Ottawa 67s 2024 25 Season Thread Part Iii

[nelli27]

The issue leading into the deadline was not being honest from the start of the season. When you create false expectations, fans and players have skewed expectations. Clearly Pinelli wasn’t being fed the right information from day one. That conversation should have been had in training camp. “You are gone at the deadline. We’ve made a lot of power moves, tossed around a lot of picks, and now we need to recoup what we’ve spent.” How Pinelli can veto trades to elite contenders like Barrie is crazy. Giving the team two destinations and neither wanted/needed him is crazy. That should have been managed way better starting from August.

...sorry to interrupt the current topic of discussion. OMG...can you do me a favour? Check out my post on the Sarnia thread #258. Would appreciate your feedback. Thx

 

[nelli27]

...sorry to interrupt the current topic of discussion. OMG...can you do me a favour? Check out my post on the Sarnia thread #258. Would appreciate your feedback. Thx

Thanks OMG.

 

[OMG67]

I should say that I am not trying to pile on @beastintheeast either. I think some of his concerns are VERY valid. @ScoutLife4 has mentioned rumblings he’s heard about players not happy. We’ve seen the trade requests etc. We know not all is well in the neighbourhood so Beast isn’t wrong.

I think I feel like the players we now have aren’t strong enough to dictate much. Outside of Ekberg, Nelson, Amidovski, and Eshkawkogan, I am not sure I really care if any of the others choose not to return. No disrespect meant to any of them but I feel like a lot of them are redundant. How many LW do we need? How many 30 point players does a team have that they cannot afford to lose? Maybe we would miss Foster but would we miss him? he adds value this coming season as an OA but it is a rebuilding year. What is he bringing next year that significantly impacts the development of the next Championship calibre roster?

This is why I have tried to focus more on recruitment. A kid like Vandenberg will make a difference. The Barnett brothers would make a difference. Is our current organization making these kids shy away? If so, you have no choice but to replace the pieces that are proving to be impediments. Same if youa re looking at losing 2 or more of those top 4 I mentioned above.

So, Beast isn’t wrong entirely. He is probably over exaggerating too much.

 

[beastintheeast]

I should say that I am not trying to pile on @beastintheeast either. I think some of his concerns are VERY valid. @ScoutLife4 has mentioned rumblings he’s heard about players not happy. We’ve seen the trade requests etc. We know not all is well in the neighbourhood so Beast isn’t wrong.

I think I feel like the players we now have aren’t strong enough to dictate much. Outside of Ekberg, Nelson, Amidovski, and Eshkawkogan, I am not sure I really care if any of the others choose not to return. No disrespect meant to any of them but I feel like a lot of them are redundant. How many LW do we need? How many 30 point players does a team have that they cannot afford to lose? Maybe we would miss Foster but would we miss him? he adds value this coming season as an OA but it is a rebuilding year. What is he bringing next year that significantly impacts the development of the next Championship calibre roster?

This is why I have tried to focus more on recruitment. A kid like Vandenberg will make a difference. The Barnett brothers would make a difference. Is our current organization making these kids shy away? If so, you have no choice but to replace the pieces that are proving to be impediments. Same if youa re looking at losing 2 or more of those top 4 I mentioned above.

So, Beast isn’t wrong entirely. He is probably over exaggerating too much.

Thank you OMG.

I would love to know what the STH think and if they are gong to renew their tickets. If you renew is it for the hockey or is it the friendships that youhave at the arena.

Rightly or wrongly DC has to go. He blew up his brand as a top coach with to tornaments outside the top 4. That hurt. Then there is the lack of development of the players. Boyd drafted 2 centers in the past 2 drafts and while Whitehead was a good center and was learning he noived him to the wing to be replaced with Barlas and Houben.

Now the question that has to be asked is did Boyd screw up in the draft or does DC have an offence problem.

Looking at things I think that DC is a good defensive coach but lacks the skills to develop offensive players.

LInes with current playes

Barlas Dever Foster
Ekberg Whitehead Kelly/ Euro
Houben Amidovski Yanni

Obvoiuosly if we get some of the NCAA that @OMG67 wants it may change alittle and i would hope that our first pick this draft can slot himself on to the 3rd line permanently by christmas

But it is a start

Let's face it DC has runout of all his players he can not bench the young guys unless he is going to play Barlas Dever and Foster 50 minutes a game.

 

[beastintheeast]

Murata or Wysick should be our first pick othhave size and both a RH

Thibodeau, Tang or Perreault in the second round with Niagara pick

My apologies but what other picks do we hve this year

 

[Jordan Malette]

Murata or Wysick should be our first pick othhave size and both a RH

Thibodeau, Tang or Perreault in the second round with Niagara pick

My apologies but what other picks do we hve this year

Delisle is a right shot C so if you're looking for size/physical/RH, he's probably the guy, but it's going to be much easier to speculate on our 1st round pick after the lottery tomorrow.

Other picks: NIA - 2nd, OS - 3rd, SUD - 3rd, a bunch of 4ths.

 

[ecraigs]

I would love to know what the STH think and if they are gong to renew their tickets. If you renew is it for the hockey or is it the friendships that youhave at the arena.

I renew because I like the people around me and the atmosphere of the games. Also, I love to bitch about how the coach is handling the team. Yes, I did that when Killer was behind the bench, just not as much.

I know that some STH were very vocal when they were contacted about renewal. Back a couple of years, well, maybe 40, I recall that there was similar discontent in the stands over Killer's replacement, but that was with a single ownership. Now we have a corporate situation that will move much more slowly and for different reasons.

As much as this year's team was offensively challenged; without significant changes, next year's will be worse. Not every player is a scoring star nor should they be, but the coaching staff has to implement tactics that bring out what is there. I echo OMG that there is clearly a lot of discontent in the dressing room. When other coaches are trash-talking DC over the WJC results, it is an open secret that things are amiss. It was obvious very early on that some players just wanted to be somewhere else. I really cannot say that I blame them.

It's little things. Like the home opener, where the coach sat out our first draft pick. Home openers are a chance to introduce the freshman class, the team leadership, and the OA group. That was a head scratcher. It's hard to present optimism and the promise of a new year like that.

In the end, I renewed for year 49, because that's what I do.

 

[ScoutLife4]

I personally don't think the real die hard fans will give up on their team because its going to struggle for a couple years
Peterborough has been selling out most of the season despite being god awful and that's because they have a real fan base.

I think most of the blame needs to be placed on the GM & Coach combo.
You have a pair that thought they had a competitive team and thought they could "tweak" instead of "rebuild" despite most hockey minds knowing otherwise.
This has a lot to do with them not wanting to own a lot of the recent poor drafting and deciding to go down with the ship.
If i was the on the board of OSEG, I'd be looking to clean house and go in a different direction that is a little younger, adapted to the times and connect with the players more.
You need someone that can develop players and prepare them to go pro and DC has no track record of doing that. -Everyone thinks he's a hero because he was gifted a couple gold medals but he was just along for the ride. I'd bet most u16 AAA coaches would have also taken those teams to Golds.

You have to ask yourself if you are a JR hockey stud looking to go pro... Is DC the guy you want to prep you for that?

 

[beastintheeast]

Delisle is a right shot C so if you're looking for size/physical/RH, he's probably the guy, but it's going to be much easier to speculate on our 1st round pick after the lottery tomorrow.

Other picks: NIA - 2nd, OS - 3rd, SUD - 3rd, a bunch of 4ths.

I don't see a delisle on the list for top 65

 

[Jordan Malette]

I don't see a delisle on the list for top 65

Max Delisle - from the Ottawa area (Cornwall maybe?) but plays for Toronto Titans and is in the top group in the 1st overall conversation.

 

[beastintheeast]

I renew because I like the people around me and the atmosphere of the games. Also, I love to bitch about how the coach is handling the team. Yes, I did that when Killer was behind the bench, just not as much.

I know that some STH were very vocal when they were contacted about renewal. Back a couple of years, well, maybe 40, I recall that there was similar discontent in the stands over Killer's replacement, but that was with a single ownership. Now we have a corporate situation that will move much more slowly and for different reasons.

As much as this year's team was offensively challenged; without significant changes, next year's will be worse. Not every player is a scoring star nor should they be, but the coaching staff has to implement tactics that bring out what is there. I echo OMG that there is clearly a lot of discontent in the dressing room. When other coaches are trash-talking DC over the WJC results, it is an open secret that things are amiss. It was obvious very early on that some players just wanted to be somewhere else. I really cannot say that I blame them.

It's little things. Like the home opener, where the coach sat out our first draft pick. Home openers are a chance to introduce the freshman class, the team leadership, and the OA group. That was a head scratcher. It's hard to present optimism and the promise of a new year like that.

In the end, I renewed for year 49, because that's what I do.

Yeah I think the friendships are the reason that most STH get renewals

If I don't miss my guess a Mr Lee was coaching and one of his least productive players was a kidnamed Boyd (man he had an atitude) Halfway through the year Earl kept asking Killer if he was feeling any better and testing to see when he could get him back on the bench LOL
When your counterparts don't show you respect I think it is time to hangup the skates adb whislte.

It must have been a rough last half of he season for DC with the NHL GM's blaming him and his fellow coaches trying to figure out what he was doing.

DC has a paranoia about rookies if he could send them al to a team and have them developed then get them whentheya re a developed 3rd year player i think he would be happier.

 

[OMG67]

I renew because I like the people around me and the atmosphere of the games. Also, I love to bitch about how the coach is handling the team. Yes, I did that when Killer was behind the bench, just not as much.

I know that some STH were very vocal when they were contacted about renewal. Back a couple of years, well, maybe 40, I recall that there was similar discontent in the stands over Killer's replacement, but that was with a single ownership. Now we have a corporate situation that will move much more slowly and for different reasons.

As much as this year's team was offensively challenged; without significant changes, next year's will be worse. Not every player is a scoring star nor should they be, but the coaching staff has to implement tactics that bring out what is there. I echo OMG that there is clearly a lot of discontent in the dressing room. When other coaches are trash-talking DC over the WJC results, it is an open secret that things are amiss. It was obvious very early on that some players just wanted to be somewhere else. I really cannot say that I blame them.

It's little things. Like the home opener, where the coach sat out our first draft pick. Home openers are a chance to introduce the freshman class, the team leadership, and the OA group. That was a head scratcher. It's hard to present optimism and the promise of a new year like that.

In the end, I renewed for year 49, because that's what I do.

100%

I think a lot needs to be passed on to properly managing expectations. When you go to a restaurant and the host says that your table will be ready in 10 minutes and you are finally seated after 25 minutes, you are pissed off. But, if they say your table will be ready in 30 minutes and you are seated in 30 minutes, you aren’t pissed off. Even though it took 5 minutes longer, yo aren’t pissed off because they managed your expectations. This is the problem with the 67s this year. It is standard to say you like the team but you have radio guys, newsprint guys, and social media guys all out there echoing what the management is saying. The management needs to use those guys to change the narrative. When everyone surrounding the team says they aren’t expecting to make the playoffs and that the team is expected to move guys like Pinelli and Mews out at the deadline, expectations are altered. Fans expect it and understand it is a rebuilding year.

This is something this organization and Boyd specifically does not do well at all. And clearly Boyd didn’t do it in the room either.

This doesn’t mean the team should roll over and play dead. You have ot respect the players and coaches for making every effort to win and compete. That is what they are there to do. But, provided everyone knows that the bullets int heir gun are not going to be as plentiful, then no one should be disappointed.

Boyd left too many bullets in his gun at the deadline. It forced Cameron to play his veterans to try to make the playoffs. He had ZERO choice in that regard. What is he going to do? IS he supposed to slice Pinelli’s ice time in half because it is a rebuilding year? Of course not. That responsibility lies with Boyd to ensure those guys are gone at the deadline so expectations of fans are managed, the coach can develop the rookies and younger players with more ice time without gutting the veteran players, and although fans aren’t happy with losses, at least they understand the program.

But, I am with you 100%. Being a season ticket holder is much more than watching live hockey. IT is about the atmosphere, anticipation, seeing friends, eating popcorn, drinking beer etc. It is about being connected to something intimately and not just passively. It should never be about watching a team win every game (although that would be great).

 

[OMG67]

I personally don't think the real die hard fans will give up on their team because its going to struggle for a couple years
Peterborough has been selling out most of the season despite being god awful and that's because they have a real fan base.

I think most of the blame needs to be placed on the GM & Coach combo.
You have a pair that thought they had a competitive team and thought they could "tweak" instead of "rebuild" despite most hockey minds knowing otherwise.
This has a lot to do with them not wanting to own a lot of the recent poor drafting and deciding to go down with the ship.
If i was the on the board of OSEG, I'd be looking to clean house and go in a different direction that is a little younger, adapted to the times and connect with the players more.
You need someone that can develop players and prepare them to go pro and DC has no track record of doing that. -Everyone thinks he's a hero because he was gifted a couple gold medals but he was just along for the ride. I'd bet most u16 AAA coaches would have also taken those teams to Golds.

You have to ask yourself if you are a JR hockey stud looking to go pro... Is DC the guy you want to prep you for that?

This is accurate. My sentiments exactly.

When a coach has success at the junior level, then goes to the NHL as an assistant and flames out as a head coach quickly and ends up in Europe, is that a guy that is destined to be back in the NHL? If not, why would you offer him a job at the OHL level again when he is in his 60’s? Guys like Tourigny that are still in their early to mid-40’s after a brief NHL Assistant Coach gig have a ceiling left to rise to. DC had risen as far as he is going to go.

Boyd was a marginal OHL player. He rose through the ranks over time to get to where he is now. He really hasn’t accomplished a whole hell of a lot to date. He inherited a solid group from Jeff Brown and a boatload of draft picks and didn’t turn that into a Championship team. It is what it is. He had his one opportunity to manage the team through a rebuild season where he was tasked with selling off expiring assets in an effort to help support the rebuild and he failed miserably. I think the James Boyd era of the 67’s is over as is DC’s.

An 8 year ride for Boyd as a GM is pretty good. He will find another landing spot without much doubt. He won’t be hurting at all.

 

[OMG67]

Max Delisle - from the Ottawa area (Cornwall maybe?) but plays for Toronto Titans and is in the top group in the 1st overall conversation.

I believe he is the son of Miguel Delisle (brother of Tristan Delisle - OS) who starred for the Ottawa 67’s from 1999-2003. He won an OHL Championship and a Memorial Cup. He scored 160 goals over his career.

If he can replicate his dad’s production, I am 100% down to pick Max Delisle. We need a centre badly. I’d prefer the centre Ofer the winger so if the top 3 are all around the same calibre, I’d fall on the centre over the winger.

 

[OMG67]

Yeah I think the friendships are the reason that most STH get renewals

If I don't miss my guess a Mr Lee was coaching and one of his least productive players was a kidnamed Boyd (man he had an atitude) Halfway through the year Earl kept asking Killer if he was feeling any better and testing to see when he could get him back on the bench LOL
When your counterparts don't show you respect I think it is time to hangup the skates adb whislte.

It must have been a rough last half of he season for DC with the NHL GM's blaming him and his fellow coaches trying to figure out what he was doing.

DC has a paranoia about rookies if he could send them al to a team and have them developed then get them whentheya re a developed 3rd year player i think he would be happier.

There is also a story about Boyd “borrowing” Killer’s skates, selling them at Play It Again Sports and buying a bottle of rye with the proceeds after his last game with Ottawa. He was then traded in the offseason……

 

[Jordan Malette]

I believe he is the son of Miguel Delisle (brother of Tristan Delisle - OS) who starred for the Ottawa 67’s from 1999-2003. He won an OHL Championship and a Memorial Cup. He scored 160 goals over his career.

If he can replicate his dad’s production, I am 100% down to pick Max Delisle. We need a centre badly. I’d prefer the centre Ofer the winger so if the top 3 are all around the same calibre, I’d fall on the centre over the winger.

I knew Tristan, but never would have put that together with Miguel. I was young for that era of 67s but definitely remember those teams. That '01 championship game is one of my earliest hockey memories.

The C's at the top all have different profiles. Delisle to me is the guy if you're looking for that two-way, wins battles, smart positionally, more physical sort of brand. He can produce for sure, but the selling point has been more the "details".

 

[ecraigs]

I knew Tristan, but never would have put that together with Miguel. I was young for that era of 67s but definitely remember those teams. That '01 championship game is one of my earliest hockey memories.

The C's at the top all have different profiles. Delisle to me is the guy if you're looking for that two-way, wins battles, smart positionally, more physical sort of brand. He can produce for sure, but the selling point has been more the "details".

Max was a dynamo in Minor Hockey. He lacks a bit of size, but makes up for it with speed and a nose for the net. He played on a few teams as an affiliate at AA and A and he could always score, even against players one or two years older than he.

 

[frontsfan67]

whoever gets drafted to you guys in the first 4. I feel bad for them. Hopefully dinosaur Dave is long gone by the start of training camp.

 

[ScoutLife4]

whoever gets drafted to you guys in the first 4. I feel bad for them. Hopefully dinosaur Dave is long gone by the start of training camp.

If they report!

 

[Wolf on a Wire]

Interesting stat of the day.

Henry Mews PTS/G
- Ottawa 1.37
- Sudbury 1.07

I think you’ll see that he has been focusing on learning and playing D. Still joining and leading rushes but doing a better job picking spots. Paired with a solid stay at home D (O’Dell) which has helped Mews.

 

[OMG67]

Max was a dynamo in Minor Hockey. He lacks a bit of size, but makes up for it with speed and a nose for the net. He played on a few teams as an affiliate at AA and A and he could always score, even against players one or two years older than he.

His Dad played at 6’1”. You have ot think he will at least get to 6’0”. That size and tenacious is enough. We don’t need an NHL prospect, we need an elite OHL player.

 

[OMG67]

whoever gets drafted to you guys in the first 4. I feel bad for them. Hopefully dinosaur Dave is long gone by the start of training camp.

I don’t think you can feel bad for 67’s players in the aggregate. They all go to Blythe Academy (Private School). They get everything they need without question. The facilities are very good. If the only thing that is an issue is the coach, then that isn’t a horrible trade off. Elite players will develop as elite players. It is the middle guys that may have a higher ceiling that may suffer a bit.

But, I doubt DC will be there come training camp.

 

[frontsfan67]

I don’t think you can feel bad for 67’s players in the aggregate. They all go to Blythe Academy (Private School). They get everything they need without question. The facilities are very good. If the only thing that is an issue is the coach, then that isn’t a horrible trade off. Elite players will develop as elite players. It is the middle guys that may have a higher ceiling that may suffer a bit.

But, I doubt DC will be there come training camp.

Yeah my point is what happens if they get first or second overall and sit the kid to start the year and play him bottom 6 minutes.

I mean look at how DC treated Ekberg. Amidovski wasn’t exactly handled the best either

 

[OMG67]

Yeah my point is what happens if they get first or second overall and sit the kid to start the year and play him bottom 6 minutes.

I mean look at how DC treated Ekberg. Amidovski wasn’t exactly handled the best either

I don’t feel that is the complete picture. I try to keep it real. I may not feel that DC is the ideal option for the 67’s and I would like to see him replaced; however, I will come to his defence when I feel it is warranted.

The Head Coach’s primary job is to win games. So, they set a lineup that suits winning games. Other than his love affair with Korbler, I believe he mostly did that. Rookie opportunities (as well as younger players that lack experience) get “responsible” ice time. They get placed in protected situations until they prove they can handle more of a workload. You cannot just will a kid into confidence and performance.

Amidovski started very slow. HE didn’t do anything to help his own case. He struggled on the 4th line. He struggled on the 3rd line. The type of game he plays wasn’t translating at his maturity level. Should have have suited up for the home opener? Absolutely. But, I don’t have any issues with how he was deployed in the first half. The second half he had a fair amount of injury issues that really hurt his opportunities. The second half is wher ethe 16 year olds tend to start to gather steam but he didn’t play much.

For Ekberg, it was sort of the same thing. HE was contributing on the power play with extra time and space but he wasn’t consistently able to generate offence at even strength. Personally, I would have played him more consistently higher in the lineup but I can see why DC didn’t. My main issue was that he didnt get a chance at centre. I think his skill set translates well at centre ice.

The reality is, it is Boyd’s responsibility to clear the deck for the young guys. Pinelli and Foster should have been gone at the deadline. No question about it. Clearing that deck was imperative to opening up space for young guys. But, he didn’t. You cannot play Pinelli 16 minutes per game in favour of rookies. You have ot play him 24 minutes. You have no choice. That first line is going to get run out there at a minimum of every third shift. You can shelter the young guys in the fist half but you then need to push them in the 2nd half and doing that required Boyd to clear the deck at the deadline.

In fact, Boyd has a horrible habit of hoarding players. They need to settle on a roster sooner. I understand injuries come into play but dressing 11 ‘08s is silly. How can you do anything with so many guys vying for the same minutes? Crazy.

So, this isn’t a DC issue IMO. This is a GM issue. Sure, the coach can dictate who plays and how often but when the Head Coach and GM put their brain boxes together and decide this team actually had a chance to do something special this year, that is a sign of just how disconnected they both are. Of course DC Is going to play to win. He is gong to ride his veteran players to death. Look at the goalie splits in the 2nd half. MacKenzie played 20 games to Nelson’s 13. They were trying to win at all costs. No coach is going to focus on developing young guys when the GM decides to keep Pinelli and Foster. That is just azz-backwards.

OSEG needs to make a major change IMO. The evidence of mistakes, poor judgement, poor self realization, leading to a lack of positive direction has really put this team in an awful situation. But, if we look at it from an individual player perspective, one that is drafted top 4, I don’t see the current Ottawa situation being a net negative for that player at all. Could it be better with a GM/Coach change? YEs. Could it end up being worse. Absolutely. Depends on who they hire! For example, who is to say that Egert taking the reins as GM and Milley manning the bench changes anything? Both worked under the guys that got canned. Will they be any different?

 

[beastintheeast]

I personally don't think the real die hard fans will give up on their team because its going to struggle for a couple years
Peterborough has been selling out most of the season despite being god awful and that's because they have a real fan base.

I think most of the blame needs to be placed on the GM & Coach combo.
You have a pair that thought they had a competitive team and thought they could "tweak" instead of "rebuild" despite most hockey minds knowing otherwise.
This has a lot to do with them not wanting to own a lot of the recent poor drafting and deciding to go down with the ship.
If i was the on the board of OSEG, I'd be looking to clean house and go in a different direction that is a little younger, adapted to the times and connect with the players more.
You need someone that can develop players and prepare them to go pro and DC has no track record of doing that. -Everyone thinks he's a hero because he was gifted a couple gold medals but he was just along for the ride. I'd bet most u16 AAA coaches would have also taken those teams to Golds.

You have to ask yourself if you are a JR hockey stud looking to go pro... Is DC the guy you want to prep you for that?

Finally, someone agrees with me

a. DC is not as great as people think. Consider the year he won in the WJC he had Andre Tourigny on the bench with him.
b. Agents and players will look at DC and the coaching and decide that this is not the place for their player to develop.

DC is a good defensive coach, but the OHL is not a defensive league. It is a player-development league.

I don't think OSEG has the time to do a major house cleaning but I think they do have the time for DC to announce his retirement and go out with 500 wins.

The challenge is can they find a coach for the team before the draft I do not think so. Personally I would be looking at London and or maybe Milley on a 1 year contract.

A wild card might be Konopka who if memory serves had a lot to do with motivating players last year and is not doing bad as a coach.

People on here have talked abut the facilities the city education and such but you can have the best in the league but if the coach and coaching staff are duds you are still to gong to have a great team.