OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion, Petes Ready for Series Opener

Published on March 24, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion opens what figures to be a closely fought first-round Ontario Hockey League playoff series against the visiting Peterborough Petes at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Battalion finished second in the Central Division to earn the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a won-lost-extended record of 35-23-10 for 80 points. Peterborough, 33-28-7 for 73 points, was third in the East Division and sixth in the conference, pitting the two in a best-of-seven quarterfinal.

"We're playing a team that's very experienced, probably a team that was picked, on paper, to be far ahead of us this year," said Battalion coach Stan Butler.

North Bay and Peterborough split the four-game season series. The Petes won 4-1 in the Troops' season opener at Memorial Gardens on Sept. 25 before the visiting Battalion prevailed 5-3 on Nov. 5. North Bay posted a 9-3 home-ice win Feb. 21, and host Peterborough won 4-3 on March 10.

The Battalion has available six veterans of the team that went to the OHL Championship Series in 2014, and another player, right winger Zach Poirier, who saw action in the postseason last year. Those who played in the final are centres Mike Amadio and Brett McKenzie, right winger Mathew Santos, defencemen Kyle Wood and Riley Bruce and goaltender Jake Smith.

The Troops total 255 playoff games, the Petes 178, but Butler was wary of the opponents.

"They've got a very old team, an experienced team, so there are a lot of things about their team that make them a very favourable team for playoffs, and if we don't play the way we need to play then we're going to make life extremely difficult for ourselves."

While Amadio led North Bay with a franchise-record 50 goals for a total of 98 points, Santos and McKenzie scored 29 and 26 goals respectively, with Poirier, who's suspended for the series opener, next with 15.

Peterborough had six scorers of 20 or more goals. If right winger Adam Timleck, who netted 19, hadn't lost nine games to injury, he likely would have been another. He resumed skating Monday and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Centre Hunter Garlent led the Petes with 87 points from 40 goals and 47 assists in 68 games, while right winger Eric Cornel had 27 goals and a team-leading 56 assists for 83 points in 68 games. Left winger Greg Betzold had a team-high 43 goals and 22 assists for 65 points in as many games.

Centre Jonathan Ang registered 21 goals and 28 assists for 49 points in 68 games, and centre Steven Lorentz produced 23 goals and 25 assists for 48 points in 58 games. Centre Logan DeNoble had 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points in 63 games.

The offensive leaders among defencemen were Dominik Masin, with eight goals and 32 assists for 40 points in 57 games, and Kyle Jenkins, who had three goals and 33 assists for 36 points in 62 games.

Goaltender Matthew Mancina got the bulk of playing time, going 24-14-4 in 44 games with a goals-against average of 2.97, a save percentage of .910 and one shutout. In 27 games, Dylan Wells was 9-13-3 with a 4.59 GAA and an .871 save percentage.

While glad for the playoff experience in the dressing room, Butler said the younger Troops must adapt quickly to the intensity of the postseason.

"We need the inexperienced guys to play well. I'm not worried about Amadio; I'm not worried about Santos. I don't worry about those type of guys. The guys that I'm concerned about, quite frankly, are our young guys here. They learn very quickly - within shifts - that the playoffs are a whole different thing."

Said Butler: "One of the checklists to success, you could call it, is sitting down with kids in groups - I like to do things in lines - and just kind of go over and help them have an idea of what they're up against."

Among those about to see OHL playoff action for the first time are defencemen Mark Shoemaker, Cam Dineen and Brady Lyle, right wingers Steve Harland and Justin Brazeau, left winger Max Kislinger and centre Kyle Potts.

The North Bay power play was ranked 14th in the league, scoring on 18.8 percent of advantages. Peterborough's was 19th, at 14.8 percent.

The Troops' penalty killers were ranked eighth, surviving 81.5 percent of opponents' power plays. Peterborough's were last in the league at 75.3 percent. North Bay scored 23 shorthanded goals to the Petes' four.

The Battalion hosts the second game at 2 p.m. Sunday before the series moves to Peterborough next Tuesday and Thursday nights.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2016


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