Ottawa 67s 2024 25 Season Thread Part Iii

[frontsfan67]

All that said, Pinelli is a player that scored 48 goals as an 18 year old last year. He will score around 35 this year with an Ottawa team that doesn’t have a natural centre!

If Pinelli is so good why wasn’t he dominating the world juniors when surrounded by the best centres in all of junior hockey in Canada.

He is a very good trigger man. IMO, he is a great 13 forward

That was played always top 6….. please don’t tell me guys like sennecke, Greentree, Misa, Cristall wouldn’t have done significantly better than him with the minutes and linemates Pinelli was having. Ever heard of the Gavin McKenna kid or berkly Catton? Not too shabby. Not a surprise at all that when paired with an underwhelming player they both have an underwhelming tournament.

that can be a first unit PP guy and replace an under-performing top 6 winger when necessary. That is the role I saw him playing. Senneke is unrefined. Same with Misa. I really like them both as prospects. But, they are younger and this tourney really is designed for 19 year olds.

So you’re not taking them because they’re younger but FAR better hockey players?

What about next years team? Will Pinelli be on that one? They always need guys coming back for the following year.

No matter what way you try and spin it- never was a great idea and never will be a great one. At this point with all the Cameron defending I’m convinced you are either Dave Cameron or know the guy well and you take offence to tearing the guy down.

Next year is their year.

This year with the pool of players they could have chosen from should’ve been a 1st/2nd place finish no questions asked

In fact, I could say the same about Beaudoin. Misa plays pond hockey in Saginaw. It is a reason why Parekh didn’t get a nod either. They don’t play hockey in a responsible system.

Are you on drugs? Have you ever watched Beaudoin?? He’s one of the most defensively responsible players in the whole CHL. Offence could use some work but at the time of the tournament he was still producing around a 1.5ppg clip. He will be on the team again next year likely in a role similar to Brayden Yager this past year.

Taking too many guys that are multi-tooled is a mistake for that team. Jack of all trades guys aren’t what wins those tourney’s. You take the Big Bang and Crash guys to go out and stir up some havoc and then take high skill guys that are speedy and can score goals.

If they did this Pinelli wouldn’t have been on the team are you sure you’d like that? He’s nowhere near among the top 6 or even top 9 forwards in the OHL let alone the CHL and abroad

Taking 6 two-way forwards is dumb. One thing you can say about Pinelli is he is an offence first player that is fine coming back defensively but he’s not putting anyone on their ass. Not his job.

Just like Michael Misa 6’1 185 who is having an exceptional year. Sennecke 6’4 194 can throw his body around time to time as I’m sure you’ve seen with 8 games against him. Greentree 6’3 216 I’m sure he could do the same. Cristall is small but still bigger than Pinelli and has a 2.29ppg avg and over 400 pts in the WHL. Not even mentioning Riley Heidt 5’11 179 but not afraid to throw the body around and play physical would be another guy on the team before Pinelli and plays more responsible hockey too

Again, it is infuriating to single out Pinelli as “the one guy” to blame for others not being on the team (or others on the team miscast) just because Cameron happens to be his coach on the club team. There were a ton of dumb as F decisions made. I can accept an argument that maybe another player should have been there but I think you need to go through at least four other guys to replace before you fall on Pinelli. One for sure being Beaudoin.

Clearly you don’t watch Barrie or Beaudoin. He’s one of the most reliable 2 way forwards in not only the OHL but whole CHL. He had a 1.5ppg avg at the time of the tournament too. He will be on the team next year too.

Another being Rehkopf.

Wasn’t used properly but I’m sure if you ask anybody besides Ottawa fans they’ll take Rehkopf over Pinelli.

You can probably add Howe, Cataford, and Gauthier to the list as well.

Howe shouldn’t have been on team I’ll give you that.

Cataford wasn’t used properly. Won QMJHL player of the year last year and they stick him 4th line expecting to play defence.

Gauthier is one of the most reliable 2 way forwards in the CHL and I believe won an award in the Q last year for it. Also above a ppg. He played his role fine- wasn’t expected to score goals.

IMO, Pinelli is a pure sniper type of scorer.

So is Nick Lardis who has 70 goals and is faster than Pinelli. Haven’t even got to that guy. Misa id say is a sniper too. Going to hit 60. Greentree power forward/playmaker but going to hit 50 goals too. Cristall has a billion points as a playmaker that scores lots of goals too. Sennecke a playmaker but can score phenomenal goals like the one on sam Dickinson in London- can stick handle in a phone booth and create his own offence.

HOWEVER, if the coaches plan was to dump and chase and play “don’t score on me” hockey, then Pinelli should not have been selected by the management group.

Big crash and bang hockey? Hell no. Defensively responsible hockey? Hell no.
Speedy score lots of goals yep but that’s the one thing Canada and Pinelli had trouble doing. 50 goals for what?

So for review I will take:

Sennecke
Misa
Greentree
Heidt
Lardis
Cristall

Over Pinelli, Howe

Have a 4th line of Beaudoin, Gauthier and Heidt/Yager 3 guys very defensively responsible and let the rest of the guys score their goals.

Also biggest mistake by Cameron is not having martone and McKenna together and instead putting…..double checks….scratches head…. Luca Pinelli with McKenna.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

The national junior team bombs out every couple of years - well, two years in a row now - due to bad management and player selection, coaching, and/or player performance. Personally I usually have a hard time pinning the blame on teenagers, even if you could argue they shouldn't have been selected in the first place. I usually look at the top, those in charge of constructing the roster and those in charge of coaching the team.

The 2025 team from a few months ago was rotten from the top-down - horrible roster construction and player selection (who the f*** is Anholt and what has he ever won at the junior level?), Cameron did an absolutely terrible job coaching a poorly-selected the team in front of a national audience; I'm actually embarrassed for him. I won't list out the reasons I feel that way again, as I did so early in the new year after Canada's early exit, but I'm on the record as being repulsed (for lack of a better word) by his coaching of the national team and the sooner he leaves Ottawa, the better off the 67s will be. What's clear is that Hockey Canada needs a new, more consistent and professional approach to managing and coaching these teams because it seems like there is an uneven approach almost every year.

Pinelli, while you could easily argue shouldn't have been chosen in the first place, played pretty well I thought. He wasn't close to the worst forward on the team and he's pretty far down the list of reasons why the team lost. Pointing the finger at Pinelli, the individual, is ridiculous and if you're looking to place blame for the team's loss should point the finger at Anholt/management team and Cameron, and that would cover off ~90% of the issues with the team. Aside from the goaltender, George, the players didn't play particularly well, but I'd argue that was largely a function of coaching and not their effort.

 

[OMG67]

If Pinelli is so good why wasn’t he dominating the world juniors when surrounded by the best centres in all of junior hockey in Canada.

That was played always top 6….. please don’t tell me guys like sennecke, Greentree, Misa, Cristall wouldn’t have done significantly better than him with the minutes and linemates Pinelli was having. Ever heard of the Gavin McKenna kid or berkly Catton? Not too shabby. Not a surprise at all that when paired with an underwhelming player they both have an underwhelming tournament.

So you’re not taking them because they’re younger but FAR better hockey players?

What about next years team? Will Pinelli be on that one? They always need guys coming back for the following year.

No matter what way you try and spin it- never was a great idea and never will be a great one. At this point with all the Cameron defending I’m convinced you are either Dave Cameron or know the guy well and you take offence to tearing the guy down.

This year with the pool of players they could have chosen from should’ve been a 1st/2nd place finish no questions asked

Are you on drugs? Have you ever watched Beaudoin?? He’s one of the most defensively responsible players in the whole CHL. Offence could use some work but at the time of the tournament he was still producing around a 1.5ppg clip. He will be on the team again next year likely in a role similar to Brayden Yager this past year.

If they did this Pinelli wouldn’t have been on the team are you sure you’d like that? He’s nowhere near among the top 6 or even top 9 forwards in the OHL let alone the CHL and abroad

Just like Michael Misa 6’1 185 who is having an exceptional year. Sennecke 6’4 194 can throw his body around time to time as I’m sure you’ve seen with 8 games against him. Greentree 6’3 216 I’m sure he could do the same. Cristall is small but still bigger than Pinelli and has a 2.29ppg avg and over 400 pts in the WHL. Not even mentioning Riley Heidt 5’11 179 but not afraid to throw the body around and play physical would be another guy on the team before Pinelli and plays more responsible hockey too

Clearly you don’t watch Barrie or Beaudoin. He’s one of the most reliable 2 way forwards in not only the OHL but whole CHL. He had a 1.5ppg avg at the time of the tournament too. He will be on the team next year too.

Wasn’t used properly but I’m sure if you ask anybody besides Ottawa fans they’ll take Rehkopf over Pinelli.

Howe shouldn’t have been on team I’ll give you that.

Cataford wasn’t used properly. Won QMJHL player of the year last year and they stick him 4th line expecting to play defence.

Gauthier is one of the most reliable 2 way forwards in the CHL and I believe won an award in the Q last year for it. Also above a ppg. He played his role fine- wasn’t expected to score goals.

So is Nick Lardis who has 70 goals and is faster than Pinelli. Haven’t even got to that guy. Misa id say is a sniper too. Going to hit 60. Greentree power forward/playmaker but going to hit 50 goals too. Cristall has a billion points as a playmaker that scores lots of goals too. Sennecke a playmaker but can score phenomenal goals like the one on sam Dickinson in London- can stick handle in a phone booth and create his own offence.

Big crash and bang hockey? Hell no. Defensively responsible hockey? Hell no.
Speedy score lots of goals yep but that’s the one thing Canada and Pinelli had trouble doing. 50 goals for what?

So for review I will take:

Sennecke
Misa
Greentree
Heidt
Lardis
Cristall

Over Pinelli, Howe

Have a 4th line of Beaudoin, Gauthier and Heidt/Yager 3 guys very defensively responsible and let the rest of the guys score their goals.

Also biggest mistake by Cameron is not having martone and McKenna together and instead putting…..double checks….scratches head…. Luca Pinelli with McKenna.

There is too much here to go over point by point so I will summarize.

1> Dave Cameron deployed a dump and chase system. That did not match the skill set for the majority of players selected INCLUDING Pinelli. This did not jsut hamstring Pinelli but it hamstrung a lot of the players. Most of the high octane guys on that roster play puck possession games. They enter the O-Zone with speed and cohesion. One could argue that because the team isn’t together for a long period of time that a dump and chase team is more effective and easier to execute but if that’s the case then they need to bring a different skill set player with different attributes.
2> I am 100% saying that Misa and Parekh (as examples) play in a system that is more close to pond hockey in Saginaw. Their stats are inflated as a result. Had they been dropped into a dump and chase, one man in with one man support and one man back system, they’d never have the puck. They’d be lost. And, yes, Beaudoin was not a good choice in that situation. It was evident in his immature level of play that did not translate to the tournament at all. You cannot throw guys like that into the mix. There are more mature 19 year olds that play a better and more effective two-way game (Yager as an example). If you are bringing a younger player, it needs to be a high offence guy like McKenna. Leave the 2-way guys and defensive guys to the 19 year olds that have more experience and are typically their team’s captain.
3> IMO, Team Canada “should” play an uptempo speed game with three lines that are specifically designed to maintain puck possession. They can have one bang and crash line. At least one of the extra two forwards should be a pure shooter. That extra 13th forward should have been Pinelli. He thrives in a puck possession environment and the Power Play. IMO, Pinelli should have been the 13th forward that could replace a top 6 guy if necessary but his biggest asset is his ability to trigger the puck, especially on the powerplay. He, like many others on Team Canada, were miscast by Dave Cameron. That is on top of a poor strategic system installed.

What I am saying is evidenced by Team Canada losing to two inferior teams. We could have thrown that entire team out the window, invited the next group of 24 and thrown that group out the window, and then invited the next group of 24 and thrown them into the tournament with a different coach and we’d likely still have gained a medal. This was not an issue of player selection. It was an issue of poor strategy and not selecting a team that suited the strategy. There were so many coach mistakes it was mind boggling.

So, this is not on Dave Cameron selecting Pinelli. One could make that argument but that is so far down the list of issues that plagued that team. So far down in fact that one cannot even argue it IMO. You don’t have a basis from which to make the argument because Canada has so many players to choose from with relatively little to differentiate them. We can have the same discussion every year. The only difference is this year Team Canada didn’t win so player selection becomes a focus.

Had this team had a better coaching staff to craft a better system, and adjust when things weren’t working, the players on that team would have won a silver medal and maybe challenged for a Gold. Had the player mix been different, they’d have won a silver medal and challenged for Gold. Team USA (on paper) was better than any configuration Team Canada could come up with. But, because you have to play the games, Canada would always have a chance. Simply pointing to Pinelli and saying that Dave Cameron brought his guy and it cost this team is ridiculous in the face of all the other tactical issues. It is insulting to the player and completely unnecessary considering they lost to Latvia, a team with maybe one or two CHL players and none playing top 6 or top 4 roles for their CHL Teams. Players that wouldn’t have been in line to make Team Canada’s 14th iteration of a team. You could literally chew through Canada’s top 200 Major Junior players and then select a team and that team should beat Latvia. Yet, it was DC selecting Pinelli when he isn’t the person selecting the team. Right. Gotcha.

 

[OMG67]

The national junior team bombs out every couple of years - well, two years in a row now - due to bad management and player selection, coaching, and/or player performance. Personally I usually have a hard time pinning the blame on teenagers, even if you could argue they shouldn't have been selected in the first place. I usually look at the top, those in charge of constructing the roster and those in charge of coaching the team.

The 2025 team from a few months ago was rotten from the top-down - horrible roster construction and player selection (who the f*** is Anholt and what has he ever won at the junior level?), Cameron did an absolutely terrible job coaching a poorly-selected the team in front of a national audience; I'm actually embarrassed for him. I won't list out the reasons I feel that way again, as I did so early in the new year after Canada's early exit. The players themselves were never able to find chemistry with each other and never found their rhythm. Hockey Canada needs a new, more consistent and professional approach to managing and coaching these teams because it seems like there is an uneven approach almost every year.

Pinelli, while you could easily argue shouldn't have been chosen in the first place, played pretty well I thought. He's pretty far down the list of reasons why the team lost. Those looking to place blame for the team's loss should point the finger at Anholt/management team and Cameron, and that would cover off ~90% of the issues with the team. Aside from the goaltender, George, the players didn't play particularly well, but I'd argue that was largely a function of coaching and not their effort.

When Team Canada was having some issues int he past, they implemented the Program of Excellence. The good thing about that was they got away fromt he political fiasco’s of the past. But, Team canada has now fallen back in to the political again. Certain players that mature later are typically never given an opportunity. The team is more typically selected based on draft position which we all know is a poor way to do it. The NHL draft is based on how players project int he future, not how they perform now. There are undrafted (or deeply drafted) players that would be suitable selections based on their ability to compete with their current cohorts.

If you aren’t in the Program of Excellence Pipeline, you really aren’t considered unless you are a goalie. That is an issue. @frontsfan67 mentioned Lardis. That kid is a great player and I would have selected him well above Senneke but he isn’t a sexy player. He wasn’t drafted #3 (or in the 1st round). He plays for a team with zero clout and influence. Kevin He is another great example. 4th round pick. Great motor. Performs extremely well against his current cohort. Just not the greatest NHL prospect. Loads of players that could be considered if they are trying to build a team with similar attributes as opposed to trying to build a team with pre-qualified attributes as if you are baking a cake with a specific recipe using ingredients you already had in your cupboard.

They need to back away from the politics again. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Give the responsibility to one person to manage the team. Let that person pick the coach that suits their philosophy. Then they can select the roster. Go back to having more players in selection camp and maybe make the camp a bit longer. It isn’t about individual players. It is about how those players can find chemistry within the lineup. You can have a great individual player but that player cannot find chemistry. Team Canada has enough players you can leave that player behind and take the players with chemistry that suit their system better. The best individual players aren’t always the best players for Team Canada. There will always be guys not taken that are head scratchers. Happens every year but that is because Canada has about 30 guys that are all capable and deserving but they don’t have 30 roster spots.

 

[44 95 plus tax]

When did the Ottawa 67's thread turn into the Canadian National Junior team thread??

Its almost like reading the same post over and over again...

Its time for a major house cleaning for the 67's. Boyd, Cameron, Mercer, Stoykewych. All for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum.

 

[beastintheeast]

If you look at the coaches in teh CHL one thing seems to be common. Most of teh good coaches either donot coach the WJC or do it once and say no more.


Coaches that are thinking NHL do it once so that they can be seen on the international level then no more.

I presently think that DC was picked 2 years in a row because he was the onlyone that was interested. Look at the US coches they all are NCAA long time coaches that have come through the system and all coach the same way. The other advantage that we have to look at is a NATIONAL SYSTEM Consider that all American kids playin the USNDTP system and all have played together at one point or another. That is the benefit of the USHL it may not be flashy but the teams all play to dvelop players int he american system way.

Canada may have the best individual star players but they do not have the best lines.

 

[beastintheeast]

When did the Ottawa 67's thread turn into the Canadian National Junior team thread??

Its almost like reading the same post over and over again...

Its time for a major house cleaning for the 67's. Boyd, Cameron, Mercer, Stoykewych. All for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseum.

Question what would you think of Zenon coming to coach or assistant

 

[RCN83]

Three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards were selected by head scout Al Murray (Regina, SK) and the management group, which includes Peter Anholt (Naicam, SK/Lethbridge, WHL) and Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, BC), with support from Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), director of hockey operations, and player development coach Scott Walker (Cambridge, ON/Guelph, OHL). Head coach Dave Cameron (Kinkora, PE/Ottawa, OHL) and assistant coaches Mike Johnston (Dartmouth, NS/Portland, WHL), Chris Lazary (Toronto, ON/Saginaw, OHL) and Sylvain Favreau (Orleans, ON/Drummondville, QMJHL), as well as goaltending consultant Dan De Palma (Kamloops, BC/Kamloops, WHL), also provided input.

This is direct fromt he team Canada website. It clearly states that the team is selected by Al Murray, Peter Anholt, and Brett Seabrook with support from Scott Salmond, Benoit Roy, and Scott Walker. The coaches provide “input.” Ultimately, the team is selected by Al Murray Peter Anholt and Brent Seabrook. They are responsible for the selections. Of course, they listen to others in the group but at the end of the day, no coach has the ultimate decision on any players. CLEARLY, you can understand this, correct?

Additionally, we do not know how they choose to select the team and whether it is based on. A certain strategy with each player playing a very specific role or whether there are groups of players that play a general role.

I have openly admitted that the way they select the roster is massively flawed. IMO, with the fact they can select at least 14 forwards, there is no reason to select more than 4 defence first players. In fact, I would select two! This is because there will be offensive players that clearly are capable defensively as well. I think the team goes way overboard with overthinking the team selections.

All that said, Pinelli is a player that scored 48 goals as an 18 year old last year. He will score around 35 this year with an Ottawa team that doesn’t have a natural centre! He is a very good trigger man. IMO, he is a great 13 forward that can be a first unit PP guy and replace an under-performing top 6 winger when necessary. That is the role I saw him playing. Senneke is unrefined. Same with Misa. I really like them both as prospects. But, they are younger and this tourney really is designed for 19 year olds. Next year is their year. In fact, I could say the same about Beaudoin. Misa plays pond hockey in Saginaw. It is a reason why Parekh didn’t get a nod either. They don’t play hockey in a responsible system.

Taking too many guys that are multi-tooled is a mistake for that team. Jack of all trades guys aren’t what wins those tourney’s. You take the Big Bang and Crash guys to go out and stir up some havoc and then take high skill guys that are speedy and can score goals. Taking 6 two-way forwards is dumb. One thing you can say about Pinelli is he is an offence first player that is fine coming back defensively but he’s not putting anyone on their ass. Not his job.

So, this wasn’t a situation where Pinelli made the team over others. This is a situation where about 6 guys made the team over others. It is disingenuous and unfair to simply point at Pinelli who has had a high level of success as an elite scorer while ignoring the overall strategy of those that selected the full roster. ADDITIONALLY, Cameron doesn’t have the authority to select players in a vacuum. He can make a recommendation, yes. But, there is a group of guys above him that are ultimately responsible for selecting the team. Why have a management team and a head scout etc and then allow the coaches to pick the team? The management group is there specifically for strategy and player selection. Coaches are there to implement their system and get the most out of the players they are given.

Again, it is infuriating to single out Pinelli as “the one guy” to blame for others not being on the team (or others on the team miscast) just because Cameron happens to be his coach on the club team. There were a ton of dumb as F decisions made. I can accept an argument that maybe another player should have been there but I think you need to go through at least four other guys to replace before you fall on Pinelli. One for sure being Beaudoin. Another being Rehkopf. You can probably add Howe, Cataford, and Gauthier to the list as well. IMO, Pinelli is a pure sniper type of scorer. Had they loaded that team up with playmakers and scorers and played a high tempo puck possession game, it woudl have been a different scorer.

HOWEVER, if the coaches plan was to dump and chase and play “don’t score on me” hockey, then Pinelli should not have been selected by the management group. He’s not a dump and chase guy. May as well have filled the roster with hammer heads. Dump and chase for guys like Rehkopf, Ritchie, Cowan, Pinelli, McKenna etc is just a dumb as F way to play that tourney. In taht regard, I 100% agree Pinelli should not have been selected but then again, neither should half of the puck possession guys.

Thank you!

 

[OMG67]

Question what would you think of Zenon coming to coach or assistant

Love that guy. Not sure if that is a good or bad idea. I honestly could not say either way. Although, I will say that his drive and leadership would be a welcome addition. On a personal level, I would be happy to see him in an assistant coach role to start and see where it leads.

I do lot think there is an Ottawa 67s player from the last 25 years that embodies exactly what level of sacrifice is required to make it in hockey that is better than ZK! And I don’t say that lightly. That kid was nothing but a ball of drive and determination. He deserves all the good things that have happened to him in his hockey career.

 

[frontsfan67]

So, this is not on Dave Cameron selecting Pinelli. One could make that argument but that is so far down the list of issues that plagued that team. So far down in fact that one cannot even argue it IMO. You don’t have a basis from which to make the argument because Canada has so many players to choose from with relatively little to differentiate them. We can have the same discussion every year. The only difference is this year Team Canada didn’t win so player selection becomes a focus.

Had this team had a better coaching staff to craft a better system, and adjust when things weren’t working, the players on that team would have won a silver medal and maybe challenged for a Gold. Had the player mix been different, they’d have won a silver medal and challenged for Gold. Team USA (on paper) was better than any configuration Team Canada could come up with. But, because you have to play the games, Canada would always have a chance. Simply pointing to Pinelli and saying that Dave Cameron brought his guy and it cost this team is ridiculous in the face of all the other tactical issues. It is insulting to the player and completely unnecessary considering they lost to Latvia, a team with maybe one or two CHL players and none playing top 6 or top 4 roles for their CHL Teams. Players that wouldn’t have been in line to make Team Canada’s 14th iteration of a team. You could literally chew through Canada’s top 200 Major Junior players and then select a team and that team should beat Latvia. Yet, it was DC selecting Pinelli when he isn’t the person selecting the team. Right. Gotcha.

Never said Pinelli was the problem but you wanted me to list players and I did exactly that. Can’t get mad at that. Pinelli never should’ve been taken along with Tanner Howe too they shouldn’t have even got a sniff at the team over others after not being good defensively and not being good enough offensively to truly make a difference (or make the players that play around them better)

Can twist it however you want. Point still stands if DC wasn’t head coach- Pinelli likely doesn’t get consideration. The head coach of team Canada will get way more say and power than some random Joe blow or an assistant coach like Lazary for example with Misa/Parekh.

Again. Not shitting on Pinelli but I am using him as my example.

It’s the equivalent of if Mann was the coach of team Canada and brings Battaglia/Burns because there is some familiarity. Are they good junior players that play on his team? Yes. Should they be on team Canada? NO. Also to top it all off the tournament was in Ottawa for gods sake.

 

[OMG67]

Never said Pinelli was the problem but you wanted me to list players and I did exactly that. Can’t get mad at that. Pinelli never should’ve been taken along with Tanner Howe too they shouldn’t have even got a sniff at the team over others after not being good defensively and not being good enough offensively to truly make a difference (or make the players that play around them better)

Can twist it however you want. Point still stands if DC wasn’t head coach- Pinelli likely doesn’t get consideration. The head coach of team Canada will get way more say and power than some random Joe blow or an assistant coach like Lazary for example with Misa/Parekh.

Again. Not shitting on Pinelli but I am using him as my example.

It’s the equivalent of if Mann was the coach of team Canada and brings Battaglia/Burns because there is some familiarity. Are they good junior players that play on his team? Yes. Should they be on team Canada? NO. Also to top it all off the tournament was in Ottawa for gods sake.

Again, DC has input but doesn’t make the roster decisions. The coaches get input. That’s it. There is a reason why they have a large management team and the responsibility lies with others to make the final selections. Flippantly tossing out a snide remark is disingenuous at minimum and insulting at maximum.

Pinelli is an elite scorer in the OHL and was deserving of a camp invite. All players that receive a camp invite are on the radar at minimum. As previously stated, there are always around 30 players more than qualified to be named to the team annually. This discussion about player selection happens every year for a reason and it’s not because of nepotism. It is because Canada has an over abundance of highly qualified players.

When you state what you stated how you stated it, you are effectively insinuating that Pinelli was only selected because of DC. That is not true. That may be an opinion (a bad one) but it is at best an opinion. As stated publicly by Team Canada, DC is far down the list when it comes to selecting the roster. He is not entitled to hand pick anyone. Maybe he stood up in the room on the Final Cut day, stumped around ranting and raving for Pinelli and threatened to walk out of the room and off the bench entirely, but even if he did that, he still doesn’t have the authority to select players. Others with the responsibility still need to respect his input enough to forgo other players that in their opinion are more deserving and capable for the players he wanted.

Now, I am 100% on board with Pinelli being a bad decision with the caveat that I didn’t expect the team to play dump and chase hockey; however, half the team was the worong decision when that is the system in place. You don’t take puck possession players and ask them to play dump and chase and cycle down low. On top of that, they took less mobile D-Men specifically to retrieve pucks the hard way. They didn’t take the right D-Men for puck possession strategy. IT was all crazy.

Had Team Canada played a puck possession style of game, Pinelli (and many others) would have been far more successful. Pinelli is that perfect 13th forward that comes out when you need to add a scorer onto a line not clicking and to key on the PP. I honestly thought that is where he would have been best suited. I would agree that nepotism likely favoured Pinelli with respect to him playing with McKenna and Catton. I also agree that there are other elite scorers and playmakers that should have been named to that team to go three lines deep (plus Pinelli as the extra forward) for scoring instead of two lines of scoring and two lines of defence (or goal prevention). I can get on board with that. But to simply dismiss Pinelli as ONLY a DC player is disingenuous and insulting. At worst he is on par with others and his performance this year on a horrid Ottawa team that dresses 12 wingers every night is evidence of that, not to mention his 48 goals last year on a DC team that stresses defence and goal prevention first. It is not like he plays on a pond hockey team in Saginaw padding his stats and not having the slightest clue what the name of the goalie is.

 

[frontsfan67]

you are very very biased. No point in arguing any more my head hurts. If you can’t see that Pinelli was a bad choice over others that seems to be a you problem. Im done reading and writing books regarding a difference in opinion.

 

[ScoutLife4]

Pinelli was a biased choice.
He is not a top 6 forward in the country like DC played him.
He is not one of the best wingers in the country aged 16-20.

There were better choices and everyone knows that. I think there could be an argument made that he could be the 13th forward.

They assembled a team poorly and made multiple selection mistakes.
If anything Pinelli still looked better then expected but was not the reason they lost.
I’d put this on the shoulders of DC for how badly he coached this team and Scott Salmond and his selection cronies for poorly constructing it.

Hopefully for the 67 fans sake they cut the dinosaur free and go in a different direction.
I spoke to several parents of players on the team a couple weeks ago and it’s not a happy / good situation right now.
I feel like you need to take more of a new school approach to replacing staff and improving leadership, morale, systems.
This could very well be worse then Peterborough this year for you guys next year if major changes are not made.

 

[OMG67]

Pinelli was a biased choice.
He is not a top 6 forward in the country like DC played him.
He is not one of the best wingers in the country aged 16-20.

There were better choices and everyone knows that. I think there could be an argument made that he could be the 13th forward.

They assembled a team poorly and made multiple selection mistakes.
If anything Pinelli still looked better then expected but was not the reason they lost.
I’d put this on the shoulders of DC for how badly he coached this team and Scott Salmond and his selection cronies for poorly constructing it.

Hopefully for the 67 fans sake they cut the dinosaur free and go in a different direction.
I spoke to several parents of players on the team a couple weeks ago and it’s not a happy / good situation right now.
I feel like you need to take more of a new school approach to replacing staff and improving leadership, morale, systems.
This could very well be worse then Peterborough this year for you guys next year if major changes are not made.

Where he played may have been biased. I can agree with that. Even I suggest he should have been the prototypical 13th forward that is the sniper type player on the PP and a player that subs in if a top scorer is underperforming. At camp I thought he was 50-50 to get that role. When I remembered they actually name 14 forwards (one reserve) I figured he was likely a selection. I remember us discussing it a couple minutes prior to the team being named and I said I thought he was 50-50 on that last spot. That 13th forward quite often ends up playing a key role as that next guy up player and under notmal circumstances, Pinelli could have played that role well.

That said, had the team played a puck control system, I think he would have been fine. He excels in a puck control system. Asking him to chase down pucks in the corner with a 16 year old forward on the other wing was just plain stupid on Cameron. They aren’t going to win puck battles down low on dump ins. That also suits players like McKenna, Catton, Nadeau, Rehkopf, Ritchie, etc.

This whole fiasco is more on poor strategy, lack of willingness to adjust the game plan, and players playing roles that did not suit their skill set. Your summary is pretty much spot on.

The deadline was a fiasco as well. It showed poor leadership on behalf of Boyd. Very disappointing that he was so weak at the deadline as to not manage the situations better. This was his first real shot at a rebuild opportunity after getting multiple opportunities to be a buyer and falling short. His inability to get anything of significance done at the deadline is pretty much inexcusable. I think it has left the fanbase and the players with a sense of a lack of direction. Where that leads as we approach the offseason is not fully understood. I think it will take a lot of player parents voicing their concerns up the line to the OSEG President for there to be serious change considered. I think the 67’s operate in a bit of a cocoon with major focus placed on the Red Blacks over the 67s. Maybe a full court press by parents will make a difference.

I cannot see a change announced prior to the Priority Selection unless they are willing to retain Egert and drop it in his hands which is a possibility but as Director of Scouting, is he the right guy to lead in charge? I am not close enough to the inside to really judge. A part of me would rather see them clear house and start completely fresh. Let the new GM bring in his own guys top down.

 

[beastintheeast]

Where he played may have been biased. I can agree with that. Even I suggest he should have been the prototypical 13th forward that is the sniper type player on the PP and a player that subs in if a top scorer is underperforming. At camp I thought he was 50-50 to get that role. When I remembered they actually name 14 forwards (one reserve) I figured he was likely a selection. I remember us discussing it a couple minutes prior to the team being named and I said I thought he was 50-50 on that last spot. That 13th forward quite often ends up playing a key role as that next guy up player and under notmal circumstances, Pinelli could have played that role well.

That said, had the team played a puck control system, I think he would have been fine. He excels in a puck control system. Asking him to chase down pucks in the corner with a 16 year old forward on the other wing was just plain stupid on Cameron. They aren’t going to win puck battles down low on dump ins. That also suits players like McKenna, Catton, Nadeau, Rehkopf, Ritchie, etc.

This whole fiasco is more on poor strategy, lack of willingness to adjust the game plan, and players playing roles that did not suit their skill set. Your summary is pretty much spot on.

I know we have hashed this but who it is that sets the system? Who is it the sets the lines? Who is it that makes decisons on the bench. THE COACH We can say he didnot have the best playrs and we can argue if Pinelli should have been on the team BUT the bottom line was that the coach got out coached and out played by every team he played. the pat 2 years.

The deadline was a fiasco as well. It showed poor leadership on behalf of Boyd. Very disappointing that he was so weak at the deadline as to not manage the situations better. This was his first real shot at a rebuild opportunity after getting multiple opportunities to be a buyer and falling short. His inability to get anything of significance done at the deadline is pretty much inexcusable. I think it has left the fanbase and the players with a sense of a lack of direction. Where that leads as we approach the offseason is not fully understood. I think it will take a lot of player parents voicing their concerns up the line to the OSEG President for there to be serious change considered. I think the 67’s operate in a bit of a cocoon with major focus placed on the Red Blacks over the 67s. Maybe a full court press by parents will make a difference.

I am starting to think and this off season will prove me right or wrong that the 67's are only still in Ottawa because in order to get Lansdowne OSEG had to give the city comething and the 67 and brining in a pro football team wre those parts. Also once everything is said and done they are going to need somethig to write off some of the profits.

Jeff Hunt bult a fan base I do not think he was the genius that people thought but OK. Then he decides that he wants to go bigger and joins a group called OSEG and they hire people that are so so at best.

Again and I may be wrong but i see a lot of Springer group in the OSEG operation. Springer wanted to be part of a new arena that would bring in more people for his DOWNTOWN HOTELS and family businesses.

He was mentored by Mav to start and learned from Mav. Good coaches came in once in a while but have left with no back up or plan. The team under Mav and Springer drafted what they could get in the first rund did not develop them and traded them to get an OA or player that would add enouogh to the team to get them into the play offs or show the fans that they were trying. Then they hire a young coach that has prospects some of the players love him and some hate him and want out. They bring in a new coach who works with the GM and they get rid of the players tht loved the coach and did not want to change.

Please tell me that doesnot sound like Ottawa and explain wher it is wrong.

I cannot see a change announced prior to the Priority Selection unless they are willing to retain Egert and drop it in his hands which is a possibility but as Director of Scouting, is he the right guy to lead in charge? I am not close enough to the inside to really judge. A part of me would rather see them clear house and start completely fresh. Let the new GM bring in his own guys top down.

They need to announce the change of coach and the new coach before the draft as players are not going to want ot be here if DC is still the coach. We are gong to be drafting highly skilled players this year and as I have said teh first rounders allwill have NHL in their eyes and as a forward to get noticed you need to score goals and be an offensive threat playing regularly in the position you were drafted or have played.

DC does not allow rookies to play and definitley does not allow forwards especially centers to play their position let alone get ice time.

If a player wants to go NCAA are they going to choose the USHL which is the NCAA USNTDP system so that they are ready or are they gong to choose DC?