OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Expectations 'Adjusted All the Time'

Published on March 2, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion hosts the Owen Sound Attack at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Ontario Hockey League team's last home date before embarking on five consecutive road games.

The Battalion, with a won-lost-extended record of 31-19-9 for 71 points, is second in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference, in each case three points behind the Barrie Colts, who hold a game in hand.

While the likes of Barrie, the Niagara IceDogs and the Mississauga Steelheads were touted in preseason forecasts as the class of the division, the Battalion has outdueled all of them, including building a 3-1-1 record against the Colts, who visit North Bay in the regular-season finale March 20.

Niagara and Mississauga are seven points behind the Battalion, with the Troops holding two games in hand on the Steelheads, while the Ottawa 67's are another point back and the Peterborough Petes yet another. North Bay has two games in hand on Ottawa and one on Peterborough. The top four teams in the conference open the playoffs with home-ice advantage.

"You set your own expectations, and I think expectations are adjusted all the time," Battalion coach Stan Butler said Wednesday. "The players set the expectations and, for the most part the last little while here, they've played pretty well.

"Our goal, even though we moved Miles (Liberati), and obviously Zach (Bratina) was done for the year, and Calvin (Gomes), was to make the playoffs and get home ice. We look at it now as we've got nine games to go and we've got to find a way in those nine games to make sure that we get home ice in the first round of the playoffs."

Defenceman Liberati was traded to the Kitchener Rangers on Nov. 30, while left winger Bratina retired with concussion issues after playing 12 games and right winger Gomes was limited to four games by recurring shoulder problems.

The Battalion visits the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday night and the Flint Firebirds on Sunday to complete weekend play.

The Troops last played Saturday night, downing the host Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 as left winger Max Kislinger, a rookie German import, scored two goals, including the winner, and defenceman Brady Lyle, a first-round pick in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection, scored his first OHL goal before assisting on a tally by centre Brett Hargrave, a fellow North Bay native.

The Battalion is 5-1-1 in its last seven games, including 3-1-0 on the road, the loss a 4-0 blanking by the league-leading Erie Otters on Friday night.

Owen Sound, 28-21-10 for 66 points, fourth in the Midwest Division and sixth in the Western Conference, posted a 5-2 home-ice victory Monday night over Niagara as Finnish import Petrus Palmu scored four goals and added an assist.

Bryson Cianfrone paces the Attack with 17 goals and 30 assists for 47 points in 52 games, while fellow centre Ethan Szypula has 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points in 57 games. In 43 games, right winger Palmu has 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2016


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