Battalion on the Road
The North Bay Battalion embarks on a two-game road trip this weekend to end a season-high run of six away dates before returning home for the traditional Thanksgiving Monday highlight on the Ontario Hockey League schedule.
The Battalion, which visits the Erie Otters at 7 p.m. Friday to open the sequence, is coming off an eastern swing that saw it rally to a 5-3 victory over the Peterborough Petes last Thursday night before a 9-0 rout at the hands of the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night and a 6-3 setback to the Ottawa 67’s on Saturday.
“It’s tough,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said Wednesday of the three-in-three challenge.
“You don’t want to ever put excuses on, make your players aware of that or anything like that, and we certainly didn’t as we were going through it, but I knew going into the weekend it was going to be tough, and certainly on reflection of the weekend that was a big difference, for sure, of just what our schedule was and what our opponents’ schedule was. It does help you as a coach, and I think this is where experience comes into play.
“You don’t want to overexaggerate sometimes. You can’t just look at the scoreboard and throw a bunch of panic at situations like that. You do really have to understand the realistic approach of it and what the reality is of going through moments like that and understand what’s to be expected, and that’s where your expectations can be in check a little bit.”
Oulahen, whose charges have a won-lost-extended record of 3-2-0 for six points in the Central Division, suggested that Kingston may have had extra motivation, having been ousted in five games by the Troops in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal last season.
“Where’s your battle and your compete effort? I think that was there. Were we smart in making our reads and our assignments? Maybe not, as crisp as we like.
“And then it’s a perfect storm against a really high-octane team that had probably been ready for us since early April of last year. I give them a lot of credit. They came out and played an unbelievable hockey game against us, and sometimes it goes that way.”
Oulahen acknowledged that defeat sometimes can teach more than victory.
“I think it’s all in the approach. You’ve got to have a realistic mind about it. Adversity sucks, going through things, for sure, but what happens after it, it always makes you better — always — and I’ve said that over the years.”
“This is a really good hockey team,” Oulahen of the Otters. “They’ve got a good roster. They’re deadly. They’ve got some high-end players and high-end talent.”
Lirim Amidovski and Anthony Romani lead Battalion points producers with five apiece in as many games. Amidovski has three goals and two assists, while Romani has two goals, both empty-netters, and three assists. Ethan Procyszyn tops the Troops with four goals in five games.
Erie’s Sam Alfano has three goals and five assists while Pano Fimis has one goal and a team-high seven assists for a team-leading eight points each, both in four games. Dylan Edwards has scored three goals and earned one assist for four points in two games, and Malcolm Spence has one goal and three assists for four points in as many games.
The Battalion visits the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday night before playing host to the Owen Sound Attack on Monday. Article/photo credit- North Bay Battalion
The game at Erie can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
