67's Win Big at Home on Toonie Beer Night
October 11, 2019 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Ottawa 67's News Release
OTTAWA - The Ottawa 67's won their first home game of the 2019-2020 OHL campaign in convincing fashion on Friday night, when they defeated the visiting Mississauga Steelheads by a score of 6-1. Graeme Clarke had two goals in the team's winning effort, while Mitch Hoelscher, Kevin Bahl, Teddy Sawyer and Alec Belanger were the other goal scorers for Ottawa.
The final score doesn't make it seem like they were in it, but the Steelheads struck first in this game, as James Hardie opened the scoring with a power play goal before the midway point of the first period. Graeme Clarke leveled things up later in the period, finishing the first twenty minutes with 1-1 tie.
The 67's took control of this game late in the second period. On complete fire since the start of the season, Mitch Hoelscher added another goal to his tally, his fifth of the year, which ended up being the game winning goal. Clarke fired home his second goal of the game less than a minute after that, late in the second, sending both teams to the locker room with a 3-1 Ottawa lead.
The final twenty minutes were all Ottawa's. The Barber Poles scored three goals in that period, all three coming from defensemen. Kevin Bahl, Teddy Sawyer and Alec Belanger doubled the 67's goal total, making it 6-1 before the end of the game. Sawyer's goal was a special one for the rookie, as he scored his first OHL goal in his very first OHL game, and that, in front of his family.
The Barber Poles will look to repeat the same kind of performance on Monday afternoon, when they host the Kingston Frontenacs at 2:00 PM. This will be the second of a six-game home stretch for Ottawa.
GAME NOTES
Mitch Hoelscher now has 12 points in 8 games. This is by far his best start to an OHL season since he has started playing in this league.
Half of the 67's goals in this game came from the sticks of defensemen (Bahl, Sawyer, Belanger).
Teddy Sawyer's goal, which was his first OHL goal and point, also happened to be Jack Matier's first point as he set up Sawyer with a nifty pass. Another rookie, Thomas Johnston, completed the play with the secondary assist.
Goaltender Cedrick Andree earned second star with 25 saves on the night.
The Arena inside TD Place was rocking on Friday night, as the Barber Poles played in front of a crowd of 3,548 fans.
POST GAME COMMENTS
Head Coach André Tourigny
"It was entertaining. The power play was rolling, Ceddy was making key saves in key moments, we had a little bit of toughness and a little bit of everything, so it was definitely entertaining."
"Teddy competed really hard, he had poise and played well with the puck. I was expecting him to be a little bit more nervous, to be honest, but he was poised and showed a lot of character today, I'm really proud of him."
Forward Graeme Clarke
"Last year we had a high power offense that could put up 8 on a regular night. This year is coming along, obviously, we've been working on our offensive play in practice and some guys like myself and Hoelscher know that we have to step up offensively, we've had good start to the season and we'll have to continue, it's heading in the right direction."
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