Ottawa 67's 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[beastintheeast]

Ottawa came out on the losing end tonight but that was a super entertaining game to watch. Real playoff style game.

Agree with a lot of what has been said. I am starting to get more annoyed with Boyd leaving us short that one additional player again especially with an open Import slot sitting there. That one player could be making all the difference.

I am still not sure what difference in the overall picture 1 player would make nor what we would have to give up for that one player.

Unless Hunters all die or something the M CUP will be Sag, London Qmjhl and WHL.
One forward would not make us the top team in the conference.

We have a 2nd string goalie and a weak defence.

We have a first line that is under 5'10 and can score but has not learned the word defence.

It is great to say Boyd should have done this or Boyd should have done that, BUT there has to be a player available and a deal that makes sense.

 

[OMG67]

I am still not sure what difference in the overall picture 1 player would make nor what we would have to give up for that one player.

Unless Hunters all die or something the M CUP will be Sag, London Qmjhl and WHL.
One forward would not make us the top team in the conference.

We have a 2nd string goalie and a weak defence.

We have a first line that is under 5'10 and can score but has not learned the word defence.

It is great to say Boyd should have done this or Boyd should have done that, BUT there has to be a player available and a deal that makes sense.

What would the difference be had we not acquired Kressler? One player can kick start two other players. That is the point. If we had the right winger to play with Maillet, maybe he isn’t inconsequential. It gives us an entire new productive line.

Who cares what the cost would be. We already traded our 1st (HB). It is not like they were trading either of last year’s firsts. All it would be is more draft picks and a marginal player or two. Would anyone care if we had traded any of Korbler, Dever, Kelly, Ewles, Smyth, Horner, Brady, Hilton or Barlas If it meant acquiring a Quality veteran winger?

 

[NordiquesForeva]

A few thoughts/observations on last night’s game:
- NB caused several turnovers at the blue line by sniffing out those long D to D passes…why did the 67s keep going back to that play after the first odd man rush or breakaway that resulted? Puzzling…
- Michelone was good. A more athletic goalie might have had the second goal, maybe not. But you can’t lay blame there as he made some big saves throughout the game. That was a brutal turnover by Mayich but the guy has been tremendous for us recently so I’ll give him a break on this one. Mistakes happen.
- Smyth had a poor game. Not coincidentally it was the first game in a while he wasn't paired with Sirman. Not sure why Cameron messed with the D pairings that had been working (aside from the Kingston game).
- The team plays better when the bench is shortened and the better players get loaded up with ice time. When we started seeing Kressler and Pinelli every second shift, we started controlling the play. Cameron should give Stonehouse a good look with those two…anything to get him going.
- The 3rd period is a good example of why we needed another goal scorer. Lots of prime opportunities but difficulty finding the back of the net. Goal scoring is instinctual in some cases and I find some of our players lack the understanding of where they need to be to shovel in rebounds or bury tip plays in front of the net. Man alone in front of the net in the final minutes and right into DVV’s pads where a simple deke would have been a goal.
- What’s Foster been up to? He’s been very quiet recently.

Overall NB is a very good team but beatable. I liked Ottawa’s push back in the 2nd and 3rd last night and I thought they’d tie it up. By the way where was that effort against Kingston? Family day game against NB again this year. We beat them last year in OT on a Matier goal.

 

[beastintheeast]

What would the difference be had we not acquired Kressler? One player can kick start two other players. That is the point. If we had the right winger to play with Maillet, maybe he isn’t inconsequential. It gives us an entire new productive line.

Who cares what the cost would be. We already traded our 1st (HB). It is not like they were trading either of last year’s firsts. All it would be is more draft picks and a marginal player or two. Would anyone care if we had traded any of Korbler, Dever, Kelly, Ewles, Smyth, Horner, Brady, Hilton or Barlas If it meant acquiring a Quality veteran winger?

 

[beastintheeast]

Where I think we differ is you look at the team now and want to be the top in the east no matter what the cost.

No matter if we traded for a winger. The chances of getting a top 19 year old is niot great BUT Let's say we do What do we hae a first line that is better The other lines are still mediocre at best and we lose a player that could be important next year.

OKAY forget about next year. How far do you think this team will go as it stands if it had a star winger to play with the midgets.

Would we win the east?
Would we win the OHL title, because that is the only way we get to the cup.

What we do lose is a couple of draft spaces that would give us more choiice.

I am pretty ceertain that if Boyd felt that he could get the right piece for the right cost he would have done it.

Why is there always we should have
we would have IF

Add to that story with this. The draft is over, and we ended up drafting instead of the 10th and 16th. With the 14th pick a team drafts a 6' center that turns out to be a stud ande Korbler has an outstanding season..

Then people will be complaining about the fact that we could have had him if we had not traded away just to get a few more home games.

 

[AGranderson]

I would be throwing this out tonight
Pinelli-Kressler-Stonehouse
Gerrior-Foster-Dever
Barlas-Gardiner-Kelly
Horner-Malliet-Korbler

 

[beastintheeast]

I would be throwing this out tonight
Pinelli-Kressler-Stonehouse
Gerrior-Foster-Dever
Barlas-Gardiner-Kelly
Horner-Malliet-Korbler

You don't trade for an OA and then put him on the 4th line. If that is what you think of him then release him. The 4th line should be a development line . I would rather see them put Whitehead and Korbler with Horner or Hilton if he is still around.

 

[AGranderson]

You don't trade for an OA and then put him on the 4th line. If that is what you think of him then release him. The 4th line should be a development line . I would rather see them put Whitehead and Korbler with Horner or Hilton if he is still around.

No you sit him on the 4th line and give him limited minutes for a game or two then bring him back into it in hopes his compete level has changed because as of right now he’s just coasting through the motions & doesn’t deserve much more

 

[beastintheeast]

No you sit him on the 4th line and give him limited minutes for a game or two then bring him back into it in hopes his compete level has changed because as of right now he’s just coasting through the motions & doesn’t deserve much more

If that is your reason then put him in the stands until you see a change in practice

 

[PuckStop75]

If that is your reason then put him in the stands until you see a change in practice

You can’t build lines and chemistry from the stands or even in practice for that matter. This is a kid who has demonstrated the ability to play at a high level. It is on the coach to put him in a scenario where that is achieved. They still keep shuffling these garbage lines around behind the top line instead of just assembling the best 2nd line available. Before the deadline Gardiner was on the top line, with the added depth he slides to the 2nd line and should be with Maillet as an almost equivalent playing partner.

 

[beastintheeast]

LIne chemistry is different than changing compete level.

Compete level means that the player is not hustling or doing what the coaches want.

Line chemistry is a case of players playing as hard as they can but not gelling.

LIne chemistry starts in practice and in the dressing room. Then it gets put on the ice.

Players who do not want to compete do not get ice time when there are players who can develop and will give you their left or right testicles for ice time.

 

[PuckStop75]

LIne chemistry is different than changing compete level.

Compete level means that the player is not hustling or doing what the coaches want.

Line chemistry is a case of players playing as hard as they can but not gelling.

LIne chemistry starts in practice and in the dressing room. Then it gets put on the ice.

Players who do not want to compete do not get ice time when there are players who can develop and will give you their left or right testicles for ice time.

this isn’t about effort, they are putting this kid out on the 2nd line with a fourth line winger and D playing forward and expecting a miracle. The kid needs players who can play at his level.

 

[beastintheeast]

No you sit him on the 4th line and give him limited minutes for a game or two then bring him back into it in hopes his compete level has changed because as of right now he’s just coasting through the motions & doesn’t deserve much more

this isn’t about effort, they are putting this kid out on the 2nd line with a fourth line winger and D playing forward and expecting a miracle. The kid needs players who can play at his level.

Puckstop, as you can see, Granderson was talking about him just coasting and going through the motions. That has nothing to do with line chemistry.

It is about whether he is working hard. There have been many stars in the league that were put with others so that they could help build them.

What we are talking about is if a player is not playing full out, you do not award him. You sit him.

If there are not any players that he is capable of playing with then maybe that is on the GM and coaches.

 

[PuckStop75]

Puckstop, as you can see, Granderson was talking about him just coasting and going through the motions. That has nothing to do with line chemistry.

It is about whether he is working hard. There have been many stars in the league that were put with others so that they could help build them.

What we are talking about is if a player is not playing full out, you do not award him. You sit him.

If there are not any players that he is capable of playing with then maybe that is on the GM and coaches.

I can see how Maillet is playing, Putting him with the same players and calling it the 4th line instead of the 2nd line isn’t the solution. They didn’t trade for the top 6 RW so now they have to use Gardiner in that position if they want a 2nd scoring line.

 

[OMG67]

I can see how Maillet is playing, Putting him with the same players and calling it the 4th line instead of the 2nd line isn’t the solution. They didn’t trade for the top 6 RW so now they have to use Gardiner in that position if they want a 2nd scoring line.

I agree with this. We will need to find a way to develop that second scoring line and then a more traditional defensive 3rd line.

Pinelli - Kressler - Stonehouse
Foster - Maillet - Gardiner
Gerrior - Barlas - Dever

I’m not a fan of Barlas at centre, especially if he’s top 9 but both Gerrior and Dever are good defensive players and that line could be a good puck pursuit type line. They aren’t heavy by any means but they have some quickness and can be very pesky/. They’d have problems against bigger lines with speed but there aren’t many of those in the league so they’d be good enough most of the time.

If the Foster, Maillet, and Gardiner line could produce offence then it may be a good trade off.

 

[ecraigs]

Getting down 3-0 in NB and then trying to make the big comeback is not much of a strategy. Wednesday was a stinker, Friday was better in the third period. As for other stinkers since the deadline, the Owen Sound debacle comes to mind. 5-1 lead early in the third and 5-6 loss in OT? Absolutely brutal.

I don't expect them to win every game and I've seen a lot of indifferent performances before, but this team is really hard to figure out. The coaching should be top notch, but now I'm not so sure.

The goaltending is a mystery to me. Is MacKenzie robust enough? It seems that he's been out a lot over the years here. His minutes played are pretty low for a starter, but some of that comes from having two relatively equal goalies. Michelone was acquired to be a backup, but I would much prefer to see Nelson playing more. Let's find out what he's got.

OK, I'm done now. Carry on.

 

[OMG67]

Getting down 3-0 in NB and then trying to make the big comeback is not much of a strategy. Wednesday was a stinker, Friday was better in the third period. As for other stinkers since the deadline, the Owen Sound debacle comes to mind. 5-1 lead early in the third and 5-6 loss in OT? Absolutely brutal.

I don't expect them to win every game and I've seen a lot of indifferent performances before, but this team is really hard to figure out. The coaching should be top notch, but now I'm not so sure.

The goaltending is a mystery to me. Is MacKenzie robust enough? It seems that he's been out a lot over the years here. His minutes played are pretty low for a starter, but some of that comes from having two relatively equal goalies. Michelone was acquired to be a backup, but I would much prefer to see Nelson playing more. Let's find out what he's got.

OK, I'm done now. Carry on.

I’m not 100% sure what the rules are on Nelson being a 16 year old. There may be some issues where they feel it is better for everyone that he plays more in Navan and they allow Michelone to play the bulk of the minutes. We don’t have many 3 in 3’s so it sort of works but you have to think fatigue may set in at some point. It is not like Michelone is used to playing prime minutes. That may become an issue.

They did go down 3-0 but the first two were on the PP. Unfortunate of course. The third one was the one I was pissy about. You cannot leave that area of the ice vacant. They tend to have a heavy puck pursuit in the offensive zone but you cannot do that in the neutral zone. The made a heavy push on the right side boards and left the left side wide open for a pass and they paid the price.

I do feel they played very well in the 2nd and 3rd. In the first they let NB come at them too much. They didn’t assert themselves. It is sort of like they are tentative in games where they play teams that are better. It takes them too long to get comfortable about pushing.

I really liked the pushback on the scoreboard as well as physically. There is no doubt they took more punishment than they dished out but they took all the punishment and popped right back up and into the play. Essentially they did enough where they let NB know they couldn’t’ simply push them around with not push back which is good.

Last night was a great game from a learning experience. They can play with any team but they need the confidence to do so right from the first puck drop. We get a crack at NB again on Monday afternoon. To me, that is the most important game on their remaining schedule. A win in that game shows they learned something and made a correction.

 

[mianjo]

67's up 1-0


GOAL
#25 Brad Gardiner (12) scores. 1st 6:23

1-1

2-1 after 1

 

[Larionov]

So how long has MacKenzie been out for at this point - five weeks? For an injury that was originally supposed to be day to day, that's a heck of a stretch.

Also, I hate to pick on just two kids, but it sure strikes me that we were expecting Mews and Marrelli to take a bigger step this year than they have. Progress is never linear, and sometimes kids just take off in their D+1 or D+2 years instead, but there was chatter at the beginning of the year that both these kids could be first round picks. Now it feels like Mews has fallen to the second round, and Marrelli to the third or fourth. It sure would be nice to see these two turn it up a notch in the next month and into the playoffs...

 

[mianjo]

2-2

GOAL
#20 Luca Pinelli (37) scores.POWER PLAY

 

[mianjo]

2-2 after 2

SHOTS ON GOAL

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
OTT	19	16	0	35
BAR	16	7	0	23

 

[mianjo]

67;s lead 3-2

GOAL
#24 Kimi Körbler (5) scores. Assists: #6 Thomas Sirman, #28 Caden KellyG 3rd 9:21

4-2

GOAL
#20 Luca Pinelli (38) scores. EMPTY NET 3rd 18:49


4-3


67's win 4-3

SHOTS ON GOAL

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
OTT	19	16	18	53
BAR	16	7	3	26

THIRD
#20 Luca Pinelli C
G 2A 0+/- +1Ottawa

 

[beastintheeast]

If this team wants to play it can. It just has to want to play a full 60 that seems to be hard these days.

 

[OMG67]

OK. SO. I have a little bone to pick here. I give Cameron the benefit of the doubt a lot. I don’t really point many fingers but I am starting to get a little irritated.

After we go up 4-2 with the empty net goal, he puts the 4th line on the ice with Smyth and Mayer. I am ok with Korbler and Barlas out there as wingers int he last minute to protect the lead and bring the game home. But, Barlas at centre and those D-Men plus Kelly is unacceptable judgement. Absolutely unacceptable.

Additionally, why Stonehouse is sitting on the 4th line is ridiculous. The lines of 2nd through 4th are pretty much balanced. Why? He will make a change here and there during the game but this team gets off to slow starts and lacklustre 1st periods. Why do you think that is? IT IS BECAUSE HIS LINES ARE STUPID AF AND HE ISN’T GIVING THEM A CHANCE TO ASSERT.

 

[OMG67]

So how long has MacKenzie been out for at this point - five weeks? For an injury that was originally supposed to be day to day, that's a heck of a stretch.

Also, I hate to pick on just two kids, but it sure strikes me that we were expecting Mews and Marrelli to take a bigger step this year than they have. Progress is never linear, and sometimes kids just take off in their D+1 or D+2 years instead, but there was chatter at the beginning of the year that both these kids could be first round picks. Now it feels like Mews has fallen to the second round, and Marrelli to the third or fourth. It sure would be nice to see these two turn it up a notch in the next month and into the playoffs...

In fairness, no one that matters had Marrelli anywhere near the first round. He isn’t a significant NHL type prospect. Mews was always a late first rounder and he’ has slipped for sure. His defence has not improved and he makes poor decisions with the puck. However, he is just under a point per game as a 17 year old D-Man. That is impressive. I give him credit for his ability to generate offence. Unfortunately, he is only a +2 so his 5 on 5 play is mostly inconsequential. He gives up as much as he takes.

I don’t know what to say about MacK. It is very unfortunate but groin injuries for goalies can be a really difficult injury. At this point, I think they need to ensure he is 100% before he returns. We need him healthy for the playoffs.