It has been a while, but the "7th Man" which followed the North Bay Battalion when the team first moved to town is back.
That was the nickname the Battalion used for the massive fan support from North Bay that followed the team to rinks across the OHL in the first few years after the Battalion moved to North Bay; especially the memorable first year the Troops came to North Bay in 2013-14 when the team made it all the way to the OHL finals before losing to the Guelph Storm.
Ryan Oulahen, now Battalion head coach, was an assistant coach in those early days in North Bay.
He feels for some of the veteran Battalion players who never got a chance to experience the 7th Man due to on-ice success and the pandemic.
“If there’s any team that I’ve seen here that really, really deserves it and has done it, because a lot of our guys in our room have seen the tough times here and what has happened here in the last four years," Oulahen said during Wednesday's media conference.
"The guys like Liam Arnsby and (Paul) Christopoulos and (Kyle) Jackson, those guys that were here to see those times, they’ve earned it now, and it’s great to see the fans come out.
“That Game 5, the 7th Man was back. Holy cow, was that an unbelievable atmosphere! I would suspect that’s going to continue here for us, and then, in the visiting team’s building, just hearing the guys warm up and the fans were itching at just getting in the building to give them the ‘Go, Troops, go.’ That means a lot to our kids.”
Ty Nelson, a fan favourite Battalion defenceman, believes the noise and support make a difference.
"You saw that game on Good Friday there was something like 4,000 fans in the building, it was super exciting," he said.
"The whole team got really amped for it. In our group chat, we were getting messages Friday afternoon that there were only 600 tickets left so maybe a sellout. So, we were all really excited about that and obviously, you could hear it in the building and when we score we get that extra cheer and that extra motivation. Luckily on Friday night, we gave them something to cheer about and hopefully, we get those big crowds this series."
The players also recognized the support from Battalion fans on the road as North Bay supporters out-cheered the Steelheads' fans during last Sunday's Battalion series-clinching win in Mississauga.
"It is amazing seeing all your fans coming to the away games, with all that support it amps our game up for sure when we have all that support behind us," said Pasquale Zito, Battalion forward.
"I think that is what kind of elevated our game in game six versus Mississauga."
"We knew we had that game in the bag when we heard that crowd chanting and we know they bring that energy we can bring that energy just as easy and they are going to be really big for us down the stretch," said forward Kyle McDonald.
The next opportunity for the 7th Man to make some noise is Friday night as the Troops open the second round against the Barrie Colts. Puck drop is 7 p.m. at Memorial Gardens. Game two takes place on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Gardens.
