Ottawa 67's 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[NoQuit67s]

Played top lines more today and it showed.
Line combos and lines 3 and 4 got lots of ice VS the Petes and the Ice Dogs.
Michelone was solid and we will need more of that.

However, tough road trip coming up this weekend, with backup goalies against west conference teams on a tough far away road trip, which includes Saginaw.

Whatever happens, still think we are contenders for the 4 top spots in the east conference by the end of season.

 

[OMG67]

I’m really not liking Pinelli and Kressler together. Two players almost exactly the same. They both float around with the puck in the O-Zone and weave through traffic. They both seem to play a high risk type of puck dangle play. I’d like to see Pinelli with Maillet. I think his North-South style of game, strong on faceoffs and digs int he corners and along the boards would help feed Pinelli more. Agaisnt the tougher teams (Kit and Sag) they have a combined one point. It shows that they aren’t as effective agaisnt the stronger teams that can shut down the hot dog play with the puck.

Keep Foster with Kressler but put a digger with them on that line. Maybe a kid like Dever that retrieves pucks and plays a solid defensive game. Stonehouse could be a decent fit there too.

Oshawa has a good team but they are slow. If you stay on them, they will wear down. They let the foot off the gas a bit in the 3rd and allowed Oshawa to carry the play. 67s need to play the same game for 60 minutes. Pressure the puck when they don’t have it and push the turnovers.

I want to see them against North Bay. They have good speed and some size. That, to me, is the measuring stick right now.

 

[beastintheeast]

I’m really not liking Pinelli and Kressler together. Two players almost exactly the same. They both float around with the puck in the O-Zone and weave through traffic. They both seem to play a high risk type of puck dangle play. I’d like to see Pinelli with Maillet. I think his North-South style of game, strong on faceoffs and digs int he corners and along the boards would help feed Pinelli more. Agaisnt the tougher teams (Kit and Sag) they have a combined one point. It shows that they aren’t as effective agaisnt the stronger teams that can shut down the hot dog play with the puck.

Keep Foster with Kressler but put a digger with them on that line. Maybe a kid like Dever that retrieves pucks and plays a solid defensive game. Stonehouse could be a decent fit there too.

Oshawa has a good team but they are slow. If you stay on them, they will wear down. They let the foot off the gas a bit in the 3rd and allowed Oshawa to carry the play. 67s need to play the same game for 60 minutes. Pressure the puck when they don’t have it and push the turnovers.

I want to see them against North Bay. They have good speed and some size. That, to me, is the measuring stick right now.

Pinelli Mayer and Maillet should not see 5 on 5 ice time together. Mayer is minus 3, Maillet is minus 5 since coming here, and we all know that Pinelli can not even spell defence, let alone practice it.

to me, our first 2 lines should be
Pinelli Kessler Dever with Mews Marelllie
Gerrior Mailett Stonehouse Mayich and Mayer

Putting Pinellil Maillet and Mayer together give you a line that is -46 with just those 3 players.

I like the old plan of putting our 2nd or 3rd line out against the topline of another team. We should be able to come out of the weekend with 4 points but I would settle for 3 and not get blown out by Saginaw.

 

[OMG67]

Played top lines more today and it showed.
Line combos and lines 3 and 4 got lots of ice VS the Petes and the Ice Dogs.
Michelone was solid and we will need more of that.

However, tough road trip coming up this weekend, with backup goalies against west conference teams on a tough far away road trip, which includes Saginaw.

Whatever happens, still think we are contenders for the 4 top spots in the east conference by the end of season.

The good thing is we have Sarnia and Flint in that trip. Both are under .500 so we should be able to handle them. I think they need to circle those two games for points. Saginaw is playing 3 in 4 all at home so at least they won’t be rested when we play them on Sunday.

 

[sirius67fan]

I’m really not liking Pinelli and Kressler together. Two players almost exactly the same. They both float around with the puck in the O-Zone and weave through traffic. They both seem to play a high risk type of puck dangle play. I’d like to see Pinelli with Maillet. I think his North-South style of game, strong on faceoffs and digs int he corners and along the boards would help feed Pinelli more. Agaisnt the tougher teams (Kit and Sag) they have a combined one point. It shows that they aren’t as effective agaisnt the stronger teams that can shut down the hot dog play with the puck.

Keep Foster with Kressler but put a digger with them on that line. Maybe a kid like Dever that retrieves pucks and plays a solid defensive game. Stonehouse could be a decent fit there too.

Oshawa has a good team but they are slow. If you stay on them, they will wear down. They let the foot off the gas a bit in the 3rd and allowed Oshawa to carry the play. 67s need to play the same game for 60 minutes. Pressure the puck when they don’t have it and push the turnovers.

I want to see them against North Bay. They have good speed and some size. That, to me, is the measuring stick right now.

Agree about Pinelli and Kressler. I'd go with Foster/Kressler/Stoney as Stoney needs a set up man.
Then Pinelli/Maillet/Gerrior.

Hey OMG what was your opinion of the Sirman/Smyth pairing? They look like a good match imo.

 

[beastintheeast]

The good thing is we have Sarnia and Flint in that trip. Both are under .500 so we should be able to handle them. I think they need to circle those two games for points. Saginaw is playing 3 in 4 all at home so at least they won’t be rested when we play them on Sunday.

The challenge with saying they are under 500 is that you look at the top teams and wonder where they would be if they were in east.

 

[dirty12]

The challenge with saying they are under 500 is that you look at the top teams and wonder where they would be if they were in east.

Flint doesn’t seem able to acquire top players, so 7th; Sarnia 9-10 imo.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

5-2-1 is a good record post-deadline, considering the two losses were against two of the best teams in the OHL. And I would argue that Ottawa outplayed Kitchener despite the loss.

What bothers me is giving up points to teams we're chasing in the standings. They gave up a point to Brantford on a very late tying goal. A point last night to Oshawa, again on a late goal. Obviously the Owen Sound game cost us a point. But overall I'm happy with the team's performance post-deadline.

I do think the team as a whole needs to batten down the hatches defensively until MacKenzie returns. Not a knock on Michelone, but he's not on the same level as MacKenzie. I think we'll need to win a lot of needlessly close games until MacKenzie is back. But what's most important is getting MacKenzie back at full health for the playoffs. At some point Brantford may just be too far above us in the standings so why push MacKenzie back too early and risk re-injury?

I think there is some work to do on the forward lines. I don't think Kressler and Pinelli pair well together, and Stonehouse and Maillet haven't worked well so far. Maybe switch up Stonehouse and Pinelli. Stonehouse gets his setup man, and can also fulfill the puck retrieval role on that top line. Then let's see if Pinelli and Maillet can develop some chemistry.

Gerrior has been consistently excellent and can easily slot in on any of the top 3 lines. I've been really liking Dever's play since his return too. So when Barlas is back, we have:

Stonehouse - Kressler - Foster
Pinelli - Maillet - Dever
Barlas - Gardiner - Gerrior
Kelly/Korbler - Whitehad - Horner

The defense combo's from the weekend seem alright. As good as one might expect given the circumstances.

 

[dirty12]

Guerior-Kressler-Pinelli
Foster-Maillet-Stonehouse

Play the snot out them imo. At least against SBY, NB, OSH, Brantford.

 

[OMG67]

Agree about Pinelli and Kressler. I'd go with Foster/Kressler/Stoney as Stoney needs a set up man.
Then Pinelli/Maillet/Gerrior.

Hey OMG what was your opinion of the Sirman/Smyth pairing? They look like a good match imo.

Other than the breakaway goal, I think they’ve been fine. BUT, I was saying before that if Smyth has a defined role as the one that stays back so it is simple, then he could go with Mews. I dont’ see why he would be fine with Sirman and not with Mews.

 

[PuckStop75]

5-2-1 is a good record post-deadline, considering the two losses were against two of the best teams in the OHL. And I would argue that Ottawa outplayed Kitchener despite the loss.

What bothers me is giving up points to teams we're chasing in the standings. They gave up a point to Brantford on a very late tying goal. A point last night to Oshawa, again on a late goal. Obviously the Owen Sound game cost us a point. But overall I'm happy with the team's performance post-deadline.

I do think the team as a whole needs to batten down the hatches defensively until MacKenzie returns. Not a knock on Michelone, but he's not on the same level as MacKenzie. I think we'll need to win a lot of needlessly close games until MacKenzie is back. But what's most important is getting MacKenzie back at full health for the playoffs. At some point Brantford may just be too far above us in the standings so why push MacKenzie back too early and risk re-injury?

I think there is some work to do on the forward lines. I don't think Kressler and Pinelli pair well together, and Stonehouse and Maillet haven't worked well so far. Maybe switch up Stonehouse and Pinelli. Stonehouse gets his setup man, and can also fulfill the puck retrieval role on that top line. Then let's see if Pinelli and Maillet can develop some chemistry.

Gerrior has been consistently excellent and can easily slot in on any of the top 3 lines. I've been really liking Dever's play since his return too. So when Barlas is back, we have:

Stonehouse - Kressler - Foster
Pinelli - Maillet - Dever
Barlas - Gardiner - Gerrior
Kelly/Korbler - Whitehad - Horner

The defense combo's from the weekend seem alright. As good as one might expect given the circumstances.

The record doesn't mean as much as the eye test at the moment. They outplayed all three teams this weekend, as expected. The lines are still going into and out of the blender as they try to find some scoring chemistry. At a certain point they have to decide what works best and allow some chemistry to evolve.

The defensive combos worked much better and took advantage of the skill the team has on the backend. The pucks were into and out of the zone much more efficiently.

Give this team a couple more weeks to tidy things up and they will be fine.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

The record doesn't mean as much as the eye test at the moment. They outplayed all three teams this weekend, as expected. The lines are still going into and out of the blender as they try to find some scoring chemistry. At a certain point they have to decide what works best and allow some chemistry to evolve.

The defensive combos worked much better and took advantage of the skill the team has on the backend. The pucks were into and out of the zone much more efficiently.

Give this team a couple more weeks to tidy things up and they will be fine.

I did say I was happy with the team's performance since the deadline! The offense has looked good recently, averaging ~45 shots on goal over the weekend. The Niagara win was closer than I would have liked but a few of those goals can be attributed to goaltending. Getting a win in Oshawa last night (and outplaying them) was a fairly important imo, as Oshawa has looked quite good as well since the deadline (though they were missing Kumpalainen last night).

I'm not so concerned with the lines/pairings at the moment, as much as I am about goaltending. I suspect that we'll give up some points needlessly over the next x number of weeks until MacKenzie returns. Getting home ice for at least the first round is an achievable goal, but imo its important (and realistic) to win the division and get that #2 seed.

The team sees an opening in the eastern conference this year and believes they're right there in the mix. It'll be fun to watch them the next few months. I think we're in for some good hockey down the stretch.

 

[OMG67]

The record doesn't mean as much as the eye test at the moment. They outplayed all three teams this weekend, as expected. The lines are still going into and out of the blender as they try to find some scoring chemistry. At a certain point they have to decide what works best and allow some chemistry to evolve.

The defensive combos worked much better and took advantage of the skill the team has on the backend. The pucks were into and out of the zone much more efficiently.

Give this team a couple more weeks to tidy things up and they will be fine.

Yesterday was a strong example of the speed and puck movement against bigger but slower teams. This club can be a gamer.

BUT, they have a problem getting the puck to the net and into the more dangerous zones. This is why I propose splitting Kressler and Pinelli. Both are shooters that score off of the quicker movement. But, Kressler is more of a setup guy IMO. He would benefit from having a winger that can find that open spot. Foster seems capable and has been a bit snake bit over the last few games. Putting Pinelli with Kressler makes no sense other than they are the two best offensive players we have so it is a stacking situation. It hasn’t helped Pinelli at all. He has 5 even strength points over the 8 games since the deadline. That isn’t much of an improvement. We need to see more than that if we are stacking those two together, especially if they are going to be weak defensively. Pinelli is a -2 and Kressler is a 0 since the deadline. The top line needs to be more impactful.

 

[OMG67]

I did say I was happy with the team's performance since the deadline! The offense has looked good recently, averaging ~45 shots on goal over the weekend. The Niagara win was closer than I would have liked but a few of those goals can be attributed to goaltending. Getting a win in Oshawa last night (and outplaying them) was a fairly important imo, as Oshawa has looked quite good as well since the deadline (though they were missing Kumpalainen last night).

I'm not so concerned with the lines/pairings at the moment, as much as I am about goaltending. I suspect that we'll give up some points needlessly over the next x number of weeks until MacKenzie returns. Getting home ice for at least the first round is an achievable goal, but imo its important (and realistic) to win the division and get that #2 seed.

The team sees an opening in the eastern conference this year and believes they're right there in the mix. It'll be fun to watch them the next few months. I think we're in for some good hockey down the stretch.

Six points behind Brantford. We have a game in hand and two remaining games against them. We win the two games and the game in hand, we are tied. So, destiny is in our hands. We are burdened with that deficit but it isn’t an overwhelming deficit. Having those two head to head games against them helps.

The challenge is their schedule. Brantford has a home ice imbalance the rest of the way. They have three extra home games and that rink is tough to play in. They also don’t have a very difficult schedule. They are going to have to lose winnable games, otherwise Ottawa is going to need to go on an epic run.

 

[PuckStop75]

I did say I was happy with the team's performance since the deadline! The offense has looked good recently, averaging ~45 shots on goal over the weekend. The Niagara win was closer than I would have liked but a few of those goals can be attributed to goaltending. Getting a win in Oshawa last night (and outplaying them) was a fairly important imo, as Oshawa has looked quite good as well since the deadline (though they were missing Kumpalainen last night).

I'm not so concerned with the lines/pairings at the moment, as much as I am about goaltending. I suspect that we'll give up some points needlessly over the next x number of weeks until MacKenzie returns. Getting home ice for at least the first round is an achievable goal, but imo its important (and realistic) to win the division and get that #2 seed.

The team sees an opening in the eastern conference this year and believes they're right there in the mix. It'll be fun to watch them the next few months. I think we're in for some good hockey down the stretch.

sorry didn't mean for it to read that I disagreed with you, just the record this time of year can be very misleading. What will be important is that they are playing the right brand of hockey for playoff success.

 

[dirty12]

Yesterday was a strong example of the speed and puck movement against bigger but slower teams. This club can be a gamer.

BUT, they have a problem getting the puck to the net and into the more dangerous zones. This is why I propose splitting Kressler and Pinelli. Both are shooters that score off of the quicker movement. But, Kressler is more of a setup guy IMO. He would benefit from having a winger that can find that open spot. Foster seems capable and has been a bit snake bit over the last few games. Putting Pinelli with Kressler makes no sense other than they are the two best offensive players we have so it is a stacking situation. It hasn’t helped Pinelli at all. He has 5 even strength points over the 8 games since the deadline. That isn’t much of an improvement. We need to see more than that if we are stacking those two together, especially if they are going to be weak defensively. Pinelli is a -2 and Kressler is a 0 since the deadline. The top line needs to be more impactful.

Kressler with Giroux & Hayes worked quite well. I think the speed of a line of Kressler with Guerior and Pinelli would be effective. Kressler being the best defensive centre on the team would be a bonus on the top scoring line imo.

 

[OMG67]

Kressler with Giroux & Hayes worked quite well. I think the speed of a line of Kressler with Guerior and Pinelli would be effective. Kressler being the best defensive centre on the team would be a bonus on the top scoring line imo.

I’m not seeing Kressler as a good defensive centre. He is playing a high risk, puck carrier role on that line right now. When he has the puck, he looks like Pinelli. Same sort of risk/reward type play.

Maillet seems more responsible. The issue is he isn’t scoring to help balance against the goals against. Put Pinelli with Maillet and that probably helps that line. Better balance. Having two guys weaving through traffic dangling all over the place isn’t ideal.

 

[dirty12]

I’m not seeing Kressler as a good defensive centre. He is playing a high risk, puck carrier role on that line right now. When he has the puck, he looks like Pinelli. Same sort of risk/reward type play.

Maillet seems more responsible. The issue is he isn’t scoring to help balance against the goals against. Put Pinelli with Maillet and that probably helps that line. Better balance. Having two guys weaving through traffic dangling all over the place isn’t ideal.

I haven’t seen the ‘67s post deadline, but Kressler has previously been well above average defensively. I’ve never seen Maillet as a defensive player.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Six points behind Brantford. We have a game in hand and two remaining games against them. We win the two games and the game in hand, we are tied. So, destiny is in our hands. We are burdened with that deficit but it isn’t an overwhelming deficit. Having those two head to head games against them helps.

The challenge is their schedule. Brantford has a home ice imbalance the rest of the way. They have three extra home games and that rink is tough to play in. They also don’t have a very difficult schedule. They are going to have to lose winnable games, otherwise Ottawa is going to need to go on an epic run.

As you say, we will be relying on Brantford to lose some of those winnable games and that is why it irks me that we have been giving away points in the standings post-deadline, despite the team playing good hockey overall. Also, the goaltending may no longer be in-place for us to go an any sort of run, epic or otherwise, in the coming weeks anyway.

But, I don't think not having home ice after round 1 puts us at a significant disadvantage. We and NB had home ice advantage vs. Peterborough last year and look what happened. A strong foundation seems to be there now, the team is playing well, and in my mind its kind of a luxury to be talking about optimal line combinations at this point as there is some time to figure that out before the playoffs. I think Cameron will continue to tinker around with the lines and defense pairings until things feel right for him.

I feel like the 67s are now a team that can and should win the division all things being equal, but may have dug themselves too deep of a hole pre-deadline to make that happen.

 

[HockeyPops]

Putting Pinellil Maillet and Mayer together give you a line that is -46 with just those 3 players.

I'd be wary of using +/- stats of a player coming from a bad team.

 

[OMG67]

As you say, we will be relying on Brantford to lose some of those winnable games and that is why it irks me that we have been giving away points in the standings post-deadline, despite the team playing good hockey overall. Also, the goaltending may no longer be in-place for us to go an any sort of run, epic or otherwise, in the coming weeks anyway.

But, I don't think not having home ice after round 1 puts us at a significant disadvantage. We and NB had home ice advantage vs. Peterborough last year and look what happened. A strong foundation seems to be there now, the team is playing well, and in my mind its kind of a luxury to be talking about optimal line combinations at this point as there is some time to figure that out before the playoffs. I think Cameron will continue to tinker around with the lines and defense pairings until things feel right for him.

I feel like the 67s are now a team that can and should win the division all things being equal, but may have dug themselves too deep of a hole pre-deadline to make that happen.

MacKenzie going down is definitely not helping. But, Brantford isn’t a strong team overall. They aren’t particularly strong on special teams and their goal differential is barely above even. Ottawa is in a similar situation but instead of moving key assets out like Brantford did, the 67’s moved key assets in so you’d have to expect those numbers to improve while Brantford will likely be somewhere between same to less.

Brantford is a strong home ice team. That small ice surface benefits them for sure but the other teams int he conference will have played there a few times now so that advantage will lessen as we progress into the second half. Lavoie is probably playing a little over his head right now as well. You have to expect him to slow down a bit soon. I think they will level out a bit as we get deeper into the season.

 

[OMG67]

As predicted, Kingston and Missy are starting to fall back in the standings Post-deadline.

Missy is 3-3-2
Kingston 2-5-0

I think Missy will continue to play around that .500 clip the back half of the season. Kingston will improve a bit. They are in a bit of a funk but likely will play in that .500 range as well. Maybe both slightly below.

We haven’t seen Brantford slip back yet. They are 6-1-1 since the deadline. In fairness, they have played a lot of lower standings teams. Windsor, Niagara, Kingston, Missy (twice), and Barrie. So, the record may be a bit disingenuous. This weekend they have Sudbury, North bay and Oshawa. That should provide a more stiff test.

 

[PuckStop75]

As predicted, Kingston and Missy are starting to fall back in the standings Post-deadline.

Missy is 3-3-2
Kingston 2-5-0

I think Missy will continue to play around that .500 clip the back half of the season. Kingston will improve a bit. They are in a bit of a funk but likely will play in that .500 range as well. Maybe both slightly below.

We haven’t seen Brantford slip back yet. They are 6-1-1 since the deadline. In fairness, they have played a lot of lower standings teams. Windsor, Niagara, Kingston, Missy (twice), and Barrie. So, the record may be a bit disingenuous. This weekend they have Sudbury, North bay and Oshawa. That should provide a more stiff test.

I actually think Brantford got more difficult to play against at the deadline. Lavoie, Sobolev and Hamara all made the team better. They’ve also been playing without Lardis, Brown and Thomas; Brown returned last week and Thomas is suppose to be back next week so they are going to be tough to play against.

 

[OMG67]

I actually think Brantford got more difficult to play against at the deadline. Lavoie, Sobolev and Hamara all made the team better. They’ve also been playing without Lardis, Brown and Thomas; Brown returned last week and Thomas is suppose to be back next week so they are going to be tough to play against.

Maybe so, but all teams go through injuries and they will continue to go through injuries. I don’t think that will be a major factor.

They traded away one of the top 3 D-Men in the league (Donovan) as well as a really solid D-Man in Van Vliet. Protz is a decent player but he is still an ’06 so won’t be overly helpful. Sobolev is a good D-Man. I think he is a good addition. I was thinking he may have been a viable option for the 67’s as an OA Import if they were buying light. But, he is more of a physical force that is likely to be more of an impact in the playoffs than the regular season.

This next weekend will tell a lot about what that team is made of, as well as Ottawa.

 

[beastintheeast]

I'd be wary of using +/- stats of a player coming from a bad team.

I used the stats since they became 67's

The Schedule is interesting after this weekend

we play London Kitchener erie @Home

Bulls play Flint Erie Sag @Home
Sag Guelph Windsor Flint

Gens flint London Sarnia @Home
OS Erie Sag SSM Kitchener

Fronts Kichener Ldn Erie @Home
Erie Kitchener TheN hell weekend Sag Flint Sarnia

So, from the schedule standpoint, we definitely have the easier time, and I would say Kingston has the worst.

But the question is going to dominate the East games. Yes, we can catch up to and get ahead of some teams, but it is going to depend on how we do in our own division against these teams that will make the difference.