Hopefuls turn up heat

With a slew of dynamic young veterans and plenty of promising recruits, competition is heated at the North Bay Battalion’s Ontario Hockey League training camp.

“I think the message has been laid out pretty clear that this is going to be a really competitive camp, not only for players trying to make the club but for players who are returning,” general manager John Winstanley said Tuesday after the first of two intrasquad games on the second day of the four-day camp.

“Everybody’s out here trying to earn their spots and earn how they’re going to start their year.”

While the window to make an impression is short, there are positives to the process in the aftermath of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s decision to permit players with Canadian Hockey League experience to play Division I hockey in the coming season.

“The other benefit we have, with the rule changes, is that some guys can play exhibition games that normally wouldn’t have played exhibition games, so we do have a little bit more of a runway in terms of seeing these guys a little bit longer,” noted Winstanley.

“There’s a long list of it right now, and today’s game proved that the list might have to get a little bit longer if they showed really well. We’ve got about six or seven guys that we’re really watching closely, and the next 48 hours, 72 hours, will determine kind of who sticks around and how we proceed.”

Team White took both games over Team Green, who lost forward Cameron Lockhart in the first period of the opener with a shoulder issue after he was roughed up along the end boards. In the second game, Green forward Nolan Laird was cut late in the second period and went for stitches to a lip.

A total of 55 prospects were in camp, with forward Evgeny Dubrovtsev, a first-round pick in the CHL Import Draft in July, still absent. The Russian was expected to arrive in North Bay in the early hours of Thursday after his flight from St. Petersburg was delayed three times.

Forward Arseny Pronin, the Troops’ second-rounder from Belarus, was among the standouts on the ice as the teams dressed 20 a side in the first game and 21 in the second, with both contests consisting of three 20-minute periods.

Assistant coaches Bill Houlder and Matt Marquardt ran the White and Green benches respectively while head coach Ryan Oulahen observed from the stands.

On the bench as an assistant with White was Ty Nelson, the Battalion’s first overall pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection and a third-round choice by the Seattle Kraken in the 2022 National Hockey League Draft. The defenceman played last season with the affiliated Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League.

Two intrasquad games are scheduled Wednesday, at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., before a fifth is played at 10 a.m. Thursday, after which the camp ends. There is free admission to Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens for the games.

SECOND GAME RECAP

Defencemen Richard Wang and Jonathan Kapageridis scored two goals apiece and forward Cam Warren, the Battalion’s first-rounder in April, also had two tallies to lead Green to a 7-4 victory. Goaltender Carter Nadon got the win in relief of Cole Vreugdenhil, while White’s Gavin Zepp took the loss.

Lineups

White: Cole Vreugdenhil, Carter Nadon, Adrian Manzo, Jonathan Kapageridis, Sam Weedmark, Sam Rivet, Devran Brown, Easton Poe, Richard Wang, Lucas Van Steensel, Dylan Nobili, Isaac Tracze, Cam Warren, James Rosenberg, Jack Foley, Ethan Procyszyn, Kam Hodgson, Stepan Chukharev, Shamar Moses, Tristan Konobelj, Nick Wellenreiter.

Green: Gavin Zepp, Mike McIvor, Oskar Konobelj, Colton D’Amico, Karter Buchmann, Dylan Rousselle, Brandt Harper, Ryan Fairbairn, Bronson Ride, Adam Smeeton, Javian Nei, Quinn Kipfer, Ben Maharaj, Owen Smith, Nolan Laird, Lincoln Edwards, Ihnat Pazii, Austin Brekelmans, Jax Pereira, Daks Klinkhammer, Lirim Amidovski.

White goals: Wang 2, Kapageridis 2, Warren 2, Nobili.

Green goals: Brekelmans, Edwards, Ride, Amidovski.

FIRST GAME RECAP

Ryder Cali, Isaac Tracze and Easton Poe, into an empty net, scored unanswered third-period goals to send White to a 5-2 victory. Jack Lisson got the win in goal in relief of Logan Coates.

Lineups

White: Logan Coates, Jack Lisson, Aaron Enright, Sam Weedmark, Devran Brown, Easton Poe, Carter Kunopaski, Richard Wang, Lucas Van Steensel, Dylan Nobili, Isaac Tracze, Cam Warren, Parker Vaughan, Ryder Cali, James Rosenberg, Jack Foley, Arseny Pronin, Kam Hodgson, Stepan Chukharev, Tristan Konobelj.

Green: Charlie Larocque, Gavin Zepp, Oskar Konobelj, Colton D’Amico, Karter Buchmann, Dylan Rousselle, Sam Rivet, Ryan Fairbairn, Briir Long, Ryder Carey, Adam Smeeton, Javian Nei, Quinn Kipfer, Ben Maharaj, Owen Smith, Lincoln Edwards, Austin Brekelmans, Cameron Lockhart, Jax Pereira, Daks Klinkhammer.

White goals: Chukharev, Vaughan, Cali, Tracze, Poe.

Green goals: Long 2.