Adamo Marinelli
January 18, 2022
Before the pandemic abruptly ended the 2019-20 OHL season, the Ottawa 67’s had a ton of talent all over their roster and sat comfortably in first place in the OHL standings after 62 games with an incredible record of 50-11-1 under highly regarded and esteemed head coach André Tourigny, who is now the head coach for the Arizona Coyotes. They led the league in scoring with 296 goals scored and had the fewest goals against with 164.
The 67’s were well on their way to not only finishing first in the league, but they were also huge favourites to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup, awarded to the winner of the OHL playoffs but they were also strong contenders for the Memorial Cup.
However, on March 12, 2020, with six games still remaining on their schedule, the season was postponed due to COVID-19 and was never finished.
The 2020-21 OHL season was cancelled due to COVID-19. It would be almost a year and a half until the 67’s took the ice again in September of 2021 for training camp.
A few weeks before they returned to the ice, the 67s brought in Dave Cameron to become the 10th head coach in franchise history after Tourigny left to pursue opportunities in the NHL. Cameron had previous head coaching experience in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators and has proved to be a leader and a great coach, especially on offense.
Despite having a roster that has seen a lot of turnover compared to their roster from 2019-20, the 67’s still have a lot of talent and depth on both sides of the puck. Under Cameron’s guidance, the 67’s are having a solid season, with a 15-17-2 record, good enough for seventh in the Eastern Conference. However, they’re only 6 points back of the third-place Hamilton Bulldogs, who are 17-9-4. However, the Bulldogs do have 4 games in hand.
So far this season, the 67’s have a well-balanced attack. They can move the puck well, generate shots, chances, and score goals. At the beginning of the season, the 67’s could score goals and generate offense at will. They got the puck into their offensive zone quickly, they moved the puck around nicely finding the open man for quality scoring chances and they took advantage of their scoring chances. They currently rank 12th in the OHL in goals scored with 101.
Key injuries to several key offensive players have limited their ability to score and create chances as of late. In their tough stretch in December, they didn’t capitalize on their chances and didn’t look like themselves on offense. They have a good special teams unit too. They scored 25 powerplay goals on 132 chances, clicking at 18.9% efficiency, the 13th best in the league. They are killing 75% of their penalties, which is good, but rank in the bottom 5 in the league. They’ve also scored four shorthanded goals, tied for 10th best in the league.
However, their defense and goaltending have not been as good as they have been in 2019-20. The 67’s rank third-worst in the OHL in goals-against with 128.
The 67’s started the season well, ending October with a 6-4 record. In that span, they showed their ability to score goals, recording 3 or more goals in all of their wins. However, in their four losses, they gave up 21 goals. The goalies couldn’t make key saves to keep their team in the game and the defensemen gave up too many shots on goal and couldn’t get out of their own zone.
In November, they started to struggle a bit, finishing with a 5-7 record. December is really where their season took a steep fall. In December, the 67’s went 2-8, including losing three games in a row and five games in a row on two separate occasions. In their 3 game losing streak, they gave up 12 goals and only scored 2. In their 5 game losing streak, they gave up 26 goals, only scored 9. You can’t win games when you don’t score and your defense isn’t perfect.
After not playing a game for two weeks due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the 67’s finally started 2022 strong after winning back-to-back games against Peterborough and Sudbury.
Despite their recent struggles and the large number of goals they give up, the 67’s have shown the ability to win close games; 7 of their 15 wins came by only one goal. Two more of their wins have been by two goals. They can win in offensive shootouts and close, low-scoring defensive games.
They’ve had stretches where they give up a lot of goals, scoring chances, and spend a lot of time in their own end, but for most of the season, they’ve played well defensively, been physical, won loose puck battles, controlled the neutral zone, limited their own zone time, shots on goal, goals against and increasing their offensive production using the counter-attack.
This is due to strong defensive and goaltender play, which has been good the majority of the season minus their abysmal month of December.
Granted, the 67’s have a young defensive core. Four of the eight starters are rookies. The rookies have been improving as the season went on and they are continuing to get mentored by the veterans on the roster, but with so many rookies, there will be points in the season where they give up a lot of goals, especially against top-tier talent in the OHL.
Their tough stretch in December where they lost 9 of 10 games can be partially blamed on poor play on both sides of the puck, but it can also be attributed to a tough schedule, a plethora of injuries, and players isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.
The 67’s are equally as talented on offense. Of their 15 forwards, 7 are rookies. All 7 rookies have unique skillsets, but Luca Pinelli, Chris Barlas, and Brady Stonehouse have all been the main contributors in different ways in their first season with the team.
Pinelli has slotted into an offensive role with the team, setting up his teammates and getting open for quality scoring chances. Goals haven’t come in bunches but he has a few. Barlas is a physical, gritty player that can win loose puck battles and control possession. He can create offense with his passing and shot, but it isn’t his first priority. Not to mention, the 67’s have plenty of talented veteran forwards - both playmakers and pure goal scorers - like Tyler Boucher, Steven Laforme, Thomas Johnston, Alex Johnston, Adam Varga, and Cameron Tolnai among many others.
Head coach Dave Cameron has always stressed the importance of having a next-man-up mentality, and how crucial it is for guys to step up in the other guys’ absences. For their tough stretch in December, it wasn’t really the case but otherwise, the team’s depth has really proven to be an asset that has helped them win games. In their 2 games so far in 2022 - as they still continue to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks and injuries - guys have stepped up for each other.
When fully healthy, this team can be dangerous on both sides of the puck. They also have two solid goalies in Will Cranley and Max Donoso. They aren’t as good as they were in 2019-20 when they were 1st place in the OHL and the best team in almost all statistical categories.
However, they are in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, only 3 games back of 3rd place. If they get fully healthy, they have the potential to go on a run, record a couple of long win streaks, and if that's the case it’s not difficult to imagine the 67’s not only making the OHL playoffs but also making a deep run in the playoffs too. The Memorial Cup is also a possibility. But, if they don't get fully healthy, it will be difficult for them to make the playoffs. I predict the 67s will finish 4th in the East, and advance to the semifinals before losing.
That would be a pretty good year for Dave Cameron in his first season as head coach. In future years, the players will improve and gain more experience and with time, Cameron will develop more chemistry with the team and potentially lead them further into the playoffs. Whatever happens this season, the future looks bright for the 67’s.
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