
Elimination 'Fresh and Raw'
May 8, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release
NORTH BAY, Ont. - North Bay Battalion players and staff grappled Tuesday with the team's Ontario Hockey League playoff ouster.
The Oshawa Generals defeated the visiting Battalion 6-1 Monday night in the seventh and deciding game of the Eastern Conference Championship Series, advancing to the OHL final to face the London Knights starting Thursday night in The Forest City.
"It's still so fresh and raw," acknowledged coach Ryan Oulahen before players underwent exit interviews and dispersed. "It almost feels like a bit of a dream and it hasn't happened yet. It's a weird feeling, but I'm just overwhelmed with unbelievable being proud of this group.
"My phone is just going off the hook from peers around the league, different people in the hockey circle, that know what we did this year and how impressive it was. I guess that's kind of helping me through it in a weird way."
North Bay, which fell behind 3-0 in games, reeled off three wins to force Game 7, in which Oshawa held period leads of 1-0 and 3-0 and added two empty-netters to pad the score.
"I always say a playoff run, if you're fortunate enough to go on a long one, that's more taxing than a 68-game season," noted Oulahen, whose charges faced numerous challenges, including injuries to leading scorer Anthony Romani and No. 1 goaltender Dom DiVincentiis and a questionable six-game suspension to captain Liam Arnsby.
The Battalion, which made a practice of scoring early in postseason games, including a goal by Dalyn Wakely 43 seconds into an eventual 8-1 home-ice win Sunday in Game 6, threatened to continue the trait in the finale, with Arnsby, Justin Ertel and Sandis Vilmanis coming close on the opening shift.
"I mean, Sandis has basically an empty net," said Oulahen. "The puck just misses his stick.
"That would have been a completely different game, and then them getting the first one in the first. Up until that point it was a pretty even-keeled, back-and-forth type of hockey game, and then I think it just let them set into their defensive style. Give them credit. I mean, that was an impressive performance by their team last night."
Down three goals at the second intermission, the Troops remained strong in the belief that they could continue to overcome the odds, said Ty Nelson.
"Going down in the third period last night, we all said, 'You know what, we're doing this for our overagers and we want to play together.' There was about six guys that piped up in the room yesterday, and they were saying, 'We're not ready to go home.'
"Unfortunately, it didn't come to that, but it's just a group of guys that love each other so much and want to play for each other, and that we just all care about each other, and we know that there's guys moving on next year."
Among them figures to be DiVincentiis, who has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets. Sidelined with a lower-body injury in Game 2 of a first-round series against the Kingston Frontenacs on what he called "just such an innocent play going into the post," he recalled his own experience in 2022 against the Hamilton Bulldogs, when he assumed the crease from Joe Vrbetic, and took pride in the stellar performance of backup Mike McIvor.
"For Mikey, it almost felt like deja vu, going back to my first year, heading into the playoffs having had limited games during the season and came into the playoffs and, you know, was able to try and help the team win. We lost in the conference final, but it's the same kind of thing, and I think for Mikey, honestly, it's an honour to watch a kid be able to do that.
"When you get your name called, you've got to be ready, and that's ultimately the biggest challenge in sports. Sometimes you may not expect to be called upon but, when you get it, you've got to make sure you're ready to take that challenge, and I think Mikey did a fantastic job with that."
Romani, who led the league with 58 regular-season goals and finished second with 111 points, played just three playoff games, the first period of the opener against Kingston and Games 4 and 5 against Oshawa, scoring three goals and adding one assist.
"We won every game this playoffs with Romani in it," noted Oulahen. "That's just the impact that he had in our lineup. I give him a ton of credit. He did so much work behind the scenes, him and Dom too. I think Dom was trending the right way and was close as well."
Romani said missing the bulk of the postseason was difficult.
"Watching was really hard, and obviously I wanted to come back as soon as possible. It was a grind getting back, and I only got one or two practices before playing, so it was tough out there. I was a little tired playing, but I wanted to do whatever I could to try and help the team win. It sucked that I got reinjured, but I'd do it again if I could."
Latvian import Vilmanis, acquired in a Jan. 6 trade with the Sarnia Sting that also landed twins Andrew and Jacob LeBlanc, blossomed with the Battalion. After scoring 10 goals and adding 18 assists for 28 points in 30 games with Sarnia, Vilmanis erupted for 28 goals and 11 assists for 39 points in 30 games with North Bay.
He leads all playoff scorers through three rounds, with 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 16 games playing with overagers Arnsby and Ertel.
"I definitely had a different role in this team, and the coaches were trusting me a lot more here this year," said Vilmanis, who was known to Arnsby, a fellow draftee of the Florida Panthers. "Our line, me, Ertel and Arnsby, were clicking from the beginning, I think, and that helped me a lot."
Vilmanis signed with Florida after joining the Troops.
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Ontario Hockey League Stories from May 8, 2024
- Spirit Announce 2024 Development Camp Roster and Schedule - Saginaw Spirit
- Elimination 'Fresh and Raw' - North Bay Battalion
- Broadcast Schedule of Championship Series on TSN & RDS - OHL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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