Schedule, sick bay present problems
NORTH BAY, Ont. – As if crunch time weren’t enough, what might be termed “bunch time” is piling up a slew of games for the North Bay Battalion.
With the Ontario Hockey League schedule about to enter the pre-playoff phase, the Battalion hosts the Kitchener Rangers at 7 p.m. Thursday in the 11th of 16 games in a 32-day period that started Jan. 28 and runs through February.
The Troops, who lost 3-2 Monday to the host Peterborough Petes, have a won-lost-extended record of 28-14-11 for 67 points, second in the Central Division, five points behind the Barrie Colts. North Bay is third in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Ottawa 67’s, and holds a game in hand on both Barrie and Ottawa.
“We’ve played .700 (points-percentage) hockey in our last 10 games and have lost ground to Barrie and have lost ground to Ottawa, which is behind us,” coach Stan Butler noted Wednesday.
Butler said that, apart from the schedule, the Troops face injury and illness issues.
Nick Paul, who didn’t play at Peterborough, has lost 10 pounds with flu-like symptoms and is “questionable” for Kitchener, while fellow left winger Mike Baird also is ailing. Among defencemen, Austin Kosack has sat out the last two games with a lower-body injury and Brenden Miller hasn’t practised recently while dealing with a similar ailment.
In addition, left winger Zach Bratina hasn’t played since Nov. 21 because of a concussion.
“In fairness to the players, it’s 14 games in 28 days, which is more than you have in the playoffs, and we’re just trying to manage them right now and not get any serious injuries or injuries that might affect the players for a long time,” said Butler, making reference to the February schedule.
He acknowledged that the Troops, who led 2-0 after the first period at Peterborough, fell victim to fatigue in the final 40 minutes.
“I thought we played a really good first period. The mistakes for me were mental mistakes, and that doesn’t usually happen. Even when you get tired physically, when your mind goes you’re apt to make more mistakes than you usually do.”
Butler said that right winger Alex Henriksson has been a bright spot in recent games, having scored in each of the last three, including 5-2 home-ice wins over the London Knights last Thursday night and the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday.
“Alex is hitting stride. Last year he had a really good playoff, and we were hoping for Alex to continue that right from the start. He started a little bit slow, but he’s a battler; he’s a warrior. He’s a guy who usually plays better when the season gets tough, and right now he’s doing that.”
The Swedish import has 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points in 53 games after scoring 11 goals and earning 17 assists for 28 points in 68 games last season.
Kitchener is 26-18-9 for 61 points, fourth in the Midwest Division and fifth in the Western Conference. The Rangers are 19-6-3 at home and 7-12-6 on the road.
The Battalion continues weekend play by visiting the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Friday night and hosting the Niagara IceDogs on Sunday.
