67’s forward Logan Couture during a game this season at the Civic Centre in Ottawa. Couture returned from an NHL training camp earlier this month.
The Ottawa 67’s and their fans can breathe a little easier with two top players back from summer NHL training camps.
Team captain Logan Couture and star defenceman Tyler Cuma have returned to Ottawa, to the relief of local hockey fans.
Both players earned first– round draft entry at the end of the 2007 season. Couture, the ninth overall draft pick, travelled to San Jose, California to show the Sharks hockey club what he had to offer.
Last season Couture led the team in points alongside Jamie McGinn, despite missing 15 games due to injury.
Cuma, who led the team's defence core in plus/minus last season, was picked up by the Minnesota Wild.
Couture says he saw tough competition with the Sharks, playing against 14 experienced NHL forwards. The 19 year old says he played well but just didn’t make the cut.
“They told me I had a good chance and that I was close this year,” he says.
Couture played three exhibition games with the Sharks, and says he appreciated the luxury, noting his travels on a jet plane, complete with steak dinners.
“It was a really good experience,” he says. “When you look up and there’s Joe Thornton sitting beside you . . .”
“You learn a lot from just watching how they act on the ice,” he adds.
Cuma also describes the NHL experience as being “second to none.”
“I guess it’s pretty much every kid’s dream, as soon as you start playing hockey,” he says. “You watch it on TV and compare yourself to other players that you see throughout the years.”
But Cuma said he knew he would likely be sent back because of his age and position.
“Being 18 and playing defense is really tough,” he says.
Cuma says he hopes he may have a better shot next season, depending on the fate of the Wild’s defensive lineup, .
“Next year I’ll have more experience, and the Wild’s defence has four free agents. They might stay or they might lose them all.”
The coaching staff of the Sharks and the Wild said the players showed promise, according to 67’s head coach Brian Kilrea.
In Cuma’s case, Kilrea says, the defenseman was stronger than a lot of players he knows.
“They sent him back with the hope that he’d get more depth,” Kilrea says.
After playing alongside NHL veterans Mikko Koivu and Owen Nolan in Minnesota, Cuma says the change of pace has been an adjustment.
“I’m having a difficult time getting my timing in,” he says. “You don’t want to, but you have to step down a level a little. Everything in the NHL is fast–paced.”
Nevertheless, Cuma says he has nothing but love for his teammates and the city.
“I love the team. We all get along really well. I love everything about Ottawa and I was glad when I came back,” he says.
Cuma also says he appreciates his new role on the team.
“I love the pressure as a leader. I’m kind of a go–to guy now,” says Cuma.
Kilrea says he is proud of the team's hard work and strength in the absence of Couture and Cuma last month.
But the coach says he’s pleased to have both young men back on the team.
“The fans definitely like to see their star players,” he says.
The 67's are 6–6–1 this season as they head into Friday's game against the Sarnia Sting at the Civic Centre.