Sports stats

OHL North Bay Battalion

New Season Dawns with Playoff Opener

March 26, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - To hear Stan Butler tell it, regular-season performance is pretty much irrelevant in assessing the first-round Ontario Hockey League playoff series between the North Bay Battalion and the Kingston Frontenacs.

Asked about the Troops' understanding of their mission, Battalion coach Butler said: "They're confident in their abilities, but they also realize that the team we're playing is not a sixth seed."

North Bay, second in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference with a won-lost-extended record of 37-20-11 for 85 points, hosts Kingston at 7 p.m. Friday in the opener of a best-of-seven conference quarterfinal. The Frontenacs were 32-28-8 for 72 points, third in the East Division and sixth in the conference.

"It's a team that last year through the regular season had more points than us," Butler noted of Kingston. "It's a team that, if Sam Bennett was there all year, probably would have been a lot up, so it's not your typical first-round matchup.

"We know that there's not a lot of room for error. We know that we've got to play to the best of our ability, and we know that we need the hockey gods to be on our side at periodic times in this series for us to win."

Butler also pointed to the home crowd at Memorial Gardens.

"I don't think there's any doubt that, come Friday night, the seventh man will be loud, proud and active."

Centre Bennett, reassigned to Kingston by the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames on Feb. 21 after five months spent recovering from shoulder surgery, has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 11 games, having changed the Frontenacs' offensive dynamics.

Left winger Lawson Crouse led Kingston in scoring with a team-high 29 goals and 22 assists for 51 points in 56 games. Right winger Spencer Watson had 20 goals and 28 assists for 48 points in 41 games. Left winger Robert Polesello, a late-season contributor after being sidelined by injury, had 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points in 33 games.

Goaltender Lucas Peressini set what have been hailed as franchise records with a goals-against average of 2.32, a save percentage of .922 and a total of five shutouts. Given the Frontenacs' murky history leading back to the Montreal Jr. Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association, franchise-record claims are at least open to question.

North Bay went to the OHL Championship Series last year, losing in five games to the Guelph Storm, while Kingston won three games and then lost four straight in the first playoff round to the Peterborough Petes, leaving no doubt as to which roster has more postseason experience.

"Now it's not a matter of winning so many games against different teams," Butler said in reference to the regular season, when the Battalion won three of four games against the Frontenacs. "It's playing one team and trying to find a way to beat them four times."

Said Butler: "I think the biggest thing is that through a playoff series there are defining moments. There are times when things aren't going to go your way. Very seldom in a playoff series does everything work just the way you hope or plan or wish it would. You hope that when you get into those situations that the experience of going through what you went through last year will help you find a way to find a solution."

The series is the second between the Battalion and Kingston. The fifth-seeded Troops, then based in Brampton, eliminated the fourth-seeded Frontenacs in a first-round series in 2010, winning Game 7 at Kingston 6-2.

North Bay and Kingston have met twice previously in the playoffs.

The Centennials, in their final season, defeated the visiting Frontenacs 6-2 in a 2002 tiebreaker before being eliminated by the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, the franchise now playing as the Mississauga Steelheads.

In 1993, the Centennials ousted Kingston in five games in a first-round series.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2015


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.

Other Recent North Bay Battalion Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central