Battalion, Petes to collide
NORTH BAY, Ont. — The North Bay Battalion embarks on its last major road trip of the Ontario Hockey League season when it visits the Peterborough Petes at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, and the stakes are substantial.
Peterborough has a won-lost-extended record of 31-20-3 for 65 points, third in the East Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference, which is the lowest position earning home ice in the first playoff round. North Bay is 29-22-3 for 61 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the conference.
If the season were over now, the Battalion and Petes would meet in a conference quarterfinal series.
The Battalion visits the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night and the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday to complete an eastern swing, which accounts for half the Troops’ remaining road dates and is the last multigame road trip.
North Bay is coming off a 9-1 thrashing Sunday of the visiting Niagara IceDogs that produced a season high for the offence, highlighted by two goals and three assists by Ethan Procyszyn, and a 5-3 Family Day victory Monday over the host Brampton Steelheads, in which Procyszyn had one goal and one assist.
“With a big one against Niagara, you just worry about kind of a deflating game the next day,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said Wednesday. “What makes Niagara so much sweeter was that we were able to follow it up. What could make it even sweeter is a good one tomorrow night.”
Goaltender Cole Vreugdenhil, a resident of Hannon, Ont., made his third start and fourth appearance of the OHL season at Brampton, earning his second win against one loss in stopping 31 shots.
“That was a scheduled start that we had for him, kind of locked in, just with the extra game on a Monday and us turning around here already and having to play Thursday, so it was a good opportunity for him to get in,” noted Oulahen.
“It’s almost like a home game for him, too, and I thought he played extremely well. That third period, when they made a push, he looked very calm and composed back there, fronted pucks, did what he needed to do to get another victory for us.”
Vreugdenhil will play for the junior A Powassan Voodoos on a road trip this weekend, with Gavin Zepp, a 12th-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the St. Andrew’s College U18s of Aurora, Ont., summoned to back up Jack Lisson. Zepp did the same in a 3-2 victory via shootout over the visiting Steelheads last Thursday night in which the Troops fired a season-high 60 shots on goal through overtime.
Peterborough built its four-point lead on the Battalion by winning five of its last six games, the loss being an 8-4 setback last Friday night to the host Oshawa Generals. The Petes defeated the visiting Kitchener Rangers 3-2 via shootout Monday.
Adam Novotny paces Peterborough in scoring with team-leading totals of 26 goals, 28 assists and 54 points in 45 games, while Aiden Young has 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points in 48 games. Matthew Soto has scored 15 goals and added 26 assists for 41 points in 54 games, and Leon Kolarik has 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 49 games.
The Petes have announced that Lucas Karmiris won’t play this season after an injury on the first day of training camp resulted in September knee surgery. Acquired from Brampton in a trade Aug. 5, Karmiris was a first-round pick, 13th overall, in 2022 by the then-Mississauga Steelheads from the Brantford 99ers U16s.
Captain Procyszyn has a four-game points streak in which he has four goals and six assists for 10 points, giving him a team-leading 22 goals and as many assists for 44 points in 52 games.
Nick Wellenreiter is second among Battalion points producers with 17 goals and a team-high 23 assists for 40 points in 54 games, and Lirim Amidovski has 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points in 52 games. In 54 games, Parker Vaughan has scored 13 goals and added 15 assists for 28 points.
The Peterborough game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
