CAMPING OUT: With mix of veterans and promising youngsters, Ottawa 67's not looking too far ahead

'The strength of our team is going to be the word team. We're going to win more games through structure than we are through individual skill.'

Published Aug 31, 2024  •  4 minute read

Henry Mews, selected in the third round of this year's NHL Draft, will be one of the key returning players for the Ottawa 67's. Photo by Tim Austen /SUPPLIED

It’s much too early for coach Dave Cameron to talk about how the Ottawa 67’s stack up against the rest of the Ontario Hockey League teams.

There are so many intangibles, not only within the 67’s, but around the league. There are trades, injuries and younger players elevating themselves into prominent roles.

And, there always some surprises.

So, less than a week into training camp, Cameron says he’s happy with what he’s seen from a roster that’s got a solid core of veteran players and some exciting youngsters ready to contribute. But, there’s a lot of time between now and the start of the 67’s regular season – Sept. 27, at home, vs. the Niagara IceDogs.

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“It’s too early to say whether we’re going to contend,” said Cameron. “It’s too early to know exactly what you’re going to be up against. The approach we’re looking at, we want to be a competitive team every night.

“The strength of our team is going to be the word team. We’re going to win more games through structure than we are through individual skill.”

Last season’s playoff disappointment lingers; the 67’s were eliminated in four straight games by the Oshawa Generals in early April, bringing an abrupt Round 2 end to the season.

“The disappointment was losing four straight,” said Cameron. “Yeah, Oshawa was a good team. There were worthy winners, but we had a sour taste in our mouth because we didn’t find a way to win the close games and at least extend the series.

“As a coach, you hope that disappointment, how that series ended, is one of the things (the players) bring back into this year and use at different times to get them through the dog days of the season.”

No question, the sweep has stuck with the returning players.

“The last two years, we were expected to do a lot more than we did,” said defenceman Henry Mews, a third-round NHL draft pick of the Flames. “It’s disappointing not going further in the playoffs.

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“This year, I don’t think many people are expecting us to do much, but I’m really excited to see what this group is. We’re well coached and we work hard.”

It’s sort of a double whammy for defenceman Frankie Marrelli whose name, surprisingly, was not called during the NHL Draft. There’s certainly a bit of extra motivation driving him forward.

“When you don’t achieve your goal, there’s definitely disappointment, but I have a lot to look ahead at,” he said. “There’s definitely a chip on my shoulder. You want to achieve your goal. But things happen, sometimes you take different routes to get there.

“I’m trying to improve myself. You want to have a big part in team success. For me, it’s about being a leader and helping push this team to our limit to see what what we can do. You put the team first – if the team succeeds, I succeed.”

In a few days, Mews (Calgary), Matthew Mayich (St. Louis), Luca Pinelli (Columbus) and Cooper Foster (Pittsburgh) will be off to NHL camps. It’s also expected Marrelli and Charlie Hilton will get NHL looks.

With some key players away, the 67’s will have to adjust their routine.

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“We’ll make it more individual stuff guys can work on,” said Cameron. “It’ll be a little less systems because you don’t have the numbers to run your game-like conditions and practice. We’ll slow things down a bit in terms of the number of reps they do and hone in on individual stuff for each guy.”

One player expected to make a quick impact once the junior hockey season gets going is Filip Ekberg. The 5-foot-9 centre, who has been slowed in camp by sickness, had success with Sweden at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, scoring twice in the tournament’s opening game, including the overtime winner. The 17-year-old was selected 33rd overall by Ottawa in the 2024 CHL Import Draft. He played in 54 games across three levels for Almtuna IS in Sweden, putting up 12 goals and 29 points during his time with the U20 squad.

There are others who could become contributors, in some cases taking on an increased role, with the 67’s this season – guys like Chase Yanni, Nic Whitehead, Hilton, Nathan Amidovski (taken 11th overall in this year’s draft), Zachary Houben, Josh Brady, Kaleb Dietsch, Kohyn Eshkawkogan and goalie Jaeden Nelson.

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Asked about the players in camp, Cameron said: “I’m excited. How excited? Let’s talk in a couple of weeks. There’s such an X factor in the growth of these guys. At the end of the year, you project this is our top six, this is our bottom six. Then a guy comes into camp and he’s put on 10 or 12 pounds, he’s grown three or four inches. You go, ‘Wow.’ Because of the age (the limit is 20 years old), you’ve got turnover every year.”

ICE CHIPS: The 67’s got a commitment from third-round pick Jordan Perrier. The forward, who’s from Carp, spent the 2023-24 season with the Ottawa Valley Titans U16 AAA, scoring 16 goals and 28 assists in 29 regular-season games. In 11 playoff games, he had seven goals and eight assists. At the OHL Cup, he had two goals and four assists … The 67’s dealt centre Brad Gardiner to the Barrie Colts, getting four draft picks in return. Ottawa will get a fourth-rounder (Kitchener) in 2025, a second-rounder (Saginaw) in 2026, a second-rounder (Barrie) in 2028 and a third-rounder (Kitchener) in 2027.

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