It’s been a milestone season for Ottawa 67’s Head Coach Dave Cameron.
Not long after he was behind the bench for his 750th Ontario Hockey League game, the 64-year-old earned the 400th win of his illustrious career, Friday night, with the Barber Poles earning a 5-1 win over the Barrie Colts, inside The Arena at TD Place. Max Donoso made 21 saves, for his seventh win of the campaign, tying him for the league lead.
“There’s no magic to winning. You win when you have good teams,” said Cameron. “I’ve been very fortunate, over the years, to work with good people have real good teams. Guys that put the work in. It’s nice to get [400].”
Though it may have looked easy on the scoreboard, the 67’s had to earn the win without two of their top six forwards; with Ottawa Senators prospect Tyler Boucher serving the first of a six-game suspension, and Calgary Flames pick Jack Beck out with an upper-body injury.
“I think we have a good culture in place with our coaches, in terms of work ethic. The guys stepped up and they played really well.”
Despite having to kill a flurry of early penalties, Brad Gardiner opened the scoring for Ottawa on a shorthanded breakaway, just under six minutes in.
The Colts got one back, on the powerplay, courtesy of Jacob Frasca, but it was Brady Stonehouse with the second shorty of the game, restoring the Ottawa lead a minute and eighteen seconds later. With 12 seconds remaining in the frame, Cam Tolnai scored his first of two on the night.
Finishing the first period up 3-1, and outshooting the Colts 21-7, the remainder of the game belonged to the 67’s. Tolnai added his second 4:12 into the middle period, on a play from Matthew Mayich, and Stonehouse, and the third yielded more of the same.
With Ottawa on the powerplay, Stonehouse displayed some slick hands at the lip of the crease, and went high on Anson Thornton, giving the 67’s a 5-1 lead. Montreal Canadiens prospect Vinzenz Rohrer streaked in on a breakaway for a highlight reel marker, and sealed a 6-1 win for the 67’s.
It was also a banner night for Tolnai in particular, with the overage forward recording a career-high four points. The Oakville, Ontario native has taken it upon himself to fulfill the requisite leadership role, in his final OHL campaign.
“I think it’s just kind of making sure that the young guys feel comfortable on the ice,” Tolnai said. “They play their best when they’re confident, when you’re not getting in there all the time. So I think it’s just letting them play their game and trusting them.”
Though the 67’s are now 11-1-0 on the year, their focus remains on finding consistent, full-game efforts.
“I think, especially at home we’ve kind of had, for the most part, pretty good starts. It’s kind of the second period where we kind of had that lull.”
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