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OHL North Bay Battalion

Arnsby, Cooke Eye Returns

October 18, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Ryan Oulahen didn't announce imminent returns, but clearly the North Bay Battalion coach was hopeful about having two players, including captain Liam Arnsby, available for a visit by the Mississauga Steelheads at 7 p.m. Thursday.

"As long as practice goes well today, hopefully we can get a couple of bodies back in the lineup tomorrow but, in saying that, knock on wood," Oulahen allowed Wednesday as the Battalion prepared for an Ontario Hockey League clash with the leaders in the Central Division.

Centre Arnsby has yet to see action after suffering an upper-body injury at camp with the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers, while left winger Brice Cooke has missed five games since a 2-1 road victory Oct. 1 over the Sudbury Wolves.

North Bay has a won-lost-extended record of 4-2-2 for 10 points, second in the division to Mississauga, which was 7-1-0 for 14 points before visiting Sudbury on Wednesday night. The Wolves were 4-3-0 for eight points, tied with the Barrie Colts for third place.

The Battalion, 1-2-0 at Memorial Gardens, 3-0-2 on the road and set to complete the week by hosting the Flint Firebirds at 2 p.m. Sunday, posted a 5-2 away win Sunday night over the Oshawa Generals that proved memorable for both Owen Van Steensel and Ty Nelson.

Left winger Van Steensel, who leads the team with five goals, produced the first three-goal game by a member of the Battalion since Josh Bloom scored three, including the overtime winner, in a 6-5 home-ice victory over Sudbury on March 19.

Van Steensel scored at 11:22 of the second period and at 1:25, on the power play, and 17:49 of the third frame without interruption by any other scorers, constituting a hat trick. The term, which is wrongly applied to any three-goal game by a player, originated in cricket, where it denotes an individual bowler taking three wickets on consecutive deliveries, an exceedingly rare feat.

Oulahen described Van Steensel, a fourth-round pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection from the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs minor midgets, as "someone who has had a knack for the net."

"Growing up, especially in minor midget, he scored a lot, so he's probably somebody in the last few years that's been in that defensive role, that defensive mindset, but now unleashed a little bit. Now with some confidence, the net just looks a lot bigger to him than it does to other people, and we want to continue that confidence for him."

Van Steensel, who had 10 goals and 24 assists for 34 points in 66 games as a rookie in 2021-22, registered 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points in 68 games last season.

Nelson scored into an empty net at 19:01 of the third period to set a franchise record for points by a defenceman with 130, one more than Brenden Miller. In 140 career games, Nelson has 35 goals and 95 assists, including two goals and one assist for three points in seven games this season.

Miller amassed 37 goals and 92 assists for 129 points in 248 games, playing his last two seasons after the Battalion relocated from Brampton in 2013. In 128 games with North Bay he had 27 goals and 60 assists for 87 points, culminating in 2014-15.

Nelson, the first overall pick in 2020 from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens minor midgets, set a single-season franchise record for points by a defenceman last year, scoring 24 goals and earning 52 assists for 76 points.

The Troops killed a two-man disadvantage lasting 31 seconds while leading 3-2 in the final period. Oshawa's Tomas Stewart drove Dalyn Wakely into goaltender Jacob Oster at 9:16, with Oster's head making solid contact with the left post. While the force applied was attributable to Stewart, referee Dave Lewis undertook a lengthy video review and gave Wakely a goaltender interference minor.

Wyatt Kennedy then drew a head-checking penalty for a hit on Ben Danford at 10:45, but the Troops, who sent Van Steensel, Paul Christopoulos and Tnias Mathurin out to start the three-on-five skating disadvantage, survived the pressure.

"We had a little bit of a breakdown there a minute and a half in, but outside of that we felt it was a game in which a lot of things that we've been talking about working on were moving in the right direction," said Oulahen.

"Puck possession was much better. We were able to develop some chances, and ultimately the third period was really well played and a big two points on the road."

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 18, 2023


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