Ottawa 67's 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 2)

[OMG67]

At the end of the day, it is a centre that seems to have skill and a high ceiling. That is a position we need help. Overall, it is a positive result.


I’m sure if we ask real nice, @GermanSpitfire will give us a highly accurate scouting report on him. My understanding is the kid is pretty much a stud. If he were to come over to play with Ottawa, it is likely he would play in a top 6 role.

He is an early ranked NHL draft player for 2025. He seems to slot in beside Karmiris with Brampton (2006 late birthdate) around the 2nd round if you are looking for an impact comparison.

 

[Hinterland]

Would be a pretty big deal if they got or can get this kid to come over. 07 born so could potentially play OHL for a while. Ekberg made headlines 22/23 when he became the youngest player in league history to score a point in the Allsvenskan. And he did it in style... by scoring a hattrick...as a 15yo.

Last season he struggled to create offense in the Allvenskan though and I think he really has to both hit the gym and improve his skating if he wants to become a better player and avoid losing ground in his draft year. At junior level he's an excellent player though. Played bottom six wing in the Allsvenskan but 2nd line C in the J20 and did very well. Maybe the smartest player of the 2025 draft class. Two way playmaking Center who is excellent both with and against the puck. Elite IQ and vision. The lack of both speed and size is a concern though. Maybe Ottawa could help him with that.

 

[BarberPole9]

Would be a pretty big deal if they got or can get this kid to come over. 07 born so could potentially play OHL for a while. Ekberg made headlines last season when he became the youngest player in league history to score a point in the Allsvenskan. And he did it in style... by scoring a hattrick...as a 15yo.

Last season he struggled to create offense in the Allvenskan though and I think he really has to both hit the gym and improve his skating if he doesn't want to become a better player and avoid losing ground in his draft year. At junior level he's an excellent player though. Played bottom six wing in the Allsvenskan but 2nd line C in the J20 and did very well. Maybe the smartest player of the 2025 draft class. Two way playmaking Center who is excellent both with and against the puck. Elite IQ and vision. The lack of both speed and size is a concern though. Maybe Ottawa could help him with that.

Awesome recap. What a great pick by Ottawa.

If he comes as advertised, he could be a major addition to this team and fill the biggest gap, at Center.

I couldn’t care less about his size. If you get a borderline NHL first rounder for no acquisition cost, you are hitting a home run.

We had heard that there may be some current players dealt. Is this still the plan? It seems to have gotten very quiet on the trade front.

 

[Hinterland]

Awesome recap. What a great pick by Ottawa.

If he comes as advertised, he could be a major addition to this team and fill the biggest gap, at Center.

I couldn’t care less about his size. If you get a borderline NHL first rounder for no acquisition cost, you are hitting a home run.

We had heard that there may be some current players dealt. Is this still the plan? It seems to have gotten very quiet on the trade front.

Yeah, I think this could be good for both sides. I like the kid a lot. Fantastic prospect but I also really think that Ekberg is a potential faller in the 2025 NHL draft. He has the talent of a top15 or even top10 pick but he has a few things to prove in order to get picked there. It's not even just because he's small and slow skating. NHL teams are big on trajectory. They like to see continous growth. Ekberg was/is so good, so mature so early in his career that he's gonna find it difficult to improve now. If he stays in Sweden what NHL teams would like to see would probably be him playing relatively big minutes at Center in the Allsvenskan while also producing at least a little bit of offense. Him dominating the J20 or playing wing in the Allsvenskan probably wouldn't impress NHL teams all that much because he did that last season already. After last season I'm not sure if he's confident to get that kind of a Center role though. He's also playing for a team not necessarily known for talent development. While playing on the wider European ice definitely forces you to work on skating I think that Ottawa is probably a better place for him to work on his weaknesses. The 67's know what it takes to get to the NHL (and get drafted into the NHL) and Cameron is a coach with plenty of experience.

 

[AGranderson]

Ekberg will be ok, top 6? Likely not, you will see him slot in as #3 centre not a great skater & small his skating might push him to the wing we will see how he keeps up when he gets over here but don’t be surprised to see him on the wing or 3rd line C behind, Gardiner & Dever

 

[erikhamren]

Yeah, I think this could be good for both sides. I like the kid a lot. Fantastic prospect but I also really think that Ekberg is a potential faller in the 2025 NHL draft. He has the talent of a top15 or even top10 pick but he has a few things to prove in order to get picked there. It's not even just because he's small and slow skating. NHL teams are big on trajectory. They like to see continous growth. Ekberg was/is so good, so mature so early in his career that he's gonna find it difficult to improve now. If he stays in Sweden what NHL teams would like to see would probably be him playing relatively big minutes at Center in the Allsvenskan while also producing at least a little bit of offense. Him dominating the J20 or playing wing in the Allsvenskan probably wouldn't impress NHL teams all that much because he did that last season already. After last season I'm not sure if he's confident to get that kind of a Center role though. He's also playing for a team not necessarily known for talent development. While playing on the wider European ice definitely forces you to work on skating I think that Ottawa is probably a better place for him to work on his weaknesses. The 67's know what it takes to get to the NHL (and get drafted into the NHL) and Cameron is a coach with plenty of experience.

100%

 

[sirius67fan]

Now that the import draft is done here is my ideal starting lineup for next year with a few notes on my perhaps suspect thought processes.
Foster/Gardiner/Gerrior(OA)
Pinelli/Ekberg (I)/Horner
Yanni/Dever/Korbler(I)
Amidovsky/Whitehead/Kelly
Extra: Hilton
Stoney (OA) on I.R.

Mayich (OA)/Mews
Marelli/Brady
Dietsch/Eshkawkogan
Extra: cheap addition 18/19y.o.

Mckenzie (OA)
Nelson

Comments:
1- start the year with four OA's as Stoney out for a while. Then he is likely gone at deadline although if the poles are out of contention...likely they might ..gulp trade Gerrior if he gets a better return. I also have kept Mayich for now as despite the trade rumours due to personal factors he is still here so maybe situation has changed. If traded insert Sirman. Mayich though could still go at the deadline.
2- I reunited the Foster/Gardiner/Gerrior line as those three have chemistry and always drive the play when together.
3- I like Pinelli with Ekberg, scorer with playmaker and Ekberg is not coming over to play bottom 6. I like Horner with them to provide space and he was surprising offensively last year.
4-Dever should do well as a third line center. Him and Korbler will provide good speed and energy. I think Yanni might be our breakthrough guy next year.
5- Finally let Amidovsky/Whitehead develop together and Kelly adds some jam/size and I hope some upside
6- Hilton as 13th guy until he proves otherwise. Barlas traded imo.
Houben needs another year in tier 2. Big kid needs to develop a bit like van stralen a few years ago.
7- D is a bit thin depthwise. Could use a cheap 18/19 y.o as a stopgap to move Brady to third pairing as I think Bonomo is a project and better be in tier 2 next year

 

[Hinterland]

Ekberg will be ok, top 6? Likely not, you will see him slot in as #3 centre not a great skater & small his skating might push him to the wing we will see how he keeps up when he gets over here but don’t be surprised to see him on the wing or 3rd line C behind, Gardiner & Dever

Middle 6 C at least, I think. He's a good two way player with a mature game...and he's an elite playmaker so playing him on the wing wouldn't make sense. I don't think he'd come to NA to play Wing anyway.
I feel like Cameron would like Ekberg a lot. He's pretty big on two way forwards he can trust to not make stupid mistakes.

 

[beastintheeast]

Now that the import draft is done here is my ideal starting lineup for next year with a few notes on my perhaps suspect thought processes.
Foster/Gardiner/Gerrior(OA)
Pinelli/Ekberg (I)/Horner
Yanni/Dever/Korbler(I)
Amidovsky/Whitehead/Kelly
Extra: Hilton
Stoney (OA) on I.R.

Mayich (OA)/Mews
Marelli/Brady
Dietsch/Eshkawkogan
Extra: cheap addition 18/19y.o.

Mckenzie (OA)
Nelson

Comments:
1- start the year with four OA's as Stoney out for a while. Then he is likely gone at deadline although if the poles are out of contention...likely they might ..gulp trade Gerrior if he gets a better return. I also have kept Mayich for now as despite the trade rumours due to personal factors he is still here so maybe situation has changed. If traded insert Sirman. Mayich though could still go at the deadline.
2- I reunited the Foster/Gardiner/Gerrior line as those three have chemistry and always drive the play when together.
3- I like Pinelli with Ekberg, scorer with playmaker and Ekberg is not coming over to play bottom 6. I like Horner with them to provide space and he was surprising offensively last year.
4-Dever should do well as a third line center. Him and Korbler will provide good speed and energy. I think Yanni might be our breakthrough guy next year.
5- Finally let Amidovsky/Whitehead develop together and Kelly adds some jam/size and I hope some upside
6- Hilton as 13th guy until he proves otherwise. Barlas traded imo.
Houben needs another year in tier 2. Big kid needs to develop a bit like van stralen a few years ago.
7- D is a bit thin depthwise. Could use a cheap 18/19 y.o as a stopgap to move Brady to third pairing as I think Bonomo is a project and better be in tier 2 next year

If you are not going to play Whitehead on 3rd line, then trade him. He is not going to develop on a team that does not want to give him minutes and let him play. DC has shown that he could care less about 4th line players or developing them.

If he is my kid, he is going to camp with a big sign on his back that says trade me, or I go home.

If you say well Whitehead really did not show anything last year then ask why. The answer is that he never saw the frigin ice in a game.

DC is useless at developing young players, or are you looking at Kingston becoming the 1990s version of the Kingston Frontenacs, where number-one draft picks refuse to play here if drafted?

Remember, kids have choices now. USHL and BCHL are now valid options for kids and have a whole lot more upside.

Kids come to the OHL for a couple of reasons but the main one is to try to get drafted to the NHL. You are not going to get drafted or noticed if you only get 3 to 5 minutes a game.

 

[sirius67fan]

If you are not going to play Whitehead on 3rd line, then trade him. He is not going to develop on a team that does not want to give him minutes and let him play. DC has shown that he could care less about 4th line players or developing them.

If he is my kid, he is going to camp with a big sign on his back that says trade me, or I go home.

If you say well Whitehead really did not show anything last year then ask why. The answer is that he never saw the frigin ice in a game.

DC is useless at developing young players, or are you looking at Kingston becoming the 1990s version of the Kingston Frontenacs, where number-one draft picks refuse to play here if drafted?

Remember, kids have choices now. USHL and BCHL are now valid options for kids and have a whole lot more upside.

Kids come to the OHL for a couple of reasons but the main one is to try to get drafted to the NHL. You are not going to get drafted or noticed if you only get 3 to 5 minutes a game.

Yeah Beast I do agree he hasn't been great developing the bottom of the roster guys recently. This is partly because we had relatively deep teams the last two years who were perceived ( wrongly last year) as a contender. But I do agree kids like Whitehead, Kelly, Hilton etc did not get the icetime they need. As for my fourth line I should have added in my diatribe that Cameron needs to give them regular icetime as it's a reloading year and a line with two defacto first rounders and an 18 y.o. should be able to handle it. If not our future looks bleak. As for Whitehead specifically start him there with decent icetime, if he shines move him up the lineup and put Dever on wing. He needs to earn it though.

 

[beastintheeast]

Yeah Beast I do agree he hasn't been great developing the bottom of the roster guys recently. This is partly because we had relatively deep teams the last two years who were perceived ( wrongly last year) as a contender. But I do agree kids like Whitehead, Kelly, Hilton etc did not get the icetime they need. As for my fourth line I should have added in my diatribe that Cameron needs to give them regular icetime as it's a reloading year and a line with two defacto first rounders and an 18 y.o. should be able to handle it. If not our future looks bleak. As for Whitehead specifically start him there with decent icetime, if he shines move him up the lineup and put Dever on wing. He needs to earn it though.

I agree that Whitehead should earn it, BUT the questions hae is, why Boyd cannot draft a forward in the first round who is capable? How is he supposed to show anything if he gets A shift every other period.

Last year against Oshawa, there should have been a chance for some of these kids to develop and show what they have. Instead, he plays one guy that can barely hold a stick and another that requires shoulder surgery.

If the 67s keep doing these stupid things, they will eventually look like Mavety's Fronts and Bulls. Draft picks are going to say do not draft me I will not report.
We had a glut of talent because Boyd keeps trying to win the M Cup every season by making dumb trades.
Boyd needs to make cuts and trade no matter what. Look what he did with Donoso last year.

I am starting to wonder about the team's drive and ability to draft and develop players. Mews finished the year as a first-round NHL draft pick. Marelli is touted. Hell, even Hilton was on the list. What happened?

Mews dropped to the 3rd round Mareli fell off the charts and Hilton did not get played at all so scouts could not make an opinion.

The same thing is going to happen with Whitehead. Yes Killer drafted some duds but he was man enoughto trade them to teams that could provide the ice time.

 

[OMG67]

The bottom line is the roster is set up so there will be a few battles for positions. I think that is what you want, internal competitiveness. I don’t care who ends up on the 4th line as long as the players ahead of them earned their spots.

16 year old rookies usually need the first half of the season to find their routine and fit in. Even if they don’t play much, they still practice with the big team and that has a lot of benefits because of the scrimmaging. They need to find their pace.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Dave Cameron has been named head coach of the 2024-25 Canadian World Juniors team

 

[frontsfan67]

Dave Cameron has been named head coach of the 2024-25 Canadian World Juniors team

By the sounds of it, Beast will approve of this lol.

 

[sirius67fan]

I agree that Whitehead should earn it, BUT the questions hae is, why Boyd cannot draft a forward in the first round who is capable? How is he supposed to show anything if he gets A shift every other period.

Last year against Oshawa, there should have been a chance for some of these kids to develop and show what they have. Instead, he plays one guy that can barely hold a stick and another that requires shoulder surgery.

If the 67s keep doing these stupid things, they will eventually look like Mavety's Fronts and Bulls. Draft picks are going to say do not draft me I will not report.
We had a glut of talent because Boyd keeps trying to win the M Cup every season by making dumb trades.
Boyd needs to make cuts and trade no matter what. Look what he did with Donoso last year.

I am starting to wonder about the team's drive and ability to draft and develop players. Mews finished the year as a first-round NHL draft pick. Marelli is touted. Hell, even Hilton was on the list. What happened?

Mews dropped to the 3rd round Mareli fell off the charts and Hilton did not get played at all so scouts could not make an opinion.

The same thing is going to happen with Whitehead. Yes Killer drafted some duds but he was man enoughto trade them to teams that could provide the ice time.

Well Beast I understand your frustration to a degree ( heck I was at the end of the year) but you might be a bit harsh on Cameron and imo very harsh on Boyd.
Let's start with Boyd. Look imo he's been a very good GM. He's put together (with some help from Tourigny and Jeff Brown initially) 3 very good teams, one decent team ( this year) and a good retooling team in the past five years. That's pretty darn good. He also with Egert did a great job getting good euros to report...Rossi, Rohrer, Uronen( injured) and I think we just got a very good one this year (Ekberg). Their drafting has generally been good (except maybe Barlas and Kelly( as of now)). He's made good trades to recover assets and keep it going. Also made good trades to go for a run in 4 of five seasons. Yes it can be argued he didn't go fully all in but he gave his team a chance. I know you feel he shouldn't have pushed his chips in last year and it did backfire but Beast there was no clear top dog in the east so hard to deny it was a calculated risk.( for the record i didn't agree with going for it last year but could accept it as there was some logic to it). Anyway I don't think Boyd deserves to be compared to Mavety.
Now for Cameron your big beef is development and development opportunities for the young players. I do agree last year could have been managed better but once they went for it at the deadline well the young guys were out of luck.
Before painting a picture of poor player development by Cameron we need to consider a few things
1 -yes last year wasn't great but let's say Yanni, Dietsch and Nelson who were in tier2 but practising with the team come in as solid contributors next year. Is it still poor development?
2- if Mews, Marelli have dominant 18 y.o. years and Kelly comes around, is it still poor development?
3- one can argue Pinelli, Mayich, Stoney( injury year aside) and Guerrior have developed very well. Gardiner and Foster too initially although last year was slightly disappointing.
4- another factor to consider sometimes it's not the coach it's the player! Among other things poor effort/work habits, poor response to coaching or simply sometimes players plateau and reach their ceiling early. A coach can help get a player to his ceiling but can't push it up 3 floors. Just to be clear I am not implying at all that any 67 player is not putting in effort etc...
Just wanted to put it out there it's not just the coach in that equation.
So imo his record is not as bleak as you make it out although I was perplexed by some of his decisions last year I will admit.
I would wait another season before judging Cameron so harshly. If Whitehead, Yanni etc do well and Mews, Marelli ,Gardiner etc have a good year well maybe he's not so bad after all. Heck hockey canada seems to like him

 

[AGranderson]

If you are not going to play Whitehead on 3rd line, then trade him. He is not going to develop on a team that does not want to give him minutes and let him play. DC has shown that he could care less about 4th line players or developing them.

If he is my kid, he is going to camp with a big sign on his back that says trade me, or I go home.

If you say well Whitehead really did not show anything last year then ask why. The answer is that he never saw the frigin ice in a game.

DC is useless at developing young players, or are you looking at Kingston becoming the 1990s version of the Kingston Frontenacs, where number-one draft picks refuse to play here if drafted?

Remember, kids have choices now. USHL and BCHL are now valid options for kids and have a whole lot more upside.

Kids come to the OHL for a couple of reasons but the main one is to try to get drafted to the NHL. You are not going to get drafted or noticed if you only get 3 to 5 minutes a game.

I hope you understand this isn’t Minor hockey some day, it’s a business they are in this league to win & when you win it creates revenue

 

[Mild Italian]

Well Beast I understand your frustration to a degree ( heck I was at the end of the year) but you might be a bit harsh on Cameron and imo very harsh on Boyd.
Let's start with Boyd. Look imo he's been a very good GM. He's put together (with some help from Tourigny and Jeff Brown initially) 3 very good teams, one decent team ( this year) and a good retooling team in the past five years. That's pretty darn good. He also with Egert did a great job getting good euros to report...Rossi, Rohrer, Uronen( injured) and I think we just got a very good one this year (Ekberg). Their drafting has generally been good (except maybe Barlas and Kelly( as of now)). He's made good trades to recover assets and keep it going. Also made good trades to go for a run in 4 of five seasons. Yes it can be argued he didn't go fully all in but he gave his team a chance. I know you feel he shouldn't have pushed his chips in last year and it did backfire but Beast there was no clear top dog in the east so hard to deny it was a calculated risk.( for the record i didn't agree with going for it last year but could accept it as there was some logic to it). Anyway I don't think Boyd deserves to be compared to Mavety.
Now for Cameron your big beef is development and development opportunities for the young players. I do agree last year could have been managed better but once they went for it at the deadline well the young guys were out of luck.
Before painting a picture of poor player development by Cameron we need to consider a few things
1 -yes last year wasn't great but let's say Yanni, Dietsch and Nelson who were in tier2 but practising with the team come in as solid contributors next year. Is it still poor development?
2- if Mews, Marelli have dominant 18 y.o. years and Kelly comes around, is it still poor development?
3- one can argue Pinelli, Mayich, Stoney( injury year aside) and Guerrior have developed very well. Gardiner and Foster too initially although last year was slightly disappointing.
4- another factor to consider sometimes it's not the coach it's the player! Among other things poor effort/work habits, poor response to coaching or simply sometimes players plateau and reach their ceiling early. A coach can help get a player to his ceiling but can't push it up 3 floors. Just to be clear I am not implying at all that any 67 player is not putting in effort etc...
Just wanted to put it out there it's not just the coach in that equation.
So imo his record is not as bleak as you make it out although I was perplexed by some of his decisions last year I will admit.
I would wait another season before judging Cameron so harshly. If Whitehead, Yanni etc do well and Mews, Marelli ,Gardiner etc have a good year well maybe he's not so bad after all. Heck hockey canada seems to like him

I would give you four

Well Beast I understand your frustration to a degree ( heck I was at the end of the year) but you might be a bit harsh on Cameron and imo very harsh on Boyd.
Let's start with Boyd. Look imo he's been a very good GM. He's put together (with some help from Tourigny and Jeff Brown initially) 3 very good teams, one decent team ( this year) and a good retooling team in the past five years. That's pretty darn good. He also with Egert did a great job getting good euros to report...Rossi, Rohrer, Uronen( injured) and I think we just got a very good one this year (Ekberg). Their drafting has generally been good (except maybe Barlas and Kelly( as of now)). He's made good trades to recover assets and keep it going. Also made good trades to go for a run in 4 of five seasons. Yes it can be argued he didn't go fully all in but he gave his team a chance. I know you feel he shouldn't have pushed his chips in last year and it did backfire but Beast there was no clear top dog in the east so hard to deny it was a calculated risk.( for the record i didn't agree with going for it last year but could accept it as there was some logic to it). Anyway I don't think Boyd deserves to be compared to Mavety.
Now for Cameron your big beef is development and development opportunities for the young players. I do agree last year could have been managed better but once they went for it at the deadline well the young guys were out of luck.
Before painting a picture of poor player development by Cameron we need to consider a few things
1 -yes last year wasn't great but let's say Yanni, Dietsch and Nelson who were in tier2 but practising with the team come in as solid contributors next year. Is it still poor development?
2- if Mews, Marelli have dominant 18 y.o. years and Kelly comes around, is it still poor development?
3- one can argue Pinelli, Mayich, Stoney( injury year aside) and Guerrior have developed very well. Gardiner and Foster too initially although last year was slightly disappointing.
4- another factor to consider sometimes it's not the coach it's the player! Among other things poor effort/work habits, poor response to coaching or simply sometimes players plateau and reach their ceiling early. A coach can help get a player to his ceiling but can't push it up 3 floors. Just to be clear I am not implying at all that any 67 player is not putting in effort etc...
Just wanted to put it out there it's not just the coach in that equation.
So imo his record is not as bleak as you make it out although I was perplexed by some of his decisions last year I will admit.
I would wait another season before judging Cameron so harshly. If Whitehead, Yanni etc do well and Mews, Marelli ,Gardiner etc have a good year well maybe he's not so bad after all. Heck hockey canada seems to like him

I would give you four likes, but do not know how!!

 

[sirius67fan]

I would give you four

I would give you four likes, but do not know how!!

Thank you man! That post was a lot of work...lol

 

[OMG67]

DC is the coach and Boyd is the GM. The team has had a decent level of success so it is unlikely that combination will change in the near future unless one or both decide to move on themselves.

My one criticism with DC is he has a tendency of spreading out the offence and he coaches a style that doesn’t necessarily suit the attributes of the team. Sort of a one trick pony where we hope we have the right mix of players.

My one criticism of Boyd is when you are going to be a buyer and make a push, pull out your sack and drop it on the table for everyone to see. Slam it down. Don’t mess around. Every team should be in this for a championship. Every move should be with winning a championship in mind. Do what it takes to win. If it means you end up with a piss poor team for a year or two, then so be it. But, even moves during those piss poor years are so you can make another run again in a couple years. Manage like you mean it. Too much f’n around with trades for my liking. If you aren’t going to make an honest effort of pulling out your sack when it matters, then you may as well be Kilrea and remain status quo every year.

There are 20 teams in this league. We haven’t won a Championship since 2001. That is 23 years. That really doesn’t look good IMO.

 

[beastintheeast]

Well Beast I understand your frustration to a degree ( heck I was at the end of the year) but you might be a bit harsh on Cameron and imo very harsh on Boyd.
Let's start with Boyd. Look imo he's been a very good GM. He's put together (with some help from Tourigny and Jeff Brown initially) 3 very good teams, one decent team ( this year) and a good retooling team in the past five years. That's pretty darn good. He also with Egert did a great job getting good euros to report...Rossi, Rohrer, Uronen( injured) and I think we just got a very good one this year (Ekberg). Their drafting has generally been good (except maybe Barlas and Kelly( as of now)). He's made good trades to recover assets and keep it going. Also made good trades to go for a run in 4 of five seasons. Yes it can be argued he didn't go fully all in but he gave his team a chance. I know you feel he shouldn't have pushed his chips in last year and it did backfire but Beast there was no clear top dog in the east so hard to deny it was a calculated risk.( for the record i didn't agree with going for it last year but could accept it as there was some logic to it). Anyway I don't think Boyd deserves to be compared to Mavety.
Now for Cameron your big beef is development and development opportunities for the young players. I do agree last year could have been managed better but once they went for it at the deadline well the young guys were out of luck.
Before painting a picture of poor player development by Cameron we need to consider a few things
1 -yes last year wasn't great but let's say Yanni, Dietsch and Nelson who were in tier2 but practising with the team come in as solid contributors next year. Is it still poor development?
2- if Mews, Marelli have dominant 18 y.o. years and Kelly comes around, is it still poor development?
3- one can argue Pinelli, Mayich, Stoney( injury year aside) and Guerrior have developed very well. Gardiner and Foster too initially although last year was slightly disappointing.
4- another factor to consider sometimes it's not the coach it's the player! Among other things poor effort/work habits, poor response to coaching or simply sometimes players plateau and reach their ceiling early. A coach can help get a player to his ceiling but can't push it up 3 floors. Just to be clear I am not implying at all that any 67 player is not putting in effort etc...
Just wanted to put it out there it's not just the coach in that equation.
So imo his record is not as bleak as you make it out although I was perplexed by some of his decisions last year I will admit.
I would wait another season before judging Cameron so harshly. If Whitehead, Yanni etc do well and Mews, Marelli ,Gardiner etc have a good year well maybe he's not so bad after all. Heck hockey canada seems to like him

Yanni and Dietsch's development, to me, would be from their CCHL coach. Nelson's development last year had little to do with Cameron and more to do with the goaltending coach and NAVAN.

I agree that we hae drafted som egood talent but then again Ilook at Korbler and if Uronen and Stonehouse had not had injuries would hbbe have gotten off the 4th line,

Mews and Marelli are now under the development of the NHL teams and what they are told to do at camps.

What concerns me is his history of only playing with older players and saying to hell with the kids. Look at Mississauga.

I give a lot of where they were the previous first 2 years to Andre and his influence.

I will watch and see.

To me, last year should have been a dump player at the deadline, and Boyd needs to trade players now before training camp.

OH YEAH GREAT POST

I hope you understand this isn’t Minor hockey some day, it’s a business they are in this league to win & when you win it creates revenue

LOL funny you should mention minor hockey. Have you ever looked at the GTHL or the rep minor hockey systems. I would suggest it is more cut throat than anything the OHL canput toggether.

At to comparing this team to a minor hockey team. Not a chance.

This is an entertainment business just like the NHL, CFL, or any other sports team. People only come to the games to be entertained.

Believe it or not, winning is not the only criterion. If the games are entertaining and you lose by a couple of goals to a better team, fans will still come out.

This is a league where fans understand that the team has to be able to replace those who leave. Teams do that by developing other talent. Parents let their kids play for a team because they trust the team will look after them, that they will ensure that their son is looked after health-wise, and that he will develop not only in a hockey sense but also in the sense of a member of the community.

If parents look at your team and see that their kids are put into a dangerous situation ( playing when they are injured) are not getting the ice tiem to develop or the coach has no abilty or desire to develop them then especially in the first round they will simply say no do not draft my son as he willnot report or sign.
For decades the CHL has had a monopoly on players going to the NHL as there was no other system that was developing players of NHL quality. That has now changed American kids have leagues and national teams that ehy can develop in, European kids are getting drafted and allowed to play in Mens leagues or leagues in Europe.

Canadian kids are ot getting drafted and have options of the USHL BCHL for starters.

If youthinkk this is wrong take a look at the number of Q players that were drafted in the first 2 rounds. Also, look at the early list of the 25 drafts.

The diehard fans understand that there is going to be a rebuilding year. But then again good coaches are able to develop their players so that there is no large drop. Also good GM find the right players to draft.

For the players it is a JOB. Some are looking at the PRO level some are looking toget univeristy scholarships.

 

[NoQuit67s]

Dave Cameron has been named head coach of the 2024-25 Canadian World Juniors team

I think this increases the chance of Pinelli making the team

 

[sirius67fan]

I think this increases the chance of Pinelli making the team

I suspect you're right!

 

[44 95 plus tax]

NHL Development Camps - Ottawa 67's.
A lot of representation from the 67's (as all OHL teams, I assume). What's interesting is Paul Stoykewych at the Jets camp.

 

[OMG67]

I suspect you're right!

Are you guys suggesting DC would push to have Pinelli on the team so they can increase his trade value? That would be slimy!

 

[sirius67fan]

Are you guys suggesting DC would push to have Pinelli on the team so they can increase his trade value? That would be slimy!

Hey business is business! Jokes aside I did think he had a shot before DC got the nod. Reality is historically it helps when your coach is there. If Pinelli continues improving and has a good first half I think he'll be in likely bottom 6. Heck he's a great forechecker who can finish so why not.
Now back to sillyness. You said it yourself 23 years no championship. Time to get slimy. I foresee Pinelli, Gardiner, Foster, Mews and Marelli on the team! I even think Ekberg has an outside shot for team Canada.