Hockey is about highs and lows.
Battalion rookie netminder Mike McIvor knows all about it.
The 18-year-old came in relief of all-star netminder Dom DiVincentiis in game two of the opening round against Kingston.
Since then, he has put together a 7-1 playoff record and a 2.28 goals-against average in the playoffs.
McIvor's last win was a shutout in an elimination game over the Sudbury Wolves whom he and the Troops swept to move on to the Eastern Conference finals to meet the Oshawa Generals starting on Friday night in Oshawa.
But the season did not start that way for the former North Bay AAA Trappers U18 goaltender who moved to North Bay last year to play and to be closer to the OHL team that drafted him in the 4th round of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection.
This season, McIvor was part of a three-headed goaltending monster with the Battalion, which included McIvor, DiVincentiis and Charlie Robertson.
To help get him some playing time in the fall, McIvor was loaned to their affiliate junior 'A' team, the Powassan Voodoos, to get some game experience.
After all the uncertainty, the young goalie from Warkworth, Ont., fought through it and it's paying dividends in the playoffs.
The Battalion traded Charlie Robertson to Niagara at the trade deadline, opening up an opportunity for McIvor.
"Yeah, honestly, this season has had ups and downs," he admitted during the Battalion media conference.
"But the second half is when it feels like my season just got started.
"First half I was just trying to be a team guy, do what I can for the guys and just learning a lot from Dom and all the older guys.
"In the second half, I realized that I needed to be better. So I just took it upon myself to work harder at practice and really focus on things."
That meant McIvor felt he was ready for the challenge no matter how unexpected the situation was.
"It's obviously unfortunate Dom got hurt," he said.
"And now it's just about competing and having fun. I've learned a lot from this past year; being up and down with Powassan and all the other opportunities I've been given," he said.
"So I'm really grateful for that and it's made me who I am today."
Playoff success
Just over a year ago, McIvor led another playoff charge as he backstopped the underdog North Bay U18 AAA Trappers to an upset win over the first-place Soo U18 AAA Greyhounds in last season's Great North U18 AAA League championship game.
That season McIvor was named the league's top goaltender and was named to the Great North U18 all-star team.
"I love the pressure," said McIvor.
"I love being in playoff moments and everything on the line, you know, that's fun. It's hockey. So I'm just trying to take it day-by-day focused on what I can do to get better today and just have fun and compete over there."
Battalion players and coaches are starting to take notice of the goalie his friends call "Cash Money."
"I have just talked a lot about the confidence, and growing day by day with him," said Ryan Oulahen, Battalion head coach.
"He is in a rhythm a little bit. He got used to the playoff structure playing every other day, all those types of things. Now he has a lot of things underneath his belt and I just think it is the confidence, the mentality. He is just playing and having fun."
Veteran Justin Ertel agrees.
"It's cool to see and I think Mike is the type of guy that just puts his head down and works and I think it's starting to show for everyone so it's really cool and he deserves everything that is coming his way."
