Ottawa 67s (5-5-0)
The 67s had a pretty successful week, winning two of their three games. Through ten games this season, their five wins have all been at home. It looks like they’ll improve on their total of six home wins last season. Thank goodness.
Mississauga Steelheads (3) at Ottawa 67s (6):
The 67s first dominant win of the season (and what will probably be one of few) came in their first game of this past week. Backed up by some very solid goaltending from Phillipe Trudeau, who stopped 37 of 40 shots, the 67s managed to come out on top. Although, the multi-point efforts from Ryan Van Stralen, Dante Salituro, and Joseph Blandisi didn’t hurt either.
Guelph Storm (5) at Ottawa 67s (1):
On the way home, I thought to myself, “that makes more sense.” That win over Mississauga was nice, but we won’t be seeing too many wins like that this season. The team is slightly more experienced, but I don’t see Sean Monahan coming back to help out. Calgary has a star in him, and they won’t want to send down someone producing numbers as impressive as his. The 67s did everything wrong in this one. They were sloppy defensively, and even worse offensively. You can blame Trudeau for allowing 5 goals, but it’s not like the guys in front of him did anything to help.
Sudbury Wolves (4) at Ottawa 67s (5):
This was the definition of a tight game. Scoreless after the first period, tied at 1 after the second, and each team scoring another 3 in the third period. Travis Konecny put on a show, tied the game with only 30 seconds left, and winning it in the shootout with an amazing deke. This is the type of win we’ll be seeing from the 67s more often: tight, hard-fought wins. They won’t be winning by a landslide too often.
This Week’s 3 Stars:
1st Star: Ryan Van Stralen. He might only have one goal this week, but his four assists are huge. He’s been setting up his line mates, and has been making it look easy.
2nd Star: Joseph Blandisi. Three goals and an assist? Not bad. Not bad at all.
3rd Star: Travis Konecny. The moves he makes every game make it difficult to tell that he’s only sixteen. I’ve never felt old watching a hockey game, but he makes me want to start drinking prune juice and complain about kids on my street. Plus he’s playing at a point per game pace.