67’s Training Camp: Day 2 brings competition back to The Arena at TD Place
Somehow, the summer months are mostly behind us, and while it means your chance to soak up the sun’s rays is nearly over, it brings with it new life – hockey season is back.
The Ottawa 67’s reported to training camp on Tuesday, where they underwent physical testing and medicals, before a team welcome dinner to get them settled in their environment, whether it’s new, or if they’ve seen it all before.
For all of the excitement coming into the arena in the morning brings, it’s notably missing the chance to step on the ice, something everyone is champing at the bit for. That only came on Wednesday morning, with the annual 3 Vs. 3 tournament taking place, pitting five teams (White, Red, Black, Blue, Gold) against one another in a cross-ice format, with each team playing 12 six-minute games.
Team Black, headlined by 67’s forwards Will Gerrior, Brad Horner, and Kimi Körbler finished at the top of the standings with an 8-4 record, narrowly edging out Team White to hoist the trophy at the end of the morning session.
“It was awesome,” Körbler said. “My team finished in second last year, so it was nice to see such a competitive group.”
A brief lunch break was followed by the first scrimmage of training camp, splitting all of the players between two teams. Team Red took the game with relative ease, cruising to a 6-0 victory, getting goals from Henry Mews and Charlie Hilton, among others.
If there’s ever a time that you can shake of a romp, it’s training camp, but Körbler says he’s expecting a much better effort from Team White when they play the second game in the morning.
“Everybody in that room knows what we have to do,” Körbler said. “We can’t lose another game by six goals.”
The scoreboard matters only for pride right now, of course, and all eyes are watching to see who has taken steps forward. One of those players is 2024 first-round draft choice, Kohyn Eshkawkogan, who says he’s a bit taller, and 13 pounds heavier than he was when he came to rookie camp a few months back.
It has advantages on the ice, which he’s already flashing at main camp.
“I feel like I’m a lot stronger than before,” Eshkawkogan said. “I’m stronger on my edges, and I feel like, physically, I can play with the older guys here.”
In the scrimmage, he played on a defensive pairing with veteran defenceman, Frankie Marrelli, making use of the chance to learn on the fly.
“It was a cool experience,” Eshkawkogan said. “He’s won a couple of gold medals, so I was learning from him on the bench, asking him a couple of questions.”
The adjustment from rookie camp isn’t so steep, by all accounts.
“It’s a little of the same, just the speed and physicality [are up],” Amidovski said. “Bringing in the returning players makes things a little tougher, but I think we’re getting used to it pretty well.”
The Barber Poles are back on the ice in the morning, with their second scrimmage at 9 a.m., followed by the final one at 2 p.m.
