NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Adam Dennis, the North Bay Battalion\u2019s president and director of hockey operations, has taken a broad-brush look at the club\u2019s upcoming Ontario Hockey League season and sees \u201clots of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI really believe that this group is set up for a lot of big things this year,\u201d Dennis noted this week. \u201cThe age is appropriate. There\u2019s guys with playoff experience. There\u2019s depth up and down the lineup, and really there\u2019s no outlying holes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certainly going to be some changes made throughout the season as we find out chemistry and things like that, but I think this group has the makings to do a lot this season and, without putting too much pressure on them as far as expectation goes, I don\u2019t want to limit what they can do. I think there\u2019s lots of potential here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis pointed to centre Cam Warren, North Bay\u2019s first-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection who starred with the Canadian under-18 team that won gold in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament at Edmonton under the direction of Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen, as among the developing leaders of the Troops.<\/p>\n
\u201cCam is the player that we drafted, and he\u2019s turning into the potential that we saw from him. I thought he was very good for us last year and dealt with some bouts of not scoring, which I think is normal for a 16-year-old, but the things that Cam does on the ice, his speed, his ability to create space, his IQ, he\u2019s going to have success. Our job is to help him have as much success as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever the aftermath of that is, it is what it is, and then we deal with what happens after. But the job that we feel is most important to us is put the best program out there so that players feel that they can get better here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Battalion has added three veterans via trades this offseason, acquiring left winger Max Crete and centre Rene Van Bommel in separate deals with the London Knights and right winger Nikolas Rossetto from the Brantford Bulldogs, all for the combined cost of fifth-, sixth- and eighth-round OHL Priority Selection picks, none of them North Bay\u2019s own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really didn\u2019t spend that much to do it,\u201d acknowledged Dennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cRene Van Bommel comes with championship pedigree. He\u2019s one that has played to the depths of the season, and I think he\u2019s going to add a lot to our roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys like Max Crete and Nik Rossetto, they\u2019re guys who were highly touted in their draft year, guys that we have a lot of homework done on, and for different reasons we\u2019re here where we are today. We were able to add them for picks that were much later than where they were drafted, but we still feel the ability to get that high-end player out of them is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Bommel, left winger Nolan Laird and goaltender Mike McIvor figure to be the Battalion\u2019s three overagers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to put more on Mikey than there needs to be, because I think we\u2019ve seen he can carry the load of this team on his own at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very confident in his ability and we know what Money Mike can do, and I think that\u2019s a great start for us. Like every single one of our players, though, he needs direction and he needs to find ways to improve his game, and that’s what the job of the coaching staff is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Battalion opens a three-day development for younger recruits Aug. 24, followed immediately by training camp, both at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Adam Dennis, the North Bay Battalion\u2019s president and director of hockey operations, has taken a broad-brush look at the club\u2019s upcoming Ontario Hockey League season and sees \u201clots of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":174045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173985","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\/08\/13124142\/CanadasWarrenInAction.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\/173985","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=173985"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174058,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173985\/revisions\/174058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173981,"date":"2026-08-12T15:31:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173981"},"modified":"2026-08-12T15:31:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:31:04","slug":"oulahen-back-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/oulahen-back-on-track","title":{"rendered":"Oulahen back, ‘on track’"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Ryan Oulahen reflected Wednesday on what Canada did in winning gold in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament at Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt we needed to get back on track,\u201d said Oulahen, the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League\u2019s North Bay Battalion, who served the same role with the Canadian under-18 summer team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very first message that I was able to have with the players was, \u2018We\u2019re able to be the group.\u2019 That was what was big for us. We wanted to be the group that got us back on track, got Canada back on track, and not only just to have success, but to play a certain brand of hockey, a certain way about us, get that swagger back, and I thought that was what was accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a string of disappointing results at the international level, Canada dominated the U.S. 8-1 in the tournament\u2019s title game last Saturday. That followed a 6-3 victory over Finland in a semifinal. Canada finished the preliminary round in first place in Group A, downing Switzerland 7-3, Slovakia 6-1 and Sweden 7-4.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest takeaway I\u2019ll get is how that group was really able to buy in to the message,\u201d said Oulahen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support staff, the people I was able to work with, was a great group of people, led right from the top by Scott Salmond and Alan Millar. They gave a lot of trust to us right away and they had the belief in us, which allowed us to do our job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith any team that I\u2019m going to continue to coach, it\u2019s just remembering how that team of the best players that Canada can put together completely bought in to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Battalion centre Cam Warren, who had two goals and five assists for seven points in five games, played left wing with centre Maddox Schultz and right winger Liam Pue, both of the Western Hockey League\u2019s Regina Pats.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was outstanding,\u201d Oulahen noted of Warren, North Bay\u2019s first-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection. \u201cI wasn\u2019t shocked that he was going to have that performance. He\u2019s world-class. I\u2019ve said that before about him, and then he gets to go to that stage and show that he really is world-class.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was one of our top performers from the get-go, and I know the two other individuals that were on his line, I mean, he was really the one that got those guys going. He was the engine. He was the one that those guys needed to peak and get going, so Cam had an unbelievable experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a great tournament. I know he\u2019s going to have tons of confidence now here starting the season with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oulahen said that Warren and Schultz were largely interchangeable in their on-ice responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisually, it does look like he went to the wing. He was still very trusted in the centre kind of department, and that was a discussion that I had with both him and Maddox Schultz, that both guys were comfortable being down low. Somebody had to take the faceoffs to make it look like they were playing centre, but for most of it they were just reading and playing off each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon his return Monday to the Battalion coaches\u2019 office, Oulahen, who\u2019s been known to indulge in the odd superstition, recalled his first thoughts on getting the Canadian bench job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got the call about the assignment, I looked at the situation. My birthday is March 26. I wore No. 26 for a reason. If Canada won, it would be our 26th gold medal in the history of the event. And this is 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament, which under various names dates to 1991, has seen Canada win three silver and two bronze medals for a total of 31, including gold from 2022 through 2024 before the U.S. won last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis group will be remembered for playing the Canadian way,\u201d Oulahen said after the final game. \u201cWe got better every single day, and tonight was 60 minutes of exactly how you would want to draw things up. This is an impressive team that is led by an impressive staff, and I am going to remember this experience forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Ryan Oulahen reflected Wednesday on what Canada did in winning gold in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament at Edmonton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":174017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173981","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\/08\/12114954\/OulahenWithCanada.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\/173981","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=173981"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174037,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173981\/revisions\/174037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173791,"date":"2026-08-06T10:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173791"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:30:18","slug":"rossetto-added-to-ranks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/rossetto-added-to-ranks","title":{"rendered":"Rossetto added to ranks"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired right winger Nikolas Rossetto in a trade with the Brantford Bulldogs, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
North Bay sent Brantford a sixth-round pick in the 2027 OHL Priority Selection that originally belonged to the Peterborough Petes.<\/p>\n
Rossetto, a Sault Ste. Marie native who was a third-round choice, 53rd overall, by Brantford in 2024 from the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 15U squad, stands five-foot-nine and weighs 156 pounds. Having played previously in the Soo Greyhounds minor hockey program, he scored 54 goals and earned 27 assists for 81 points in 58 games with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Rossetto, who turned 18 last Sunday, has had surgery for a shoulder injury that limited him to 49 games last season, in which he scored six goals and added three assists for nine points. Over two seasons, he has 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 106 games, with one goal and three assists for four points in 15 playoff games.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s expected to return to full health by the end of October.<\/p>\n
\u201cNik is a player whom we coveted in his draft year because of his high IQ, compete and skill,\u201d said Adam Dennis, the Battalion\u2019s director of hockey operations. \u201cWe followed it up with a great interview but unfortunately missed out on him in the draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe dealt with a lot of adversity last season, going through injury and battling a deep lineup, but we felt that having a change of scenery and fresh start could bring out the tremendous upside to be had with Nik.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have him join the rest of the Troops and look forward to having him in North Bay in a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossetto is the Battalion\u2019s third trade acquisition this offseason after the club added left winger Max Crete on June 18 and overage centre Rene Van Bommel on Tuesday in separate deals with the London Knights, giving up one OHL Priority Selection choice in each transaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired right winger Nikolas Rossetto in a trade with the Brantford Bulldogs, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173791","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\/08\/06100412\/NikRossetto.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\/173791","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=173791"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173973,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173791\/revisions\/173973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173790,"date":"2026-08-05T11:31:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173790"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:31:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T15:31:31","slug":"battalion-roles-reassigned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/battalion-roles-reassigned","title":{"rendered":"Battalion roles reassigned"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has revised its organizational assignments, with Adam Dennis, president and director of hockey operations, to resume performing the duties of general manager, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
With former GM John Winstanley having joined the Barrie Colts as president of hockey operations under their new majority ownership, Dennis will oversee the Battalion as he did previously. Winstanley was with the club for six years, four as assistant GM and the last two as GM.<\/p>\n
Nate McDonald, who will continue as North Bay\u2019s goaltending coach, becomes an assistant GM, joining head coach Ryan Oulahen in that capacity. McDonald, who turns 27 next Tuesday, played at Cornell University of Ithaca, N.Y., and the University of Guelph.<\/p>\n
Ryan Ramsay, the 43-year-old controlling owner and GM of the Ontario Junior Hockey League\u2019s Haliburton County Huskies, rejoins the Troops\u2019 chart as director of player personnel after one season as a skills and development coach for the Peterborough Petes.<\/p>\n
Charles Abbott continues as director of scouting, while scout Jeff Bateman is director of player evaluations and prospect development.<\/p>\n
With Andrew Latin moving to the California-based Ontario Reign, the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League\u2019s Los Angeles Kings, Jonathan Turner is the Battalion\u2019s new equipment manager. Turner, 38, was with the Kingston Frontenacs last season after six years with Barrie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank John Winstanley and Andrew Latin for their time and dedication to our program,\u201d said Dennis, whose title remains unchanged. \u201cWe wish both men all the best with their new opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn saying that, I\u2019m thrilled to be getting back out into the field with some great help surrounding me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has revised its organizational assignments, with Adam Dennis, president and director of hockey operations, to resume performing the duties of general manager, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":171424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173790","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\/2024\/05\/21092632\/AdamDennisStock2024.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\/173790","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=173790"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173942,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173790\/revisions\/173942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173788,"date":"2026-08-04T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173788"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T17:00:12","slug":"troops-land-van-bommel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/troops-land-van-bommel","title":{"rendered":"Troops land Van Bommel"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired overage centre Rene Van Bommel in a trade with the London Knights, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
North Bay sent London a fifth-round pick in the 2027 OHL Priority Selection that originally belonged to the Niagara IceDogs.<\/p>\n
Van Bommel scored 10 goals and earned 11 assists for 21 points in 66 games last season, when he accumulated 80 penalty minutes. In 148 games over three OHL seasons, he has 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points with 167 PiM.<\/p>\n
The Strathroy, Ont., product, who measures five-foot-11 and 185 pounds, was an 11th-round pick by London in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection from the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs U16s. He turned 20 on May 14.<\/p>\n
\u201cRene is a young man with high-end character and a winning pedigree that we feel can really benefit our group,\u201d said Adam Dennis, the Battalion\u2019s director of hockey operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to welcoming Rene and his family to North Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Bommel is committed to Lake Superior State University of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for the 2027-28 season.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the second Knight to join the Battalion since last season ended, after the Troops secured left winger Max Crete in a trade announced June 18. London received an eighth-round pick in 2028 that previously belonged to Niagara.<\/p>\n
An Ottawa resident who turned 18 on April 24, Crete stands five-foot-nine and weighs 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion has acquired overage centre Rene Van Bommel in a trade with the London Knights, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173788","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\/08\/04113408\/ReneVanBommel.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\/173788","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=173788"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173927,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173788\/revisions\/173927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173787,"date":"2026-07-31T14:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173787"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:32:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:32:04","slug":"oulahen-warren-rep-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/oulahen-warren-rep-canada","title":{"rendered":"Oulahen, Warren rep Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"
EDMONTON \u2014 Centre Cam Warren of the North Bay Battalion is one of 22 skaters and goaltenders named to the Canadian roster for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to be played next Monday through Saturday at Rogers Place and the Downtown Community Arena, Hockey Canada announced Friday.<\/p>\n
Ryan Oulahen, coach of the Ontario Hockey League club, is the head coach of Canada\u2019s summer under-18 team in the eight-country tournament.<\/p>\n
The Battalion\u2019s first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16s, Warren scored seven goals and added 22 assists for 29 points in 58 games in 2025-26, his rookie season. A right shot, he contributed four goals and two assists for six points in 10 playoff games.<\/p>\n
\u201cCam has worked extremely hard this offseason preparing for this camp,\u201d Adam Dennis, the Battalion\u2019s director of hockey operations, said in North Bay. \u201cI was able to see him the week before he left, and it was clear he has made some gains and made the most of his time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very proud of his efforts and look forward to watching him and coach Oulahen compete for gold in Edmonton.\u201d<\/p>\n
A total of 27 hopefuls attended the Canadian training camp starting last Monday. Canada defeated Sweden 3-1 in exhibition play Thursday without Warren earning a point.<\/p>\n
The tournament roster numbers 13 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders selected by Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence under general manager Alan Millar. All are Canadian Hockey League performers, with eight from the OHL, nine from the Western Hockey League and five from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a competitive training camp and pre-tournament game against Sweden, we are excited to announce the 22 players who have earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on home ice in Edmonton,\u201d said Millar. \u201cThis is a highly skilled group of young players that is motivated to accomplish our goal of winning a gold medal, and we know our players are excited to wear the Maple Leaf and play in front of Canadian fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada opens the Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Switzerland on Monday. The hosts face Slovakia on Tuesday and Sweden on Wednesday to complete group play. Semifinals are scheduled next Friday and the medal games Saturday.<\/p>\n
Before the tournament, Canada will close out the exhibition schedule against Czechia on Saturday.<\/p>\n
TSN and RDS will telecast all preliminary-round games, semifinals and medal games from Rogers Place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EDMONTON \u2014 Centre Cam Warren of the North Bay Battalion is one of 22 skaters and goaltenders named to the Canadian roster for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to be played next Monday through Saturday at Edmonton\u2019s Rogers Place and the Downtown Community Arena, Hockey Canada announced Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173787","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\/07\/31140532\/CamWarrenCanada.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\/173787","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=173787"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173911,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173787\/revisions\/173911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173786,"date":"2026-07-27T12:30:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173786"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:30:47","slug":"warren-seeks-canada-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/warren-seeks-canada-spot","title":{"rendered":"Warren seeks Canada spot"},"content":{"rendered":"
EDMONTON \u2014 Centre Cam Warren and coach Ryan Oulahen of the Ontario Hockey League\u2019s North Bay Battalion are among those who open training camp Monday for the Canadian entry in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.<\/p>\n
Warren is one of 27 hopefuls named to the roster for the national summer under-18 camp, to be held through Saturday at Rogers Place and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Arena. Oulahen is to serve as Canada\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n
The Battalion\u2019s first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16s, Warren scored seven goals and earned 22 assists for 29 points in 58 games in his rookie season. The right shot added four goals and two assists for six points in 10 playoff games.<\/p>\n
The initial Canadian roster for the tournament, which is to run Aug. 3-8 at Edmonton, numbers 15 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders selected by Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence under general manager Alan Millar. All invitees are Canadian Hockey League performers, with 10 from the OHL, 11 from the Western Hockey League and six from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to unveil the 27 players who will begin the road to the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup at training camp in Edmonton,\u201d Millar said in a release. \u201cThis is a talented and well-rounded group of young players. Our staff have worked tirelessly to identify a roster that we believe gives us the best chance to be successful on home ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada plays Sweden on Thursday and Czechia on Saturday in pre-tournament games before the roster is finalized ahead of the start of the eight-team tournament.<\/p>\n
Canada opens the Hlinka Gretzky Cup against Switzerland on Aug. 3. It faces Slovakia on Aug. 4 and Sweden on Aug. 5 to complete group play before semifinal games Aug. 7 and the medal games Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Oulahen, the Battalion\u2019s head coach since Dec. 10, 2019, was an assistant at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton when Canada last won gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very special to be able to represent Canada and to work with our country\u2019s best available players for this age group,\u201d said Oulahen.<\/p>\n
TSN and RDS will telecast all preliminary-round games, semifinals and medal games from Rogers Place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EDMONTON \u2014 Centre Cam Warren and coach Ryan Oulahen of the Ontario Hockey League\u2019s North Bay Battalion are among those who open training camp Monday for the Canadian entry in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173786","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\/07\/27092557\/CWarren.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\/173786","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=173786"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173892,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173786\/revisions\/173892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173785,"date":"2026-07-14T13:52:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173785"},"modified":"2026-07-14T13:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T17:55:46","slug":"troops-set-for-u17-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/troops-set-for-u17-camp","title":{"rendered":"Troops set for U17 camp"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Owen Loftus and Alexandre Saulnier of the North Bay Battalion are two of 31 Ontario Hockey League prospects invited to Canada\u2019s under-17 development camp which opens Friday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex at Oakville, Ont., Hockey Canada announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The 31 representatives, all chosen June 12-13 in the OHL Priority Selection at Kingston, are made up of three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 20 forwards.<\/p>\n
Goaltender Loftus was selected in the first round, 11th overall, from the Don Mills Flyers U16s, while centre Saulnier was taken in the second round, 35th overall, from the Ottawa Jr. 67\u2019s U16s. Both have signed education and development agreements with the Battalion.<\/p>\n
Alan Millar, general manager of Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence, headed the selection process for the camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to unveil the top Canadian under-17 players who have earned invitations to our development camp this week, and to introduce these young players to Hockey Canada\u2019s Program of Excellence,\u201d said Millar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very talented and exciting group that will be surrounded by world-class coaching and support staffs, and we look forward to introducing them to our program, setting the expectations for the season and preparing for the U17 World Challenge later this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
All 80 invitees, including 29 from the Western Hockey League and 20 from the Qu\u00e9bec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, have been drafted by Canadian Hockey League clubs. The players will be divided into four teams for the five-day camp, which includes two days of practices and six games to be played next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The hopefuls will be evaluated through the start of the 2026-27 season before the Canada Red and Canada White rosters are named for the U17 World Challenge, to be held Nov. 1-7 at the same Oakville facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 Owen Loftus and Alexandre Saulnier of the North Bay Battalion are two of 31 Ontario Hockey League prospects invited to Canada\u2019s under-17 development camp which opens Friday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex at Oakville, Ont., Hockey Canada announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173785","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\/07\/14130655\/LoftusSaulnier.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\/173785","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=173785"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173864,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173785\/revisions\/173864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173783,"date":"2026-07-08T15:20:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173783"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:36:33","slug":"oulahen-gets-canada-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/oulahen-gets-canada-call","title":{"rendered":"Oulahen gets Canada call"},"content":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion\u2019s Ryan Oulahen will be the head coach of Canada\u2019s summer under-18 team for the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Hockey Canada announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Oulahen, head coach of the Ontario Hockey League club since Dec. 10, 2019, was an assistant at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton when Canada last won gold. The eight-team tournament this year runs Aug. 3-8, again at Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely honoured to lead Team Canada at this year\u2019s Hlinka Gretzky Cup,\u201d said Oulahen. \u201cIt\u2019s very special to be able to represent Canada and to work with our country\u2019s best available players for this age group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Dennis, North Bay\u2019s director of hockey operations, expressed the club\u2019s reaction to the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all very happy for Ryan and this opportunity. Any chance to represent your country is an honour, and we know Ryan will have his group ready to compete for gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistants are Ryan McDonald of the Western Hockey League\u2019s Prince Albert Raiders, Brad Mackenzie of the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and Kyle Chipchura of the WHL\u2019s Edmonton Oil Kings. Jeff Harvey of the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL is the goaltending coach, while Matthew Smith of the QMJHL\u2019s Newfoundland Regiment is the video coach.<\/p>\n
Oulahen, the Battalion\u2019s assistant general manager for the last two seasons, previously coached the Flint Firebirds for two-plus seasons after serving as a Battalion assistant for six seasons. An assistant coach with the Canadian summer under-18 team when it won gold in 2018 and 2024, he also served as an assistant coach at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with Canada Red in 2014 and Canada Black in 2015 and as head coach of Canada White in 2017.<\/p>\n
The coaching staff was selected by a group that included Alan Millar, general manager of the Program of Excellence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Ryan, Ryan, Brad and Kyle to the staff for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup,\u201d said Millar. \u201cEach brings a pedigree of coaching experience, particularly in short-term international competition, which will be a tremendous asset as we prepare for the tournament. We\u2019re excited to continue the process of building a team and working with a group of players who will proudly represent Canada and showcase their talent to hockey fans in Edmonton in August.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadian roster hasn\u2019t yet been announced.<\/p>\n
Canada will play its first game on Aug. 3 against Switzerland. It also faces Slovakia on Aug. 4 and Sweden on Aug. 5 in group play. Semifinals are scheduled Aug. 7 and the medal games Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
A Canadian training camp July 27-30 at Edmonton\u2019s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology will include practices and a game against Sweden on July 30. Canada also will meet Czechia on Aug. 1 in pretournament play.<\/p>\n
TSN and RDS, official partners of Hockey Canada, will telecast all preliminary-round games, semifinals and medal games from Rogers Place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NORTH BAY, Ont. \u2014 The North Bay Battalion\u2019s Ryan Oulahen will be the head coach of Canada\u2019s summer under-18 team for the 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Hockey Canada announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":173835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[694],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-173783","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\/08133936\/Oulahen1.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\/173783","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=173783"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173851,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173783\/revisions\/173851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":173782,"date":"2026-06-29T16:13:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/?p=173782"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:13:23","slug":"battalion-welcomes-recruits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-battalion\/article\/battalion-welcomes-recruits","title":{"rendered":"Battalion welcomes recruits"},"content":{"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
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}]}}]