Battalion preps for Erie
NORTH BAY, Ont. — After what were supposed to be four straight road games, the Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Battalion prepares for three in a row at home, including two this week against more Western Conference opponents.
The Erie Otters invade Memorial Gardens at 7 p.m. Thursday, and the Flint Firebirds pay a visit Sunday.
A scheduled two-game trip to Sault Ste. Marie last weekend to face the West Division’s Soo Greyhounds saw a Friday night date postponed because of a snowstorm. The Battalion’s Ethan Procyszyn scored a power-play goal at 19:51 of the final period for a 3-2 victory Saturday night.
The goal came 12 seconds after Brady Martin was assessed an interference major for a check that sent Nolan Laird into the boards and provoked an animated reaction from Soo coach John Dean. He was further incensed after Procyszyn scored, drawing a bench minor and eventually a game ejection. Dean now has been suspended for two games and Martin for three.
Laird, who lay on the ice for several minutes before being helped to the dressing room, is sidelined, as are Andrew LeBlanc, Stepan Chukharev, Anthony Romani and Ihnat Pazii, the last two of whom suffered broken collarbones in a 3-2 win via shootout Oct. 11 at Erie in the teams’ only other meeting.
The Troops overcame a 2-0 deficit as Jacob LeBlanc scored the tying goal on the power play at 19:55 of the third period before Owen Van Steensel and Shamar Moses, in his first game after a trade from the Barrie Colts, connected in the shootout.
Kent Greer is set to return to action to counter a continuing slew of injuries. Despite them, the Battalion has forged a won-lost-extended record of 11-11-2 for 24 points in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. Erie is 13-7-4 for 30 points in the Midwest Division.
“Give the guys in the room the credit: You find ways to scrape and claw,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said Wednesday. “Some of those games have been the ones that have been lopsided, and then for the most part we seem to be pretty even keel.
“The one thing I do like about the group is we bounce back right away. It doesn’t take us a week or two weeks. Sometimes in junior hockey that momentum can be your archnemesis, and this group seems to be able to bounce back. We’re going to have to continue to do it.
“The story is the same script here with all the injuries and stuff, but I think the group just has a belief. They love scrapping and clawing with each other, and I expect no different this weekend.”
Erie, with former Battalion coach Stan Butler manning the bench, boasts a number of high-end talents, including Pano Fimis, Malcolm Spence, Sam Alfano and Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection from the Halton Hurricanes U16s. He missed the October meeting with mononucleosis.
“They’re a really good hockey team,” noted Oulahen. “The way they’re kind of made up, I would say, is speed is a bit of a weapon for them.”
He suggested that the Otters may have the first meeting on their minds because of the Troops’ rally.
“That given game, if anything, maybe Erie is going to come in here with a little chip on their shoulder because we were able to come back and ultimately win that game, so I think we’ve got to be ready for their best hockey, and that’s going to be the focus, for sure.”
Fimis paces the visitors’ offence with 10 goals and a team-leading 22 assists for 32 points while Alfano has a team-high 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points, both in 24 games. Spence has scored 11 goals and added 18 assists for 29 points in 23 games, and Carey Terrance has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 24 games. Schaefer has six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 14 games.
The Erie game features Marriott Night.
