New-look Battalion to face Generals
BRAMPTON, Ont. – The addition of centre John Hughes by trade from the Belleville Bulls has coach Stan Butler shuffling the Brampton Battalion’s forward lines.
Butler said Wednesday that Hughes will make his Battalion debut on a line with left winger Luke Lynes and right winger Matt Smyth when the Oshawa Generals visit at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Hughes played 14 Ontario Hockey League games with Belleville this season, scoring three goals and adding 17 assists for 20 points.
“John’s a first-line centre, and I think that’s what we needed,” said Butler. “We’ll start him with those guys and see how that goes. It’ll take time to evolve. I don’t know if you can evaluate a line’s chemistry in a game or two.”
Butler said rookie centre Cody Hodgson will remain on a line with left winger Howie Martin and right winger Matt Auffrey. Graham McNabb will centre left winger Justin Levac and right winger Michal Klejna, and John Seymour will skate between left winger Mike Lomas and right winger Jason Dale.
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“We’ll look at those lines as we go on, and that’s something we’re always doing as the season goes on. We’ll try to put the best group of guys together to give us a chance to win.”
Until recent games, Martin has played centre with the Battalion, but left winger Aaron Snow walked out on the team Oct. 19 demanding a trade. Snow was dealt to Belleville on Monday for Hughes, the first overall pick in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection.
Butler said he thinks the revamped combinations will help the younger players.
“It doesn’t mean they won’t play. They’ll probably play fewer minutes than they have been. At times the kids think that’s bad, but in the long run it’s usually much better for their development.”
With a 3-1 road victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Friday night having broken a seven-game losing streak, Butler said he’s noticed a different attitude on the team, which followed up with a 5-4 overtime win Sunday over the host Sudbury Wolves.
“But we can’t lose sight of the fact that we lost seven games in a row. We’ve won two in a row and we need to remember that we won those two games because we worked extremely hard and really competed. We need to keep doing that.”
