67’s weekly: veterans being leaders
After an up-and-down weekend to open the season, the Ottawa 67’s used a strong second weekend to put themselves in the top spot in the East Division, and by virtue, the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
We’re only four games into the 68-game gauntlet, and seeding means next to nothing this early, but if you told the Barber Poles that they would be 3-1 after two weeks, they’d have taken it, especially after losing the first game.
Over the weekend, the 67’s outscored their opposition 11-7, earning wins over the North Bay Battalion and Kingston Frontenacs. Much like they did a week earlier, the Barber Poles continued their dominance on the shot clock, outshooting their opposition 76-45 furthering their stark advantage.
Of note, however, is where the scoring is coming from. Hat tricks from Luca Pinelli and Cooper Foster powered Ottawa to their Friday night win at home, and Jack Dever’s four-point night helped sink the Fronts on Sunday, continuing the theme of standout nights from different sources.
“That’s the way we’re going to have to win throughout this year,” said Assistant Coach Norm Milley. “There are going to be spurts for some guys, it’s going to be different moments. In order for us to be competitive, we’ve got to score by committee.”
The limit of three overagers has caused a number of moving pieces to be constant for the Barber Poles, with Collin MacKenzie and Thomas Sirman taking turns sitting so far, with Brad Horner sliding back to defence, and Liam Conway backing up Jaeden Nelson when needed.
It’s less than desirable for everyone, but through it, everyone has maintained their positive outlook, and done everything in their power to be an asset to the organization, even when they are sitting on a particular day.
“It shows the character of the players we have here,” Milley said. “It’s a tough situation, and nobody really likes to talk about it, but it is what it is. It’s unfortunate, but it shows leadership, the culture we have here, the culture [the older players have] helped create.”
Benefitting the Barber Poles early on has been the consistent production from virtually everyone. Of course, Pinelli, Foster, Dever, Sirman, and Henry Mews stand out with their point-per-game status, but six others have a pair of points through four games. The early season success has been important, both for the individuals, and the club.
“It’s great for their confidence,” Milley said. “They’ve done a good job at preparing themselves for the season, and it’s easy as an 18 or 19-year-old to have an off-season where you take your foot off the gas a little bit, and you come in thinking that things are going to be great. But our guys had great summers, and they came in with the right attitude, and they came in firing right away.”
“One of the messages for us through the summer was that we needed to get going right off the hop. Credit to all of our guys for coming into training camp this year with the right mindset, and the right attitude.”
At the defensive end of the rink, the 67’s are a short-handed group, especially with Kaleb Dietsch out of the lineup to start the year, but they’ve been a tough nut to crack for the opposition.
In the past couple of games, the neutral zone has been a contested area, with entry to the 67’s zone coming at a premium – by design.
“I think now that our defencemen are a bit older, a bit more experienced, they trust their feet a bit more so that now they can gap up and close on ice,” Milley said. “When we play teams with older defencemen and they gap up on us at the blue line, it’s tough for our forwards to get in.”
“You really have to transfer sides or get the pucks in behind. Our defencemen are at that stage now where they’re doing a great job at gaps and closing it off early, limiting their reads, and owning their offence.”
Though far from their end goal, mentally, the 67’s are in a good place right now.
“Our group is in a great spot right now energy-wise, and mindset-wise,” Milley said. “Our older guys have done a great job, and our younger guys are learning. We just have to keep things rolling.”
The Barber Poles are headed for meetings with the Brantford Bulldogs and Sudbury Wolves this weekend, two teams with some punch.
“We know Brantford, they’ve loaded up,” Milley said. “They’ve got some high-end talent, but both teams are going to work extremely hard, and we know that they’re going to play with structure.”
“I know they have the new coach in Sudbury, Scott Barney, so we’re not sure [what to expect] yet. We’ll watch some video to see how they’re [doing things], but the one thing we know they’re going to do is compete.”
