When all the dust finally settled, it was time to actually play a hockey game, and the fans were treated to a dandy at Memorial Gardens on Thursday night.
The Battalion scored a pair of powerplay goals 29 seconds apart in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and skate away with a 4-3 victory over the Erie Otters. It was the Battalion’s first win since Nov. 24 at home against the Niagara IceDogs, while the Otters lost their sixth in a row after dropping all five games on a recent homestand.
Mitchell Russell tied the game and Simon Rose slapped home the winner to whip the Battalion faithful into a frenzy, likely the loudest the crowd has been for the Troops this season. All night, the building had a vibe of excitement for a fresh start, a common occurrence when teams make the sorts of changes the Troops have.
It was the first game for North Bay since Tuesday’s bombshell announcement of major personnel moves in the hockey operations department. Longtime Battalion coach Stan Butler was replaced behind the bench by Ryan Oulahen and in the general manager’s chair by Adam Dennis, signaling the end of an era for the franchise that saw Butler as the coach and GM for each and every one of the team’s previous 1,456 games.
“First off, I’m thrilled for the players.” said Oulahen after the win. “There were some moments in that game that were pretty sloppy, but I think one thing we can all appreciate is that you got a sense of what the North Bay Battalion should be about.”
“What we talked about (during the game) was managing the puck. That’s a big term people use nowadays, but clearly in our zone we made some big errors with the puck on our sticks that led to two of their goals directly. Those are areas that we can clean up, so that’s stuff that doesn’t really bug me too much.”
It was a parade to the penalty box all night for both teams. Several powerplay chances were cut short on both sides by other penalty calls and there were many instances of 4-on-4 and 4-on-3 hockey. Each team had eight powerplay opportunities altogether, with the Battalion finally breaking through on theirs twice late to claim victory.
Team owner Scott Abbott, in rare media availabilities this week, spoke about his view that the time was right for a new voice and perspective. He acknowledged that while expectations weren’t high entering this season with such a young roster, the club was far behind where it expected to be and the best move was to make warranted, but nonetheless shocking, changes to the coaching and management staff. Butler remains with the club as a special adviser to Abbott.
Attendance at Thursday’s game was 1,742. The Battalion plays its final road game before the Christmas break tomorrow night on the road against the Mississauga Steelheads before returning home Sunday to face Matthew Struthers and the Owen Sound Attack. A toy drive, sponsored by Wawanesa Insurance, is scheduled for Sunday and fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game that will be donated to the Low Income People Involvement of Nipissing organization.
