"Bluelines with Ranjan & Greg" is written by Ranjan Rupal (right), the play-by-play voice, and Greg Theberge (left), a former Memorial Cup winner and Washington Capitals defenseman and hockey analyst for The OHL Tonight on TVCogeco. Photo by Lindsay Sarazin.
Bluelines with Ranjan & Greg: Battalion-Frontenacs: In-depth Analysis
It was 32 weeks ago, on the last day of August, that the North Bay Battalion defeated the Sudbury Wolves 6-4 in the first exhibition game of the season, and it’s taken about that long - 76 hockey games to be exact - for the armchair quarterbacking, the anxious handwringing and second guessing about this team’s troubles and doubts, to finally melt away.
The rancor had peaked two Sundays ago, when the Battalion suffered an embarrassing 6-0 loss to a Sam Bennett-fueled Kingston Frontenacs team, in front of 4,000 fans at an energized K-Rock Centre.
For the Troops it was a bitter pill to swallow, but like the advertisement that promotes a certain brand of cough syrup says: it tastes awful, but it works.
…and the Battalion hasn’t lost since.
But in fairness to Battalion fans who, despite an 85-point season, suffered greatly with every one-goal loss and surrendered lead, no one ever came out and told us that this squad was ‘built for the playoffs.’ While that particular narrative became gospel during last year’s playoff run, the same notion hadn’t surfaced this year, and still hasn’t really, except for that I’m saying it now.
We can attribute this angst to head coach Stan Butler. The fan base is, after all, in its second year in the League and, much like the 1997's on the team, the emotional rollercoaster of a challenging season triggered a similar kind of sophomore self-doubt in the fans as well.
Instead of reassuring the fans that his team was, in fact, built for the playoffs, the wily head coach, who by now ought to be considered for an honorary psychology degree from Nipissing University, led us to believe the team was, to use his words, playing somewhere in the Twilight Zone, as he suggested, following a four game slide in mid-February.
Now I know we’re supposed to be a hockey town, with knowledgeable hockey fans; and we’re supposed understand the nuances of the OHL game as it’s played today, with its long season and its teenaged players. But a simple heads up would’ve been nice. A simple ‘don’t worry folks, we’re actually built for the playoffs, just like last year’ would have been a soothing balm for troubled minds.
Accordingly, our expectations pared down, Coach Butler has now pulled back the covers to unveil a hidden arsenal of hockey weaponry that had rarely been seen before.
Slick. Fast. Lethal. Paul. Bratina. Amadio.
Big. Bad. Deadly. Moutrey. Henriksson. Kujawinski.
What a difference a month makes.
Game 1: North Bay 8, Kingston 0
Ranjan: Greg, let’s get into some X’s and O’s about Game 1 and 2 starting with Friday night: no one could have predicted that 8-0 thrashing.
Greg: My perspective of Game 1 is that the Battalion held an our-skill over their-skill advantage. North Bay played a dominant 60-minute game in some aspects, for instance. I saw a big difference on the score sheet: with 12 different scorers on the game sheet for the Battalion compared to zero for the Frontenacs.
Ranjan: The Battalion came out hungry right from the opening faceoff…
Greg: The top unit of Zach Bratina, Nick Paul and Mike Amadio sustained very good pressure on the forecheck and they had a really good cycle, at times, in the game and they protected the puck really well until they saw an opening. In general, I really liked the way the team defended the house in the first, only giving up 4 shots in the period. But one last point about Game One. I wanted to say that it's the old cliché: don't admire your pass or you will get knocked on your ass. So it's the same in a victory. It was a nice game but move on…
Ranjan: The depth of the Battalion squad came to the fore in Game 1…
Greg: I think Mooch (Nick Moutrey), Kooj (Ryan Kujawinski) and Henney (Alex Henriksson) played a medium or high event game. Kooj played a real strong, experienced, veteran-style game with lots of maturity in his game, against his former teammates, and Henney: his usual in-your-face style playoff game that we’re accustomed to seeing at this time of season. But I didn't like the way Brett McKenzie took a couple a lazy slashing penalties right in front of Scott Oakman, the referee.
Ranjan: You mentioned Brett McKenzie. I think he looks right at home on the third line with Ray Huether and Mathew Santos.
Greg: I thought this line was a real good pushback line for the Battalion and Stan utilizes them really well. For instance, Heuther showed a lot of poise and his overage experience has really helped a young Brett McKenzie settle his game down a bit. Mathew Santos, of course, and we all know what he can bring to the table in the playoffs, was excellent in his third line duties: crashing the net and sending out some big checks as Santos can do.
Ranjan: And the fourth line of Zach Poirier, centering Mike Baird and big Hampus Olsson…?
Greg: The fourth unit on the club is often overlooked but can be one of the most important units on your club as I feel, in Game 1, they logged some really good zone time that takes lots of pressure off the other units. If you can play in the other end zone with your fourth line on, it's a bonus. I really like the way Baird plays the sandpaper style game. He knows how to play just tough enough that he doesn't go over the edge and cost his team a penalty.
Ranjan: …which brings us to Jake Smith’s performance in Game 1.
Greg: I really think that he's the backbone of this team and I really like the way he came out after sitting out last game and watching from the bench. I think he was full of energy and he hit his playoff stride right away. He made a huge stop on Sam Bennett early, halfway through the first. It was a key save, a right pad save, and I really like the way he was solid after that. He'll have to play that way if they want to be successful down the stretch
Ranjan: Frontenacs head coach Paul McFarland stated that he felt special teams might be the difference in the series…
Greg: The Battalion PK was tremendous in denying the Frontenacs - they went 0 and 4 on the power play. The Battalion scored 2 power-play goals which was the difference as well. They were 2-for-6 with real precision, quick passing, and, at times, breaking the box of the Frontenacs down. There were good clean entries; good puck recoveries and it paid dividends. And on the PK they were 4-and-0.
Ranjan: The Fronts came close a couple of times on the powerplay…
Greg: The Frontenacs were bringing the box up high and leaving a 2-on-1 down low, and the Battalion got a few breaks where they had some bounces go their way, otherwise the Fronts convert on that pass down low, and they're going to, sooner or later. But the Battalion, I'm sure, are aware of that.
Ranjan: Just briefly, I want to touch on what went so wrong for the Frontenacs in an 8-0 loss…
Greg: Okay, so now we have the Kingston first unit of Lawson Crouse, Sam Bennett and Spencer Watson. I thought they weathered the storm very well in the first. Bennett was driving the net and making good body contact with his checks, and had a couple good scoring opportunities that he failed to convert on Jake Smith, with that huge right pad save middle of the first. Watson, I think, had to get acclimatized to the atmosphere and might’ve been intimidated by the size and speed of the line matchups so I think his game will evolve sooner or later and he’ll start to click.
Ranjan: What about Nick Paul’s former gold medal winning teammate from Team Canada: Lawson Crouse?
Greg: Well, like Watson, I think it goes for Crouse too. He's a big body out there and, you know, big guys need a lot of room to start their engines up and I think that he’ll perform better as the series wears on. We saw that a bit in Game 2. It's a hard building to play in and the Battalion were certainly prepared to address Lawson Crouse’s gold-medal street credibility.
Ranjan: Beyond the first line, it didn’t look as if Kingston could get much going.
Greg: So the second unit of Jared Steege, Juho Lammikko and Conor McGlynn: I thought Steege played a really good game that he was the leader of that second unit. McGlynn, the big body, going around looking for some action, took a very careless butt-ending penalty that set his line little back a wee bit. Now Juho Lammikko: what a talented and skilled forward this guy is, and he'll start to make more of an impact as this series goes forward.
Game 2: North Bay 3, Kingston 2
Ranjan: So a dramatically different type of hockey game on Sunday afternoon in Game 2…
Greg: What I saw on Sunday was a real strong effort by the best players on both teams and it's going to continue in the third game on Tuesday night at the K-Rock Centre. You also have to remember that Game 2 was the third consecutive time that the Battalion had to beat the Fronts on home ice, so that was a tough task, in itself, to beat a team three straight.
Ranjan: What changed between Game 1 and Game 2?
Greg: I think the Frontenacs knew that they couldn't take away the Battalion skill so they had to try to take away their will, and that's what I call it: skill versus will, and the Fronts had a good pushback. I really admired the way Fronts’ head coach Paul McFarland prepared his team for this contest.
Ranjan: Like we did for Game 1, we may as well move on down the line, starting with the top line for the Battalion…
Greg: I really like the first unit for the Battalion: Paul between Bratina and Amadio. They seemed to be very cohesive again, in the second game, and especially Bratina. I thought he played a real smart, physical game and I think that really helps support Nick Paul, having to track down Sam Bennett all the time, as it was, by committee. Their line matched up with Sam Bennett most of the evening, and it was also nice to see Nick Paul play the role of the lieutenant out there, and take matters into his own hands when he had to. He may have to do that a few more times, in the series, if the team wants to be successful.
Ranjan: Next up: Kooj between Mooch and Henney.
Greg: I really thought that they did a good job in holding their own against a couple big bodies in Conor McGlynn, Juho Lammikko and Jared Steege. That was their match up and I think they achieved or slightly overachieved. In particular, Moutrey, I thought, had a very consistent game and if he's going to play at the next level, and I'm sure he is, as he signed an entry level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he’s going to have to learn that you can't take any shifts off and that's what he's been doing: he hasn't taken any shifts off in these last three games at all, going back to the 6-0 win to end the regular season. And, of course, there's Henney, and he has the attitude where half the game is mental and the other half is ‘being mental’ and he played an excellent in-your-face style game that we're accustomed to seeing from him in the playoffs. However, he really needs to understand that you can't take unnecessary penalties, especially early in the game, as we saw his penalty result in the first power-play goal for the Frontenacs.
Ranjan: Moving through the depth chart, once again the third line is working hard out there…
Greg: The third unit of Huether between McKenzie and Santos played a very solid game defensively, especially Santos, along the wall in the defensive zone, and on several occasions got the puck out and made some real smart plays with the puck. They’re just putting some really good zone time in, and they log a lot of good minutes. I thought that Huether, again, put together a very typical Huether performance, where he's very responsible; defensive first; always on the defensive side of the puck, and played a very mature game. I thought McKenzie played a real strong game away from the puck and, although he didn't do anything spectacular offensively, it's not really his game right now in the playoffs, because he should be, “it’s not really what you take, it’s what you leave” and he's playing smart defensive hockey right now.
Ranjan: There were ongoing battles between the fourth lines out there…
Greg: I thought Poirier between Baird and Olsson held their own. You're playing against Frontenacs tough guy and enforcer Cody Caron out there, and I thought they held their own and put in again some good zone time minutes. However I did see Olsson take an unnecessary hooking penalty and he needs to focus on doing what he does best and that’s a strong forecheck, strong positioning in front of the net and draw the attention to him. But overall, that was an achievement for Stan Butler’s fourth line, an energy line, and they play the role well.
Ranjan: Blue line muscle, next: Marcus McIvor gets tangled up with Chad Duchesne, who wanted no part of that bout, and Miles Liberati wrestles a hard-charging Roland McKeown to the ice, this after McKeown had barged in on the simmering confrontation between Liberati and Sam Bennett…
Greg: Again: great job by Liberati and McIvor. And it was really nice to see them, in a good sense, both get involved and engaged in the physical scrum that went on in the second. Sometimes your captain has to step in and take charge even if it means spending time, good minutes, in the penalty box and I think that's what he did. Liberati stepped up and showed some good man strength and when he was engaged with Sam Bennett.
Ranjan: The second defensive pairing, Brenden Miller and Kyle Wood, could very well be the first pairing on a lot of other OHL teams…
Greg: The Miller and Wood tandem played awesome, three games in a row. In this particular game, once again, Miller was vibrant, an enthusiastic type of player and sometimes gets carried away with some things he does on the ice and it cost him after he scores a beautiful goal with 0.6 seconds left in the first period. Kyle Wood, as usual, does a great job of containing players and steering players and angling. He's got a great angling game, but needs to react with a little more urgency: he got caught flat-footed a few times and just needs to realize he's got to keep moving his feet and processing a little quicker.
Ranjan: Rapidly becoming a fan fave, they ‘Broooo’ him every time he’s out there. I’m talking about big Riley Bruce and his D-partner Austin Kosack…
Greg: This third pair was, once again, very solid back there and, as a third unit, I really like the way the righty Riley Bruce is emerging, as a big sort of shutdown tight-gap D-man and Kosack is playing a very low-risk and high-reward game where he's not getting caught out of position and he's making good pinches at the right time, and not getting caught. So I think he's playing a very playoff-conscious game right now.
Ranjan: Jake Smith has elevated his game and has provided the Battalion with playoff goaltending from the Carey Price stratosphere: a save percentage of 0.956 in the playoffs so far. He's become more economical in his movements, shoulders high and square to the shooter...
Greg: Jake Smith's performance was very playoffs-strong as usual, especially in the second, where he faced several scoring chances and stops all 11 shots. And, you know, when the score was 2-1 he stopped several chances that could’ve made it 2-2, and also the goals that he gave up were strong hard power shots, coming in on a good shooting angle. Give the shooters credit where credit is due: that was a good shot and it simply beat Jake Smith. But again, Jake being able to shut the door, when it really counts, in crucial situations, in the dying stages of the game, came up large and the players really count on him to do that.
Ranjan: Kingston’s hopes had been couched in the belief that the final regular season loss was because they rested their top end talent, and then that Game 1 was a simply a mulligan. This loss on Sunday is one where I think they’ll feel they competed with the Battalion, and could’ve come out of here with a split…
Greg: My perspective on Kingston's Game 2 is that they really came out and tried to create positive action, and, in order to do that, you must develop a positive vision and I think that's what Paul McFarland did. He prepares his players really well and it was a close game and I really think that they’ll gain confidence from this. It'll be like the game really never ended, and they’ll continue in Kingston where they left off in North Bay. The Battalion players will be prepared to do battle in Kingston.
Ranjan: Let’s do some reverse engineering and look at this thing from Kingston’s perspective. Game 2 saw improvement in the Fronts’ attack. Where exactly?
Greg: After the game I thought, “wow…coach Paul McFarland really relies on this top unit of Sam Bennett between Lawson Crouse and Spencer Watson to do a lot of things and that’s generate offensive play, good strong defensive play against top players, and score game-winning goals. So he really puts a lot of responsibility on his key players. And that's the way it should be. You know Sam Bennett plays an awful lot of minutes and he's so strong on the puck offensively, and great radar out there, and he possesses great playmaking skills. So he's pretty well a guy that can do everything.
Ranjan: That’s a tall order, even though Sam Bennett was the 4th overall pick, going to the Calgary Flames in the 2014 NHL Draft…
Greg: But he's gonna have to have more support in the lineup then he’s getting right now, to be successful. And Lawson Crouse as well. And you know, sooner or later, fatigue will set in, but I'm sure this unit will bounce back and have a strong outing in Kingston. They did a really good job, having to face a lot of hard physical checks in their direction. They weren’t necessarily targets, but they’re like the jugular vein of Kingston, and the Battalion went after the jugular.
Ranjan: What is your assessment of the second line: Lammikko centering Steege and McGlynn?
Greg: I thought they held their own. They went up against Kooj's line and that's a tough line to play against with that size and speed. However I did think that Lammikko had a stronger game and engaged in a little more physical contact, or pushback, if you will, and also McGlynn. Conor McGlynn was in control of his body contact a bit more, and played a strong tough game. Now Jared Steege didn't have as much room out there and was looking to make contact. He’s looking for scoring opportunities but it was a really tight-checking game for the most part, and I thought the second unit of Kingston did a good job. They didn't take any shifts off either, and played a strong game.
Ranjan: The Frontenacs third line, Ryan Verbeek between Sam Schutt and Corey Pawley, had some jump but, and this is where you start to see some of Kingston’s depth issues, they have to be prepared to battle with Huether, McKenzie and Santos.
Greg: But that third unit played pretty well. I really like the way Ryan Verbeek finished the game: he was able to back some D-men off and use them as a screen to get shots away. Sam Schutt was driving the net, sending outside perimeter dish passes to the slot. Corey Pawley, I thought, was trying to hold his own but, you know, sometimes his size - 5’-7” - might've have something to do with him out there. It was a very physical game out there on Sunday and, you know, a small guy, even a good small guy, versus a good big guy, and we know what the answer is gonna be…
Ranjan: As Paul McFarland looks down his bench and sees his fourth line, Zack Dorval between Ted Nichol and Cody Caron, what can he take from their contribution?
Greg: That's a lot of sandpaper on Kingston's fourth unit. Dorval’s in and Sam Field’s out. Dorval was inserted in the lineup to try to create some type of energy on that unit. Caron is a tough guy, going around looking for his checks, and Nichol did okay for fourth line units. On the whole, they didn't seem to hurt them at all.
Ranjan: A much better performance by the back end staff in Game 2.
Greg: I really like the defensive pair of Roland McKeown and Chad Duchesne. I really think that McKeown is a good quarterback back there and sees the ice really well. He's going to have to, you know, give the players under him a lot of confidence, that they can break the will of the Battalion, and especially that first unit that they are often matched up against.
Ranjan: Canucks' prospect Evan McEneny, on the second pairing with Jacob Graves, supplied a crucial goal that pulled the Frontenacs to within one, late in the game.
Greg: I really like McEneny’s role, where he’s the offensive type of D-man and Graves is the steady defenseman. They're both big, strong and I think they’re going to give the Battalion’s second unit, with Kooj, a tough time. They’re going to set up the wall and it's going to be tough to penetrate against in Kingston.
Ranjan: With Jarkko Parikka out with a foot injury, it’s an odd third pairing in that the Battalion once drafted both Nathan Billitier and Shawn Tessier.
Greg: I think they matched up pretty well but I think Billitier is doing a good job at head-manning the puck. Tessier is a former North Bay Trapper, and is getting some good experience, just being there, and contributing the best way he can, and that's playing strong without the puck, and not getting scored on.
Ranjan: Which brings us round to Lucas Peressini. Game 1 couldn’t have gone much worse for the 6’-2” goaltender. And on Sunday he was shaky on the first Battalion goal: Mike Amadio’s sharp-angled shot from the right wing corner that ricocheted off the inside of his right pad. So that’s the thing, right there: that goal, to me, was a momentum killer for the Fronts.
Greg: Well, he was much better this game, facing 28 shots, and, you know, it was a good bounce back game after surrendering six in 38 minutes the game before. His rebound control really stood out this game, much better. The first goal was a little soft, maybe, had a small odour to it, but other than that played a solid game on the road, and he will be even more prepared when he gets between the 4 x 6 in his own backyard.
Ranjan: Before we wrap up: your thoughts on special teams in Game 2.
Greg: The Battalion special teams units performed up to their capabilities. I really like the way the PK unit of the Battalion was able to not let the Frontenacs even establish much possession time on the power play and gave them a lot of trouble. They were able to stand up in the neutral zone and stack the blue line. On their power play, it was really nice to see them establish positioning and breaking the box down with good seam passes and just getting bodies in front and getting the shots through to the net. The PP looked good from my perspective, and they got a goal, two even, if you count one on a penalty that had just expired a few seconds before Amadio’s one-timer made it 3-1. That’s 2-for-5 really.
Ranjan: …and the Fronts’ special teams?
Greg: The Frontenacs’ power-play seemed to struggle at times, entering the zone, gaining clean entries or establishing puck possession on shoot ins and/or puck recovery. They went 1-for-9 on the PP. The Battalion played a very aggressive PK against their power play and they didn't give them a lot of time to operate. The Fronts did, however, score a nice power-play goal off the rush, where you saw Sam Bennett, once again, the playmaker on that goal, passing off to Lawson Crouse and him having that NHL release, a quick release that surprised Jake Smith.
Ranjan: So Game 3 goes tonight at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston. Greg, as usual, you’ve done a great job breaking down the first two games of the series. What should we expect tonight?
Greg: It's going to be a job of the Kingston team, and their core players, to break the will of the Battalion, not their skill, but they're going to have to find a way to really break their will. And that's gonna be a tough job as the Battalion have 13 players returning from last year’s Eastern Conference championship team. So, you know, the old saying is: offense can win you games, but defense wins you championships. Well, in Game 3, I expect to see the Battalion playing with lots of confidence, but they're going to have to expect a strong pushback from Sam Bennett and company. However, if they're able to go out and establish an early lead, they can set their own pace for the game, and that will put even more pressure on the Frontenacs and force them to play a little more high-risk for little, or no, reward.
