Ottawa 6, Barrie 4
After a tough loss to the Mississauga Steelheads Sunday, head coach for the Ottawa 67’s, Dave Cameron, was blunt with the media.
“I don’t have enough Bradley Horners. I don’t get enough guys that play that 50/50 hockey, they’re physical,” he said.
Come next game, Horner was all of that and then some. Against the Barrie Colts Tuesday afternoon, he netted two goals. He would’ve had the hat trick, but a post had something to say during the final seconds of the game.
“It was close,” Horner laughed after the game. “It was as close as it gets.”
Horner didn’t start this season as a forward. He was moved up front around last Christmas.
He said it’s his first time playing forward.
“It’s a different game up there for sure,” Horner said. “It’s a lot of fun. I just like to help my team whatever way I can do it.”
Cameron said he move Horner up in part because the team was carrying extra defenceman at the time.
Why Horner?
“He’s such a competitor,” Cameron said. “Such a hard worker and a physical player that we wanted to make sure we found a role for him. But even I’m surprised how good he’s been up front.”
Cameron called Horner a coach’s dream. And as for not having enough Horners, so to speak, Cameron added he liked his whole team’s play against Barrie.
“We were engaged from the get go; we made the simple play. We played hard, we played with some pace. And again, Bradley led the charge.”
As for Horner, he modestly says: “I’m just trying to do my best out there, do what he says and see if it works out.”
“I guess it does so far,” he chuckled.
Horner and the rest of the 67’s have another chance to keep themselves in high spirits come Thursday, in a rematch against the eighth place Colts. The 67’s remain in sixth in the Eastern Conference and are running out of time to gain home ice in the first round of the OHL playoffs.
