67’s add two, take it to next level
Nothing in particular seemed to suggest that second week of November might prove to be the turning point for the Ottawa 67’s.
At that point, they were not much more than a .500 hockey club at 11-8. Sure, they were showing flashes of brilliance, but there were just as many instances of mediocrity as they plugged along, winning one, losing one. Nineteen games in, it seemed they were in need of some tweaking, particularly on defence where there just weren’t enough bodies.
At the same time, Jake Cardwell was sitting home in Niagara Falls, unhappy with the way things were going in Sudbury with the Wolves, and Julian Luciani was no less frustrated with his playing time in Belleville.
So the 67’s decided to bring in both on back-to-back days.
And no one, absolutely no one, could have predicted that as the 67’s were saying hello to their new teammates, they were also saying goodbye to being average.
The 67’s are a remarkable 17-4-1-1 since, tops in the league, and have spent the past month in the Canadian Hockey League’s top 10.
Individually, in that same stretch, Tyler Toffoli has shot to the top of the Ontario Hockey League in scoring, riding a 23-game scoring streak into action this weekend, over which he has averaged 2.2 points per game.
Toffoli ha s been player of the month for January, player of the week twice and player of the moment on just about any given night.
Linemates Shane Prince and Ryan Martindale rank second and eighth, respectively, in league scoring, Prince already with 44 more points than his total from a year ago and No. 1 in the league in assists.
On defence, the arrival of Cardwell and Luciani allowed veterans Marc Zanetti and Travis Gibbons to play more realistic roles in which they didn’t have to do everything.
Then there’s goaltender Petr Mrazek, the league’s best. Goalie of the month for January and, if not first star, a candidate for the honour just about every night the 67’s play.
Hard-nosed winger Dalton Smith suggests Mrazek may be worth “10 to 12 points” in the standings by himself. He’s hardly exaggerating.
So, with 27 games to go, the 67’s haven’t lost sight of first in the division. They can also entertain thoughts of first overall in the Eastern Conference after being nine points behind Mississauga a third of the way into the season. Before play on Thursday, they had trimmed the deficit to three, although Mississauga had three games in hand.
“It’s a totally different vibe than last year,” Toffoli said. “We have a lot of older guys here who really just want to win. This is a really good team. Three guys in the top 10. The league’s best goalie. We’re really solid throughout the lineup. I like where we’re at. I think we all like where we’re at.”
Toffoli has been the model of consistency this year. To date, he has been held off the scoresheet in only six games, and five of those occurred in the first 13 contests.
The current 23-game scoring streak has included 27 goals and 53 points.
The Los Angeles Kings look like geniuses for making Toffoli a No. 2 pick last June.
He’s on pace to score 63 goals this season, almost double what he scored in 2009-10, and he’s not alone in having a career year. Three 67’s have already surpassed their offensive totals from a year ago and that number will grow to seven in short order.
There’s no telling what Prince will wind up while Zanetti and Cody Ceci, are each three points beyond what they did
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