Barber Poles already in playoff mode with chance to clinch postseason berth on Thursday
Only 13 games remain in the regular season for the Ottawa 67’s, but there’s all to play for ahead of the OHL postseason.
Currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the Barber Poles head to Niagara tonight to take on the IceDogs, where a single point will clinch a postseason berth for the ninth consecutive season.
The 67’s are taking a macro view into the weekend, understanding that clinching is the next step, but there’s more to achieve. Four points back of the third-place Oshawa Generals, the Barber Poles have three games in hand over their East Division foe, and have set their sights on making it count.
“It’s exciting that we have that chance [to clinch], we control our own destiny,” said Thomas Sirman. “It’s a big weekend for us, not just clinching, but for continuing to climb the standings. It’s going to be tight right until the last regular season game.”
Over the course of four days, the 67’s will play the IceDogs, the Mississauga Steelheads, and the Erie Otters at home to cap off the weekend with legacy night. Despite their positioning in the standings, previous games with all three have been close. Off the back of a gutsy performance against the league-leading London Knights, the 67’s number one goal is to keep the momentum rolling.
“We’re not going to go there and take them lightly, we have to respect the opponent,” said 67’s captain, Luca Pinelli. “We want to get four points on this road trip, and then come back here on Sunday and try to get two more.”
Since the trade deadline, the 67’s have played a strong brand of hockey overall, though there is room for improvement, namely in keeping the puck out of their own net. A strong defensive game has become the Barber Poles’ reputation, and after shutting out the Generals, and allowing only three to the Knights, Sirman knows efforts like that are going to be what it takes to win in the playoffs.
“It’s important, you can’t win games giving up too many goals,” he explained. “Goals are limited for us, so giving them up isn’t good for us. We want to take care of it.”
After losing in the second round a season ago, a young 67’s roster learned a valuable lesson: no matter where you finish, it’s your form in the playoffs that matters most.
“We learned from that,” Sirman said. “Peterborough didn’t have the smoothest regular season, but they put it together at the end of the year. That’s something we have the capability of doing, and we’ll keep building.”
“We’re gearing up, and we’ve been playing better hockey lately, and that’s what we want to keep building on. We want to hit our stride right at the end of the season, and we have 13 games to build toward that.”
At the same time, certain members of the club chase milestones in the final 13 games. Luca Pinelli is 10 goals away from 50, Henry Mews is chasing the point-per-game mark, Braeden Kressler takes aim at 150 career points, and Collin MacKenzie looks to improve on his .907 save percentage.
Without question, each of those players would love to feather their caps with various individual milestones, but they won’t sacrifice the team for themselves at this pivotal point in the season.
“I try not to pay it too much attention, but it’s going to be in the back of my mind somewhere,” Pinelli said. “I’m more worried about the team right now, moving up in the standings and getting ready for the playoffs.”
As the weather begins to slowly heat up, so will the intensity on the ice. Each of the 13 remaining games is practically a playoff game for this team in their fight for home-ice advantage. No matter how it turns out, the 67’s plan on bringing their best to the table.
“Wherever we finish, we’re going to battle hard,” Pinelli said. “I have a lot of belief in this team that we can go for a run. I’m confident that when we’re on our game, we can do damage.”
