67's Out Battled by the Battalion

After the 5 - 1 drubbing at the hands of the 67's last Sunday, Stan Butler's Brampton Battalion came to Ottawa with revenge on their minds and they delivered. They outplayed Ottawa in every aspect of the game and without the stellar goal tending, once again, of Petr Mrazek, the score would have been much higher than 3 - 1. Click here to see the game sheet.

It's quite simple: Brampton came to play and Ottawa didn't. Name any aspect of the game, except goaltending, and Brampton did it better. Battles on the boards - decisive victories. Aggressive forecheck - check. Puck possession - downright greedy. Penalty killing - almost criminal. The Battalion were 20 players operating like one smooth machine. Ottawa? Not so much.

Ottawa's best cycle came in the first minute and a half in the first period. And then Brampton took over and never relinquished control.

With first period goals from Michael Santini (PPG) and Ian Watters, the Battalion scored all the goals they needed for the win. The more telling stat is that after 20 minutes, Ottawa managed only 4 shots on goal to Brampton's 15. Ottawa had 3 powerplays in the first period and did not register one shot at all while Brampton had at least one shot shorthanded in each of their PKs.

With Marc Zanetti out of the line-up to recover from an injury from the Kingston game on Wednesday, Ryan Hanes moved to the blue line and Remi Giftopolous drew into the line up as a member of the 4th line. And he took advantage of his appearance to notch his first OHL goal of the season early in the second period to break the potential shut-out. Cody Lindsay assisted.

Chris Bryne called a timeout in the second period to settle his team down had it a bit of an effect but it wasn't enough to overcome the serious momentum that Brampton had built up. Fights from Janes, Smith (that was a heavy-weight bout) and Tyler Toffoli (!?) could not inspire the team enough to get the puck into the back of the Brampton net.

When the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, Brampton won 3 -1 and out-shot the 67's 31- 18. It wasn't pretty.

Game's Three Stars as chosen by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67's as selected by the Team1200: Taylor Fielding

Random Thoughts

• Enough said about how the 67's played. Full marks to the Brampton Battalion for an exquisite display of control, skill, speed and teamwork. It was great to watch.
  
• Petr Mrazek currently sits third in the league for the amount of shots he has faced (290 in 8 games). If this keeps up at this pace, both he and his equipment will wear out before the season is over.
  
• Announced attendance at the 67's game: 7184. At the last Phoenix Coyotes game: 6706. Thank you Ottawa 67's fans for making major junior hockey a success here in Ottawa.
  
• A shout-out to long-time 67's fan, Walt. He's not feeling so well right now and could use all the good vibes we can send his way. Your friends in Section 21 miss you. Best wishes Walt!
  

More Pictures:





Time out!



Celebrating Remi Giftopolous' first goal of the season (and only goal of the game)

Tyler Graovac's academic achievement recognized

Click here to see more pictures.

Chris Perugini Now a 'Hound

What been long speculated and somewhat expected, goalie Chris Perugini was traded today to the Soo Greyhounds for their 2nd and 7th round picks in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection Draft, a 3rd round pick in 2012 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2012 if Perugini plays his overage year in the OHL.

Chris, popular with fans and his team mates, ended his 4-year run with the 67's on a winning note with yesterday's 4 - 3 victory in Oshawa. The next time we see him will be on Sunday November 14th when the Greyhounds come to Ottawa.

As much as this was expected, and it's really in Chris' best interests, it's still sad to see him go.

Thanks for all you have done for the club and best wishes moving forward.

Ottawa 67's Skills Competition

The Ottawa 67's held their first skills competition today as a special perk to season ticket holders. It also served as a creative way to get a different type of practice in as the boys have two days off before Monday's game in Oshawa.

They were broken into two teams and I tried to get all the numbers. Wearing the white jerseys (in no particular order): Zanetti, Prince, Ceci, Nesbitt, Shipley, Lindsay, Graovac, Hanes, Smith, and Fantana. In black jerseys: Monahan Martindale, Toffoli, Fielding, Foglia, Carnevale, Giftopolous, Janes, Sedlak. Perugini, Mrazek and Campbell were pretty much on their own team really. Gibbons was there (more on him later) but did not play.

Jon Abbott and Lee Versage were the hosts.




The first skill test was the team puck control where the competitors had to skate to the far end of the ice, pick up a puck and slalom skate with it through some pylons. Team White had Hanes, Shipley and Prince and Team Black had Janes, Foglia and Fielding. Janes blew a tire picking up the puck and Hanes gave Team White a big lead. Foglia and Fielding tried their best to close the gap but Team White took the first point.



Then it was a head-to-head test between Thomas Nesbitt and Ryan Martindale. It was really close but the line judges gave it to Nesbitt and Team White was up by two.

The second event was the fastest skaters with each team having three players skate a full circuit of the ice. Team White made up of Nesbitt, Ceci and Smith handily beat Team Black skaters Carnevale, Foglia and Sedlak. Score: 3 - 0 for Team White.





Next up, the shootout. Each team had four players take a shot on two of the goalies. Cody Lindsay of Team White was the only player to score a goal. Team mates Fontana, Graovac and Hanes were stoned by Mrazek while Perugini was perfect against Team Black members Toffoli, Giftopolous, Martindale (I think) and Janes. Team White was up by 4 after this.



Event 4 was the hardest shot and once two of Ottawa's finest realized that they had to get in the line of danger (get on ice behind the net) for the radar gun to register the puck, the competition was on.



I lost track of the shooters but Adam Sedlak from Team Black clearly had the hardest shot - by a decent margin. On the other hand, Dalton Smith ended up with the not-so-hardest shot. He had to take a lot off his shot because he kept missing the net and the puck bounced off the glass back at the police officers. Lindsay and Toffoli offered their helmets to the officers which they accepted. Team Black was finally on the scoreboard with their first point.

Then there was another shootout, this time with different players. I really lost track of things at this point but I think Team Black was starting to get back into the game.

For the accuracy test each player had 8 pucks to put 1 through each corner of the shooter-tutor. It was Tyler Graovac of Team White who accomplished the mission to give his team another point.

There were more shootouts with players now trying to get fancier in their attempts to deke out the goalie.

Team Black made it close, getting within one but it was Team White prevailing in the first Skills Competition.

To wrap things up, there was a 4-on-4, 20-minute, non-stop scrimmage between the two teams - no slap shots. By all indications, the boys had a good time. Team Black took an early lead that they kept building but slowly Team White picked away at it and actually had a 1-goal lead going into the final seconds. Team Black tied it up and they were off to sudden death overtime. I believe it was Shane Prince of Team White who quickly ended the game with the GWG. So, full bragging rights of the day go to Team White.







Closing Thoughts

• It looked like the team really enjoyed themselves today and the coaching staff had an opportunity to throw some variety into what might have been just another Saturday practice. While they were having fun, they were also working hard and there was enough healthy competition to keep up a good tempo to the scrimmage.
  
• The goalies were getting a good workout too and fans had a chance to see Shayne Campbell, the newest addition to the team.
  
  
  
• Had a chance to chat with Travis Gibbons. Fortunately (!) his knee is not injured; he was charley-horsed. He's moving about with the aid of a cane and taking the appropriate treatments to get him back in his skates as soon as he is ready.
  
• The Plymouth Whalers were just wrapping up their practice when I got to the rink and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Peter Krupsky, long-time broadcaster of the Plymouth Whalers.
  

You can see more pictures from the day here.

Ottawa 67's Win Second Home Game With Good Team Effort

After trading goals in the first period, both goalies kept the game tied until Nicholas Foglia scored his first OHL goal and the GWG on the way to a 67's 4 - 1 over the Plymouth Whalers.

Playing their second game in as many nights on their annual swing through the Eastern region of the OHL, the Whalers were feeling strong after their 7 - 0 shut out against the Peterborough Petes. The Ottawa 67's were looking for another strong performance after last Sunday's strong win against the Mississauga St. Mike's Majors.

As both teams were limiting shots on their goalies, it was 67's veteran and Oilers prospect Ryan Martindale started the scoring with a deft shot over the outstretched leg of Wedgewood at just 5 minutes into the game. Thomas Nesbitt and Shane Prince assisted.

With all the energy expended by both teams, only 4 shots had made it to both goalies at at that point.

Garrett Meurs tied it at about the halfway mark on a rebound after Mrazek made several great saves. Mrazek tried to make a case for interference but the ref didn't see it the same way.

With a scoreless second period that saw Plymouth out shoot Ottawa 13-6, the third period appeared to be for the taking for either team.

The Whalers had the early pressure but just over 5 minutes in, the hard working 4th line of rookies created the pressure that put Nicholas Foglia in position to beat Wedgewood over the shoulder with a wrist shot from the hash marks. Sean Monahan assisted on this all-rookie GWG.

We hadn't heard much from Toffoli or Lindsay in terms of scoring this year yet so when Toffoli created his own break away, it looked like that would change. But Whaler Trutmann hooked him on the way in and Tyler's shot just missed the net. In the ensuring PP, Cody Lindsay scored his first for the season as Tyler Toffoli's shot deflect off him and into the net to give Ottawa a two-goal lead. Zanetti assisted.

Down two and with almost two minutes left in the game, Vellucci pulled his goalie for the extra attacker. Plymouth was unable to threaten and Stephen Janes finally put an end to the extra-man drill by the Whalers with an unassisted EN.

Click here for the game sheet.

The 67's have a couple of days off before traveling to Oshawa to take on the team that is ranked as second-best in the CHL. Oshawa is 4-0-0-1 in this early season. The 67's will be looking to turn in a much better performance than they did against Oshawa in their 6 - 3 home opener loss on October 1.


Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Cody Ceci
Random Thoughts:

• Lots of post-whistle and behind the officials shenanigans by the Whalers. They got away with a few stunts.
  
• The young guys are working hard and bringing lots of energy to their shifts. They kept their feet moving, were hard on the puck, hard on the Whalers and caused more than a few turn overs. Liking this fourth line a lot.
  
• Travis Gibbons took the worst in a mid-ice crash with Garrett Meurs. He left the game in the first, came back briefly in the second and left for the rest of the game. It appears to be a knee. This does not look good.
  
• On the bright side (well - there really isn't a bright side when a key player goes down with a serious injury), the rest of the team really stepped up to make up for Travis' absence. Sustaining that intensity over the long haul will be tough. I wonder if Ryan Hanes will find himself back on the blue line.
  
• Ottawa had some great pressure and fore checking - pinning the Whalers at length on occasion.
  
• Not sure if there were any issues with the ice - there was a lot of falling down by both teams.

More Pictures: Ryan Martindale starting the scoring Great glove save by Mrazek Foglia celebrating his first OHL goal Click here to see more game-day pictures.

Major Thumping by the 67's

The Ottawa 67's completely redeemed themselves with a solid 7 - 2 win over the Mississauga St. Mike's Majors at the newly named Rona Centre. Tyler Graovac led the way with his first OHL hat trick. See the game sheet here.

After their indifferent play on Friday, the Ottawa 67's came to play today. This was a completely different team. In addition to getting 3 goals from Tyler Graovac, Ryan Martindale had a three point afternoon with 2 goals and an assist, Adam Sedlak had his first as an Ottawa 67's and 2 assists and Sean Monahan scored his first OHL goal.

After cycling back to pick up his stick near the goalie, Ryan Martindale put the 67's on the board early with a shot from near the blue line that didn't look like he was trying to score. It certainly caught JP Anderson napping and it was in the back of the net. Adam Sedlak assisted on that goal.

But the Majors responded right back within a minute when Rob Flick scored his first of the season. But that would be their last goal for a very...very...long time.

Ottawa simply dominated...they did everything that they didn't do on Friday. They were hard on the puck, their passes were crisp and on-target and they were plain old tough to play against. And they got some luck along the way.

The run of five goals started with an innocent-enough looking shot when Tyler Graovac drove hard to the net. It looked like he might go around but with a deft back-hand he slid it under the left pad of Anderson and the 67's were back on top for good.

Adam Sedlak's goal, the eventual GWG came on the 67's first power play when his shot from the blue line beat Anderson to the blocker side. He may have been screened by Nesbitt. Now lest you think that the Majors were not trying - it should be noted that at this point, the SOGs were 9 - 7 in Ottawa's favour. The big difference being that Ottawa had scored on 3 of their 9 shots while the Majors only scored once in their 7 shots.

It's interesting to look at the SOGs and recall how the game was played. Although the 67's only outshot the Majors by 1 in the second, the 67's completely outplayed the Majors for most of that frame. But when the Majors got their second goal of the game, a puck that was redirected past Perugini by his own player, the Majors were rejuvenated even though the score was 6 - 2. But they were unable to convert their new-found inspiration into goals.

With Graovac's third goal of the game to make it 7 - 2 in the third, the 67's kind of laid-off and the Majors tried to make a game of it. But they lost valuable time taking penalties and the 67's, especially Perugini, played well enough to hold them off.

So the 67's end the winning streak of the Majors with a strong 7 - 2 and now have a 2-2 record in this early season.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67s as selected by the Team1200: Ryan Hanes

Random Thoughts:

• The Majors were playing their third games in three days having hosted Windsor on Friday (winning 5-1) and traveling to Belleville on Saturday (winning 5-3) but Anderson did not play on Saturday.
  
• Ryan Hanes has way more attitude this year. He's not taking any gruff from anyone and is dropping the gloves without hesitation. He's also thriving in a steady gig as a forward - a game star on Friday and the Hardest Working 67's today. Tyler Graovac's second goal was the direct result of Ryan's hard work to bring the puck to the front of the net.
  
• And Tyler Graovac is starting the season very strongly having amassed 4 points already in 4 games (3 goals and an assist) considering that he had 9 points all last season in 52 games.
  
• Antony Peters replaced JP Anderson after the 6th Ottawa goal at about the halfway mark of the game. He is rather territorial about his space, regularly slashing the ankles of opposing interlopers.
  
• The 67's scored on 3 of their 7 power plays and for the other 4, they maintained effective control and possession for the most part. They were good power plays.
  
• As for their 2 penalty kills: first off - good on them for staying out of the box and second - they limited the Majors to three shots between the two advantages.
  
• Perugini had a strong game - he made some amazing saves including a hard shot that went off his mask. That one looked like it stung.
  

More Pictures: Celebrating Adam's first goal as a 67's Ryan Hanes and Brett Flemming going at it Sean Monahan And that's the hat trick!! Click here to see more pictures.

67's Drop Home Opener 6 - 3 to Generals

Classes may have started a month ago but the Ottawa 67's were schooled by the very confident Oshawa Generals who were missing many of their top players. The Ottawa 67's started the game strong but missed early opportunities to score and the Oshawa Generals slowly took over the game to the point where it the 67's almost 5 minutes to register their first shot on goal in the third period. You can check out the game sheet here.
After splitting the opening weekend on the road with a loss in Sault Ste. Marie and a win in Sudbury, the Ottawa 67's were looking for a strong home opener in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 9987.

They started with a lot of jump in their skates and had a couple of early scoring chances but the Generals quickly moved the puck out of danger. It was the Generals who got on the scoreboard four and a half minutes into the game when J.P. Labrado picked up a rebound and put it past Mrazek top shelf.

Ottawa responded with goals from Shane Prince and Cody Lindsay to take a 1-goal lead into the first intermission.

But it took the Generals only 1:48 into the second frame to tie the game up with a goal from rookie Lucas Lessio. And the Generals pretty much took over from there scoring two more goals to take a 4-2 lead. The last goal lit a brief fire under the 67's and they stepped up their play in the dying minutes of the middle frame resulting in a goal from Ryan Hanes, assisted by Zanetti and Foglia.

But the 67's spent the third period penned in their own end, getting only 7 shots on goal. Mrazek held down the fort, turning away 16 of the 17 shots in the third but Christian Thomas' goal with 5:08 left sealed the deal. Lucas Lessio's EN with less than a minute left was simply a formality.

So the Ottawa 67's drop to 1-3 for this early season and look forward to taking on the St. Mike's Majors, the 10th best ranked team in the country and the team that bounced them in the playoffs last year. The 67's will have Jon Carnevale and Dalton Smith back in the line up each having served their two-game suspensions.

Three Stars as Selected by the Team 1200

(I didn't catch the hardest working 67's)

Random Thoughts:

• The Oshawa Generals came into the game as the 4th best ranked club in Canada. They looked like it was well deserved.
  
• Early predictions for the OHL had the Ottawa 67's pegged as possible repeat Divisional winners. They have a way to go based on this outing. Perhaps they have been reading too much of their own press.
  
• The Ottawa 67's went 0/5 on the powerplay, getting only 8 shots through. By comparison, Oshawa had 4 shots on Mrazek during these same advantages.
  
• There were some bright moments. Ottawa's penalty kill was equally effective, limiting Oshawa to 3 shots in their two, back-to-back penalties late in the third.
  
• Under pressure, the 67's handled the puck like a triggered hand-grenade - lobbing it anywhere hoping for the best. It usually landed in the possession of the Generals.
  
• On a final note, the rink formerly known as the Urbandale Centre is now the Rona Centre. Jeff Hunt made the draw for the naming rights during the second intermission.
  

Picture from the game will be posted later or you can go here to see them.

Nesbitt Named Team Captain

Ottawa 67's fans, meet the leaders of your 2010-2011 team.

From the Ottawa 67s's:  The Ottawa 67’s today announced that veteran winger Thomas Nesbitt will be the team Captain this season, with Travis Gibbons, Marc Zanetti and Ryan Martindale serving as Alternates.

Nesbitt, a 20 year old who hails from the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville, is in his 5th season with the team.  He’s coming off a season in which he set career highs in goals (33) and points (57), after establishing himself as dependable 2-way player in his previous seasons.  “Thomas has worked hard and improved since the day that he arrived for his first training camp,” said Head Coach and Assistant General Manager Chris Byrne.   “He serves as a great example to his teammates.”

Gibbons, a 20 year old defenceman, is also an OHL veteran entering his 5th season.  He was acquired by Ottawa from Guelph during the 2008-09 season.  Zanetti, a 20 year old defenceman, is entering his 4th full season in the OHL, all of them with Ottawa.  Martindale, a 4 year veteran who turns 19 next month, is a centre, coming off a season where he set a career high in points (60) and was drafted in the 2nd round of the NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.  “We’re fortunate to have such a strong leadership group with our guys wearing a letter, and we also have other strong leaders on the team who aren’t wearing a letter,” said Byrne.  “It’s a great situation.”

********************
Congratulations gentlemen - we look forward to seeing the impact of your leadership on and off the ice.

Veterans Returning to Ottawa

As NHL teams begin to trim their camp rosters in preparation for the season, 67's veterans are returning to Ottawa.

The Edmonton Oilers are sending Ryan Martindale back and the Detroit Red Wings are sending Mark Anthony Zanetti and Petr Mrazek back. I have been following some Red Wings coverage of camp and both players were doing very well. Apparently the Wings are considering signing Zanetti and have until the end of the month to do so.

Smith is still listed on the Columbus camp roster but Toffoli's status is less clear from the LA site.

While it's likely a let down for the guys returning from their NHL camps, they are not rookies here in Ottawa; they are elite veterans who can provide leadership to their team and continuing honing the skills that got them on the NHL radar in the first place.

Welcome back gentlemen, we look forward to your contributions as the season gets underway this weekend.

ya! Hockey!

Thomas Nesbitt Gets Invite to NJD Main Camp

Just surfing the internet from Canada's great (not yet white) North here in Whitehorse and see that Thomas Nesbitt has been invited to the New Jersey Devils main camp as one of 12 right wingers. It will be along shot but as far as I can tell, he's the first one among the guys at rookie camp who has been invited to their team's main camp.

The notice on NHL.com.

Here's another write-up. Someone should contact this guy and give him the scoop on Thomas.

Best of luck to Thomas in NJ!

Kingston takes the Game: 4-3

Today was the first chance for Ottawa fans to get a look a the new faces for this year's team Kingston. Both teams had a lot of players missing so I wouldn't put too much into the results. This will be a really quick post due to other obligations.

Forward Combos:

• Prince, Lindsay, Carnevale
• Farmer, Graovac, Janes
• Foglia, Giftopolous, Fontana

D-Pairs:

• Hanes, Gibbons,
  
• Shipley, Ceci,
  
• Fielding
  

Goal: Perugini

Scratches: Mrazek, Nesbitt, Zanetti, Monahan (injured), Smith, Martindale
It was a pretty up-tempo game with both teams showing a lot of energy - if not finesse. And even with so many new faces, it didn't take long for the rivalry to reveal itself with the new players pushing and shoving after the whistle and getting into each others' faces.

Kingston scored the only goals in the first period on 5 shots. The first was by Mike Farrell with assists from Steven Broek and Nathan Moon about 6 minutes into the game. Nathan, Derek Froats and Mike Farrell combined for the second goal with 7 minutes left in the period. Meanwhile, Ottawa started getting the shots through to Kingston starter Palezzese, piling 15 shots by the end of the first without getting through.

Ottawa didn't get on the scoreboard until close to halfway through the third when Tyler Graovac finally beat Blake Richard who took over Kingston netminding duties in the second period. Robert Farmer had the lone assist.

But before the goal was finished being announced, Kingston restored the 2-goal lead: Mitch Lebar, Nathan Moon, and Clarke Seymour doing the damage.

On the power play with 1:20 left, Ottawa was in the offensive zone but not quite in control when Perugini was pulled. It wasn't hard for Michael Cajovsky to gain possession and send the puck into the empty net to put them up 4-2.

Ottawa kept pushing and with just under 5 seconds left, Cody Lindsay got an unassisted PPG to make it a 1-goal game.

Final shots on goal: 43-22 for Ottawa.

Three Stars:

Nathan Moon was the first star but did not take a turn.
Random Thoughts:

• Ottawa was 1 - 6 on the PP and perfect in the 4 PKs they were assessed, including great back-to-back PKs in the second. Each team had one shot on goal in during the 4 minutes.
  
• Missing Toffoli, Nesbitt and Martindale from the PP was certainly noticed. Kingston had a few great short-handed opportunities that were thwarted by Perugini.
  
• The Farmer, Graovac, Janes line was great to watch. They were fast, pushing for shots and in the mix of things. Will be interesting to see if they are kept together.
  
• Gibbons and Hanes had their work cut out for them today as the vets on the blue line. Hanes even showed some attitude that I don't recall seeing last year.
  
• Saw some great back-checking from Farmer.
  

I will miss the game on Friday as I will be winging my way back from Whitehorse.
More Pictures:

Shane Prince working his way through the Fronts

Nicholas Foglia

Taylor Fielding

Robert Farmer

Tyler Graovac

Off the post

Chris Perugini finding the puck through the traffic

Ryan Shipley

Then and Now: Catching Up with Thomas Kiriakou

Then: “Then” isn’t so long ago for this 2009 graduate of the Ottawa 67’s. Fan favorite Thomas Kiriakou spent all 4 ½ years of his OHL career with the Ottawa 67’s where his hard work and leadership earned him the respect of team mates, team management and other teams. In his final year he was a reliable point-a-game face-off specialist and penalty-killing machine.

Thomas Kiriakou on his way to a playoff hat trick against the Niagara Ice Dogs.

As one of 16 members of the Richmond Hill Stars to be drafted into the OHL in 2004, Thomas was glad to come to Ottawa and to a great team like the Ottawa 67’s where he had wonderful billets and fantastic team management.

His best memory as a 67’s was being called up for the 2005 run to the Memorial Cup. Chris Hulit, Joe Talbot, Mark Mancari and Bryan Bickell (who was a member of the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks this past season) were like older brothers to him. He wanted carry the feeling from that experience as inspiration for future playoff success; unfortunately that was not to be.

Thomas considers his most important take-away from his time in Ottawa is the respect that Brian Kilrea and the club ingrained in the players. It may be a cliché but Thomas believes that he came to Ottawa as a boy and left as a man.

Now: I caught up with Thomas just as he was settling into his second year at Guelph University where he is in a general BA program for now but is considering a move to Landscape Architecture after some exposure to it this summer.

He had an outstanding rookie year playing for the Guelph Gryphons with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 26 regular season games which earned him honours as the Ontario University Athletics West top rookie and being named to the CIS all-rookie team. All this while meeting his academic commitments.

There were some similarities and some adjustments in moving to CIS hockey. Academics are a priority; players are not allowed to miss any class that is scheduled at the same time as the daily two-hour hockey practices. Tutors are available to assist the athletes. Road trips are quite different than his major-junior days….it’s very quiet on the bus with everyone’s nose in a book either studying for exams or getting the reading done. As for the hockey, it’s fast and physical (although fighting is not allowed) playing with and against highly skilled mature players.

With his rookie year behind him, he has big expectations for the team this year. Last year’s team was essentially a brand new team with almost 12 new guys – many with major junior experience. With a year under their collective belts, he has his eye set on going the distance.

As for a possible shot at playing professional hockey, like Danny Battochio, he hopes to have the best of both worlds – taking full advantage of his OHL scholarship to get a post-secondary education and playing competitive CIS hockey to the best of his abilities to warrant a shot at the pros. His experience at the Traverse City Rookie Tournament was amazing and showed him what it takes to get to that level. He's going to keep working hard on and off the ice to get another shot at the pros noting "It's not where you start but it’s where you finish."

There is no doubt that Thomas Kiriakou will finish very well, wherever his journey takes him.

67's cut 20 from camp

By BRUCE GARRIOCH, Ottawa Sun

The 67’s can get down to work now.

As they prepare to open the pre-season Sunday against the Kingston Frontenacs, 2 p.m. at the K-Rock Centre, the 67’s sent 20 players packing Saturday, after three days of scrimmages.

With 14 forwards — including nine returnees from last year — six defencemen and three goalies, the 67’s will likely only make one more move before they open the season on Sept. 24 in Sault Ste. Marie.

“The pace really picked up here in the last scrimmage,” said 67’s coach Chris Byrne Saturday. “Some of the veterans who were off to a slow start really picked it up and we’re ready for the next step. We’re keeping the guys we like and that are going to fit in with us.”

While goalies Peter Mzazek and Chris Perugini will split the duties in Kingston, the club also kept local goalie Francis Dupuis. He’ll likely get some action when Mzazek attends Detroit’s camp.

Up front, the 67’s held onto import selection Robert Farmer, Nicholas Foglia, Remi Giftopolous, 2010 No. 4 selection Cosmo Fantana and injured No. 1 pick Sean Monahan, who won’t return for three weeks.

Defencemen Cody Ceci, Marc-Anthony Zanetti, Ryan Hanes and Travis Gibbons will return. Newcomers Ryan Shipley and Taylor Fielding — both selected in Round 2 last spring — have secured spots.

Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles), Thomas Nesbitt (New Jersey), Ryan Martindale (Edmonton), Zanetti (Detroit) and Mzazek (Detroit) leave for NHL camps next week.

*************
So there you have it. I'm surprised they didn't hang onto a few more while the NHL-hopefuls are at their rookie camps.

Last Day of 67's Camp

I took in the morning of the last day of training camp and by all reports it was a good choice - not too much fog on the ice and much more intense than yesterday's games. It was also the last day for some players to make their case.

It was non-stop for a good hour until they broke to have the ice flooded. The whistles were only for goals, goalie freezes and injuries (there were a couple). No penalties called, next to no icing, a few off-sides (Steven Janes took a lot of ribbing for his excursions at the blue line) - just full time playing.

With numbers only on their backs (not on the shoulders and only on a few helmets), and watching mostly through my viewfinder, it was tough for me to keep track of all the newcomers - and there were a lot of them.

Team White	Team Black
1-Petr Mrazek	10-Marc-Anthony Zanetti
5-Jon Carnevale	13-Remi Giftopolous
6-Ryan Shipley	17-Steven Janes
8-Thomas Nesbitt	21-Cosima Fontana
12-Zach Rodier	27-Robert Farmer
18-Shane Prince	29-Braden Mann
19-Tyler Graovac	30-Chris Perugini
20-Sean Monahan	32-Francis Dupuis
22-Dalen Hedges	34-Cody Lindsay
23-Ryan Van Stralen	36-Taylor Fielding
25-Copper Rush	37-Nicholas Foglia
28-Aaron Taylor	40-Daniel Walsh
31-Denny Dubblestyne	41-Sean Callaghan
33-Dalton Smith	42-Christopher Lane
44-Jon Carlson	46-Henry Thompson
45-Brett Gustavsen	50-Blake Stephenson
51-Gian Marco DeMeis	71-Patryk Wojenski
55-Travis Gibbons	77-Ryan Martindale
61-Tyler Toffoli	89-Nathaniel Quinn
81-Ryan McCaughan	91-Ryan Hanes
84-Cody Ceci
85-Michel Vered

With the departures of Cuma, Demers, Nigro, Cowick and Merrett, there is room for 5 additions (2D, 3F). Earlier this week Brian Kilrea was on Team1200 and noted that a few vets needed to step up their game or be at risk of being replaced (scroll through their facebook posts to hear the interviews with Killer and coach Byrne). So there could be even more new faces this year. This camp will identify the first set of cuts with a few guys getting an extra long look while Mrazek, Zanetti (DET), Martindale (EDM), Toffoli (LA), Smith (COL) and Nesbitt (NJ) head off to their NHL rookie camps soon.

Mrazek and Perugini didn't dress - likely saved for the afternoon game. As reported in the media earlier this week, this year's first round draft pick, Sean Monahan was injured on his first shift of camp. I noticed him at the rink with an ice bag taped to his wrist.

The White Team dominated the first half of the game (or was it the first game - not sure if they played two games or just one long game). It was high-tempo, intense, with a few hits and at times chippy. I lost track of the score - something like 6 - 2 for White; apparently they were handed their butts yesterday so there was some motivation today.

As you would expect, the the guys that are closer to making it to the NHL stood out - especially Ryan Martindale. He just moved the puck at will through and around pretty much everyone.

Of the new guys, I noticed Taylor Fielding, Daniel Walsh, Cooper Rush and Brett Gustafsen the most with Fielding standing out the most for me. These players were in the mix of things with Brett irritating Lindsay enough to nearly start a scrap.

And speaking of scraps, newcomer Robert Farmer dropped the gloves to tangle with Dalton Smith. Jon Carnevale tried to intervene but was clearly more familiar with Dalton's fighting credentials than Robert. If Robert makes the team, he will need to be told about the penalty for removing his helmet for a fight.




I don't know who made it hard for the coaching staff and who made it easy over the last three days. A smaller crew will be traveling to Kingston tomorrow for the first pre-season of the year. Team1200's Jon Abbott will begin this season's coverage of the 67's with this game.

Here are more pictures from today. I tried to concentrate on the hopefuls but without more visible numbers, I am not able to put a name to most of these players. My apologies to them and their families.

And the season begins!!!