Ottawa 67s 2024-25 Season Thread, Part II

[sirius67fan]

Mews has never seen a puck that he hasn’t fallen in love with!

Not necessarily a bad thing though!

 

[Wolf on a Wire]

I guess Sudbury still holds the cards but would you want a player that doesn’t want to be there? As soon as their season is over, Musty plays in the AHL. If he prefers that over playing for the Wolves, do you want an uncommitted player like that? I think that is the real question.

Respectfully, your words are uninformed.
Time will tell.

 

[OMG67]

Respectfully, your words are uninformed.
Time will tell.

Are you suggesting Musty didn’t hold out when reassigned wanting a trade?

Unless he has had a big change of heart, he still wants out. Players that don’t want to be there typically don’t give a shit in the playoffs.

 

[Wolf on a Wire]

Are you suggesting Musty didn’t hold out when reassigned wanting a trade?

Unless he has had a big change of heart, he still wants out. Players that don’t want to be there typically don’t give a shit in the playoffs.

He’s enjoyed his time in Sudbury and since back he is a great teammate. Less about the team/environment/city but more about winning in his final year…where that is will be determined.

 

[mianjo]

NO Kingwell or Stonehouse, Mackenzie and Nelson listed as goalies, 16 skaters.

 

[mianjo]

67's lead 1-0

Goal
#23 Will Gerrior (17) scores. Assists: #11 Henry Mews1 st 11:24

 

[mianjo]

1-1

1-2, 15 seconds apart

 

[mianjo]

1-3

2-3

Goal
#9 Chris Barlas (5) scores. Assists: #18 Jack Dever, #29 Cooper Foster POWER PLAY
2nd 15:01

3-3

Goal
#26 Nathan Amidovski (1) scores. Assists: #28 Caden Kelly
2nd 16:54

 

[mianjo]

3-4

 

[mianjo]

3-5

 

[mianjo]

3-6 en Final

 

[OMG67]

Gerrior on a heater.

Amidovski with a highlight reel first goal. May be a play of the night.

Mackenzie made some really nice saves but JEZUS, he is letting in a lot of bad goals.

 

[Rinkrat101]

MacKenzie has to go. He struggled all night at least 2 bad goals this could be a case of lack of playing time . It's time to just run with Nelson .

 

[analyser]

MacKenzie has to go. He struggled all night at least 2 bad goals this could be a case of lack of playing time . It's time to just run with Nelson .

I agree the team produced a fair amount of scoring chances but in the end the difference had a lot to do with goaltending. Parsons is what a 20 yr old goalie should provide and MacKenzie is just not instilling any confidence in the team. He should be gone.

 

[beastintheeast]

MacKenzie has to go. He struggled all night at least 2 bad goals this could be a case of lack of playing time . It's time to just run with Nelson .

I think when Boyd gets this 4 player merry go round figured out things will settle down. It has to be hard on a goalie, especially when he is sitting in the stands and not getting the time on ice.

I have said it all along: the sooner Boyd sorts out the OA situation, the better.

Gerrior is second on the team with goals so hard to release
Mayich is the leader on defence
Mack Who else do we have, and or what 19-year-old is available to back up Nelson
Stonehouse plays a gritty game, but is he the odd man out, and can you find a trade for him, even if it is a late pick?

Boyd put the team in this position. Now, it is time to step up and solve it before Christmas.

 

[OMG67]

MacKenzie has to go. He struggled all night at least 2 bad goals this could be a case of lack of playing time . It's time to just run with Nelson .

That is my assessment as well. You need to either run him out twice a week so he can get on a roll or just go with Nelson. Find an “ok” backup. Rolling him out once a week is just ridiculous at this point. How can he get into a groove?

 

[OMG67]

Ottawa only has 8 more back to back games. Of those 8 games, three of those back to back are not aligned in a 4 day stretch so there is enough recovery time on each end of those back to backs that Nelson could reasonably play those games. So, hypothetically speaking, barring injury, Nelson can play 31 of 36 down the stretch. So, if MacK is gone, we would only need a backup to play 5 games. That’s not bad. Maybe a poor backup costs us 5 points down the stretch vs having a good backup? Does five points in the standings matter at this point?

That would give Nelson 47 games played. Simpson played 48 last year for London which hovers around how many games true starters play in a regular season. All of Gillespie, Parsons, Schenkel, and Leenders played in that range. Carter George played 56 and Oster played 60!

I honestly don’t even care if they have a bonafide backup looking at this schedule and breakdown of games. They can roll with whomever and I think I’d be fine with it.

 

[mianjo]

Pinelli scores for Canada

1-1 after 1

 

[dirty12]

Pinelli scores for Canada

1-1 after 1

I hope he scores 15 in the tournament.

 

[Hinterland]

Ottawa only has 8 more back to back games. Of those 8 games, three of those back to back are not aligned in a 4 day stretch so there is enough recovery time on each end of those back to backs that Nelson could reasonably play those games. So, hypothetically speaking, barring injury, Nelson can play 31 of 36 down the stretch. So, if MacK is gone, we would only need a backup to play 5 games. That’s not bad. Maybe a poor backup costs us 5 points down the stretch vs having a good backup? Does five points in the standings matter at this point?

That would give Nelson 47 games played. Simpson played 48 last year for London which hovers around how many games true starters play in a regular season. All of Gillespie, Parsons, Schenkel, and Leenders played in that range. Carter George played 56 and Oster played 60!

I honestly don’t even care if they have a bonafide backup looking at this schedule and breakdown of games. They can roll with whomever and I think I’d be fine with it.

Nelson should be able to handle it.

In the Q, Huskies rookie goalie Samuel Meloche has played 27 already so if my math is right he's on pace for 64 or something.

 

[OMG67]

Nelson should be able to handle it.

In the Q, Huskies rookie goalie Samuel Meloche has played 27 already so if my math is right he's on pace for 64 or something.

Yeah. Under 50 games is fine. He won’t be following that up with a full slate of playoff games. They will need to go out in the offseason and find a capable backup or hope they have one internal that they can work with.

Toss the five games to whomever and hope Nelson doesn’t get injured and end up in a spot where you are rolling out Conway every game. He isn’t ready for that role.

 

[mianjo]

Pinelli 1a in Canadas 3-2 win

 

[Fischhaber]

London has a nack for gobbling up the defected players. Dickinson and Brzustewicz are two of them currently on their roster. Bonk was an NCAA “rumoured” commit that signed. Montgomery (9th round flier pick) signed a couple weeks ago as a former NCAA commit. Halttunen was an Import pick so sort of a freebie with how the Import draft works.

The rest of their “normal” OHL draft picks from the 1st and 2nd round aren’t particularly sizable. Guys like Cowan, Barkey, O’Reilly, and Hawery aren’t giants by any means. They’ve done well drafting and developing overall and have managed to pick up some good players with deeper picks over the years.

But, what would the team look like had they not snagged Brzustewicz and Dickinson off the defect list, as well as Bonk as a somewhat “arranged” pick, as well as Montgomery with the NCAA rule change? That team would look a lot different. The defence for sure!

London's success is built almost entirely on the back of NCAA commitments that were only available to them, due to their financial might. Their drafting record for 'regular' players is decent, but certainly not the best in the league by any means. Where they beat every other team is in their fan experience and the reinvestment of funds into perks for their players and player development. A city like Ottawa could get there, but a Sudbury or Owen Sound will never be on the same playing field financially.

 

[OMG67]

London's success is built almost entirely on the back of NCAA commitments that were only available to them, due to their financial might. Their drafting record for 'regular' players is decent, but certainly not the best in the league by any means. Where they beat every other team is in their fan experience and the reinvestment of funds into perks for their players and player development. A city like Ottawa could get there, but a Sudbury or Owen Sound will never be on the same playing field financially.

Agreed. Additionally, there are only a handful of geographic locations that are desired as well. It is not like people are knocking down walls to play in the North unless that is where they are from.

London is still relatively central, is a large enough Metro that it has more opportunity outside hockey, and then the other things you mentioned. Ottawa is similar except it can be pretty far away for a lot of families so not entirely a great geographic area in that respect.

Speaking for Ottawa, they have the solid franchise/organization. I doubt there is much in London going on that isn’t also going on in Ottawa. In fact, I would estimate it is better in a lot of areas. They have access to a lot of the same support staff as the senators so accessing NHL level sports therapists and athletic trainers for specialty training etc is an advantage over the smaller towns without question.

I know a lot of people say all teams have access to this but they don’t. Being in a larger metro location organically allows access to a much higher level of “external to the organization” training. It allows for much more varied training as well, not to mention training with people that have a much higher reputation in the industry.

 

[Fischhaber]

Agreed. Additionally, there are only a handful of geographic locations that are desired as well. It is not like people are knocking down walls to play in the North unless that is where they are from.

London is still relatively central, is a large enough Metro that it has more opportunity outside hockey, and then the other things you mentioned. Ottawa is similar except it can be pretty far away for a lot of families so not entirely a great geographic area in that respect.

Speaking for Ottawa, they have the solid franchise/organization. I doubt there is much in London going on that isn’t also going on in Ottawa. In fact, I would estimate it is better in a lot of areas. They have access to a lot of the same support staff as the senators so accessing NHL level sports therapists and athletic trainers for specialty training etc is an advantage over the smaller towns without question.

I know a lot of people say all teams have access to this but they don’t. Being in a larger metro location organically allows access to a much higher level of “external to the organization” training. It allows for much more varied training as well, not to mention training with people that have a much higher reputation in the industry.

Cites like Owen Sound and the Soo (perhaps North Bay as well) certainly don't have those facilities, but having spoken to some players over the years, they like a couple of things.

First and foremost, many love the celebrity status. Players get recognized everywhere they go in the Soo and they're just loved in a way that you won't find in a bigger city. Marco Mignosa is a good current example. He's always out and about signing autographs with a big smile. I've heard former players say that the attention helped to prepare them for the NHL.

Another comment I've heard a lot is about the education. Since the teams are such an important part of the community, the local high schools and universities put forth a better quality education experience. It's why you always see Northern teams dominate the academic awards.

This is becoming less common, but some guys just like the old time/small town vibe. Hockey is everything Wayne Gretzky still comes to the Soo a lot and just raves about the atmosphere. He genuinely loves it. I've been to Owen Sound and in some ways it's even better. They just adore that team.

With younger players now coming almost exclusively from rich families in large city centres, it's becoming harder for small towns. They are very attracted to the financial perks that a team like London can offer. I recall former goaltender Tyler Johnson being surprised when he didn't get his own vehicle when he got dealt to the Soo. They just can't afford things like that.