Ottawa 67's 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[OMG67]

Ottawa set to play Brantford in the playoffs.

Friday and Sunday at 7PM in Brantford to start Games 1 and 2. Tuesday and Thursday back at Ottawa for Games 3 and 4.

 

[beastintheeast]

It's just a thought for a line to set the tone and cause havoc.

Hilton Gerrior Horner play them against the main lines with the understanding that they are there to wear out the other team by hitting anything that moves.

Then play your regular lines.

we will probably lose the first game or 2 but by the time they come back to Ottawa BFD maynot be a spry.

Hey it worked for the Petes quite a few years

 

[PuckStop75]

Ottawa set to play Brantford in the playoffs.

Friday and Sunday at 7PM in Brantford to start Games 1 and 2. Tuesday and Thursday back at Ottawa for Games 3 and 4.

They better find a gear we haven't seen in the last few weeks or this will be a short series.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

It was a disappointing end to the regular season for a team that had aspirations to win their division and finish top-2 in the conference (and challenge for a conference championship). For a stretch of time in mid-to-late February they played like a team that could accomplish those goals, but they haven't been at that level for some time now.

The 67s can play with anyone when the dictate the pace of the game, play a relentless puck pursuit game, and get good enough goaltending that they're not chasing or cheating defensively. What I saw yesterday vs. Brantford (and down the stretch in games vs. competitive teams), in a somewhat meaningless game for both teams, was Brantford dictating the play and winning the special teams play handily. Ottawa was unable to penetrate to the inside for quality scoring opportunities. Where have we seen that before? Oh yeah, last year's 2nd round vs. Peterborough.

Unless we get MacKenzie back and he is playing as he's capable of, it will be a very short series. Maybe Ottawa takes one home game. With MacKenzie back and in full form, Ottawa could make it a series but I still can't see Ottawa win a 7th game in Brantford.

So my prediction will be Brantford in 6 games.

 

[OMG67]

It was a disappointing end to the regular season for a team that had aspirations to win their division and finish top-2 in the conference (and challenge for a conference championship). For a stretch of time in mid-to-late February they played like a team that could accomplish those goals, but they haven't been at that level for some time now.

The 67s can play with anyone when the dictate the pace of the game, play a relentless puck pursuit game, and get good enough goaltending that they're not chasing or cheating defensively. What I saw yesterday vs. Brantford (and down the stretch in games vs. competitive teams), in a somewhat meaningless game for both teams, was Brantford dictating the play and winning the special teams play handily. Ottawa was unable to penetrate to the inside for quality scoring opportunities. Where have we seen that before? Oh yeah, last year's 2nd round vs. Peterborough.

Unless we get MacKenzie back and he is playing as he's capable of, it will be a very short series. Maybe Ottawa takes one home game. With MacKenzie back and in full form, Ottawa could make it a series but I still can't see Ottawa win a 7th game in Brantford.

So my prediction will be Brantford in 6 games.

If the team we’ve seen the last three weeks shows up, they will be out in four. They are completely ineffective when they let the opposition dictate the pace of play. They play not to get scored on. That team can’t win games.

If the team plays their game as you mentioned, THEN they have a chance of winning the series. If they don’t play that way, they will not win a game playing passive hockey. It really is that simple.

Another key point is it wouldn’t really matter if MacKenzie is in net for this series if they played their relentless aggressive style. The shots against is lower, incidents of Penalties decreases, and the opposition plays on its toes and rushes plays. The scoring opportunities are greatly reduced as a result.

Which team will show up in round one? If recent play is any indication, it will be the one that shows up, punches the time clock and waits for it to run for 60 minutes before hitting the showers.

This has been a very frustrating few weeks. They busted their asses to get to the final stretch of 13 games that were all winnable games. They go 7-5-1 and completely embarrass themselves in the process.

I don’t want to talk about next season yet but if the result of the first round turns out like I think it will, there will be a completely different discussion regarding next year.

 

[Larionov]

All season this team has just felt like less than the sum of its parts. On paper there is a good team, but they never could put it together for extended stretches. Not to name names, but there are a couple of draft eligible players and one who signed an NHL contract who it is fair to say were expected to contribute more than they did.

As we know, playoffs are a different beast. Go win a series and all of a sudden the year doesn't look so bad. Go out quietly in five and it looks like a lost season. This team is capable of more than they have shown - let's see if they can rise up and deliver it.

 

[sirius67fan]

I haven't been as disappointed with this team in years in respect to the second half. They overachieved in the first half and totally underachieved in the second. Iwas an advocate of going for it next year although I could get behind the logic of what Boyd did at the deadline. Now however it looks like a mistake. This team lured Boyd into adding and then simply lost interest. Even the loses to Guelph in the final and last year to the Petes didn't disappoint me as much because we did not lose for lack of effort. But this team minus Pinelli/Gerrior/Kressler, effort has been shameful. Brantford in 5.

 

[PuckStop75]

If the team we’ve seen the last three weeks shows up, they will be out in four. They are completely ineffective when they let the opposition dictate the pace of play. They play not to get scored on. That team can’t win games.

If the team plays their game as you mentioned, THEN they have a chance of winning the series. If they don’t play that way, they will not win a game playing passive hockey. It really is that simple.

Another key point is it wouldn’t really matter if MacKenzie is in net for this series if they played their relentless aggressive style. The shots against is lower, incidents of Penalties decreases, and the opposition plays on its toes and rushes plays. The scoring opportunities are greatly reduced as a result.

Which team will show up in round one? If recent play is any indication, it will be the one that shows up, punches the time clock and waits for it to run for 60 minutes before hitting the showers.

This has been a very frustrating few weeks. They busted their asses to get to the final stretch of 13 games that were all winnable games. They go 7-5-1 and completely embarrass themselves in the process.

I don’t want to talk about next season yet but if the result of the first round turns out like I think it will, there will be a completely different discussion regarding next year.

In a best case scenario, the last few weeks was a product of fatigue, largely due to the intensification of the schedule and travel required to make up games. The illusion that the games in hand were going to be easy to make up and close the gap on teams wasn't a position shared by everyone.

Hopefully they are able to recover this week and play the way they are capable of playing when the playoffs commence. Worse case scenario is this team has checked out on the coach, at which point if you look ahead to next season a few options may need to be explored.

Dictating the pace isn't going to be easy against the Bulldogs who are a more physical team with lots of depth, and despite their age has a reasonable amount of maturity and experience. The coaching and culture around that team are known to be strengths.

 

[dirty12]

I think there are 2 issues with this team

1. The players who have been here awhile were able to have a good leadership group ahead of them. Unfortunately, there really does not seem to be that leadership this year. There is one player that stands out as the leader that can take the team on his back and do it.

2. Let's face it the other thing is that we really do not have a lot of stud players. We never had a first line that worried other teams.
3. The biggest letdowns to me were Stonehouse and Pinelli. Yes, I know Pinelli scored a lot of goals, but he was on the ice for a lot of goals. Stonehouse just seemed lost. I would have expected him to be a first-line player this year, but he never really stepped up into the role. I think signing with the Oilers when he did was a bad thing for Stonehouse and he may have felt that he had nothing to prove in the OHL

We are looking at a bunch of guys thwhore just playing it out and thinking that the sooner we finish, the sooner they can move up to play in the AHL.

honestly, I will be surprised if this team wins one game in the first round.

The sad thing is that this is a team that needs a rebuild. It needs some fresh legs and new YOUNG BLOOD. Forget about OA players helping or who we should trade for next season. They should be sellers, period.

There just aren't any players on this team that are going to be stars.

Of course Stonehouse is lost, he probably believed he is the Marchant of the OHL. The problem with that is after two years, which 19-20 yr old could Stonehouse goad into coincidental penalties taking the more valuable player to his team off the ice? At 19 with a pro contact, what player could he turtle against without completely embarrassing himself?
While I think he may have some success in a couple of years with pros playing the game as he did at 17-18 in the OHL; it was a lot to ask of Stonehouse to reinvent himself in-season as a player at the OHL level.

 

[ScoutLife4]

In a best case scenario, the last few weeks was a product of fatigue, largely due to the intensification of the schedule and travel required to make up games. The illusion that the games in hand were going to be easy to make up and close the gap on teams wasn't a position shared by everyone.

Hopefully they are able to recover this week and play the way they are capable of playing when the playoffs commence. Worse case scenario is this team has checked out on the coach, at which point if you look ahead to next season a few options may need to be explored.

Dictating the pace isn't going to be easy against the Bulldogs who are a more physical team with lots of depth, and despite their age has a reasonable amount of maturity and experience. The coaching and culture around that team are known to be strengths.

I disagree with the schedule part.
There was nothing really unusual at all about there last 2 weeks.
Peterborough, Kingston, Ottawa is hardly a tough travel schedule in the O.

I think what you are seeing is a 6th place team playing to its abilities.
There is nothing unique or special about this team.

Goaltending may be more a question mark then Kingston's at this point.
At least they can rely on theirs being available for games.,...

I'm not sure if it's just a Dave Cameron coaching style thing but year after year I notice this team just lacks that psychical aggressive style that contributes to success in playoff hockey.
If I was coaching this team I would be absolutely screaming at players to start finishing their checks.

 

[OMG67]

In a best case scenario, the last few weeks was a product of fatigue, largely due to the intensification of the schedule and travel required to make up games. The illusion that the games in hand were going to be easy to make up and close the gap on teams wasn't a position shared by everyone.

Hopefully they are able to recover this week and play the way they are capable of playing when the playoffs commence. Worse case scenario is this team has checked out on the coach, at which point if you look ahead to next season a few options may need to be explored.

Dictating the pace isn't going to be easy against the Bulldogs who are a more physical team with lots of depth, and despite their age has a reasonable amount of maturity and experience. The coaching and culture around that team are known to be strengths.

I’m not sure what to believe at this point. What I have seen is something we’ve not seen since before Tourigny started as the coach. The one basic reliable factor was effort. We haven’t seen that.

You can point to fatigue but this is a team that supposedly is very fit. They did have a lot of travel and total games but only by about 2 games more than normal over a 30 day stretch. It is similar to a playoff style schedule. If the playoff style schedule is not something this team is capable of playing in the regular season, then it is a schedule they are definitely incapable of playing in the playoffs.

I think there is something else that we are not seeing behind the scenes. The line juggling is annoying. The insistence of certain players in certain situations where the results have not been positive yet the same assignments are given. Things like that are confusing. I’m leaning more toward the coach issue but that is simply speculation on my part based on a gut feeling.

 

[OMG67]

I disagree with the schedule part.
There was nothing really unusual at all about there last 2 weeks.
Peterborough, Kingston, Ottawa is hardly a tough travel schedule in the O.

I think what you are seeing is a 6th place team playing to its abilities.
There is nothing unique or special about this team.

Goaltending may be more a question mark then Kingston's at this point.
At least they can rely on theirs being available for games.,...

I'm not sure if it's just a Dave Cameron coaching style thing but year after year I notice this team just lacks that psychical aggressive style that contributes to success in playoff hockey.
If I was coaching this team I would be absolutely screaming at players to start finishing their checks.

I think that last line is evident because I say the same damn thing all the time. The fly-by’s are annoying. They have the speed to get on players but they stick check instead of separate boy from puck. A lot of that has to do with size mismatches but leverage ages up for a missmatch in size. When you are on top of the opposition with your speed, the opposition isn’t set to be hit which leaves them vulnerable to being separated from the puck by smaller players.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I think classifying any team in the Eastern Conference as an “X Place Team” is disingenuous. The 6th placed Ottawa 67’s team held all but two teams that finished with 80 points on the season to at minimum a .500 record. They are deserving of being considered a contender in the eastern conference when you look at their full body of work on the season vs other teams. They have had two lapses this season. One over the Christmas break when they were suffering form injury and their depth wasn’t nearly strong enough to make up for it. The second period of lapse came the last 3 weeks or so. The issue is the late season let down because of the timing. If they had a winning streak to end the season to finish 6th because of two earlier lapses (similar to what we saw with Oshawa), we’d be having a completely different discussion. Timing is everything. Oshawa’s timing is great. Ottawa’s timing is shit.

All that said, the 67’s have too many small players. Again, I really don’t want to talk too much about next season until the season is over next Thursday night but I really think it is a mistake keeping Korbler. You can replace him as an Import easier than replacing Dever. I don’t think you can have two top 9 RW that are small and soft and expect to build around that. Their lack of depth at centre entering next season means they will need to rely more heavily on wingers to carry the load. You cannot do that with two small wingers that ;play small. At least Gerrior plays bigger.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Its simple enough to break things down between management issues and coaching issues.

Ottawa doesn't have the bodies to play a physical, aggressive style. They just don't. Two forwards consistently finish their checks and play a disciplined, physical style: 1) Horner - a previous 7th d-man converted to winger a few months ago; 2) Gerrior - terrific motor, but undersized for the role he is being asked to play and (historically) not as effective in a playoff setting although the effort is always there. On D, I find Mayich and Marrelli consistently takes their man, but Marrelli - much like Gerrior - doesn't have above-average size so is susceptible to getting muscled around and worked off the puck.

Not bringing in the right players who can play a mean, physical style in the playoffs is on management. Last year, with a 100+ point team, Boyd didn't replace an injured Boucher at the deadline and that component was noticeably missing vs. Peterborough in terms of ability to get to the front of the net, winning board battles, and setting the tone (or at least keeping pace) physically. Its possible that Boyd didn't know the severity of Boucher's injury at the time of the deadline, but he is an injury-prone player (still is!) and got injured at the World Juniors, so...

I'll give props to Boyd for overhauling the OA roster spots at this year's deadline. It seems like we were two moves short of icing a true contender, however. At the end of the day, the series of moves at the deadline garnered us the #6 seed instead of, say, the #7. Still an underdog in the 1st round.

And that's where the coaching comes in. The team is less than the sum of its parts. The 67s' post-deadline objectives were to contend for a conference championship. The players felt like they had the team to do so. The effort hasn't consistently been there down the stretch, despite the team playing some really good hockey against good teams. Those have been largely offset by weak efforts down the stretch against beatable teams. That's on coaching and leadership. My biggest gripe with Cameron last year was his underutilization of a player who will receive Calder votes and put 30 points on the board for his NHL club this season - Mintyukov - in last year's playoffs. I thought Cameron was being overly-conservative in his usage of Mintyukov. This year, there seems to be a different set of problems with consistent effort, sloppy mistakes, poor special teams play, lazy defensive play by the core leadership group, and insistence on playing the wrong players in the wrong situations.

We'll see how the playoffs shake out but lots to digest in the offseason if things go as I expect them to.

 

[OMG67]

Its simple enough to break things down between management issues and coaching issues.

Ottawa doesn't have the bodies to play a physical, aggressive style. They just don't. Two forwards consistently finish their checks and play a disciplined, physical style: 1) Horner - a previous 7th d-man converted to winger a few months ago; 2) Gerrior - terrific motor, but undersized for the role he is being asked to play and (historically) not as effective in a playoff setting although the effort is always there. On D, I find Mayich and Marrelli consistently takes their man, but Marrelli - much like Gerrior - doesn't have above-average size so is susceptible to getting muscled around and worked off the puck.

Not bringing in the right players who can play a mean, physical style in the playoffs is on management. Last year, with a 100+ point team, Boyd didn't replace an injured Boucher at the deadline and that component was noticeably missing vs. Peterborough in terms of ability to get to the front of the net, winning board battles, and setting the tone (or at least keeping pace) physically. Its possible that Boyd didn't know the severity of Boucher's injury at the time of the deadline, but he is an injury-prone player (still is!) and got injured at the World Juniors, so...

I'll give props to Boyd for overhauling the OA roster spots at this year's deadline. It seems like we were two moves short of icing a true contender, however. At the end of the day, the series of moves at the deadline garnered us the #6 seed instead of, say, the #7. Still an underdog in the 1st round.

And that's where the coaching comes in. The team is less than the sum of its parts. The 67s' post-deadline objectives were to contend for a conference championship. The players felt like they had the team to do so. The effort hasn't consistently been there down the stretch, despite the team playing some really good hockey against good teams. Those have been largely offset by weak efforts down the stretch against beatable teams. That's on coaching and leadership. My biggest gripe with Cameron last year was his underutilization of a player who will receive Calder votes and put 30 points on the board for his NHL club this season - Mintyukov - in last year's playoffs. I thought Cameron was being overly-conservative in his usage of Mintyukov. This year, there seems to be a different set of problems with consistent effort, sloppy mistakes, poor special teams play, lazy defensive play by the core leadership group, and insistence on playing the wrong players in the wrong situations.

We'll see how the playoffs shake out but lots to digest in the offseason if things go as I expect them to.

You either build the team around the coach, or bring in a coach that suits the team you have. We are mismatched. They need to figure it out. It isn’t about blaming a coach, it is about aligning the assets int he best possible way to win. If Cameron wants to coach based on physicality and aggressiveness, you need physical and aggressive bodies. This is why I have preached so much lately about Dever/Korbler being a useless combination. You cannot elevate Korbler while maintaining Dever in the top 9 or vice versa. This is and was a very obvious issue at the deadline to laymen like me. It was obvious we needed a big body winger capable fo playing top 9 minutes, preferably someone with a scoring touch in close.

Getting the three OAs was only supposed to be a start. That gave them a foundation from which to build on. They didn’t build on it. It is like having a vacant lot in a high value area of the city. Great to have but doesn’t have a lot of utility. My gut tells me Boyd was trying to build on it but was unable to get it done. It is what it is. It needs to be a lesson learned though.

 

[PuckStop75]

I’m not sure what to believe at this point. What I have seen is something we’ve not seen since before Tourigny started as the coach. The one basic reliable factor was effort. We haven’t seen that.

You can point to fatigue but this is a team that supposedly is very fit. They did have a lot of travel and total games but only by about 2 games more than normal over a 30 day stretch. It is similar to a playoff style schedule. If the playoff style schedule is not something this team is capable of playing in the regular season, then it is a schedule they are definitely incapable of playing in the playoffs.

I think there is something else that we are not seeing behind the scenes. The line juggling is annoying. The insistence of certain players in certain situations where the results have not been positive yet the same assignments are given. Things like that are confusing. I’m leaning more toward the coach issue but that is simply speculation on my part based on a gut feeling.

Feb 29 to March 16 was a 10 game ball buster for Ottawa, the teams they were playing against were on a different schedule and not traveling the same. In the playoffs both teams will be maintaining a similar schedule, although Ottawa will have the extra travel day to start the series.

I won't be surprised if the issue is coaching either.

 

[OMG67]

Feb 29 to March 16 was a 10 game ball buster for Ottawa, the teams they were playing against were on a different schedule and not traveling the same. In the playoffs both teams will be maintaining a similar schedule, although Ottawa will have the extra travel day to start the series.

I won't be surprised if the issue is coaching either.

The good thing is we will likely have our answer. This past week we played Thursday and Friday night and were within 3 hours of Ottawa. We had Saturday off for recovery.

Brantford had a 5-6 hour trip and played ONLY in Kingston the night before a day game and skated us off our own ice pad. Cumulatively speaking, yes, Ottawa played a lot over a relatively short period of time but again, it was only two extra games over four weeks. 8 of 13 on the road so there is something to consider from that perspective. But, that would suggest the team is absolutely gassed and incapable of performing. THAT is where I disagree. You’d see two periods of solid hockey with a let down in the 3rd. But we didn’t see that at all. We saw disinterest from the puck drop in many games. Only doing the least amount necessary to win.

I don’t know. I think there is something else under the surface we cannot see. I see an attitude shift away from what we have seen consistently for the last 6 seasons or so since Tourigny started. What we’ve seen the last 3-4 weeks is extraordinary. Something else is wrong in the hen house.

The season will be over next Thursday night around 10pm. Whatever is wrong will be addressed in the offseason, not in the first round of the playoffs.

 

[PuckStop75]

The good thing is we will likely have our answer. This past week we played Thursday and Friday night and were within 3 hours of Ottawa. We had Saturday off for recovery.

Brantford had a 5-6 hour trip and played ONLY in Kingston the night before a day game and skated us off our own ice pad. Cumulatively speaking, yes, Ottawa played a lot over a relatively short period of time but again, it was only two extra games over four weeks. 8 of 13 on the road so there is something to consider from that perspective. But, that would suggest the team is absolutely gassed and incapable of performing. THAT is where I disagree. You’d see two periods of solid hockey with a let down in the 3rd. But we didn’t see that at all. We saw disinterest from the puck drop in many games. Only doing the least amount necessary to win.

I don’t know. I think there is something else under the surface we cannot see. I see an attitude shift away from what we have seen consistently for the last 6 seasons or so since Tourigny started. What we’ve seen the last 3-4 weeks is extraordinary. Something else is wrong in the hen house.

The season will be over next Thursday night around 10pm. Whatever is wrong will be addressed in the offseason, not in the first round of the playoffs.

I suspect you are right.... again LOL

 

[dirty12]

You either build the team around the coach, or bring in a coach that suits the team you have. We are mismatched. They need to figure it out. It isn’t about blaming a coach, it is about aligning the assets int he best possible way to win. If Cameron wants to coach based on physicality and aggressiveness, you need physical and aggressive bodies. This is why I have preached so much lately about Dever/Korbler being a useless combination. You cannot elevate Korbler while maintaining Dever in the top 9 or vice versa. This is and was a very obvious issue at the deadline to laymen like me. It was obvious we needed a big body winger capable fo playing top 9 minutes, preferably someone with a scoring touch in close.

Getting the three OAs was only supposed to be a start. That gave them a foundation from which to build on. They didn’t build on it. It is like having a vacant lot in a high value area of the city. Great to have but doesn’t have a lot of utility. My gut tells me Boyd was trying to build on it but was unable to get it done. It is what it is. It needs to be a lesson learned though.

I cannot say with certainty how much bigger Cameron’s Majors were than Boyd’s ‘67s are, but St. Michaels were without a doubt (relatively) bigger. It just may be relative because of the reactive response by the eastern conference to the battalion team that emerged post pandemic.
In a way it seems Boyd is like Papineau in that they are simply smarter than other GMs.

 

[OMG67]

I cannot say with certainty how much bigger Cameron’s Majors were than Boyd’s ‘67s are, but St. Michaels were without a doubt (relatively) bigger. It just may be relative because of the reactive response by the eastern conference to the battalion team that emerged post pandemic.
In a way it seems Boyd is like Papineau in that they are simply smarter than other GMs.

I’d love to have a candid conversation with James Boyd. Get a sense of where he is coming from exactly as opposed to what he says publicly.

 

[44 95 plus tax]

I think one issue that is glaringly obvious is that they lack a good defensive coach. We were spoiled by Mario Duhamel and Martin Dagenais.

 

[Rattler]

The season will be over next Thursday night around 10pm.

This series will not be swept by Bulldogs. Agree Bullldogs have an upper hand on 67's, yesterday's win, home ice, comeback of few injured players, but playoff series has to be won on ice, and none of 67's are waving white flag, just yet. Nor they will, I believe, to the last whistle.
As you said, you guys were top dogs 1st half of the season, and there's reason for that.
In any case series will be entertaining for us fans, and boys, grittiest team will win, both teams coming in 50:50!

 

[OMG67]

This series will not be swept by Bulldogs. Agree Bullldogs have an upper hand on 67's, yesterday's win, home ice, comeback of few injured players, but playoff series has to be won on ice, and none of 67's are waving white flag, just yet. Nor they will, I believe, to the last whistle.
As you said, you guys were top dogs 1st half of the season, and there's reason for that.
In any case series will be entertaining for us fans, and boys, grittiest team will win, both teams coming in 50:50!

I would like to think you are right and normally I would agree. But, there is something fishy going on behind the scenes. Too many red flags for me right now.

1> Rohrer stays in Europe choosing not to return
2> Beck demands a trade
3> HB defects and chooses not to report to Ottawa
4> Rumours the 67’s had a trade done for Mayich at the deadline in an effort to bring in Sale and Savard from Barrie. Sale rejects the trade. But, why would they trade Mayich (knowing what we know about Boyd and his “loyalties”) unless Mayich asked for a move?
5> Seemingly players have quit. You can clearly see it.

Cameron seems to be doubling down on a lot of questionable strategy decisions that have not worked well to date. Faith in certain players that don’t seem to deserve it and some others being underutilized. It all points to a Coach vs Players issue.

I hope I am dead wrong. But, it just doesn’t feel right from my perspective.

We will see what 67’s team surfaces on Friday night.

 

[Hinterland]

I would like to think you are right and normally I would agree. But, there is something fishy going on behind the scenes. Too many red flags for me right now.

1> Rohrer stays in Europe choosing not to return
2> Beck demands a trade
3> HB defects and chooses not to report to Ottawa
4> Rumours the 67’s had a trade done for Mayich at the deadline in an effort to bring in Sale and Savard from Barrie. Sale rejects the trade. But, why would they trade Mayich (knowing what we know about Boyd and his “loyalties”) unless Mayich asked for a move?
5> Seemingly players have quit. You can clearly see it.

Cameron seems to be doubling down on a lot of questionable strategy decisions that have not worked well to date. Faith in certain players that don’t seem to deserve it and some others being underutilized. It all points to a Coach vs Players issue.

I hope I am dead wrong. But, it just doesn’t feel right from my perspective.

We will see what 67’s team surfaces on Friday night.

Rohrer said in interviews it was a decision for the ZSC Lions and not a decision against the Ottawa 67's. He also said that it was a tough decision but he ultimately felt like he had to go with the bigger challenge and compete for a spot at the highest level of European hockey. He had nothing bad to say about Ottawa and I think his decision wasn't a bad one. Had a pretty good season in Switzerland.

I could be wrong but it sounds like a logical decision to me and I didn't see any reasons to doubt his explanations back then.

 

[Larionov]

Despite all of our negative vibes, all it takes is a split in Brantford and we will all be right back on the bandwagon.

The unfortunate part is that the club now has to try to move tickets for not one, but two weeknight playoff games. First round of the playoffs often ends up with poorer attendance than the regular season, as the season ticket packages and group sales have all gone away. Putting any more than 2000 people in there a week tomorrow will be a challenge. This is why they really needed to finish in the top four - it's going to be a pretty quiet arena without much in the way of crowd noise...

 

[Larionov]

2> Beck demands a trade

Man I would love to get the lowdown on what happened there. Longtime 67's player, got tons of ice time, and was well supported by the club through his injury woes. Suddenly he wants out. What the heck? Very strange.

I still maintain that Boyd was under no obligation to trade him, as Beck wasn't exactly swimming in options. I might have been tempted to tell him to suck it up, play hard here, and maybe we move you at the deadline to a contender if we aren't in it. Otherwise, you might want to sort your @#$# out and play hard here if you are looking to earn a pro contract...