New-look Battalion hits ice
The North Bay Battalion, full reinforcements on hand, battles the visiting Mississauga Steelheads in a key divisional clash at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Four new recruits will be in the lineup against Mississauga. The teams were tied for second place in the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division as the Steelheads prepared to visit the first-place Sudbury Wolves on Wednesday night. The Battalion has a won-lost-extended record of 18-14-6 for 42 points, while Mississauga was 20-15-2.
Joining the Troops in the leadup to the trade deadline at noon Wednesday were right winger Sandis Vilmanis, a Latvian import, left winger Andrew LeBlanc and defenceman Jacob LeBlanc from the Sarnia Sting and rearguard Bronson Ride from the Niagara IceDogs.
Departing were left winger Carter Kostuch and defenceman Alex Cajkovic, a Slovakian import, to Sarnia, goaltender Charlie Robertson to Niagara and centre Pasquale Zito to the Windsor Spitfires.
Zito stepped away from hockey last summer and hadn’t played this season, but the Battalion retained his rights. Owing two OHL Priority Selection picks to Niagara if he plays in his overage season, North Bay recouped two picks from Windsor to make the Troops whole against Zito opting to join the Spitfires, which he has done.
In addition, defencemen Tyson Rismond and Zach Wilson have been assigned to the junior A Haliburton County Huskies of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and centre Dylan Richter to the junior B Strathroy Rockets of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
The Battalion now has 24 on the active roster, made up of 14 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders.
The forwards number centres Dalyn Wakely, Liam Arnsby, Ethan Procyszyn and Nolan Laird, left wingers Owen Van Steensel, Justin Ertel, Andrew LeBlanc, Brice Cooke and Ihnat Pazii and right wingers Anthony Romani, Vilmanis, Jacob Therrien, Lirim Amidovski and Stef Forgione.
The defencemen are Paul Christopoulos, Ty Nelson, Tnias Mathurin, Jacob LeBlanc, Trevor McDowell, Wyatt Kennedy, Ride and Brayden Turley, while the goaltenders are Dom DiVincentiis and Mike McIvor.
The overage contingent is made up of Arnsby, Ertel and Christopoulos, and the import quota is filled by Vilmanis and Pazii, a Ukrainian.
The LeBlanc twins made their Battalion debuts Sunday in a 3-2 home-ice loss to the Kitchener Rangers, while Vilmanis arrived in North Bay on Sunday night and the Ride trade was completed Sunday.
“We felt like we kind of were batting below average in the first half of what we were capable of, and there’s lots of reasons for that,” said general manager Adam Dennis, who consulted assistant GM John Winstanley, coach Ryan Oulahen, the Troops’ leaders in the dressing room and others before making the acquisitions.
“When they came and they felt quite strongly that they wanted to take one more stab at this, we did see a pathway to doing that,” Dennis said of the veterans, who have been to the Eastern Conference final in each of the last two seasons.
“We were able to accomplish what we wanted at the deadline here, and certainly not without using some future assets and picks and some great people, but we feel really good about how things turned out. If that conversation with our older group was different, then maybe we’re in a different situation than we are right now.”
Oulahen acknowledged that finding the right fit for the newcomers in the playing ranks will “take some time.”
“That’s going to be the biggest work we have in front of us here. It looks great on our board right now, in terms of where we’re slotting guys and what the lines are going to look like tomorrow, but really we don’t know until you get going at it, and the players are going to sort that out. I’m really looking forward to playing a game tomorrow, start from there, and we’ll see what happens.”
Vilmanis said he had an idea he’d be leaving Sarnia but that he’s happy to join the Troops.
“I already kind of knew it was going to happen. Of course, I didn’t really want to leave too, because I’ve gotten used to the things there, but still this is a really good opportunity for me. I want to be here and I want to help the team to win and to be that Cup contender this year.”
Ride also said he’s glad to be donning Battalion green.
“The opportunity presented itself, and I thought it would be a good choice for me, so I bounced on it. I know what my role is, and they’ve kind of reinforced that, what they want from me, so I think we’re on the same page with that.
“All the guys were super nice. They took me out for dinner the first night, all talking to me, getting to know me the first day, which is nice being welcomed.”
Defenceman LeBlanc appeared to echo that sentiment.
“We’ve only been here for a couple of days, but our billets have been awesome. It’s a lot colder here than other spots, but it’s been great, getting to know the guys. The coaching staff’s been awesome. It’s been good.”
The Battalion completes play for the week with a Saturday night visit to the Soo Greyhounds.
Article and Photo Credit- North Bay Battalion
