After finishing at the bottom of the league standings and missing the playoffs last year for the first time since 1995, the Ottawa 67’s entered the 2013-14 season with nowhere to go but up.
Now about two-thirds of the way through the current season, the 67’s are back in playoff contention as the final portion of the regular season is set to begin.
Taylor Fielding, the longest-serving 67’s player on the club’s roster, says he remembers the pain of not making the playoffs last year.
“No one wants to miss out on the playoffs because it’s a terrible feeling,” he says. “It definitely was not fun going home early when all your friends around the league are still playing, so you sit around at home and reflect on what happened.”
Last season, the 67’s finished in last place in the entire OHL with a dismal record of 16 wins, 46 regulation losses, and six more defeats in shootouts.
But one year later, the team is in playoff contention sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with an improved 15-25-1-3 record, only two points back of the final playoff spot with just over a month for the playoff picture to be finalized.
Chris Byrne, the 67’s head coach and general manager, says one of the reasons he thinks his team has been more successful is because of a noticeable change in attitude this season compared to last.
“I think we believe a bit more in ourselves now, and it shows with us being right in the thick of things fighting for a playoff spot,” he says.
Fielding has been playing with Ottawa for four years, and he says there’s something unique about this particular 67’s team compared to previous seasons.
“Words can’t really describe how close we are this year,” he says. “Obviously it varies every year with new faces coming in, but this year we’re maybe even closer (than any of the preceding teams) because we all get along so well, and it really shows in how hard we work on the ice.”
Byrne says the new players coming to the team have fit in seamlessly with the veterans.
One of the new faces Byrne speaks highly of is rookie Travis Konecny, the 67’s first overall pick in last spring’s OHL draft. He is already one of Ottawa’s leading scorers at just 16 years old, picking up 43 points through 39 games.
Konecny says his first season in the OHL has been much easier due to the close bonds he’s formed with his teammates, which he says has helped the team become better this year.
“I don’t know about other teams, but I know for sure that our team is a really close group,” he says. “It doesn’t really matter about your age group here. There’s no divide between the older and younger, and the vets have been great in helping show me and the other rookies how to help the team win.”
Ryan Van Stralen, the oldest skater on the 67’s roster at the age of 20, says being in such a tight playoff race means wins and points are becoming more important going forward, especially when playing against teams that are also battling in the playoff race.
There is an important stretch of games coming up for Ottawa, as six of the team’s next 10 games will be against conference rivals separated from the 67’s in the standings by less than 10 points.
Although the pressure will continue to mount as the 67’s playoff push continues, Van Stralen says he’s optimistic the close-knit Ottawa team will be able to achieve its post-season mission.
“Our goal since the beginning of the year was to make the playoffs because no one wanted to go through (missing the playoffs) again,” he says. “Right now we’re fighting for eighth, but I think we can do that or climb even higher. If we win our next few crucial games coming up, anything is possible with this team.”