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OHL North Bay Battalion

Resilient Troops 'Have a Shot'

April 17, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - All Stan Butler wanted was a chance to be playing when the snow left North Bay.

Despite wintry weather earlier in the week, it looks as though the coach of the Ontario Hockey League ' s North Bay Battalion will get his wish, as the Troops prepare to meet the Oshawa Generals in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final for the Bobby Orr Trophy.

Oshawa hosts the first two games, with the opener at 7:05 p.m. Friday. The second game is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Sunday. Both can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

The Generals, who finished atop the East Division and conference, have advanced to the third round for the first time since 2008, when they were beaten in five games by the Belleville Bulls. Oshawa hasn't played for the league championship since 1997, when it defeated the Ottawa 67's in six games.

The Troops, Central Division champions, are in a conference final for the second time in their 16-year-history. The Battalion, then based in Brampton, eliminated Belleville in six games in 2009 before being defeated in five games by the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL Championship Series.

"It's always exciting at this time of year to still be playing," allowed Butler. "There are only four teams left. It's tough, and that's how we have to look at it. We have a shot here. We have our work cut out for us, and all you want is the opportunity. It should be a good series, and we ' re excited about it."

Battalion assistant coach John Goodwin held the same position with Oshawa when it last won the OHL championship. He served as the club's head coach for the three subsequent seasons.

"There's nothing like hockey at this point of the season," said Goodwin. " You don't want to look ahead, but if you win this series there are only two teams left, and then all the eyes are on you. For the guys in their last season, and even those who are 19, you couldn't be happier for them. They ' re a low-maintenance group that puts their noses to the grindstone and they work hard every day.

"You'd like to think an opportunity like this happens every year, but you may never get another chance. We ' ve faced adversity. We keep telling the players not to be happy with winning one round or two. A lot of things have to go right. We've had some injuries and had to win some games on the road. We don't want to go home yet."

The Guelph Storm and Erie Otters, the top two teams in the OHL in terms of regular-season points, battle for the Western Conference title starting Thursday night at Guelph. Butler said the Battalion was the one team many observers didn't feel would still be playing.

"I think people felt we were a solid team but not a great team, but that's okay. You don't need to beat 19 teams to win a championship; you only need to beat four. And so far we ' ve beaten two, and now we ' re after the third one."

Oshawa swept its first two opponents, the Mississauga Steelheads and Peterborough Petes. The Battalion had a much tougher road, battling back from a 3-1 series deficit to overcome the Niagara IceDogs in seven games before bouncing the Barrie Colts in six.

"They ' re probably more rested," Butler said of the Generals, " but we ' ve gone through some tough series and we know what it's like to go back and forth, game in and game out. We came back from 3-1 down and won the first two against Barrie and then lost the next two games. We had to find a way to win back-to-back games to win the series.

"We have to kick and scratch and claw for every inch, for everything we get. This group of guys hasn't had it easy. For them to be successful they have to battle hard to get what they need."

Butler suggested there are few similarities between this year's Battalion and the team that went to the final in 2009, a group that featured such stars as Cody Hodgson, Matt Duchene, Evgeny Grachev and Thomas McCollum.

"The team in 2009 had high-end talent and some superstars. This team is known more for its depth. It's not about one player; it's about the team. Barclay Goodrow can be a gamebreaker at times, but we don't have guys getting two points a game during the season."

The Battalion and Generals split four regular-season games, with each winning once on the road.

Oshawa is led offensively by left winger Michael Dal Colle, expected to be taken high in the National Hockey League Draft in June. Dal Colle recorded 95 points, including 39 goals, in the regular season and leads his team with 16 playoff points. Centres Scott Laughton and Cole Cassels also are important contributors, but Laughton will miss the series opener while completing a three-game suspension.

"They have gamebreakers like Laughton, Dal Colle and Cassels, and their defence is similar to what we had in 2009," noted Butler. "It's very good, but there aren't a lot of high-profile guys back there. They have Daniel Altshuller, arguably the top goalie in our conference. They added a goal scorer in Dylan Smoskowitz and a big defenceman in Alex Lepkowski. They ' re a good team, and there's a reason they did as well as they did this season."

Oshawa coach D.J. Smith was named Wednesday the winner of the Matt Leyden Trophy as the coach of the year.

"I think a lot of people thought the Generals would be in a bit of a rebuild mode, but obviously D.J. thought differently," said Goodwin. "He knew the team he had and knew what he had to do to get them to this point.

"They ' re a team that can score off the rush. They have some explosive players and, like us, they ' ll work really hard and won't get shortchanged. They compete hard. They have good goaltending, their defence is steady and tough to play against, and they have balance up front."

The series shifts to North Bay for the third and fourth games next Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The Battalion has a postseason won-lost record of 6-1 at Memorial Gardens and has played in front of sold-out crowds in their last four home starts.

"There's no doubt when we play here we have a true home-ice advantage, and that's something we never really had in Brampton," said Butler. " We ' d play Barrie in the playoffs in Brampton and the Colts would score and there ' d be more people cheering for them than if we scored. The seventh man has really made a big difference for us here."

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