67’s and Colts hit the ice on Sportsnet
The Barrie Colts are headed to the nation’s capital to take on the League’s best in the Ottawa 67’s on a Saturday afternoon Sportsnet tilt.
Ottawa sits atop the OHL standings, a feat they’ve held for months, with a 45-11-0-1 tally on the season. Their near unstoppable hot streak has taken a slight hit of late with a 5-0-4-1 record over their previous 10 matchups. With losses to Windsor, London and North Bay, they were recently handed their first three-game losing skid of the season. They were notably shut out by the Sudbury Wolves last weekend, who were backstopped by David Bowen’s 26-save shutout, a career first for the puckstopper.
The 67’s skate into Saturday afternoon following a 4-1 win over Oshawa Generals that saw them clinch their second straight East Division title. Prior to that, Ottawa took a dominant 7-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs on Tuesday morning in which Graeme Clarke made his triumphant return from injury with a goal and two assists in the win.
XY @Ottawa67sHockey ????
The Barber Poles are East Division champions once more, claiming their second straight Leyden Trophy to make 17 in the history of the franchise.
READ ????: https://t.co/7LH2tY6zoM pic.twitter.com/1DufmPfg2o
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) February 29, 2020
Barrie currently holds fifth place in the tightly wound Eastern Conference; three points ahead of the Hamilton Bulldogs and four points ahead of their Central Division rival the Mississauga Steelheads. They’ll be looking to snap out of a two-game funk that saw them fall 8-1 to the Steelheads and 6-3 to the Niagara IceDogs. The two losses come after the squad had won eight of their prior 10, another achievement in the team’s upswing since interm head coach Todd Miller’s takeover behind the bench. A Barrie win today would secure them a spot in the 2020 OHL Playoffs.
Ottawa sports a pair of top NHL Draft eligibles in CHL-leading point scorer Marco Rossi, who boasts a whopping 107 points (35-72–107) in just 51 games, and Jack Quinn who leads a category of his own in a tie with Peterborough’s Nick Robertson for 47 goals.
Also taking to the ice in the 2020 NHL Draft watch is Tyson Foerster and his team-leading 73 points on the season. Second to Foerster in Barrie scoring is fellow sophomore skater Ethan Cardwell, who heads into the match with 44 points. Rookie defenceman and fourth overall OHL Priority Selection choice Brandt Clarke has been an impressive force in the rookie scoring space with 35 points over his first 50 OHL appearances.
The fifth instalment of the #OHL This Week Podcast features @OHLBarrieColts interim coach Todd Miller who walks us through a season that’s included some early adversity but also a measure of recent newfound success.
LISTEN ????: https://t.co/7hziXPgMpo pic.twitter.com/GaJwB1nqUO
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) February 27, 2020
Also an offensive force on the Ottawa side is fifth year vet Joseph Garreffa with an 82-point total (32-50—82) to his name, along with fellow overager Austen Keating, who sits in the same company atop team scoring with with 81 on the year (30-51—80).
Between the Ottawa pipes is Cedrick Andree who owns 30 wins, a .915 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average over 41 games. Barrie netminders Jet Greaves and Vancouver Canucks prospect Arturs Silovs have split the season up fairly evenly. Silovs holds stats of .897 and 3.61 over 32 appearances while Greaves has been good for .885 and 4.11 in 30.
Saturday’s contest will be the second of four meetups between the Colts and the Barber Poles. Their first tangle ended 7-2 in favour of the 67’s and saw multi-point nights from a slew of their top scorers.
The puck drops at 3:30pm ET on a game that can be seen across the country on Sportsnet and in the United States on NHL Network.
