OHL North Bay Battalion

Possibilities Aplenty in Final Weekend

March 18, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion hosts the Ottawa 67's at 7 p.m. Thursday in a game that figures to go a long way in determining both teams' Ontario Hockey League playoff positioning.

"Believe it or not, with three games to go, there's a huge, wide swing as to where we might finish," Battalion coach Stan Butler noted Wednesday.

North Bay, with a won-lost-extended record of 34-20-11 for 79 points, is second in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa is 36-24-5 for 77 points, second in the East Division and fourth in the conference.

The Barrie Colts, second in the conference to the Oshawa Generals, lead the Central standings at 41-23-2 for 84 points, while the Niagara IceDogs are third in the division and fifth in the conference at 35-26-4 for 74 points.

The Battalion can finish anywhere from second to fifth in the conference, with anything but a fifth-place finish meaning home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

North Bay completes the regular season by visiting the Mississauga Steelheads on Friday night and hosting the Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday. Ottawa hosts the Peterborough Petes on Friday night and the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday.

Barrie, which has just two games left, visits Niagara on Thursday night and hosts Kingston on Saturday night, while the IceDogs, after facing the Colts, host Mississauga on Saturday night and the Erie Otters on Sunday.

Ottawa has climbed the standings since a sluggish start, with Butler noting a "very good job" done by coach Jeff Brown as well as the increasing impact of Travis Konecny.

"He's a world-class player, a first overall pick in our league. We don't get those guys. He's started to really pick up his game. Brendan Bell is starting to play much better, and (Dante) Salituro there is just on fire. Now you get those guys playing that well.

"Early in the year they didn't really get very good goaltending. (Liam) Herbst's started to play pretty well, and they've got an older, mature defence. You mix it all together and you have some success."

The 67's, winners of their last two games, are 3-4-2 in their last nine. The Battalion is 6-3-0 in its last nine, following four straight losses, all in regulation time.

"Our problem is our consistency," allowed Butler. "When we're good, we're good, and when we're bad, we're ... bad."

That was demonstrated last week, when the Battalion defeated the visiting Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, leaders of the Western Conference, 4-2 Thursday night before being "slaughtered," by Butler's admission, 6-0 Saturday night at Kingston. The Troops won 4-3 via shootout over the host Belleville Bulls on Sunday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit.

"Saturday, I think it was a combination of they played really well and we didn't even play," said Butler. "The next day, I don't think we were great in Belleville either. We got off to a bad start and we got a lucky goal, a knuckleball, from (Alex) Henriksson. He hit the puck flat, and it dipped and got us back in the game."

Nick Moutrey, acquired from the Saginaw Spirit in a trade Jan. 4, tied it 3-3 on a wraparound at 14:23 of the third period, precipitating overtime with his 24th goal of the season and his ninth with North Bay.

"He's been a real consistent player since he's come," said Butler. "He does all the little things well. He might not be a huge goal scorer or whatever, but the tougher the game the better he plays, and that's one of the things I identified when I traded for him.

"I don't worry about his consistency. I know what he'll do. But we have other guys who have really got to work on that."

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2015


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