67’s seek home remedy


By
October 29, 2016

Having shown they can win on the road, the Ottawa 67’s will be out to utilize home-ice advantage for the first time this season with games tonight and Sunday afternoon at TD Place.

To be sure, the 67’s have been a puzzling team this 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League season. While Ottawa has an impressive 4-2-2 record on the road,the 67’s are pointless with an 0-5-0 mark on home ice thus far this season.

And having scored 14 goals in their last three games in which they posted a 1-1-1 record on the road, the 67’s return home to face the high-scoring, East Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs tonight and the Flint Firebirds on Sunday for a Halloween-themed matinee match.

Third-year Ottawa centre Drake Rymsha, who has 7 goals, 3 assists, 10 points in 13 games this season, wants to see the 67’s play with the same energy at home as they do on the road.

“When you’re on the road you want to make a statement as opposed to when you’re home sometimes you get too comfortable,” noted Rymsha. “We have to treat our home games as road games and have the same intensity. We’re looking for two wins this weekend and we want to give our fans something to cheer about.”

Meanwhile, 67’s coach-general manager Jeff Brown has positive expectations for the two-game home set.

“We have to be better at home,” said Brown. “We haven’t scored as many goals as we wanted here and this week (at practice) our focus has been making sure we come out strong so hopefully we will see it on the ice this weekend and hopefully we will score some goals.”

The 67’s have scored only nine goals in their five home games this season.

The weekend home set will mark the home debut for recently-acquired 67’s forward Jared Steege.

An overage skater who hails from the Ottawa Valley town of Cobden, Steege has two goals in three games for the 67’s since being obtained from the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Canada Hockey League, where he tallied five times and had four assists in 10 outings this season.

Steege scored 19 goals for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs last season.


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