Sunday afternoon’s 8-3 pounding at the hands of the Ottawa 67’s was the sixth loss in the last eight games for the Barrie Colts, but don’t expect head coach Marty Williamson to be reaching for a panic button any time soon.
Instead, Williamson is preaching patience with his young club as they find their way in the Ontario Hockey League.
“It is,” said the Colts head coach when asked if patience is what is needed right now with his struggling young team, which had seven rookies in the lineup on Sunday. “We’ve seen improvement in areas, but we just haven’t been able to put it all together. That’s the sign of a young team. I’d be a lot more worried if it was an older team and we were doing this kind of stuff.
“As I’ve said, it’s all about patience and development. They got to see what mistakes we’re making, and we got to get better at it. From our goaltending to our defence.”
With Edmonton Oilers blueline prospect Beau Akey (upper body) and overage goaltender Ben West (illness) both out, a young lineup was even younger in the Nation’s Capital and a good Ottawa (8-4-1-0) team made them pay.
Luca Pinelli scored three times and added an assist and the 67’s blew open a 2-1 game early in the second period with three goals in a little more than five minutes as Barrie (6-8) gave up eight goals in a game for the second time this season.
Starter Sam Hillebrandt gave up four goals on 19 shots before being pulled at 8:01 of the second and Ben Hrebik, making his OHL debut, didn’t fare much better in replacing him, giving up four goals on 17 shots the rest of the way in what was a tough afternoon for both rookie goaltenders.
“We missed Akey today and the young kid (Evan Passmore) went in there and we struggled on defence a little bit,” said Williamson. “And we had a couple of young guys that were overwhelmed a little bit (Hillebrandt, Hrebik).
“Again, we got to score more goals. With 47 shots, we got to find a few more ways to get pucks in the back of the net. It’s a little bit of everything.”
It was a rare tough start for Hillebrandt who was just recently named the OHL Goaltender of the Week.
Josh Brady and Kashawn Aitcheson traded goals two minutes apart early in the first and despite outshooting the host 67’s 18-11, it was Ottawa that came away with the lead after the opening period on a late goal by Kaleb Lawrence.
Will Gerrior scored just under four minutes into the second and the host team was off to the races.
“Hillebrandt had a bit of a rough one,” said Williamson of his young goalie, who has given up just a goal in four of his eight starts this season. “We did things well, but this is what happens with young teams. You plug one hole and all of a sudden you got a leak and another hole. That was kind of the game for us, a little bit.
“I thought we did some things very well that we wanted to do, and then things I thought we were doing well, especially our goaltending, it kind of went away a bit from us tonight.”
There was plenty of blame to go around on this day.
“Honestly, we just got to remain patient and stick to the course,” said Aitcheson, who has moved into a key role on the blue line in just his second year. “We have a young team, a lot of new guys trying to learn about the league here. We just have to stick with it, and I think it will turn around really quick.”
The inexperience has shown all over the ice for the Colts this season. Up front, the offence has lacked the strong finish that veteran scorers Evan Vierling, Ethan Cardwell, Declan McDonnell and Tyler Savard had.
On the blue line, the Colts miss dearly the minutes and steady play that Brandt Clarke, Braden Hache, and Artur Cholach provided.
“We know this is what our league is about to an extent,” Williamson said of the development that takes time. “That window was there, and that window closes, and we got to grow with this window. It takes time and patience.
“We knew what we were getting into. We got some good young players here. We just got to be patient and make sure we’re seeing progress with them.”
Eduard Sale and Tai York also scored for the Colts, who outshot the 67’s 47-36.
Ottawa also got goals from Frankie Marrelli and Brad Gardiner, while Collin McKenzie made 44 saves to earn his fifth win this season.
Williamson said his young club can learn a lot from watching the 67’s play. He praised head coach Dave Cameron for the way the 67’s play a sound, structured game.
“I think they’re the safest team in the league,” Williamson said of the 67’s. “They played the game the right way and they just don’t take risk-type plays. They catch you, making mistakes like we did, they make you pay. Dave’s done a good job, and that’s what we got to grow these guys to do.
“They’re kind of a (2005 birthdate) team, and we got the 06’s and 07’s, and we got to grow them to that kind of game that they understand risk, reward.”
The Colts return from their Eastern swing Thursday night when they host the Kingston Frontenacs at Sadlon Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Barrie plays its fourth three-in-three weekend. After Kingston, they travel to Mississauga on Friday and return Saturday night to host North Bay. . . Williamson doesn’t expect Akey’s stay on the sidelines to be a lengthy one. “We think it’s short term,” he said. “Obviously he’ll get checked out on Monday. We don’t think it’s anything too serious. A few days of rest of will probably help, but you never know with these upper body (injuries).” . . . Grayson Tiller played his 100th OHL game on Sunday. . . Beau Jelsma had two assists and now leads the Colts with five goals and 15 points in 14 games. . . Overage goaltender Anson Thornton picked up his first professional win in his AHL debut with the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday. The Arizona Coyotes prospect made 27 saves in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Wolves.
banner image: Tim Austen/Ottawa 67's
