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OHL North Bay Battalion

Cold-Air Practice Braces Battalion

March 1, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion, in the thick of a battle for playoff positioning in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference, took time Saturday for a grassroots practice before a visit by the Niagara IceDogs at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Battalion trekked to the Bill Barber Complex, a roofed but otherwise open-air facility at the Callander Community Centre, for a light practice that included a three-on-three scrimmage.

"It was good," said coach Stan Butler. "It was fun. It was cold. It was snowing. I think the kids had a good time." Butler said a crowd approaching 100, including Callander mayor Hec Lavigne, attended the on-ice workout, at which a draw was held for two tickets to the Niagara game.

The Battalion, with a won-lost-extended record of 32-23-6 for 70 points after a 5-4 home-ice loss Thursday night to the league-leading Guelph Storm, looks to rebound against Niagara in the teams' sixth and last meeting of the regular season. The Troops are 3-2-0 against the IceDogs.

Brendan Perlini, who had two goals and one assist in a 4-1 victory over the Battalion at St. Catharines last Saturday night, was to lead Niagara against the host Sudbury Wolves on Saturday night. Sudbury defeated the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 Friday night after trailing 5-0 just past the mid point of the second period and assumed sole possession of first place in the Central Division, two points ahead of North Bay.

The victory put Sudbury into the second seed in the conference, while the Battalion dropped to fourth, behind the third-place Kingston Frontenacs, who tied the Troops in points with a 10-2 hammering of the visiting Belleville Bulls and who hold two games in hand.

Butler said Jake Smith, who backed up goaltender Brendan O'Neill in a 5-4 loss to Guelph at Memorial Gardens on Thursday night, will start against Niagara. Smith suffered a strained neck early in a 3-2 home-ice loss to the Oshawa Generals on Feb. 16 and was scratched for four games before dressing against the Storm. Left winger Zach Bratina, who has missed four games since a 6-4 road victory Feb. 17 over the Peterborough Petes, has continued to experience headaches and wasn't expected to play against Niagara.

Centre Carter Verhaeghe leads the IceDogs with 74 points in 57 games, on 26 goals and a team-leading 48 assists. Left winger Perlini has a team-high 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points in 50 games.

Right winger Barclay Goodrow has team-leading totals of 30 goals, 27 assists and 57 points for the Battalion in 56 games. Centre Nick Paul has scored 23 goals and earned 19 assists for 42 points in 61 games, while left winger Vincent Praplan has 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points from 54 games.

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