Ottawa 67’s Avoid Deadline Blockbusters
Refreshing as it may have been for 67’s fans to finally separate their general manager from also taking on the head coaching job, after decades of Brian Kilrea and later Chris Byrne, it doesn’t feel as though much has changed.
The adage that ‘the coach picks the team’ seems to be alive and well in the Nation’s Capital, the players that new head coach Jeff Brown has made an example of via benching have all seen the door.
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Ottawa dealt Tyler Hill, the 6’6 stickhandling machine, for creative young forward Adam Craievich on Wednesday, likely the last move for a team that only has two player cards left to use towards any deals.
Hill, who was a healthy scratch in the first month of the season, joins blueliners Troy Henley and Jonathan Duchesne who found themselves in Brown’s dog house and, eventually, dealt out of town.
Once the injuries wrinkle themselves out and the team gets healthy, Craievich will likely join the second unit with Jeremiah Addison and Dante Salituro.
Swapping OA’s
This Ottawa 67’s team isn’t going to challenge North Bay or Oshawa for the East title, the next best thing is to re-tool while making the playoffs.
Ottawa dealt Erik Bradford to Owen Sound for a second- and third-rounder, while sending an eight to Kitchener for local product Curtis Meighan.
Although perhaps not a top-liner in every lineup, Bradford filled a void on Ottawa’s top line for the past calendar year.
He looked shaky to start the season, recovering from a broken femur, but his recovery from there has seemed seamless. The overager will certainly be missed by the Barberpoles.
True Contenders Distancing Themselves
Ottawa 67’s Coach Jeff Brown:
"“It doesn’t matter who’s coming in and going out, it’s about the heartbeat of the dressing room and the response. Unless you do everything you can 24 hours a day, you aren’t going to beat these contenders. Early in the season we had some big games against some big teams, maybe we caught them off guard but we competed hard. We played two games in a row (7-3 to Sault Ste. Marie and 6-3 to North Bay) where we didn’t show up.”"
North Bay Coach Stan Butler:
"“Once we get Nick Moutrey and Ryan Kujawinski practicing, and get Nick Paul and Zach Bratina back in here, we should be a pretty good hockey team. We didn’t give up any of our real good young players which we could have, we’ve only really given up a few picks. You can get picks back, you can’t get back your good young players.”"
*Cover Photo Courtesy of Valerie Wutti/Blitzen Photography