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

[dirty12]

Great, timely performances by Donoso when MacKenzie is unavailable.

 

[OMG67]

As I mentioned, Donoso is fine when he is a starter. h/e gets in a groove and he is more than capable. He isn’t equipped to be a backup.

The lack of offence and opportunities is a direct result of lack of depth down the middle. Whitehead is looking like he is settling in ok but Barlas is not a centre that is equipped to generate offence. When we have guys out, it will be tough for these kids to generate a lot.

The defence is strong at limited second chances. They collapse to the net really well. Both goalies make the slid first saves which is all this team generally needs.

It is always good to get some wins with a short bench.

 

[mianjo]

STARS OF THE GAME​

FIRST
#29 Cooper Foster C
G 2A 0+/- 0Ottawa

SECOND
#10 Nic Whitehead C
G 0A 2+/- +1Ottawa

 

[frontsfan67]

I’m sure donoso’s trade value just went way up after the past 2 games

 

[beastintheeast]

Sunday will tell us what kind of shape this team is in. Playing the 3 games in 60 hours is tough but with only 3 lines it should really be tough.

Don osos will start I am sure

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Only points I wanted to add:

- Korbler was all over the ice today and played (by far) his best game as a 67
- We need more offense from Stonehouse. He’s been playing his usual grating style and finishing his checks, but he’s well off his goal scoring pace from last year
- Gerrior is such a beauty, just relentless all over the ice and has developed into a great finisher as well
- Marrelli is a really terrific defenseman, he’s been outplaying Mews so far this season imo
- There’s still a gaping hole in the top 4 of our defense group. Brady might get there next season, but that is a glaring weakness for us
- Whitehead will be a strong 2C for us (maybe even 1C) in the not too distant future, he’s progressing really well so far

 

[ecraigs]

This was a weird game. I kept waiting for Oshawa to cash in and, then, Roobroeck chests in the tying goal off a mishit by Kumpulainen. Oshawa was by far the better team offensively, controlling play for long periods of time in the Ottawa end. Donoso was stellar and Whitehead keeps getting better when he plays with better players.

What concerns me is that we have a group of key players that let themselves get goaded into penalties at the wrong time in a game. Today, with a 1-goal lead, there was an altercation around the Generals' net. Who's in there? Gerrior, Stonehouse, Marrelli. Last week, Pinelli and Mayich get goaded into a fracas and sit out the last minute and a half, down a goal. I like players with edge, but they should be inciting the other guy to take penalties.

 

[beastintheeast]

This was a weird game. I kept waiting for Oshawa to cash in and, then, Roobroeck chests in the tying goal off a mishit by Kumpulainen. Oshawa was by far the better team offensively, controlling play for long periods of time in the Ottawa end. Donoso was stellar and Whitehead keeps getting better when he plays with better players.

What concerns me is that we have a group of key players that let themselves get goaded into penalties at the wrong time in a game. Today, with a 1-goal lead, there was an altercation around the Generals' net. Who's in there? Gerrior, Stonehouse, Marrelli. Last week, Pinelli and Mayich get goaded into a fracas and sit out the last minute and a half, down a goal. I like players with edge, but they should be inciting the other guy to take penalties.

Part of that could be just tired and frustrated. Remember, these guys are playing much more ice time than they would normally.
Having only 3 forward lines is a 2 edged sword.
The young guns get ice time and the ability to shine.
We lose players who can aid and take some of the responsibility off the young guns.

I found it interesting that Gardiner took almost half of the faceoffs.

Gerrior learned a lot last year playing with Beck and Morrison. I was sort of surprised that he was playing a higher profile.

I still think we will see Donoso in the net against Windsor The question is going to be who is the more tired team.

STONEHOUSE is actualy playing well he is

4th in scoring and
3rd in plus minus
2nd shots on goal
8th in penalty minutes

not really bad stats at all
I think he is also one of the leaders on this team

All things that Edmonton will be looking for of a future Condor.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Part of that could be just tired and frustrated. Remember, these guys are playing much more ice time than they would normally.
Having only 3 forward lines is a 2 edged sword.
The young guns get ice time and the ability to shine.
We lose players who can aid and take some of the responsibility off the young guns.

I found it interesting that Gardiner took almost half of the faceoffs.

Gerrior learned a lot last year playing with Beck and Morrison. I was sort of surprised that he was playing a higher profile.

I still think we will see Donoso in the net against Windsor The question is going to be who is the more tired team.

STONEHOUSE is actualy playing well he is

4th in scoring and
3rd in plus minus
2nd shots on goal
8th in penalty minutes

not really bad stats at all
I think he is also one of the leaders on this team

All things that Edmonton will be looking for of a future Condor.

I agree that Stonehouse is playing well and playing a better 200 foot game this season, but he’s on pace for between 25 and 30 goals, whereas he had 37 goals last year. For a team like Ottawa that struggles to score, I think we need more from Stonehouse in the goal scoring department to take some pressure off of Gardiner/Pinelli. Right now we’re making it too easy for our opponents to focus their defensive resources and strategy on limiting Pinelli.

 

[sirius67fan]

I agree that Stonehouse is playing well and playing a better 200 foot game this season, but he’s on pace for between 25 and 30 goals, whereas he had 37 goals last year. For a team like Ottawa that struggles to score, I think we need more from Stonehouse in the goal scoring department to take some pressure off of Gardiner/Pinelli. Right now we’re making it too easy for our opponents to focus their defensive resources and strategy on limiting Pinelli.

I agree that ideally we would need more from Stoney offensively as otherwise he is playingvery well imo. However it likely won't happen and he'll be ~ 25 goals when all is said and done. The reason is he doesn't have a center he needs to set him up ( really clicked with Tolnai last year). He isn't like Pinelli who can creats his own chances. His productions might spike if we acquire a center or if Whitehead really makes a jump in the second half ( that kid isgood and starting to show it but will likely be next year he's a factor).

 

[sirius67fan]

Only points I wanted to add:

- Korbler was all over the ice today and played (by far) his best game as a 67
- We need more offense from Stonehouse. He’s been playing his usual grating style and finishing his checks, but he’s well off his goal scoring pace from last year
- Gerrior is such a beauty, just relentless all over the ice and has developed into a great finisher as well
- Marrelli is a really terrific defenseman, he’s been outplaying Mews so far this season imo
- There’s still a gaping hole in the top 4 of our defense group. Brady might get there next season, but that is a glaring weakness for us
- Whitehead will be a strong 2C for us (maybe even 1C) in the not too distant future, he’s progressing really well so far

I'm glad you mentionned Korbler. As unimpressed as I was with him earlier I really like his game the last 2-3 weeks. He has shown he can play with pace and meshes well with our system. All of a sudden he's agressive on fhe forecheck, pressuring the D and not afraid to get in there. He actually reminds me of Gerrior when he started. Also has anybody noticed our PK is much better since he's been getting regular time ( we went from ~15 in the league to around 6 right now). Now if he can start giving us a bit of offense which I think is coming he might turn out to be a solid contributor. Shout out to Cameron who has identified what this kid can do and putting him in a position to succeed and gain confidence.

 

[sirius67fan]

My thoughts on this team about a third of the season in.
First of all their point total and standing does not meet the eye test for me. Recently we are being outshot and outposessed quite a bit. This is not plausibly sustainable imo. What are our strenghts
1-goaltending
2-goaltending ...really glad Donoso is still here right now
3- very good team defensive structure limiting dangerous shots
4- good to very good defensive core imo. Brady will be a top four soon and I really think the Ewles/Smyth pairing is playing very well
5- effort and work ethic is generally great
6- coaching...elite
Now for weaknesses
1- scoring
2-scoring depth..after Pinelli drops off a lot
3- offensive center depth. We don't have a true creator up the middle imo. Gardiner is a very good two way guy butnot a true playmaker. Whitehead is not there yet, Lawrence is a solid third center type. As for Barlas I will admit he has been good on the defensive side but he is not an offensive dynamo.
4- size is also a factor as aside from the trio of Gerrior, Pinelli, Foster who win through sheer speed/skill/agressiveness we get knocked off the puck easily which will hurt in the playoffs.
5-pp needs to be better with our low scoring
So for this team as it is now I see a 4-6 seed in the east and best case scenario win one round. We will win our share of games due toour goalies and defence but offense will be our downfall. It's ok though I always saw this as a development year and I like how the kids are developing.

 

[beastintheeast]

My thoughts on this team about a third of the season in.
First of all their point total and standing does not meet the eye test for me. Recently we are being outshot and outposessed quite a bit. This is not plausibly sustainable imo. What are our strenghts
1-goaltending
2-goaltending ...really glad Donoso is still here right now
3- very good team defensive structure limiting dangerous shots
4- good to very good defensive core imo. Brady will be a top four soon and I really think the Ewles/Smyth pairing is playing very well
5- effort and work ethic is generally great
6- coaching...elite
Now for weaknesses
1- scoring
2-scoring depth..after Pinelli drops off a lot
3- offensive center depth. We don't have a true creator up the middle imo. Gardiner is a very good two way guy butnot a true playmaker. Whitehead is not there yet, Lawrence is a solid third center type. As for Barlas I will admit he has been good on the defensive side but he is not an offensive dynamo.
4- size is also a factor as aside from the trio of Gerrior, Pinelli, Foster who win through sheer speed/skill/agressiveness we get knocked off the puck easily which will hurt in the playoffs.
5-pp needs to be better with our low scoring
So for this team as it is now I see a 4-6 seed in the east and best case scenario win one round. We will win our share of games due toour goalies and defence but offense will be our downfall. It's ok though I always saw this as a development year and I like how the kids are developing.

And you have outlined it perfectly this is not a top-tier elite team this year it is a team that did well in the beginning and is still going to do well in a weak conference

Th reason that teams can feed on Stonehouse is that we do not have a number 2 RW that is going to score.

This is a team that is going to win low-scoring games it is not the old run-and-gun that we used to have.

Barlas could be the new version of tyroy Stonier who was a great shut down center nothing fancy just on faceoff and contributed when needed

 

[OMG67]

Goaltending:

Donoso is better when he gets a lot of ice and sees a lot of rubber. You will notice when he faces 40+ shots, his save% is super high. When he faces 20 shots, he lets in 2 or 3. He is The perfect starter on a middling team Or a top team that gives up a lot of shots.

MacK is, well, MacK. ‘Nuff said.

Defence:

They are good defensively. None of them are what you would call elite offensively. Mews is good but he is nowhere near where he needs to be yet. He is a solid NHL prospect but he isn’t one of those young phenoms. He has a lot of growth left in him.

The rest are fine defensively. None of them are super strong offensively. Marrelli can find the net more but at only 8 points, he isn’t lighting the lamp. Even Mayich is a huge disappointment offensively. I hoped he’d step up a bit on the offensive side but he really isn’t there. He isn’t a true #1. He’s the guy that plays beside the #1. We don’t have a #1 so he really doesn’t have a partner.

Forwards:

Stoney needs a centre that can sneak passes into the back door seem on the far side where Stoney can bang home the puck on a net crash. We don’t have a centre he can play with that finds those sneaky back door seems. So, we need to rely on his ability to crash the net without it and it isn’t as productive. He scores mostly from shots in the slot.

We need a centre. Flat out need a centre. Someone more sneaky quick with good passing. We have the wingers. I have no doubt there.

Overall:

If we can find a suitable centre and an offensive d-Man, this team could potentially do some damage because we dont’ give up goals easily. We need to raise our scoring a half a goal per game at least. If we aren’t’ willing to go get those two pieces then keeping Stonehouse is useless. He needs the right fit and this is not his best fit. Same with donoso. He needs the right place to play. As long as MacK is here, this isn’t the right place for him. We also need to thin out the defence a bit. I’d like to see Dietsch up here in the second half if we are a seller.

 

[OMG67]

67’s could take over first in the Eastern Conference today with a win against Windsor coupled with Sault beating Missy. Petes lost two stinkers this weekend which opened the door for the 67’s a bit.

 

[mianjo]

67s lead 1-0

GOAL
#25 Brad Gardiner (5) scores. Assists: #22 Matthew Mayich, #11 Henry Mews 1st 15:56

1-1

 

[mianjo]

1-1 after 1

SHOTS ON GOAL

Teams	1st	Total
WSR	11	11
OTT	15	15

 

[mianjo]

Windsor open up 2nd outshooting 67s 6-0 after 5 mins

 

[sirius67fan]

Can somebody sharpen Barlas'skates? He loses edges every gams!

 

[mianjo]

67ès lead 2-1

GOAL
#8 Frankie Marrelli (5) scores. Assists: #18 Jack Dever, #9 Chris Barlas POWER PLAY 3rd 3:26

 

[mianjo]

2-2

3-2

GOAL
#11 Henry Mews (3) scores. Assists: #23 Will Gerrior, #10 Nic Whitehead 3rd 9:11

3-3

3-4

3-5 en

Final 3-5

 

[Boris67]

2-2

3-2

GOAL
#11 Henry Mews (3) scores. Assists: #23 Will Gerrior, #10 Nic Whitehead 3rd 9:11

3-3

3-4

3-5 en

Final 3-5

Clearly ran out of gas…dust ourselves off and reload for Wed morning in Kingston

 

[gadder]

Korbler continued his good play today. The puck found him often (which is another way of saying he hustled to be in the play) and he almost scored on a breakaway. Proof he is in the caoaches good books is, when Ottawa pulled the goalie near the end, Korbler was the extra guy. Good for him.

Donoso played again today. That's 3 starts in less than 3 days; not sure I've seen that before. Maybe Cameron just went with who would give him the best chance of a win. And Saari was backing up - Perhaps Nelson has been returned?

How long will Lawrence be out? Whitehaed is auditioning for his role with Stonehouse and (Gerrior?). Encouragingly, he's getting first unit powerplay time. I hope Whitehead gets a few more ganes to show his worth.

 

[OMG67]

Korbler is starting to come around but there is a difference between hustle & speed vs production. You have to have the first two though before production happens. We’ll have to see if he can translate his opportunities into scoring. Good start though.

Kelly seems lost right now.

A lot of shots missed the net today. A lot of overhandling the puck as well. Looked like Pinelli wanted to dance around the entire Spitfires bench and kept trying until he did but he never managed it.

A 2 win weekend. That’s what we want. Gotta keep it up.

 

[beastintheeast]

Good weekend I considering the short bench.

Cameron had to go with Donoso as he needed the put an experienced goalie in the nets to help the defence.

Hopefully the flu bug ends and players start to come back.