NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion\u2019s top four picks in the 2026 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection toured the club\u2019s facilities and the city Monday.<\/p>\n
Goaltender Owen Loftus, the Battalion\u2019s first-rounder, and centre Alexandre Saulnier, selected in the second round, have signed education and development agreements with the club.<\/p>\n
Also getting a first look at North Bay were third-rounders Austin Ottenhof, a right winger, and defenceman Drew Hulbert.<\/p>\n
The Battalion took Loftus of the Don Mills Flyers U16s at No. 11 in the Priority Selection, held June 12-13 at Kingston\u2019s Slush Puppie Place. In 50 games last season, Loftus had a 2.00 goals-against average with nine shutouts and a won-lost-other record of 25-15-10, the last number consisting of ties and tournament overtime losses. The Toronto resident, who’s six-foot-one and 163 pounds, turned 16 on April 29.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the team’s got a really good development plan for me,\u201d said Loftus. \u201cI’m obviously going to do my best, and ice time’s not something that I know, right? It’s something that’ll just come from the work I do. Obviously, I have a lot of trust in this organization to be making the best development decisions for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loftus, a pianist who played at Carnegie Hall in New York City at 13, said he’s in a good spot with the depth of goaltending experience and expertise within the Battalion staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that really stood out to me coming to this organization is the goalie knowledge they have, and I can say probably a lot of teams don’t have this similar pedigree with goalies coming in and the staff that they have, like the knowledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just talking with (Adam) Dennis before we came. We were just chatting about it. It’s a really cool experience being a goalie where, you know, not many people know too much about the position, to have a group like these guys who are just so smart, so dialed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left shot Saulnier of the Ottawa Jr. 67’s U16s was chosen 35th overall. A six-foot-two, 192-pound Ottawa resident, he had five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 17 regular-season games and added 10 points, including six goals, in 12 playoff games. Saulnier turned 16 on April 16 after incurring a groin injury last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I bring a lot of energy, a guy who’s hard to play against, who’s in your face,\u201d said Saulnier. \u201cI think I bring a lot of physicality as a big guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ottenhof, selected from the Quinte Red Devils U16s, is a five-foot-10, 161-pound resident of Odessa, Ont., who scored 14 goals and earned 21 assists for 35 points in 31 games. He turned 16 on June 7. Hulbert, a Don Mills teammate of Loftus, stands five-foot-11 and weighs 191 pounds. A Toronto resident who turned 16 on May 4, the left shot had 11 points, including four goals, in 16 games while also dealing with a thumb injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are our first four picks from this recent year, so logic says that they\u2019ll be the first four guys that we may see in Battalion green,\u201d said Dennis, director of hockey operations. \u201cThe goal here is just orient them, give them all the information that we have, all the information that they\u2019re hoping to gather, so the next time they\u2019re here it\u2019s a little bit more comfortable and they can perform on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That starts Aug. 24, when new recruits and unsigned players from previous years are to take part in a development camp before the Battalion\u2019s training camp.<\/p>\n
General manager John Winstanley pointed to the players\u2019 maturity and dedication as significant factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learn really quickly interviewing these guys and getting to talk to them that they\u2019re very dedicated in what they do. They\u2019re very mature, and you can tell that they\u2019re going to be people that are not only good in our dressing room but in this community as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis said he was pleased that centre Ryder Cali and defenceman Alexander Karmanov were taken Saturday by the Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks respectively in the National Hockey League Draft at KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very happy for Ryder and Alex. Seeing the work that went in and seeing them get rewarded was a great thing for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Dennis acknowledged that he believes other Troops should have had their names called.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft is always exciting but a tough day, because very few guys go where they are hoping to or expect to go, and really it\u2019s not the full picture on where your career is or your trajectory is, for that matter. I thought there were some guys that certainly deserved to get drafted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Parker Vaughan, Ryder Carey, Evgeny Dubrovtsev, Kent Greer were all guys that, you know, it\u2019s a very small margin between getting drafted and not. I think it\u2019s time for the work to go in and to show that some mistakes were made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cali, who turns 18 on Sept. 6, was taken in the second round, 48th overall, and is committed to Providence College of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for next season, but Winstanley said he\u2019d be happy if that changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, we\u2019re going to take our direction from his representation and now his NHL club. If their desire is to send him back here, we\u2019ll be here with open arms to make sure that he has a spot, and he knows that and his team knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winstanley acknowledged that the landscape has changed since the NCAA\u2019s Division I council voted Nov. 7, 2024, to permit Canadian Hockey League players to compete starting in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our approach, when it comes to it, is we\u2019re a development league and our job is to develop the players. It\u2019s just changed how we develop them and maybe how quickly they leave. But, overall, our job is to develop them to get to the next level, and our approach right now is, if we give them the best possible program, the best possible place to play junior hockey, that they\u2019re going to want to be here and want to be part of this program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion\u2019s top four picks in the 2026 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection toured the club\u2019s facilities and the city Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-694","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/06\/29152657\/OttenhofLoftusSaulnierHulbert.png",1600,900,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173782"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173832,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173782\/revisions\/173832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173732,"date":"2026-06-27T18:22:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173732"},"modified":"2026-06-28T10:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:00:27","slug":"cali-karmanov-drafted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/cali-karmanov-drafted","title":{"rendered":"Cali, Karmanov drafted"},"content":{"rendered":"
BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Centre Ryder Cali was the first of two North Bay Battalion skaters selected Saturday in the National Hockey League Draft, taken in the second round by the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n
Defenceman Alexander Karmanov followed in the seventh round to the San Jose Sharks.<\/p>\n
In the process that started with the first round Friday night, the 32 NHL teams drafted a total of 223 skaters and goaltenders, including 47 from the Ontario Hockey League, constituting 21.1 percent of selections. They were made up of 28 forwards, 15 defencemen and four goaltenders.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Hockey League produced 106 picks, including 39 from the Western Hockey League and 20 from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.<\/p>\n
Drafted 48th overall, Cali, who also has played left wing, scored 16 goals and earned 20 assists for 36 points in 47 games in 2025-26 after missing time to injury.<\/p>\n
He became the highest NHL pick from the Battalion in the North Bay era. Cam Dineen was chosen 68th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, and fellow defenceman Ty Nelson matched that when he went to the Seattle Kraken in 2022. The Anaheim Ducks took centre Ethan Procyszyn at No. 68 in 2024. The highest pick in franchise history is centre Matt Duchene, taken third overall from Brampton by the Colorado Avalanche in 2009.<\/p>\n
A first-round pick, 18th overall, by the Soo Greyhounds in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection from the Markham Majors U16s, Cali\u2019s rights were acquired by North Bay in a trade Sept. 13, 2024. The Penetanguishene, Ont., resident, whom the NHL has measured at six-foot-two and 214 pounds, turns 18 on Sept. 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel real for a second,\u201d Cali said of the announcement of the Panthers\u2019 pick. \u201cI had to make sure that they actually said my name, but I knew when everyone else stood up that it was true. Florida\u2019s the best place to be drafted ever, so I couldn\u2019t be more excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers have chosen two other Troops in recent years, centre Liam Arnsby in 2022 and winger Shamar Moses in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a teammate who was drafted there, Shamar Moses, so I\u2019m fired up to get to see him again,\u201d said Cali, who noted that he enjoyed his first full season with North Bay after playing five games as a midseason callup in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the best first year in the OHL I could have ever asked for. The coaching staff, after trading for me, was amazing the whole time. I have nothing but good things to say about the coaching staff and the organization and the players as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout them who knows what would have happened, but I\u2019m so happy that I ended up in North Bay. I got to meet all these new people, and my billets were amazing too, so I\u2019m so thrilled that it was the Battalion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Dennis, the Battalion\u2019s director of hockey operations, who attended the draft at KeyBank Center, said he was glad to see Cali, a native of Lugano, Switzerland, selected by the Panthers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very happy to see Florida take an interest in another one of our players in Ryder. He has dealt with a lot this year with his injury but emerged as a key contributor for us down the stretch. He has a very bright future, and I look forward to watching his progress within the Panthers organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unknown whether Cali, who has committed to Providence College of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for next season, may alter his plans now that his NHL affiliation is established.<\/p>\n
The Battalion acquired the rights to Karmanov, a native of Chisinau, Moldova, from the junior B Brantford Titans last November after he was a third-round pick in the 2025 CHL Import Draft by the Brantford Bulldogs.<\/p>\n
Karmanov, a left-shot rearguard who turned 18 on March 22, had two assists in 20 games. Listed by the NHL as seven-foot-one and 272 pounds, he\u2019s the tallest player ever drafted to the league and the first Moldovan.<\/p>\n
Officially the 201st pick, he actually was the 200th player named, as the Vegas Golden Knights forfeited their second-rounder at No. 63 after \u201cflagrant violations\u201d of NHL protocols, including failing to open their dressing room to the media after a 5-1 playoff victory May 14 at Anaheim.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it was less than a full season, Alex has been one of the most polarizing players that I\u2019ve come into contact with in North Bay,\u201d Dennis noted of Karmanov, who wasn\u2019t at the draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of his stature, he\u2019s unlike any other prospect in this class, but I\u2019m thrilled to see that the Sharks have invested in his potential, as we certainly believe he has the drive and character to put it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centre Caleb Malhotra of Brantford was the first of seven OHLers chosen in the first round, the most from any league, with the Vancouver Canucks taking him third overall.<\/p>\n
Players are first-time eligible for the NHL Draft in the year they turn 18, unless they were born Sept. 16 or later, in which case they must wait until the following year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Centre Ryder Cali was the first of two North Bay Battalion skaters selected Saturday in the National Hockey League Draft, taken in the second round by the Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-694","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/06\/27164841\/RyderCaliFLA.png",1600,900,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173732"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173795,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173732\/revisions\/173795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173731,"date":"2026-06-18T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173731"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:00:25","slug":"troops-get-crete-for-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/troops-get-crete-for-pick","title":{"rendered":"Troops get Crete for pick"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired left winger Max Crete in a trade with the London Knights, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
London receives an eighth-round pick in the 2028 OHL Priority Selection that originally belonged to the Niagara IceDogs.<\/p>\n
An Ottawa resident who turned 18 on April 24, Crete measures five-foot-nine and 182 pounds.<\/p>\n
Crete, who also has played centre, was a second-round selection by Niagara in 2024 from the Upper Canada Cyclones U16s, with whom he scored 28 goals and earned 38 assists for 66 points with 49 penalty minutes in 29 regular-season games.<\/p>\n
In a 68-game rookie season with Niagara in 2024-25, Crete scored 11 goals and added eight assists for 19 points with 64 PiM.<\/p>\n
London traded the OHL rights to centre Jacob Monks and a ninth-round pick in 2028 to Niagara for Crete on June 19, 2025. With the Knights last season, he had five goals and eight assists for 13 points with 35 PiM in 54 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cMax is a player we\u2019ve been tracking closely since his draft year,\u201d said Battalion general manager John Winstanley.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brings a high compete level, strong offensive instincts and the ability to make an impact in key moments. With two seasons of OHL experience under his belt, Max understands the pace and demands of the league and will be a valuable addition to our lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited about the opportunity for him to step in and make an immediate impact when the season begins.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired left winger Max Crete in a trade with the London Knights, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-694","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/06\/18122651\/MaxCrete1.png",1600,900,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173780,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173731\/revisions\/173780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173730,"date":"2026-06-16T16:54:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173730"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:48:22","slug":"battalion-schedule-released-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/battalion-schedule-released-6","title":{"rendered":"Battalion schedule released"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion plays four games in September, split two at home and two away, to start the 2026-27 Ontario Hockey League season.<\/p>\n
North Bay hosts the Barrie Colts at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in the curtain raiser before visiting the Oshawa Generals at 6:05 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, for their home opener. Two more September dates on the schedule, which was announced Tuesday, feature a home game against the Brampton Steelheads and a visit to the Soo Greyhounds.<\/p>\n
The Battalion plays 34 home games, comprising 17 Thursdays, 14 Sundays, two Fridays and one Monday. The Monday is Thanksgiving Day, against the Peterborough Petes. The traditional New Year\u2019s Eve home game falls on a Thursday, against Brampton.<\/p>\n
Within the Eastern Conference\u2019s Central Division, North Bay faces the Sudbury Wolves eight times and Barrie, Brampton and the Niagara IceDogs six times apiece. Against the East Division this season, the Battalion plays Oshawa, Peterborough, the Brantford Bulldogs and Ottawa 67\u2019s four times each, with two games against the Kingston Frontenacs.<\/p>\n
Making up for a reduction of two games with Kingston are games against the Val-d\u2019Or Foreurs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The Foreurs visit North Bay on Nov. 1, and the Battalion travels to Val-d\u2019Or on Jan. 22, with the interlocking games counting in both leagues\u2019 standings.<\/p>\n
North Bay faces Western Conference foes twice each, except for Soo, which provides the opposition in four games.<\/p>\n
Home games on Thursday and Friday start at 7 p.m., while Sunday home games begin at 2 p.m. Exceptions are Sunday, Nov. 15, at 3 p.m. because of the Santa Claus parade, and Sunday, Feb. 7, at 1 p.m. for YourTV Hockey Day in the OHL. The Dec. 31 game starts at 1 p.m., and the Thanksgiving Monday game is a 2 p.m. start.<\/p>\n
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion\u2019s busiest month is January, which features 14 games. The Troops play 12 games in each of October and February, 10 in November, eight in both December and March and the four in September \u2026 The Battalion plays a season-high four straight road games twice, from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3 and Feb. 15-21 \u2026 The longest run of home games also is four, scheduled Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 … The Battalion has four home-and-home series, including Oct. 12-15 against Peterborough, starting at home. North Bay plays Sudbury on Oct. 22-23 as part of Rivalry Week, also starting at home. Brampton is the opposition Nov. 27-29 and Ottawa the competition Jan. 31-Feb. 4, with both sets opening on the road … The Troops visit Ottawa on Monday, Feb. 15, the Family Day holiday … The Battalion has three sets of three games in as many days, scheduled Oct. 1-3, Oct. 22-24 and Feb. 19-21 … The Kitchener Rangers, reigning Memorial Cup champions, are at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens on Nov. 20 … The schedule ends Sunday, March 21, against visiting Sudbury … The preseason schedule numbers four games, including home and away dates with the Owen Sound Attack.<\/p>\n
Following is the complete schedule of exhibition and regular-season games, with home games capitalized:<\/p>\n
Exhibition<\/strong><\/p>\n Wednesday, Sept. 2 @ Owen Sound 7:00 Regular Season<\/strong><\/p>\n Friday, Sept. 18 vs. BARRIE 7:00 Thursday, Oct. 1 @ Windsor 7:05 Sunday, Nov. 1 vs. VAL-D\u2019OR 2:00 Thursday, Dec. 3 vs. ERIE 7:00 Friday, Jan. 1 @ Oshawa 2:05 Thursday, Feb. 4 vs. OTTAWA 7:00 Thursday, March 4 vs. OSHAWA 7:00 NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion plays four games in September, split two at home and two away, to start the 2026-27 Ontario Hockey League season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-694","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/03\/22123801\/Battalion-on-background-1600x900-1.png",1600,900,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173776,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173730\/revisions\/173776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173729,"date":"2026-06-13T18:42:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T22:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173729"},"modified":"2026-06-13T19:15:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T23:15:41","slug":"battalion-tabs-17-recruits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/battalion-tabs-17-recruits","title":{"rendered":"Battalion tabs 17 recruits"},"content":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion made 16 picks Saturday as the first in-person Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection since 2000 wrapped up at Slush Puppie Place.<\/p>\n North Bay, with 17 picks, chose nine forwards, comprising four centres, three left wingers and two right wingers, six defencemen and two goaltenders over the 15-round process, which started Friday night.<\/p>\n The 20 OHL clubs selected 301 skaters and goaltenders, with all being 2010 births except for eight born in 2009 and four in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst and foremost, the City of Kingston, the Kingston Frontenacs and the OHL all need to be commended on putting on a great show this weekend,\u201d said Adam Dennis, Battalion president and director of hockey operations.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as the Priority Selection goes for the Battalion, we walked away feeling very pleased about how the two days turned out. We knew coming in it was a deep draft, and we were able to fill a lot of our needs while adding some top-end players at each of their individual positions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to building relationships with each one of them and taking part in their development.\u201d<\/p>\n In the first round Friday night, the Troops selected goaltender Owen Loftus of the Don Mills Flyers U16s with the 11th overall choice.<\/p>\n With its first pick Saturday, the Battalion chose left-shot centre Alexandre Saulnier of the Ottawa Jr. 67’s U16s in the second round, 35th overall. A six-foot-two, 192-pound resident of Ottawa, Saulnier recorded five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 17 regular-season games and added 10 points, including six goals, in 12 playoff games. He turned 16 on April 16 after incurring a groin injury last season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe can be hard to play against and has a good offensive tool set,\u201d general manager John Winstanley said of Saulnier.<\/p>\n The Troops had two picks in the third round and used the first, 48th overall, on right winger Austin Ottenhof the Quinte Red Devils U16s. Ottenhof, a five-foot-10, 161-pound resident of Odessa, Ont., produced 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 31 games. He turned 16 on June 7.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to bring a fun player to watch with a physical style and a good defensive-zone support to the team, with a scoring touch,\u201d said Ottenhof. who noted he was \u201clearning tons each minute\u201d about North Bay.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve known that there\u2019s fishing and snowmobiling up there and great support to the team with fans.\u201d<\/p>\n The Battalion\u2019s second third-rounder, 60th overall, was Drew Hulbert, a left-shot defenceman who was a Don Mills teammate of Loftus. A five-foot-11, 191-pound Toronto resident who turned 16 on May 4, Hulbert had 11 points, including four goals, in 16 games. He dealt with a thumb injury.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a shutdown defenceman who plays against the other teams\u2019 top lines,\u201d noted Winstanley. \u201cHe blocks shots. He\u2019s in the way constantly. The best thing from his coaches is that this guy\u2019s an ox and a machine. He\u2019s in incredible shape.\u201d<\/p>\n The club, without a pick in the fourth round, used its fifth-round selection, 92nd overall, on right-shot rearguard Sebastien Fortin of the Vaughan Kings U16s. A five-foot-10, 194-pounder from Woodstock, Ont., who turns 16 on Sunday, Fortin had 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in 32 games.<\/p>\n North Bay applied its first of two sixth-round picks, 112th overall, to left winger Spencer Greenhalgh, an Ottawa resident who contributed 27 goals and 37 assists for 64 points in 51 games for the Florida Alliance 15s. Greenhalgh, five-foot-10 and 157 pounds, turned 16 on March 25.<\/p>\n The Battalion\u2019s second sixth-rounder, 117th overall, was another left winger, Ethan Bridges of the Huron-Perth Lakers U16s. A six-foot, 177-pounder from Stratford, Ont., who turned 16 on April 1, Bridges had 46 points, including 16 goals, in 30 games.<\/p>\n Defenceman Gavin Henry of the Credit River Capitals U16s was chosen in the seventh round, 132nd overall. Henry, a five-foot-11, 155-pound right shot who hails from Georgetown, Ont., scored nine goals and added 30 assists for 39 points in 34 games. He turns 16 on Aug. 3.<\/p>\n The Battalion took another blueliner in the eighth round, choosing Colten Wilkinson, a left shot from the Toronto Nationals U16s with the 152nd overall pick. Wilkinson, a six-foot-four, 205-pound resident of Holland Landing, Ont., scored three goals and earned five assists for eight points in 31 games. He turns 16 on Aug. 17.<\/p>\n Left-shot centre Ryder Nobes of the Markham Majors U16s was the ninth-round pick, 172nd overall. Nobes had 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points in 33 games. A five-foot-six, 147-pounder from Brooklin, Ont., he turns 16 on Aug. 11.<\/p>\n In the 10th round, North Bay picked Ethan Davidson, a right-shot defenceman from the Central Ontario Wolves U16s with the 192nd overall choice. A resident of Nestleton, Ont., who turned 16 on Feb. 22, Davidson, six-foot-one and 189 pounds, contributed four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 33 games.<\/p>\n The Battalion\u2019s 11th-rounder, 212th overall, was right-shot rearguard Tayden Smith of the Sudbury Wolves U16s. Smith, six feet and 176 pounds, scored eight goals and added 21 assists for 29 points in 34 games. He had one assist in four games with the junior A Kirkland Lake Gold Miners of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. The Sudbury resident turned 16 on Jan. 3.<\/p>\n The Troops used the first of two 12th-round picks, 227th overall, on right winger Carter Trudell of the Windsor Jr. Spitfires U16s. A five-foot-11, 160-pound resident of Belle River, Ont., Trudell had 36 points, including 17 goals, in 27 games. He turned 16 on Jan. 13.<\/p>\n The club\u2019s second choice in the round, 232nd overall, was left-shot centre Dylan Dawe of the Halton Hurricanes U16s. Dawe, five-foot-10 and 167 pounds, produced 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 33 games. The Inglewood, Ont., resident turns 16 on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n Kingston resident Simon Godin, a goaltender, was chosen in the 13th round, 252nd overall, from the Greater Kingston Jr. Gaels U16s. Godin had a 3.29 goals-against average in 17 games. Measuring six feet and 155 pounds, he turns 16 on July 9.<\/p>\n In the 14th round at No. 272, the Battalion tabbed another Don Mills skater in left winger Lucas Wellenreiter. A five-foot nine, 180-pound resident of Waterdown, Ont., who turned 16 on March 5, he had nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points in 31 games. Older brother Nick Wellenreiter played 113 games with the Troops through last season, scoring 34 goals and adding 49 assists for 83 points.<\/p>\n The Battalion\u2019s final selection, 292nd overall, was left-shot centre Aidan Duchesne of the North Bay Trappers U16s. The five-foot-eight, 132-pound resident of North Bay had 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points in 29 games. He turned 16 on Feb. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion made 16 picks Saturday as the first in-person Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection since 2000 wrapped up at Slush Puppie Place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-694","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/06\/13181510\/AlexandreSaulnier1.png",1600,900,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173774,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173729\/revisions\/173774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173728,"date":"2026-06-12T23:48:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T03:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173728"},"modified":"2026-06-29T12:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:13:13","slug":"loftus-becomes-lofty-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/loftus-becomes-lofty-pick","title":{"rendered":"Loftus becomes lofty pick"},"content":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion made goaltender Owen Loftus of the Don Mills Flyers U16s its first-round pick Friday night in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection, held at Slush Puppie Place, home of the Kingston Frontenacs, in front of an enthusiastic crowd.<\/p>\n It marked a return of the Priority Selection to a live, in-arena format after 25 years of being conducted via the Internet.<\/p>\n Loftus was taken with the 11th selection in the 15-round process in which North Bay has a total of 17 picks. The second through 14th rounds are to be held starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n In 50 games last season, Loftus had a 2.00 goals-against average with nine shutouts while posting a won-lost-other record of 25-15-10, with the last number made up of ties and tournament overtime losses.<\/p>\n A Toronto resident who measures six-foot-one and 163 pounds and who turned 16 on April 29, Loftus said he had no firm expectations entering the process.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to expect, to be honest,\u201d said the first goaltender taken in the first round in franchise history. \u201cI think you could say I was surprised to be picked anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Having had discussions with several clubs, once the Battalion made its choice, Loftus was fully on board.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to a few, probably 10. I love North Bay. North Bay were great. They\u2019ve got such a good organization, such a good group of people. Honestly, the whole O is built with great organizations and great people, so getting picked to any of these teams, particularly North Bay, is just a huge honour for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Dennis, Battalion president and director hockey of operations, introduced alternate governor Charles Abbott to make the selection. Among others, including OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford, they were joined on stage by Battalion alumni Jay McClement, Ty Nelson and Dom DiVincentiis, a goaltender with whom Loftus had a later chat.<\/p>\n
\nSunday, Sept. 6 vs. SUDBURY 2:00
\nFriday, Sept. 11 @ Brampton 7:00
\nSaturday, Sept. 12 vs. OWEN SOUND 4:00<\/p>\n
\nSunday, Sept. 20 @ Oshawa 6:05
\nThursday, Sept. 24 vs. BRAMPTON 7:00
\nSaturday, Sept. 26 @ Soo 7:07<\/p>\n
\nFriday, Oct. 2 @ London 7:00
\nSaturday, Oct. 3 @ Brantford 4:00
\nThursday, Oct. 8 vs. SUDBURY 7:00
\nMonday, Oct. 12 vs. PETERBOROUGH 2:00
\nThursday, Oct. 15 @ Peterborough 7:05
\nSunday, Oct. 18 vs. NIAGARA 2:00
\nThursday, Oct. 22 vs. SUDBURY 7:00
\nFriday, Oct. 23 @ Sudbury 7:05
\nSaturday, Oct. 24 @ Barrie 7:30
\nThursday, Oct. 29 vs. LONDON 7:00
\nFriday, Oct. 30 @ Niagara 7:00<\/p>\n
\nFriday, Nov. 6 @ Kitchener 7:00
\nSaturday, Nov. 7 @ Guelph 4:07
\nThursday, Nov. 12 vs. SARNIA 7:00
\nSunday, Nov. 15 vs. SUDBURY 3:00
\nWednesday, Nov. 18 @ Owen Sound 7:00
\nFriday, Nov. 20 vs. KITCHENER 7:00
\nSunday, Nov. 22 vs. NIAGARA 2:00
\nFriday, Nov. 27 @ Brampton 7:00
\nSunday, Nov. 29 vs. BRAMPTON 2:00<\/p>\n
\nSunday, Dec. 6 vs. SOO 2:00
\nThursday, Dec. 10 vs. KINGSTON 7:00
\nSaturday, Dec. 12 @ Niagara 7:00
\nSunday, Dec. 13 @ Brantford 2:00
\nThursday, Dec. 17 vs. GUELPH 7:00
\nFriday, Dec. 18 @ Brampton 7:00
\nThursday, Dec. 31 vs. BRAMPTON 1:00<\/p>\n
\nSunday, Jan. 3 vs. PETERBOROUGH 2:00
\nThursday, Jan. 7 vs. WINDSOR 7:00
\nFriday, Jan. 8 @ Soo 7:07
\nSunday, Jan. 10 vs. BRANTFORD 2:00
\nThursday, Jan. 14 vs. SOO 7:00
\nSaturday, Jan. 16 @ Barrie 7:30
\nSunday, Jan. 17 vs. OWEN SOUND 2:00
\nThursday, Jan. 21 vs. FLINT 7:00
\nFriday, Jan. 22 @ Val-d\u2019Or 7:00
\nSunday, Jan. 24 vs. OTTAWA 2:00
\nThursday, Jan. 28 @ Peterborough 7:05
\nSaturday, Jan. 30 @ Kingston 4:05
\nSunday, Jan. 31 @ Ottawa 3:00<\/p>\n
\nFriday, Feb. 5 @ Sudbury 7:05
\nSunday, Feb. 7 vs. BARRIE 1:00
\nThursday, Feb. 11 vs. OSHAWA 7:00
\nSunday, Feb. 14 vs. SAGINAW 2:00
\nMonday, Feb. 15 @ Ottawa 3:00
\nFriday, Feb. 19 @ Flint 7:00
\nSaturday, Feb. 20 @ Saginaw 7:05
\nSunday, Feb. 21 @ Sarnia 2:05
\nThursday, Feb. 25 vs. NIAGARA 7:00
\nFriday, Feb. 26 @ Sudbury 7:05
\nSunday, Feb. 28 vs. BARRIE 2:00<\/p>\n
\nSaturday, March 6 @ Erie 6:00
\nSunday, March 7 @ Niagara 2:00
\nThursday, March 11 vs. BRANTFORD 7:00
\nFriday, March 12 @ Sudbury 7:05
\nSunday, March 14 @ Brampton 2:00
\nWednesday, March 17 @ Barrie 7:00
\nSunday, March 21 vs. SUDBURY 2:00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"