NORTH BAY, Ont. – Import forward Jan Jenik scored a hat trick and added two assists, contributing on each of his team’s goals, to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 5-1 win over the North Bay Battalion on Thursday night.
Jenik, an Arizona Coyotes prospect, was the best player on the ice and his five-point performance moved him into fourth place on the OHL scoring list. Hamilton’s other star player, Los Angeles Kings prospect Arthur Kaliyev, was impressive as well, scoring his league-leading 22nd goal of the season on the powerplay in the first period. Kaliyev sits one point ahead of Jenik in the scoring race, tied for second in the league with Sudbury Wolves dynamo Quinton Byfield.
Zachary Roy, a native of Callander, was excellent in net stopping 35 of 36 for the Bulldogs, who ended a three-game losing streak. An otherwise evenly played game was essentially won by the Bulldogs in a span of 1:32 at the end of the first when they managed to score three times on Battalion goaltender Joe Vrbetic. That sentiment was echoed by head coach Stan Butler after the game, acknowledging that it was where the game was lost.
It was a night of dubious records for the Troops, which suffered a franchise record 11th straight loss and it played before 1,744, the smallest home crowd of the Battalion’s North Bay era. The refrain from the North Bay coaching staff of taking away positives from each game is proving more and more challenging with frustration mounting both on the ice and in the stands.
When asked for positives, Butler pointed to the line of Liam Arnsby, Josh Currie and Alex Christopoulos as having played a strong game. He also praised the play of Vrbetic, who continues to be a bright spot for the club as a 17-year-old goaltender. Vrbetic, as a late birthday, has another season of junior hockey after this one before he is eligible for the NHL Draft.
Brad Chenier scored the lone goal for the Battalion, his eighth of the campaign. Chenier and Matthew Struthers are tied for the team lead with 18 points each in 20 and 18 games played respectively.
In spite of the record-setting stretch of futility, the Battalion still remains only four points behind the Mississauga Steelheads for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and is remarkably not in last place in the standings. That unfortunate honour belongs to the lowly Kingston Frontenacs, who have won only one game this season. Kingston won only 14 games last season and used their first overall draft selection on underage forward Shane Wright, who was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to begin his junior career a year early.
North Bay hosts the Barrie Colts on Sunday afternoon, with the start time pushed back to 3:00 p.m. to account for the local Santa Claus Parade. The Troops then wrap up the three-game homestand next Thursday night when the OHL-leading Oshawa Generals are the visitors.
...
