Underdog Troops hit road for opener
BRAMPTON, Ont. The Battalion begins its Ontario Hockey League postseason Friday night, visiting the Ottawa 67’s in the opener of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Game time is 7:30 p.m., and fans in the Brampton area can see the game live on Rogers Cable 10.
The Troops, fourth-place finishers in the Central Division, are the seventh seed in the conference, while Ottawa occupies the No. 2 spot after topping the East Division.
I think this is the matchup we were aiming for, said defenceman Rob Smith. We’re looking forward to this. They’re a good team, and we’re going to have to be very strong to beat them, but I think we’re capable of that.
Smith said the club is relishing its role as the underdog in the series, which will see the Battalion host the second game at 2 p.m. Sunday.
I like the position we’re in here. The Toronto newspapers are picking us to lose, and most people consider us the underdog. The pressure is on them, and we’re a team that started to get hot toward the end of the year. I think we’ve picked the perfect time to get hot and we’re peaking heading into the playoffs.
The 67’s, who posted a won-lost-tied record of 5-0-1 in their last six regular-season games, are the highest-scoring team in the conference and boast a two-time OHL scoring champion in centre Corey Locke.
We know they have some talent up front, said Smith. We’ve done well against their offence this year and we know we can’t give them any space, especially Locke. We need to be a very tight-checking team.
The Battalion went 3-0-1 against the 67’s this season, a showing that left winger Adam Henrich said will give the Troops a big confidence boost.
It’s going to be huge for us, said Henrich, who had three goals and five assists against the 67’s. We have to take it to them right away, and I’m sure they’re going to try that with us. We can’t afford any letdowns. We need a good start and we have to shoot the puck. We can’t get too fancy.
Henrich and his linemates, centre Ryan Oulahen and right winger Chris Clayton, have combined for seven goals and 13 assists against Ottawa.
As a line we’ve been reading off each other,” said Henrich. “We try to cycle the puck down low and we use our speed, and good things have been happening.
With the Battalion having faced the 67’s twice in the last four weeks, winning 4-1 Feb. 20 at Ottawa and tying 3-3 at home March 7, coach Stan Butler said there should be few surprises.
I think both teams know each other pretty well, and what that means is success in the series will come to the team that executes the best, said Butler. I think the teams match up well and are pretty balanced. They play a game that’s similar to ours.
Butler said he has no concerns about playing in the Ottawa Civic Centre, the OHL’s largest arena, which saw a capacity crowd of 10,346 at the Feb. 20 game.
We just have to play our game. We can’t worry about whether we’re at home or on the road. The ice is the same size and the nets are the same size, and you can’t worry about the crowd.
The Battalion faces a non-divisional opponent for the first time in its playoff history.
In their first postseason appearance, in 2000, the Troops, then playing in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, met the Erie Otters in a conference quarterfinal. In 2001, they took on the Guelph Storm and Erie again.
The Battalion, which moved to the Central Division of the Eastern Conference for the 2002-03 season, met the Barrie Colts and Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in last year’s playoffs.
