After seven years of OHL hockey in North Bay, Sunday’s game was a microcosm of the things that have gone right and wrong for the franchise since their time in the Gateway City.
The Battalion lost 3-1 to the Owen Sound Attack that featured Brady Lyle and Matthew Struthers, and these two are linked to those moves that have and haven't worked, as the team looks to return to the success they have been missing since year two.
While it is not set in stone it is very likely that Lyle and Struthers have now played their final Ontario Hockey League game at Memorial Gardens. Both were once members of the Battalion and now as overage players, barring any further trades, neither will suit up in an OHL game in the Gateway City.
“It was obviously different being on the other side of things, but it was fun. I really enjoyed playing in this city for two years,” says Struthers after a game in which his goal tied the game for Owen Sound.
“It’s weird for sure, I can still remember my first game here against Flint,” says Lyle. “It goes by pretty quick, you know you have to take advantage of it when you’re in the moment but at the same time you have to appreciate it while you’re doing it and realize what you’re going through.”
They both represent opposite ends of the spectrum of the talent that has been brought into the North Bay Battalion system since their move from Brampton in 2013. And they represent a continued cycle of competitive mediocrity that the Troops have been in, ever since their third season in North Bay.
Let’s start with Lyle who represents one of four first-round picks that would not finish his career with North Bay. He was at one point the guy the team was looking to build around. A hometown kid who had tons of potential right from the get-go. Their first draft choice after a really good first two seasons in North Bay and a draft choice that was supposed to show the fans that the team was now looking to build.
The big players from those initial runs were almost all but gone.
In Lyle’s first year, the Battalion had some notable holdovers from that run to the OHL finals in 2013-14. Those included Mike Amadio, Matthew Santos, Kyle Wood, Miles Liberati, and Jake Smith. They also had Zach Bratina for 12 games and after Bratina got hit and it was revealed his hockey playing days were over because of that hit, the Battalion lost a true top-line star. He had 12 goals and 15 points in those 12 games.
A lot of fans were calling for a rebuild at that point, those names mentioned above would’ve handed the Battalion a considerable amount of assets if you consider the only player they moved at the time was Liberati to the Rangers at the end of November and the team recouped the following from Kitchener: a second-round pick in 2017 (Simon Rose) a second-round pick in 2018 (Joe Vrbetic) a third-round pick in 2019 (Justin Ertel) and an eighth-round pick in 2017 (Owen Belisle).
But no such moves were made and what the fans saw was a 50-goal campaign from Mike Amadio. With a thrilling seven-game first round playoff series win over Peterborough, followed by a four-game sweep at the hands of the Barrie Colts in round two.
North Bay hasn't been back to that round of the playoffs since.
And part of that is something owner Scott Abbott takes the blame for. When he spoke to the media after the announcement that he had reassigned his director of hockey operations and head coach Stan Butler, Abbott said the goal was to always be competitive.
“If you look at the win-loss record we’ve been out of the playoffs one year and out in the first round for two of the last three years. But to be fair (to Stan) we’ve had a philosophy in the organization from day one to try to be good every year without bottoming out and without undertaking an absolute stripping it down to the bare bones rebuild.”
Due to that philosophy, the Battalion was not going to pull the trigger on potential deals for those players mentioned above.
As a result, they missed the playoffs in 2016-17 and by the trade deadline in the middle of the 2017-2018 season, North Bay had moved three former first-round draft picks. In the summer, Poirier (1st round 2014) and Mark Shoemaker were dealt to Guelph for Luke Burghardt and Luke Moncada. In October, Lyle (1st round 2015) was sent to Owen Sound for goaltender Christian Propp and in January, McKenzie (1st round 2013) was also shipped to Owen Sound for Matthew Struthers.
Struthers represents a player who was brought into the organization, given playing time and showed that he could be valuable to a contending team. From the moment he hit the ice, the Brazeau, Burghardt, Struthers line seemed to click, and it was as if the team was putting the building blocks together of what could be a storied run within the next year or two.
North Bay returned to the playoffs in 2018 as Propp, Burghardt, Moncada, and Struthers proved to all be valuable commodities. It was clear that North Bay had a knack for the trade market in finding those quality players every team needs to be successful.
2018 was a short-lived playoff run that saw the Troops bounced in the first round by Jason Robertson and the mighty Kingston Frontenacs.
In the off-season came the news that Burghardt would have to retire (temporarily) and the question became, who is going to be on that line with Struthers and Brazeau. It took some time, but current captain Brad Chenier was a tremendous fit with that unit, helping Brazeau finish the year with 61 goals.
However, one would think the opportunity was there to play with the big boys of the OHL and flex some muscle and add to a team that looked like it could be on the cusp of another great run.
Struthers and Brazeau up front, with a great supporting cast of Chenier, Walker, Moncada, Brandon Coe, and Adam McMaster. Moves were made by the team to acquire Thoe Calvas, and Mason Primeau and flip McMaster (another former first-round pick) for Mitchell Russell and Burghardt returned to the team after his injury healed up.
But there was no big impactful “get us to the next level” type of move that was made and instead, the fans witnessed another record-setting goal campaign set by a Battalion player who was about to leave the team with nothing coming back in return. They made the playoffs with Struthers in both seasons that he wore a Battalion uniform, but they were both first-round exits against a team led by Jason Robertson (talk about a guy that could’ve made an impact).
With all of that summed up, the light at the end of the tunnel is this; with new people in those positions to make the moves that need to be made, the Battalion should be able to find ways to end that cycle of just being competitive for the sake of being competitive and instead, plan and build over the long term.
Again, the Battalion has done a great job on the trade market, but it’s tough to follow a build right through to the end if you aren’t developing your own players. At the end of the 2018-19 season, seven of the top 13 scorers on the team were acquired through trades. This team will now have to focus on really developing the guys they draft.
As Abbott mentioned, “it’s advantageous to have the coaching and general manger's job split up. That way Adam Dennis can see more players down south ahead of the priority selection.”
And it’s not just the OHL Priority Selection in which the new management will have to do their due diligence, the CHL Import Draft has not had the type of return that a team can hope for when getting players from overseas.
Of the 10 players North Bay has selected in that process since 2013, two have not reported and of the eight that did play with the team, five of them would have seasons of 20 points or less.
The changes in the front office have already brought some changes on the ice. Before Sunday’s game, the team announced the acquisition of Cameron Lamour, a 19-year old goaltender who has OHL experience but had been playing this year in the NOJHL with Rayside Balfour.
Dennis says, “We’ve had a young D-Core all year and a young goaltending tandem. They have all managed at times to do a good job with that situation. But what Cam does is gives us an immediate need with Christian Cicigoi out, and no timetable for his return.”
This move showcases that a “rebuild” doesn’t have to mean all rookies all the time. And the next point Dennis made is what should get Battalion fans excited about this new regime, “It’s a crucial position and what it does for the rest of the team is it shows them that we are looking at finding ways to improve and gives them a little bit more of a veteran presence out there.”
In an alternate universe, Lyle and Struthers are spending their overage seasons playing together in North Bay for a team that was able to acquire, draft and develop a group of players that took them from being “good every year” to a team that had championship aspirations.
But those championship aspirations will have to be succeeded by this new young group of kids that has already piqued the interest of the fans this season and continue to show improvements every game by adapting to a different look, with Ryan Oulahen behind the bench, “I played under Stan and the philosophies and the fundamentals are there."
He says, “There’s so much learning that has gone on, under Stan Butler. Now saying that I’ve been able to be on a few different coaching staff. I’ve coached hockey Canada and won a gold medal at the U-18’s. I’ve been able to learn from a lot of different people. I’ve been in different rooms with different people with different ways of thinking and theories and I have a very blended approach of picking things from different people.
“Things are really starting to look up for them as a young group,” says Struthers. “It’s exciting to see what’s to come for them.”
