OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Overhauls Overage Contingent

Published on September 29, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion traded Jamie Lewis and acquired Ray Huether in separate Ontario Hockey League transactions Monday involving overage centres.

Lewis was dealt to the Windsor Spitfires for a seventh-round pick in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection, a fourth-round choice in 2017 and a 12th-round pick in 2019.

Huether then was acquired from the Sudbury Wolves for a fourth-round choice in 2017. He was at home awaiting a trade, as the Wolves had filled their overage quota with forwards Nathan Pancel and Brody Silk and defenceman Jeff Corbett.

Stan Butler, Battalion director of hockey operations and head coach, said Huether, a six-foot-two, 200-pound resident of Londesborough, Ont., will make his debut with the team Friday night against the visiting Peterborough Petes. Huether joins defencemen Marcus McIvor and Brenden Miller in North Bay's three-man overage complement.

"He's a big, strong kid," Butler noted of Huether. "We're hoping he'll be happy with the role we'll give him. The Wolves promised him they would move him. They had four overagers, and three pretty good ones in Pancel, Silk and Corbett. We get a guy who can come in and start for us on Friday night, and we'll see where it goes from there."

Blaine Smith, Sudbury's general manager, was quoted as saying: "There are 18 other teams that I would rather see a player like Ray go to. However, the majority of teams are set with their overage players, and Ray deserves to be playing in the OHL as he plays his final season in the league."

The Saginaw Spirit took Huether in the fifth round of the 2010 OHL Priority Selection. He played seven games with Saginaw in 2010-11, earning one assist, before being traded to the Barrie Colts on June 13, 2011.

Huether played the 2011-12 season with the Stratford Cullitons of the Greater Ontario Junior League, scoring 39 goals and adding 29 assists for 68 points in 46 games.

He never dressed for Barrie, which sent him to Sudbury on Aug. 30, 2012. Huether played 131 games over two seasons with the Wolves, contributing 16 goals and 31 assists for 47 points. He skated in 14 playoff games, recording one goal and one assist.

"Jamie wanted to play a different role, and I respect that," Butler said of Lewis. "I didn't see that role happening with us. We tried to accommodate him and moved him to Windsor. I'm happy with what we got in return."

Lewis sat out North Bay's season opener last Friday night, a 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Colts, while serving the first game of an eight-game suspension for failing a drug test during the OHL Championship Series in May against the Guelph Storm.

Toronto native Lewis, who was chosen by the Niagara IceDogs in the third round of the 2010 OHL Priority Selection but never played for them, was acquired by the Brampton Battalion on Oct. 7, 2011, for a fourth-round choice in 2012 and a fifth-rounder in 2013.

Lewis played 195 games with the Battalion, registering 25 goals and 47 assists for 72 points. Among his eight goals in 2013-14 was the winner in a 4-1 road decision over the Belleville Bulls on Sept. 21. It was the first game-winning goal for the Battalion after it relocated to North Bay from Brampton.

Lewis also played 34 playoff games with the Troops, recording eight points, including four goals. His third-period goal lifted the Battalion to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Oshawa Generals last April 23 in the fourth and final game of the Eastern Conference Championship Series.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 29, 2014


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