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Battalion beat Wolves in pre-season opener

Just one day after cutting down their training camp roster, the North Bay Battalion launched their preseason campaign in Sudbury, beating the Wolves 6-4 in an offensive duel.

Just one day after cutting down their training camp roster, the North Bay Battalion launched their preseason campaign in Sudbury, beating the Wolves 6-4 in an offensive duel. 

The Central Division rivals scored early and often on Sunday afternoon, exchanging goals right up until the end of the game.

Rookie prospect Kyle Moore led the way for North Bay, scoring two goals for the Battalion, including the game-winner with less than ten minutes to play in the third period. Mike Amadio also chipped in with back-to-back Battalion goals. 

“Today was a great balance and that was great to see,” said Battalion Assistant Coach Ryan Oulahen. “For the most part, it was just a great chance to see the compete level of the guys.

“We scored six goals, which is a huge positive for us, and it was just fun to see the guys with such a competitive edge against the Wolves.”

Sudbury’s Jacob Harris opened up the scoring early on, beating Battalion goaltender Jake Smith up high. But that’s the only lead the Wolves would enjoy all afternoon, with the Battalion responding quickly to every Sudbury goal.

After Battalion right winger Moore evened the score less than five minutes later, Amadio found himself alone in front and capitalized to give the troops their first lead of the game. 

Sudbury forward Ivan Kashtanov would level the game at 2-2, but before the period was out, incumbent troop Amadio buried his second goal of the game, giving the Battalion a one goal lead after the first period. 

The Battalion then picked up where they left off in the second frame, with returning forward Jared Steege beating Wolves’ goaltender Samuel Tanguay top shelf to give the troops a two goal lead.

While there were no more goals scored in the second period, the Battalion controlled the pace of the play for the entire frame and were outshooting the Wolves 32-21 at the halfway point.

The two teams then exchanged four goals in the final ten minutes of the game. Sudbury forward Connor Burgess managed to bring the Wolves within one, beating Battalion goaltender Smith glove side from the high slot.

That then set the stage for Moore to bury his second and more important goal of the game less than three minutes later.

“I thought he showed real good patience with the puck for a young kid and had a great touch around the net,” Oulahen said of the 16-year-old prospect.

Sudbury would go on to beat Smith top shelf on a rush with less than six minutes left to pull the Wolves within one, but that’s as close as they would get thanks to Brett McKenzie’s insurance marker with 55 seconds left on the clock.

“We got great production today from guys that we’re hoping are going to have a big year,” said Oulahen. “We’re going to have to have a collective offense this year, so that was good to see.”

The Battalion have 26 players remaining after releasing almost half of their training camp roster after their final intrasquad game on Saturday. Veteran players Marcus McIvor, Miles Liberati, Mike Baird, Alex Henriksson, Jamie Lewis and Brenden Miller all sat Sunday’s game out, allowing team management to evaluate their young prospects on the bigger stage.

“The young guys stepped in and, for the most part, did a very good job,” Oulahen said. “No one guy in particular really stood out, but we paired some younger players with some older guys so they could get a good taste of what it’s like.”

Oulahen said it was encouraging to see the level of competition from his team considering they haven’t had a single structured practice as a group yet. But with five preseason matches still to be played, Oulahen said there’s still a lot of evaluation to be done.

The troops now have less than 24 hours to prepare for a rematch against the Wolves on home ice. Game time is 2 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.

“We want to see a lot of the same,” Oulahen explained. “We’ve just been preaching to our guys that we want to see them compete, play hard, push the pace, and play a fast game.

“Until we start looking at our systems, that’s what we’re going to focus on.”


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Liam Berti

About the Author: Liam Berti

Liam Berti is a University of Ottawa journalism graduate who has since worked for BayToday as the City Council and North Bay Battalion reporter.
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