David Bedkowski’s Wild Ride to Ottawa: From Burritos to Blue Line Backbone
David Bedkowski didn’t have much time to soak in the news. One moment, he was wrapping up his 201st game with the Owen Sound Attack. The next, he was hitting the road - burrito in hand, steering wheel under his knees - en route to North Bay to suit up for game No. 202, this time in an Ottawa 67’s sweater.
No time for long goodbyes. No time to unpack emotions. Just five hours, 352 kilometers, and a pit stop in Collingwood later, Bedkowski rolled into the rink at 6 p.m., walked into a brand-new locker room, and started shaking hands with his new teammates.
“It was kind of a whirlwind,” Bedkowski said with a grin after his first full practice with the 67’s at TD Place. “But I think that was the best way to do it. Just to get the introductions over with right away.”
For both Bedkowski and the 67’s, the feeling was mutual - this was a move that made sense. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound defenseman brings more than just size to Ottawa’s blue line. He brings experience, physicality, and the kind of presence that doesn’t just show up in the box score but changes the tone of a game.
And he’s not the only one. Ottawa made a deliberate push to get bigger and tougher ahead of the OHL trade deadline. Alongside Bedkowski, the 67’s added a trio of sizeable forwards: Nic Sima (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), Teddy Spitznagel (6-foot-3, 187 pounds), and Sam McCue (6-foot-2, 200 pounds), who joined the team a few weeks earlier.
McCue’s debut was cut short - just a period and a half before an injury sidelined him - but he’s set to return Friday night when the 67’s host the Gatineau Olympiques in the first of back-to-back matchups dubbed the “Battle of the Ottawa River.” That game will also mark the home debuts for Bedkowski, Sima, and Spitznagel, as Ottawa looks to showcase its new-look, physically imposing lineup.
For assistant coach Paul Stoykewych, the strategy is clear: size matters - especially when the grind of a 68-game season turns into the war of attrition that is the OHL playoffs.
“Any time you get through a 68-game season, it’s a grind,” Stoykewych said. “And to go through a seven-game playoff series, four rounds - it’s a grind.
When you’re undersized, it becomes even more challenging. All of a sudden you add players who are big, physical, intimidating … it makes everyone else on the team big, physical, and intimidating.”
The early returns have already shown flashes of what this new group can bring. Even though the 67’s dropped two of three on their recent northern road trip - falling 4-2 in North Bay and 2-1 in Sault Ste. Marie before bouncing back with a 6-4 win in Sudbury - the impact of the new additions was noticeable.
In that Sudbury win, Bedkowski wasted no time making his presence felt on the scoresheet, picking up an assist on Spencer Bowes’ 10th goal of the season. It was a glimpse of what the 67’s are hoping for: a deeper, tougher, more balanced team ready to make noise down the stretch.
Now, with a few practices under their belt and a home crowd waiting, the revamped 67’s are set to show what this next chapter looks like - and Bedkowski, burrito road trip and all, is right in the middle of it.