67’s open weekend against Battalion
The Ottawa 67’s (1-1-0-0) are back in the saddle on Saturday afternoon, hosting the North Bay Battalion (3-1-0-0) inside The Arena at TD Place. Puck drop is at 3 p.m. Fans can buy their tickets here, watch along on CHLTV or Rogers locally, or listen to the voice of Kenny Walls on TSN 1200.
The Barber Poles come into this afternoon’s contest the more rested side, having last played last Sunday evening in Oshawa. There, they headed into the final frame trailing 3-1, despite heavily outshooting the Generals in the opening 40 minutes. Courtesy of goals from Cooper Foster and Filip Ekberg’s first OHL marker, the 67’s forced overtime, where Foster ended the game to give his team their first win of the season.
In that game, Jaeden Nelson earned his first career OHL victory, while Kohyn Eshkawkogan and Nathan Amidovski notched their first points, joining Ekberg.
North Bay is on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding rest, finishing off a three games in three nights swing, which saw them in Peterborough (5-3 win) on Thursday night, and Kingston last night (9-0 loss).
The Troops were beaten handily by the Frontenacs a night ago, with only Ryder Carey and Stepan Chukharev finishing with a plus/minus of zero or better, with the rest of the roster finishing anywhere between minus one and minus six.
Despite their loss on Friday night, the Battalion come into Saturday’s action boasting one of the top lineups in the league, and will be looking for a measure of revenge.
What they’re saying
Cooper Foster, forward on how the 67’s will be successful: “The biggest thing is just competing for all three periods. If we play our best, and play to our structure, whatever happens will be good.”
Norm Milley, Assistant Coach, on the challenge the Battalion present: “North Bay is an organization that’s been run really well since Ryan Oulahen has taken over. They’re a team that works hard, competes, and they can really make teams pay, so we’ve got to be sharp on that.”
Kohyn Eshkawkogan, defenceman, on scoring his first points in his last outing: “Getting the points out of the way, that’s huge for me. But you also want to work on the team’s success, so getting [wins is the priority]. The way the game went in Oshawa personally, that’s just the cherry on top.”
By the numbers
| Ottawa 67’s | Player | Total | North Bay Battalion | Player | Total |
| Goals | Cooper Foster | 2 | Goals | Lirim Amidovski, Ethan Procyszyn | 3 |
| Assists | Luca Pinelli, Kohyn Eshkawkogan | 2 | Assists | Anthony Romani | 3 |
| Points | Luca Pinelli, Cooper Foster | 3 | Points | Anthony Romani | 5 |
| Powerplay goals | Filip Ekberg | 1 | Powerplay goals | Ethan Procyszyn | 2 |
| +/- | Koyhn Eshkawkogan, Nathan Amidovski, Matthew Mayich | +2 | +/- | Andrew LeBlanc | +5 |
Keys to the game
- The system
The Barber Poles have been well structured in their two early-season games. If they stick with the program, good things will happen.
- Energy
The 67’s are well rested coming into this game, while the Battalion are playing their third game in three days. Ottawa needs to take advantage of the fresh legs.
- Special teams
Both the power play and penalty kill will be tested on Saturday, and whichever side is better stands a good chance to come out on top.
