For one game, it seemed as if the 2012 United States men’s national junior hockey team would not require the services of Shane Prince, the Ottawa Senators draft pick cut from the American squad days before the start of the World Juniors. The US faced off against Denmark in their first round-robin game, thrashing the Danes 11-3 in a contest that saw 18 American players record points. It appeared that the American strategy of rewarding players who progressed through the US developmental system and spurning those who migrated north to play in the Canadian Hockey League (most notably, Prince) would pay off handsomely.
The burst of offense proved to be unsustainable, however, as the Americans stumbled through the rest of the round robin, tallying just five goals in the next three games and earning a berth alongside Denmark in the relegation round. A late-game collapse against Finland would be followed by a rout at the hands of the Czech Republic, with none of the 13 American forwards (eight from the NCAA and five from the CHL) able to mount any sort of consistent offensive pressure. A 3-2 loss to Canada on New Year’s Eve and the ensuing consolation games cemented the US’ seventh-place finish, their worst World Junior result since 1999.
The United States’ woes cannot be pinned solely on the exclusion of Prince or any other player, regardless of the underlying politics of USA Hockey. In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Prince adamantly denied that he was given a legitimate chance to make the American roster, asserting that coach Dean Blais and his staff had essentially chosen the team prior to the December selection camp. While the motives of the US coaching staff will remain unclear, it is evident that Prince’s snub has paid enormous dividends for the young forward and the Ottawa 67s, who will open the OHL playoffs this Thursday as the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference.
By virtue of winning the OHL’s East Division with 88 points, Ottawa will face off against the Belleville Bulls, a team they defeated in seven of eight regular-season matchups. The 67s cruised to their third consecutive division title largely on the contributions of Prince, who went on an absolute scoring tear following the World Juniors to finish 4th in the OHL with 90 points. Prince teamed with OHL goal-scoring leader Tyler Toffoli (52 goals; 2nd in the league with 100 points) to pace the vaunted Ottawa attack, demonstrating a penchant for offense sorely missed by the American juniors.
Although they feature no first-round NHL draft picks, the 67s boast one of the most complete teams in the OHL. In addition to Toffoli and Prince, Ottawa is led by 17-year old centre Sean Monahan, who sits 16th in league scoring in his second OHL season; and 18-year old blueliner Cody Ceci, 2nd in scoring among all OHL defensemen. Monahan has helped offset the loss of former top-line centre Ryan Martindale to the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, while Ceci has become the 67s’ top defender despite still being draft-eligible. (Ceci is projected to go in the top 20 of this year’s NHL Entry Draft, while Monahan should be a top-5 pick in 2013.)
After missing the 2011 World Juniors due to a protest from his former club team in the Czech Republic, 67s goaltender Petr Mrazek was simply spectacular in 2012, dragging the Czechs to the quarterfinals en route to being named the tournament’s top goaltender. Mrazek has been similarly solid for Ottawa, registering a .917 save percentage and winning 30 games, tied for second in the OHL. A fifth-round selection of the Detroit Red Wings in 2010, Mrazek will likely join the club’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids in 2012-13, leaving him one final opportunity to backstop the 67s to a deep playoff run.
Several players who possess equal parts scoring depth and grit will complement the three-pronged offensive punch of Toffoli, Prince and Monahan. Assistant captain Dalton Smith strikes fear into the hearts of opponents while providing an adept scoring touch. Steven Janes and Tyler Graovac can be counted on for secondary offense. Captain Marc Zanetti has returned from injury to solidify the defensive corps, alongside Ceci, veteran Jake Cardwell and rugged Slovak Michal Cajkovsky. Youngsters Ryan Van Stralen and Brett Gustavsen could be cast into pressure situations up front, as will Taylor Fielding and Mike Vlajkov on the back end.
Head coach and general manager Chris Byrne was active at the OHL trade deadline, sacrificing young talent and draft picks in exchange for established veteran help. Byrne rescued diminutive centre Mike Cazzola from the dismal Erie Otters; Cazzola tied for fifth on the team with 36 points despite playing just 28 games for Ottawa. Byrne also acquired heralded winger John McFarland from Saginaw in exchange for 16-year old David Perklin, though McFarland appeared in only 13 games before being sidelined for the year. Daniel Broussard, obtained from Sarnia in midseason, will log crucial playoff minutes on the blueline in his final junior season.
Ottawa will enter the postseason in the same position as last year: 2nd in the conference, squaring off against the supposedly lowly 7th seed. In 2010-11, the 67s faced the Sudbury Wolves, a team they outpaced by 31 points in the regular season. With stalwart defender and captain Travis Gibbons out with a broken ankle and Prince having just returned from a concussion, the 67s were promptly eliminated in four games, beginning with an 8-7 overtime heartbreaker at Scotiabank Place and followed by defeats of 5-3, 5-4 and 5-3. The defense imploded after the injury to Gibbons, while Toffoli and Martindale were the only forwards able to score consistently, dooming Ottawa to a humiliating first-round defeat.
This season, the health of Prince, the emergence of Monahan and the fortification of the blueline should ensure a radically different result. The 67s will face the Belleville Bulls, the lowest scoring of all 16 OHL playoff teams. The Bulls are led by two players eligible for the upcoming NHL draft: centre Brendan Gaunce, the team’s leading scorer with 68 points; and goaltender Malcolm Subban, brother of PK and winner of 25 games on the year. Beyond Gaunce, there is average scoring depth, though no other Bull comes close to replicating the impact of Toffoli, Prince, Monahan or Ceci.
On paper, Belleville appears less dangerous than the 2010-11 Wolves, a veteran-laden squad that saw four key forwards (Michael Sgarbossa, Marcus Foligno, Mike Lomas and Eric O’Dell) miss significant amounts of time due to injury before returning full-bore for the postseason. Belleville’s top players have remained abnormally healthy, though it has hardly spurred their lifeless offensive attack. It is unlikely that Mrazek and the Ottawa defensemen will face much pressure from Gaunce and company, while the lethal scoring punch of Toffoli, Prince and Monahan should wear down the Bulls defense and their prodigious netminder.
Given their regular season success against the Bulls (earning 15 of a possible 16 points), Ottawa should roll through the first round with relative ease, though no 67s fan or player will readily admit it after what transpired last year against Sudbury. With Toffoli, Prince, Cazzola and Mrazek all set to turn pro, this will be the last shot at a deep playoff run for this iteration of the 67s, a team that has garnered many regular season accolades but minimal success thereafter. The key to it all may be Prince, the Senators draft pick who played hurt in last year’s playoffs, who was exempt from the American debacle at the World Juniors and who is prepared for one last chance at junior hockey glory, against Belleville and beyond.
