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DENIS DUBOIS PHOTO
It was a night where North Bay’s past returned to the Gateway City for a date with the present.
Almost 3,600 fans, mostly wearing Centennial jerseys packed the Gardens for a 5-1 North Bay Battalion (24-17-4-2) win over the former Cents and relocated Saginaw Spirit (22-19-4-1) Thursday evening.
“It’s a hockey game. We got to play the game,” said head coach Stan Butler, “(The Troops wearing the black and gold for the game), that’s for everybody in the stands to enjoy and to think about what used to be and what is now.”
“But for us, we got to go on the ice, the players do and perform and as coaches, we need to prepare for the game.”
Battalion forward Zach Bratina says the jerseys weren’t that much different.
“They were a little heavier and they were a little big on everyone,” he said, “But it was definitely exciting wearing all those jerseys.”
Butler says his team played an extremely strong two-way game and the team was up to the task against a very good hockey team, one that sports a talent pool of eight NHL prospects.
The offense got contributions from five different sources, including Alex Henriksson, Ben Thomson, Nick Paul, Kyle Wood and Miles Liberati.
For Wood, it was his first career OHL goal. Butler says it’s been tough for the big, strong kid who missed half a season with a leg injury.
“We have great confidence in him,” said Butler, “We know that he’ll just come on and on here and he’ll get better as the season progresses.”
The win puts the Troops 7-7-1 against Western Conference opponents. Butler feels comfortable playing teams in the other conference but is admittedly playing with a heavy heart on this occasion.
“I think we have a team that’s built to compete with them and our building now, we’ve got a good run here at home and we’re doing well,” he mentioned, “But I just want to say one thing, I’m really happy about the win too because I have a mother in Toronto that’s dying and she’s a little unconscious right now but I know inside, she knows our team played a hard game for her tonight.”
Henriksson locked in the game’s opening goal at 2:23, before Thomson, Paul and Wood each scored in a span of just over three minutes towards the tail end of the second. Wood’s goal came with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.
Liberati extended the lead to five early in the third but Cody Payne broke the shutout bid with a goal halfway through the period. The goal wasn’t enough, as the Troops improve to 8-0-2 in their last 10 home games.
Bratina was a goal shy of the Gordie Howe hat-trick after fighting former teammate Dylan Sadowy in the first period and notching two assists overall.
“I knew that I was going to try and fight Sadowy,” said Bratina, “We’re good friends off the ice but we had a big crowd tonight and I wanted something exciting to happen.”
The Troops were without Captain Barclay Goodrow, who is day-to-day after a set back on his hip issue. Butler says these things happen when you play as hard as he does.
“It’s one of those injuries,” said Butler, “You wake up and sometimes you feel better, sometimes you don’t so we just got to go day by day and see how it goes.”
This was the first visit to North Bay by Saginaw since relocating the Centennials in 2002. The building brings back a lot of memories to play-by-play man for the Spirit Leigh Cunningham.
The former Centennial announcer and media relations contact says he hasn’t been back since moving to Saginaw and complimented the job done on the Gardens.
“I guess the first thing that jumped out at me was the facade in the front because I was used to the old tan or yellowish brick but you know what, I’m thrilled to see this community back with an OHL franchise,” he said.
“It was a unique time to be a part of relocation but having said that, I was treated very well in North Bay by the Thomson family and everybody here in North Bay. I’ve got some very fond memories and some good friends but having said that, I’ve been treated like gold in Saginaw as well so it’s been tremendous and I’m just thrilled to see them get a franchise back, especially under the ownership of Scott Abbott, who is a really class act.”
Jake Smith made 28 saves in the win. Nikita Serebryakov was chased following the second period. He surrendered four goals on 28 shots before making way for Jake Paterson, who let in one on 12 shots.
North Bay makes a quick trip down Highway 11 for a Saturday night game in Barrie. Then, they play host to the Peterborough Petes Sunday night. Game time is set for 7:00p.m. at Memorial Gardens.
Game Notes
-The Troops went two-for-five on the power play.
