good luck gentlemen and welcome to Hockey Country!

Adam Courchaine Traded

Just noticed this little tidbit from the OHL site....Adam Courchaine (and a conditional 5th round '09 (?? isn't the '09 draft already done?)) has been sent to Sarnia for their 1st Round Import '09. This gives them the 36th pick overall (currently scheduled to happen no later than 3:20 this afternoon). You can follow the import draft here.

Wonder if Killer was hoping that Robin Lehner, the Swedish goalie drafted by the Senators, might still be around that long. No such luck - the SSM Greyhounds took him with the 9th pick overall.

Unless things change, this makes Perugini our starting goalie for this season. He had some great runs last season so he has earned the consideration.

2009 NHL Entry Draft

Just a quick note to update you on the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and the Ottawa 67s.

Anthony Zanetti was ranked at 139 among North American skaters at the mid-point of the season but he appeared to have fallen off the radar entirely by the time the final rankings were done. He was not drafted.

But, Corey Cowick was drafted in the 6th round, 160th overall by the Ottawa Senators. This is a terrific surprise. Bryan Murray is keen on local talent and Corey is a fine example. He has worked very hard for this opportunity. The Senators are opening up the prospect camp next Saturday (July 4) for fans to see the new kids. I hope to get there and see Corey and the other prospects. I wonder if Corey will finish as an OHL OA this year or report to Bingo.

Ben Sexton, drafted by the Ottawa 67s in the 12th round (228th overall) in the 2007 OHL Priority Selection. He played for the Nepean Raiders this past season (with former Ottawa 67s Scott Cowie). Ben was drafted today by the Boston Bruins in the 7th round (206th overall). I wonder if this will influence Ben's chances of making the 67s this season.

Former Ottawa 67s, Michael Latta was drafted by Nashville in the 3rd round (72nd overall).

That's it for a quick update...hope you're having a terrific summer.

There's Always Hockey News Out There

Long time no hear. There hasn't been much to report on a weekly basis but there has been an accumulation of news to share:

• The Ottawa 67s have appointed a new athletic trainer.
  
• Tyler Cuma has been invited to the selection camp for next year's World Junior team;
  
• Tyler Toffoli has been invited to the selection camp for the U18 Team (for the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in August in the Czech Republic).
  

In addition to a completely new look behind the bench, there other new looks at ice level next season. The 67s' bench is moving across the ice and the timekeeper and penalty boxes will move to the other side. This might mean some movement of season ticket holders (but we are not moving our seats).

Good luck to the two Tylers at camp and let's hope to see them on their respective national teams.

Have a good summer!

Alumni Update: Jamie McGinn

Well, Jamie certainly has had quite a year. He played over 30 games with the San Jose Sharks and when their season ended (way too soon for this poolie), he was shipped back to the baby Sharks for their playoff run. The AHL has done a couple of features on him.

Here's the first article. The spousal unit and I often commented that McGinn's back may limit his success in the NHL. Sorry to read just how bad it was but really glad to see how it has recovered.

Here is the transcript of the "chat" he had last night.

Worcester is down two games in the series. Hopefully Jamie and the other former 67s can pull off another upset.

OHL Priority Draft 2009

I was waaaay out of town when the draft took place so I didn't keep an eye on it. Here is the link to the entire draft . You can view it a number of ways.

You can find the media guide here. I'm operating on limited internet access (using one of those internet sticks and don't know much I have left of my 2G limit) so I have not downloaded the guide to see what it says about the players.

I'm sure some keen fans out there are already in the know on these kids and we will see information pop up on them in the near future.

Don't want to wish the summer away but it will be interesting to see who makes the grade at camp.