67’s weekly: positivity from within
The Ottawa 67’s are unquestionably in a fight with 20 games remaining on their schedule.
In a heated battle for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, seven of Ottawa’s games to end the season will be four-point games. Four will be against the Peterborough Petes, and three will be against the North Bay Battalion, the two teams nipping at their heels.
In short, the Barber Poles are in the playoffs right now, and they need as many of the 40 points available as possible to make the dance.
Unfortunately for the 67’s, they will continue to walk the difficult road short-handed, exacerbated by the absence of Nolan Jackson, who fell awkwardly after being hit on Saturday afternoon in Owen Sound.
“It’s disappointing,” said 67’s Assistant Coach Paul Stoykewych. “He came over from Sudbury and has done an unbelievable job for us. Having him sidelined is going to hurt us.”
The pain of Jackson being out isn’t one Stoykewych believes will cripple his club, thankfully.
“We can manage,” he said. “It does pose some challenges, but I think our other defencemen have done a good job stepping up.”
Having struggled in 2025, the Barber Poles have needed to find different ways to build confidence. Teams that don’t believe in themselves don’t win games, of course, and Stoykewych says they’ve narrowed the scope a little bit to find reason to believe.
It could be a good breakout that leads to an offensive chance or great gap control and footwork from a defenceman that finishes with a physical hit, just to name a couple, but those are the simple things that lead to big things that the Barber Poles are looking for.
“You have to find [optimism] in the little things,” Stoykewych said. “There’s a lot of good things that we do right, and you’ve got to recognize it. Those are the parts of the game that we’re trying to build on.”
Another area to draw optimism from is the possibility of extending the season, and reaching the playoffs for the 10th consecutive campaign.
“It’s not fun losing, it sucks,” Stoykewych admitted. “Knowing that we’re still fighting for a playoff spot and there’s something on the line every single day, I give credit to our athletes. They show up and they work.
Last weekend, the Barber Poles lost on Thursday in Barrie and on Saturday in Owen Sound, but they banked a pair of points on Sunday in Guelph.
All weekend long, whether it was Jaeden Nelson or Collin MacKenzie in the 67’s goal, it was big save after big save, exemplified by MacKenzie making an insane paddle stop that was honoured as one of the Saves of the Week.
This week, the picture isn’t any easier. It’s another home-and-home with the Oshawa Generals — one of the Eastern Conference’s top contenders — and a Sunday meeting with the Flint Firebirds, who won the last matchup 8-1.
They’re in tough, but the reality of their situation is that there will be no easy games between now and the final day of the season, whenever that may be.
“We want to make the playoffs,” Stoykewych said. “We want to be the team that nobody wants to play against. Every single night is going to be competitive regardless of the opponent. We prepare with the same mindset that we’re going to win the game.”
