Ottawa 67s 2024-25 Season Thread, Part III

[OMG67]

There has been some talk about HB here. I still feel like the HB situation was orchestrated. I have zero issues with it. If you look at the players picked after HB, it is not like there are any World beaters. That draft was relatively thin. Drafting HB , moving him for a few picks plus the comp pick with Eshkawkogan was a great move. Eshkawkogan himself looks better than the next few players picked after HB in that draft. The only guy that really stands out is maybe Lombardi. There was a hodge-podge of “meh” players available.

I really do not think the HB situation can be measured by his value now. If he was never going to report to Ottawa, then you have to measure the value Ottawa received (two 2nds + 3rd & Eshkawkogan) vs the other options available to pick. We picked Whitehead with the next pick. That tells you a lot about the class of players available at that point in the draft.

We could have a different conversation if Ottawa talked HB into defecting for the purpose of trading his rights to London but that did not happen. This was either a situation where Ottawa hoped they could sign him or had it all pre-arranged prior to the draft. Either way, talking HB into signing or taking the comp was much better than the player options available. IMO, that was a savvy move and I think we need to give a ton of credit to Boyd for navigating that situation. We came out of that way better than simply picking someone like Jaiden Newton.

 

[Larionov]

That's all very fair - I just get salty about kids who won't report to Ottawa, probably more than I should. That's just the entitlement age in which we live, where kids and families feel like they should be able to call their shot. "Just happy for the opportunity" went out the window a while ago.

And, to be clear, Boyd is a good junior hockey executive, and we could be doing far worse. We are, for instance, in far better shape than during the regrettable Chris Byrne and Jeff Brown eras. It's just that we can't afford to make mistakes - the Hunters can because London is a destination for players. We aren't, so our margin for error is a lot thinner...

 

[InTheValley]

My situation had nothing to do with the team itself. There was a series of incidents that culminated into one specific incident that made us decide to never return. That was around 2017 and I have not stepped foot into that rink since. Actually, I have not set foot on the Lansdowne Park grounds since. I support the hockey ops group but I do not support OSEG in any way. I said at the time that I would not step foot on the grounds of Lansdowne Park as long as OSEG is the management group there and that will remain indefinitely.

Oh wow. Sounds like an interesting story! I know someone that had an issue with the Sens around the same time, and also hasnt stepped back into that building for a game, concert, or anything.

 

[dirty12]

That's all very fair - I just get salty about kids who won't report to Ottawa, probably more than I should. That's just the entitlement age in which we live, where kids and families feel like they should be able to call their shot. "Just happy for the opportunity" went out the window a while ago.

And, to be clear, Boyd is a good junior hockey executive, and we could be doing far worse. We are, for instance, in far better shape than during the regrettable Chris Byrne and Jeff Brown eras. It's just that we can't afford to make mistakes - the Hunters can because London is a destination for players. We aren't, so our margin for error is a lot thinner...

Jeff Brown left the ‘67s loaded for the near future

 

[OMG67]

Jeff Brown left the ‘67s loaded for the near future

100%. I guarantee that if Jeff Brown remained as the coach/GM, the 67’s would have undoubtedly won the Championship in 2019. He would not have played it safe like Boyd did.

Brown stockpiled a bunch of picks and solid young players. He basically fixes all the crap left over from the Byrne/Kilrea coach/GM era.

Losing Tourigny was a huge loss but not far behind that was losing Jeff Brown.

 

[Larionov]

I'll just say this - Jeff Brown left here to go back to St. Louis, and to the best of my knowledge hasn't worked in hockey since. Agreed fully on Bear - he was a brilliant hockey mind both in terms of coaching and player evaluation, which is why he is in the NHL now. I just hope that Utah gives him one more season, because I think that team is just one year away from breaking through and becoming a real problem in the Western Conference. He was there through the lean years - he deserves a chance to see that through...

 

[OMG67]

I'll just say this - Jeff Brown left here to go back to St. Louis, and to the best of my knowledge hasn't worked in hockey since. Agreed fully on Bear - he was a brilliant hockey mind both in terms of coaching and player evaluation, which is why he is in the NHL now. I just hope that Utah gives him one more season, because I think that team is just one year away from breaking through and becoming a real problem in the Western Conference. He was there through the lean years - he deserves a chance to see that through...

Jeff Brown had a health issue. He had taken a step back in early 2016. He gave the bench to Eastwood and Rob Brown. That offseason, he left and Boyd/Tourigny came in.

He had done a great job selling off some players. Tactically, he did very well with Konecny, recognizing that he may graduate early, he traded him as an 18 year old. Sure enough, he did graduate early. These were trades that Kilrea was never open to. Those picks that Boyd inherited were the catalyst to being able to add guys like DiPietro.

 

[analyser]

100%. I guarantee that if Jeff Brown remained as the coach/GM, the 67’s would have undoubtedly won the Championship in 2019. He would not have played it safe like Boyd did.

Brown stockpiled a bunch of picks and solid young players. He basically fixes all the crap left over from the Byrne/Kilrea coach/GM era.

Losing Tourigny was a huge loss but not far behind that was losing Jeff Brown.

Oh if we had only picked up Suzsuki and Durzi in 2019. Jeff to bad you encountered health issues.

 

[OMG67]

The reality is, the decision on Boyd/Cameron needs to be made. IMO, Boyd made one mistake and it snowballed from there. If he learned from that one mistake and when in that same position again in the future, he wouldn’t make that same mistake, then I don’t’ have an issue with him remaining. IF he honestly can say he didn’t’ make a mistake in 2022-23 at the deadline then he will continue to approach things the same way and will tie himself in knots year after year. If that’s the case then you have to let him go.

I have said this before and will say it again, Dave Cameron enters next year as a 66 year old head coach. I don’t’ have an issue with guys his age but in Major Junior Hockey, you work on cycles and this will be the beginning of the next cycle. If you are not comfortable with Dave Cameron as your 71 year old head coach, then you cannot continue with him now. He will be 69-70 when this team is in its next Championship calibre go for it year. That is the commitment you need to make. There is no sense in extending him unless you are doing it for the entire next 4 to 5-year cycle.

I don’t think that is a good idea. I think it would be better to start fresh. Even if you keep Boyd, I think replacing DC is the right choice. I am not comfortable committing the him for another 4-5 years.

 

[OMG67]

Oh if we had only picked up Suzsuki and Durzi in 2019. Jeff to bad you encountered health issues.

I will give Boyd credit. He made the big deal for DiPietro. But then he followed it up with two OA’s and that’s it. He let Guelph fall into Suzuki for virtually nothing. There is no way with how aggressive Brown was that he’d have done that. Not a chance. If he saw Suzuki out there in that situation, he’d have made a run for him. We had the assets to scoop him without any question. We could have outbid Guelph easily. Guelph had made other moves and were light on assets which is why OS had to take what they could get since that’s all they could offer. It was similar situation to Kingston and Windsor for Shane Wright. It was all Windsor had left. Boyd could have swooped in and maybe even gotten Wright using Marrelli and maybe not even having to deal Mews. They wanted a RHD and settled on a winger (Miedema). Maybe they’d have taken the LHD instead. Either way, it was a mistake not to push harder, especially when we saw the Petes push so hard.

 

[44 95 plus tax]

Just read that former 67 Chris Simon has died. Great player with toughness and skill.

 

[dirty12]

Boyd, Cameron, and Tourigny all did pretty good jobs imo.
I thought Boyd made a mistake not putting his team over the top when the opportunity was there, but many believed the ‘67s could stay on top like London.
Cameron put on a coaching clinic his first two seasons imo.
Tourigny was excellent for (two seasons) with a lot of help from Rossi.

 

[OMG67]

Boyd, Cameron, and Tourigny all did pretty good jobs imo.
I thought Boyd made a mistake not putting his team over the top when the opportunity was there, but many believed the ‘67s could stay on top like London.
Cameron put on a coaching clinic his first two seasons imo.
Tourigny was excellent for (two seasons) with a lot of help from Rossi.

I wouldn’t say Cameron put on a coaching clinic in season #1. They finished 3 games below .500. I’m not saying their finish was his fault. Coming out of covid, there were a lot of unknowns and not being able to make trades the season previous to sell off players etc, made a difference for some teams.

I can get behind the 2022-23 season. He did fairly well. There are some that suggest he didn’t get the most out of some of the key players like Minutyukov after his acquisition but I think hr did Mintyukov a favour by teaching him some defence. He was spoiled in Saginaw with their pond hockey approach. Had he been allowed to pay that way in Ottawa, he’d have been out of sync with the rest of the team. But, in the end, I don’t think Cameron added a lot that season. He got a lot out of a young crop of players and that team was not expected to contend that early BUT, I did call it going into the seaosn. They finished higher than I expected, but I did have them with that pack of teams that year.

The following season (2023-24) was similar to the previous season. He did what he could with what he had.

Cameron gives his teams a chance to win. No issues there. He prepares them very well and has them ready to go to start the season. The issue seems to be that he doesn’t get the most out of his players (system over development). Players will hit their ceiling too early with him. Right or wrong? I don’t know. But, the reality is there are a number of players that simply hate playing for him. That usually is somewhat normal but for Ottawa it seemed to be the top players that have the issue with him. That’s a problem.

The results of Team canada and the decisions he made were glaringly bad. I am not sure if that will have an effect on the organization’s reputation or not. It may creep in with respect to sign-ability of the more difficult to sign NCAA bound players. That is my concern.

Overall, Dave Cameron is a good coach. The question is whether he is the right coach for Ottawa. I say no. Ottawa has the resources to hire up. They have an organization that is relatively stable and attractive for elite coaches. They have all the pieces necessary to attract the best people available. I can only assume they can do better than Cameron, especially at his advanced age.

Boyd is a different story. I don’t know what to think about him to be honest. You pointed to 2022-23 jsut as I have. I firmly believe everything bad pretty much stems from him trying to be great year over year. You cannot trade 14 high draft picks and be great year over year. If you are going to go the distance then go the distance and don’t be the guy that thinks he knows better than the rest of the league. He got out managed by the Petes that year and by Guelph in 2019. There is ZERO doubt in my mind that Ottawa would have been best positioned both seasons had Boyd played the game to the full 9 innings instead of packing up after inning #7 thinking he had won the game. Has he learned from that? He didn’t learn from it last deadline. Fell short again. This deadline he didn’t go deep on the sell. Did Pinelli cut his legs out from under him or did he simply create false expectations along the way which resulted in him fumbling the ball at the goal line? I think it is the latter.

From my perspective, I think OSEG needs to look for a new GM and see what is out there. If they find someone capable they can get behind, they need to replace Boyd. That may be easier said than done. So, only time will tell. I think he writing should be on the wall for Cameron. Time for a change.