OHL North Bay Battalion

Troops' Forward Ranks Set to be Shuffled

December 10, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion has lost three straight games and now suffered a further manpower loss, but coach Stan Butler isn't one to throw in the towel.

The Battalion will host the Windsor Spitfires at 7 p.m. Thursday without first-line centre Nick Paul, off to the Canadian national junior team's selection camp at Toronto, and without left winger Zach Bratina, who has missed six Ontario Hockey League games with a head injury.

"What it does is give other people opportunities, and that's what I said to the guys," Butler noted Wednesday. "Now other guys are going to go into roles they don't normally play and show the coaching staff that, when Nick comes back, they should get more opportunities."

Paul has skated between Mike Amadio on right wing and a variety of players on the left side, most recently Hampus Olsson. Before being sidelined, Bratina was deployed with centre Brett McKenzie and right winger Alex Henriksson.

"Amadio will go back to his natural position, which is centre," said Butler. "A guy like Zach Poirier will move up a bit, and Mathew Santos will move up a bit."

Paul leads the team in scoring with 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points in 27 games, while Amadio is second with 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in the same number of games. Bratina, who last played Nov. 21 in a 2-1 victory over the host Sudbury Wolves, has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 21 games.

The Battalion lost three road games last weekend, including Saturday night at Windsor, when Jamie Lewis, who was traded to the Spitfires on Sept. 29, the same day North Bay acquired fellow overager Ray Huether from Sudbury, scored the winning goal shorthanded and into an empty net at 18:41 of the third period.

Amadio, who also had two assists, connected on the power play at 19:17, and the Troops stormed the Windsor net until the final buzzer in an attempt to tie it.

Huether had one goal and assisted on Amadio's late score.

"He came here and has been our third-line centre and done a great job," Butler said of Huether. "As we talk about opportunities, he's a prime example of taking advantage of opportunity and moving his statistics up."

Huether, who has played lately between left winger Mike Baird and right winger Santos, has five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 26 games with the Battalion after scoring 16 goals and adding 31 assists for 47 points in 130 games over the last two seasons with Sudbury.

Butler pointed to the likes of Jared Steege, Henriksson and McKenzie as candidates to provide more offence in the absence of Paul.

"McKenzie hasn't scored an even-strength goal this year, and he knows that. He's played pretty good all year, but playing well and not getting results is tough to deal with."

Paul is vying for a spot on Canada's entry in the World Junior Championship, which starts Dec. 26 at Toronto and Montreal.

Windsor, idle since edging the Troops, is 10-16-1 for 21 points, fifth in the West Division.

The Battalion, which lost 5-4 in overtime last Sunday to the London Knights in its most recent outing, visits the Mississauga Steelheads at 7:30 p.m. Friday before entertaining the Kingston Frontenacs at 2 p.m. Sunday.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2014


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