The Ottawa 67′s will look to put a full team effort in this weekend as they play 3 games in 4 days.  Shane Prince was a star last weekend as the 67′s split games with Peterborough (losing 5-3) and Belleville (winning 6-1).

They open the weekend with a road trip to exact some revenge on the Pete’s, then returning home for a pair of encounters, one against a divisional rival and one against a Western Conference opponent who make their only visit of the season.

OTTAWA 67′s @ PETERBOROUGH PETES (Thur. Jan. 19th, 7:00 PM;  ROGERS 22 & 580 CFRA)

The 67′s had a sub-par effort in last Friday’s tilt against the very same Petes club in a 5-3 loss.  They will be looking to avoid repeating the performance, and win the opener to what is hopefully a successful season.

OSHAWA GENERALS @ OTTAWA 67′s (Fri. Jan 20th, 7:30 PM,  ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

The last time these two teams met just prior to Christmas, both clubs were without some star players who were at World Junior camps.  The 67′s were without Shane Prince and Petr Mrazek, while the Generals were missing Boone Jenner and Nicklas Jensen.  Ottawa scored 3 third period goals to come back and defeat the Generals 5-3, on the back of 38 saves from Michael Nishi.

Oshawa is in a dogfight to get into the playoffs, as they trail 8th place Belleville by 3 points.

KITCHENER RANGERS @ OTTAWA 67′s (SUN. JAN 22nd, 2:00 PM, ROGERS 22 & 580 CFRA)

Ottawa and Kitchener meet up for the 2nd and final time this season as the Rangers make their only stop at J Benson Cartage Centre for a Sunday afternoon matchup.  Ottawa used 4 point games from Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli to defeat the Rangers 6-3 on their home ice in late October, and will be looking to defend their home ice in a better fashion than Kitchener did.

The Rangers are led by Carolina Hurricanes’ draft pick Ryan Murphy, who has missed time after suffering a concussion on a devastating elbow earlier in the season. Murphy has struggled offensively this season, but put up almost 1/4 of his 18 points this season in his last game (1G, 3A) against Kingston.  The Rangers’ leading scorer is German-born Tobias Reider, who has 38 points in 34 games this season.   Another player to watch is 18 year old Radek Faksa, who was a teammate of Petr Mrazek on the Czech Republic World Junior team and is expected to be a first round pick in this summer’s NHL draft.

Kitchener will be playing their third road game in three days for this one, after stops in Kingston (Friday) and Belleville (Saturday).

The Rangers knocked the 67′s out of the top 10 CHL rankings this week, moving into the 10th spot while Ottawa fell to “honourable mention” status.  They enter the weekend tied with 57 points, so it should be a very good matchup.

OTHER NOTES:

Tyler Toffoli sits tied for first spot in OHL scoring with (fittingly enough) 67 points.  Barrie’s Tanner Pearson is also at 67 points, with Sarnia’s Charles Sarault one point back.  Sean Monahan has moved up to 5th, and Shane Prince has crept into the top 14.

The newcomers, Mike Cazzola (2G, 3A, 5PTS in 2 games) and John McFarland (1G, 2A, 3PTS in 4 games) have given the 67′s a solid 1-1A line where on any given night the trio of Toffli-Monahan-Smith could be the best line, while on other nights the Prince-Cazzola-McFarland could have the honour.

Peter Mrazek has brought some of the swagger he showed in Calgary back to the 67′s, as he has gone 2-1 with a 1.67 GAA and .948 SP since his return.    Original backup Shayne Campbell has been given the green light to return to duty with the team and creates a three goalie system (along with Michael Nishi) that is very strong, allowing Mrazek to be able to stay fresh for the playoffs.  I don’t know how Chris Byrne will work the backup situation once Campbell is ready for game action, but a Nishi-Campbell duo for next season already looks promising.

Hope to see you at the games this weekend!