Madferret
5-22-05, 12:37 PM
Being Cup afterthought suits Ottawa
By BARRE CAMPBELL, Ottawa Sun
LONDON -- The 67's haven't even played a game in the Memorial Cup, yet they are all but facing a must-win situation.
Either they beat the Kelowna Rockets in the opening game for both teams this afternoon, or the 67's face the tough task of having to upset the Rimouski Oceanic or London Knights in their other round-robin games to have a shot at the title. As the Oceanic and Knights got ready for last night's highly anticipated opening match of the tournament, the 67's continued to prepare in the shadow of the other teams.
Only a handful of reporters turned up at the team's practice yesterday at the Western Fair Arena. That didn't bother Ottawa coach Brian Kilrea, who'd rather have his players focus on this afternoon's game than dealing with the media. Kilrea, the 70-year-old Hall of Fame coach, said today's game is no more important than the ones against Rimouski and London.
'WIN OR ELSE'
But, realistically, the 67's don't want to face a situation that would require a win Tuesday against Sidney Crosby and the Oceanic or Thursday against the host Knights to have a chance of qualifying for at least a spot in Friday's tie-breaker.
"You better win or else. Every game is going to be equally as tough," said Kilrea. "Whoever you're playing, if you don't play your best, then you're not going to have a chance." Today's matchup will mark the first meeting between the clubs, so neither team knows much about the other. So little, in fact, that Rockets coach Jeff Truitt had trouble pronouncing the name of 67's goalie Danny Battochio.
"Well, Bocchiano has played really well. That's how you say his name, right?" Truitt asked following his team's practice yesterday. The teams have only a basic knowledge of each other, with most of the information gleaned from Internet searches. The Rockets are viewed as a hard-hitting defensive team that tries to keep the game simple and capitalize on opposition mistakes.
Kelowna is the defending Cup champs after winning last year's tournament at home, and is making a third straight appearance at the Memorial Cup. "These guys have been here three years in a row, and experience counts for something," said 67's defenceman Elgin Reid. "What we'll have to do is come out and cut down on the mistakes like the ones we made in the London (OHL final) series."
BACKUP GOALIE ON SPOT
The Rockets begin the tournament with backup goalie Kristofer Westblom starting in net after No. 1 man Derek Yeomans suffered an injury during the WHL championship series against the Brandon Wheat Kings. But Westblom, playing for a defensive team, posted great statistics during the regular season -- getting four shutouts in 18 games with a 1.81 GAA.
Kelowna had a tough road to the WHL championship. After downing Vancouver, in what Truitt called the most physical series he's ever seen during his years in the WHL, the Rockets beat Seattle in seven games before downing Kootenay in the conference final and Brandon for the league title.
"We've had challenges every series we've been in, and we don't expect anything less here, either," said Truitt. Reid said the 67's need to use their speed to have success against the Rockets. "I think we can outskate anybody in this tournament if we really get going," said Reid. "They're a defensive-minded team and we don't want to sit back and play their style. We've got to take it to them and play our game."
barre.campbell@ott.sunpub.com
Let's go boys! Make the City proud...Ot-ta-wa, Ot-ta-wa....
http://www.valleyfinder.com/OttawaStart/images/burst.jpg
By BARRE CAMPBELL, Ottawa Sun
LONDON -- The 67's haven't even played a game in the Memorial Cup, yet they are all but facing a must-win situation.
Either they beat the Kelowna Rockets in the opening game for both teams this afternoon, or the 67's face the tough task of having to upset the Rimouski Oceanic or London Knights in their other round-robin games to have a shot at the title. As the Oceanic and Knights got ready for last night's highly anticipated opening match of the tournament, the 67's continued to prepare in the shadow of the other teams.
Only a handful of reporters turned up at the team's practice yesterday at the Western Fair Arena. That didn't bother Ottawa coach Brian Kilrea, who'd rather have his players focus on this afternoon's game than dealing with the media. Kilrea, the 70-year-old Hall of Fame coach, said today's game is no more important than the ones against Rimouski and London.
'WIN OR ELSE'
But, realistically, the 67's don't want to face a situation that would require a win Tuesday against Sidney Crosby and the Oceanic or Thursday against the host Knights to have a chance of qualifying for at least a spot in Friday's tie-breaker.
"You better win or else. Every game is going to be equally as tough," said Kilrea. "Whoever you're playing, if you don't play your best, then you're not going to have a chance." Today's matchup will mark the first meeting between the clubs, so neither team knows much about the other. So little, in fact, that Rockets coach Jeff Truitt had trouble pronouncing the name of 67's goalie Danny Battochio.
"Well, Bocchiano has played really well. That's how you say his name, right?" Truitt asked following his team's practice yesterday. The teams have only a basic knowledge of each other, with most of the information gleaned from Internet searches. The Rockets are viewed as a hard-hitting defensive team that tries to keep the game simple and capitalize on opposition mistakes.
Kelowna is the defending Cup champs after winning last year's tournament at home, and is making a third straight appearance at the Memorial Cup. "These guys have been here three years in a row, and experience counts for something," said 67's defenceman Elgin Reid. "What we'll have to do is come out and cut down on the mistakes like the ones we made in the London (OHL final) series."
BACKUP GOALIE ON SPOT
The Rockets begin the tournament with backup goalie Kristofer Westblom starting in net after No. 1 man Derek Yeomans suffered an injury during the WHL championship series against the Brandon Wheat Kings. But Westblom, playing for a defensive team, posted great statistics during the regular season -- getting four shutouts in 18 games with a 1.81 GAA.
Kelowna had a tough road to the WHL championship. After downing Vancouver, in what Truitt called the most physical series he's ever seen during his years in the WHL, the Rockets beat Seattle in seven games before downing Kootenay in the conference final and Brandon for the league title.
"We've had challenges every series we've been in, and we don't expect anything less here, either," said Truitt. Reid said the 67's need to use their speed to have success against the Rockets. "I think we can outskate anybody in this tournament if we really get going," said Reid. "They're a defensive-minded team and we don't want to sit back and play their style. We've got to take it to them and play our game."
barre.campbell@ott.sunpub.com
Let's go boys! Make the City proud...Ot-ta-wa, Ot-ta-wa....
http://www.valleyfinder.com/OttawaStart/images/burst.jpg