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<\/p>\nAs special as the 1,000th game of his Ontario Hockey League coaching career will be for Dave Cameron, No. 999 was pretty sweet, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was probably our best game of the year,\u201d the Ottawa 67\u2019s bench boss said after a convincing 5-1 victory Saturday at TD Place over the Brantford Bulldogs, who entered this week No. 3 in in Canadian Hockey League rankings and now hold just a one-point lead over Cameron\u2019s crew in both the OHL\u2019s Eastern Conference and the overall standings. \u201cBut we knew that we were going to have to play that to beat that team. That\u2019s a good hockey club, and, if you\u2019re going to win this side, you\u2019re probably going to have to go through that team.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was just a real good game today, and it showed us that, if we play at the top of our game, we\u2019re going to be a tough out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 67\u2019s will have a chance to further boost their No. 8 CHL ranking and perhaps leapfrog the Bulldogs when they host the Owen Sound Attack on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Cameron\u2019s milestone game.<\/p>\n
Brantford has come up on the short end of the score in four of its past eight games. The 67\u2019s have 19 games left in the regular season, and one in hand on the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
With the season series between the clubs now in the books, the 67\u2019s hold the edge in a head-to-head tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
After losing 8-5, but then stealing a point in a 4-3 shootout when the teams squared off in Brantford, the 67\u2019s have swept both games at TD Place by a combined score of 11-1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nic Sima of the 67\u2019s shoots the puck during Saturday\u2019s home game against the Bulldogs. Sima led the Ottawa offence with two goals in the game.<\/p>\n
Do the 67\u2019s feel like they made a statement with another sound victory over the top team?<\/p>\n
Yes, but not necessarily to the rest of the league. The win in front of 4,677 fans over a team with 11 NHL draft picks (compared to Ottawa\u2019s three) was a statement of the belief the 67\u2019s have in themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it more so sends a message to us, showing what we could do when we play our best,\u201d said Nic Sima, who led Ottawa\u2019s attack on Saturday with two goals. \u201cObviously, everyone thinks they\u2019re probably the most talented team on paper in the league, and we came in today and we played our game, and the score kind of shows for itself, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m just happy with how we played again. And, obviously, it sends a message to our group, saying that we could do it and we\u2019ve got something special going on in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Ottawa 67\u2019s Jasper Kuhta (22, left) and Brantford Bulldogs\u2019 Jake O\u2019Brien (44) battle for possession of the puck during Saturday\u2019s game at TD Place.<\/p>\n
What was the difference between the teams on Saturday?<\/p>\n
After falling behind just past the eight-minute mark of the first period, when Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak scored off a power-play face-off, the 67\u2019s responded with five consecutive goals.<\/p>\n
They scored two during a 90-second span late in the opening period, a couple more in the second and the lone goal of a third period when they were outshot 11-3.<\/p>\n
Overall, the Bulldogs outshot the 67\u2019s by a 33-31 count, but Ottawa rookie goalie Ryder Fetterolf turned in another stellar performance.<\/p>\n
Along with a 23-4-1 record, the recently-turned 18-year-old American improved his league-leading goals-against average to 1.88 and his OHL-best save percentage to .929.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t win in this league without good goaltending, you can\u2019t beat good teams in this league without good goaltending,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cI\u2019m very fortunate. I\u2019ve got two of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with Sima\u2019s two goals, Cooper Foster had a goal and two assists for Ottawa, and Kohyn Eshkawkogan and Spencer Bowes each had a goal and an assist.<\/p>\n
Nic Whitehead also had a two-point game with a pair of helpers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought our whole team was good, right from the get-go,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cEverybody was dialled in. I thought our penalty kill was exceptional (surviving three of four short-handed situations) going against a lethal power play. It was 4-1 and we were down two men, and we did a real good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s home game for the 67\u2019s will be head coach Dave Cameron\u2019s 1,000 in the Ontario Hockey League.<\/p>\n
And, finally, what will game No. 1,000 mean to Cameron?<\/p>\n
When answering the question, Cameron expressed gratitude to the late Eugene Melnyk \u2014 whom he worked for with both the OHL\u2019s St. Michael\u2019s Majors and the National Hockey League\u2019s Ottawa Senators \u2014 as well as the 67\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cGame 1,000 means that you were around long enough to learn from your mistakes,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cThe way the world is today, that doesn\u2019t happen nearly enough. We all make mistakes, and I\u2019m thankful I\u2019ve worked I\u2019ve worked for real good organizations. I worked eight years for Eugene Melnyk and (with the Majors) I said it was the best job in hockey because I was coach and GM, and he was tied up in the Senators. He was great support. And then to come to this organization, OSEG, and the group here, it\u2019s like an NHL organization in terms of what they give you and what our players get here. It\u2019s as great as the NHL. There\u2019s not a thing that\u2019s not provided for our players, from fitness to nutrition to meals to mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019ve been really, really fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
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