67’s alumni: Bradford moves up, Couture shows out, & more

The hockey world never sleeps, constantly pressing forward. Over the course of the last week, Ottawa 67’s alumni made waves, whether by scoring at a high clip, or working their way up the ranks. If you blinked, you may have missed it, but don’t worry, we have you covered.

Couture leads the charge for the Sharks

When the San Jose Sharks meet the Pittsburgh Penguins, you know it’s going to be a spirited affair. On Saturday night, when the two teams went toe-to-toe, Logan Couture simply couldn’t be stopped, as he scored five points, including a pair of goals, in the Sharks’ 6-4 win.

Couture potted the game-winning-goal with under five minutes left to play, breaking the deadlock, before icing the game into the empty net moments later. The effort earned his 18th and 19th goals of the season, and pushed his point total to 42 in 51 games.

Now in his 14th NHL season, Couture is well established as a cornerstone of the Sharks franchise. He is nearing the 900 games mark, and needs just 25 points to reach 700.

Rossi’s point streak reaches five

Since being assigned to the American Hockey Leauge’s Iowa Wild earlier this season, Marco Rossi has found his scoring touch in a big way. Through 23 games, the Feldkirch, Austria native has 24 points, including eight goals.

During the Wild’s weekend series against the Cleveland Mosters, Rossi extended his point streak to five games, tallying two apples in the two games. Over the course of the streak, he has scored three goals, with two of them coming in one game against the Milwaukee Admirals, as he tied the game with just 16 seconds to go, sending the game to overtime. Overall, Rossi has scored eight points in the past five games.

In two seasons in Ottawa, Rossi set the league on fire, putting up 185 points in 109 games. In 2019-20, Rossi ended the pandemic-shortened season on top of the CHL’s scoring race with 120 points, edging out Alexis Lafreniere, the consensus first-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Rossi was taken ninth overall by the Minnesota Wild.

Erik Bradford earns AHL call-up

On Saturday, the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced they had recalled former 67’s forward, Erik Bradford from the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL. Bradford has split time between the two clubs this season, but has already seen action in 21 American League games, scoring a goal and an assist.

Bradford, who was original drafted by the Barrie Colts in 2010, spent parts of two seasons in Ottawa before being dealt to the Owen Sound Attack. In his OHL career, the Orangeville, Ontario native scored 186 points, including 76 goals, in his 264 games.

His family share a history with the 67’s, as his cousins Jamie and Tye McGinn both spent time with the club.

Felhaber shines in Komets’ weekend sweep

As he has all season long, Tye Felhaber flexed his point scoring muscles for the Fort Wayne Komets in the ECHL, scoring a trio of points in the team’s three-game sweep of the Iowa Heartlanders. With all three games coming on the road, the 24-year-old scored a goal, and added a pair of assists, bringing his season total to 43 points in 38 games.

Felhaber is enjoying his first full season in the ECHL, but has been a point-per-game player in the league in the past, first with the Idaho Steelheads for six games in 2019-20, before scoring 14 points in 14 games with the Orlando Solar Bears in 2021-22. His scoring earned him an All-Star nod.

With the Barber Poles, Felhaber left his mark, scoring 90 goals in his final two seasons, including 59 as an overager. He famously scored the game-tying goal in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final with 34 seconds left, sending it to overtime. He then scored the game-winner, earning Ottawa their first Bobby Orr Trophy since 2005. Those were just two of the 17 goals he scored in the 67’s magical run.