Friday Night Faceoff: Romani, Wakely and Van Steensel chasing another championship together

The North Bay Battalion had three good cracks at an OHL championship. After coming up short in their quest with the boys in green, three key cogs in the wheel have moved south to Barrie for one last run.

Dalyn Wakely, Anthony Romani and Owen Van Steensel formed one of the OHL’s most lethal forward combinations in North Bay last season, helping the Battalion win a third straight Central Division title. Their season ended in heartbreak, a 6-1 loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series in Oshawa. This, after nearly clawing all the way back from a 3-0 series deficit to capture the ever-elusive Bobby Orr Trophy.

It wasn’t to be, not in North Bay anyway.

“If you told us last year at this time that we can play together this year and be on a different team, we wouldn’t have believed you,” Van Steensel told Barrie 360’s Gene Pereira. “For it to actually come to life and for (Romani’s) first game to have been back in North Bay, it’s pretty cool. The three of us are just excited to get going again.”

The Colts lost Romani’s debut on Jan. 16th, but have gone 6-0 since, climbing to the top of the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-14-1-1.

Wakely, a sixth round pick by the Edmonton Oilers last summer, has picked up where he left off, recording 40 points (19-21–40) through 38 games with the Colts. He’s one goal shy of securing a fourth consecutive 20+ goal season. He joined the Colts back in October after returning from the Oilers organization.

“(Wakely) wanted this to happen for a while, even before the trade happened,” said Romani. “He was kind of our inside scoop too and he was super pumped when it happened. We’re all super excited.”

Romani and Van Steensel came over together on January 5th, a deal that saw North Bay acquire 16-year-old first round pick Parker Vaughan, overage forward Zach Wigle and four conditional draft selections. With the Battalion draft pick cupboard depleted after a lengthy competitive run, the club turned its sights in a younger direction

“Owen has been a leader and committed member of our community. Anthony has brought electricity and excitement to our team,” Battalion GM John Winstanley said at the time of the trade.

The colours might be different, but the goal remains the same as the Colts are well positioned for a deep run this spring.

“My goal every year is to win a championship,” said Romani, a Vancouver Canucks prospect who led the OHL with 58 goals and was voted to the league’s second all-star team in 2023-24. “Our team in North Bay, we’ve had a pretty good last three years going to the conference finals, but I still want that championship.”

The trio is back where it all ended for them last spring, visiting the Oshawa Generals in tonight’s Friday Night Faceoff. The Generals could very-well be what stands in their way once again as Oshawa sits one point out of first in the East Division with a record of 27-15-3-1 entering tonight’s action.

Catch tonight’s game streaming for free at 7:00 PM on OHL Live, YouTube, X, and Facebook!