The North Bay Battalion hope to end a two-game road losing streak tonight when the Troops travel to Guelph to face the Storm.
It will mark the first time former Storm forwards Luke Moncada and Luke Burghardt clash with their former teammates after the big blockbuster trade which sent Mark Shoemaker and Zach Poirier south to Storm country.
Poirier, the Troops first round pick in 2014, will not be playing as he continues to serve a suspension.
“It’s two hockey teams that are basically very similar situations where they need to win some hockey games because they’re in a situation where, if they don’t win hockey games, it’s going to decrease their chances to have success,” stated Battalion head coach Stan Butler at Wednesday’s weekly media conference.
The Battalion sport a 3-7 record in its last 10 and need to get going as they sit tied for last in the entire OHL with London, Flint, and Saginaw at 14 points and 5th in the Central Division. The Storm sport a record of 8-7-0-2.
“When we’re in a situation where it’s like a race, we’re still in the race but we’re running a little bit behind, and then we’ve got to catch up,” said Butler.
“We still have 50 games to go here, and there's a difference of a few points for teams. You’ve got to try and win as many home games as you can.”
Friday’s game will end a long five-game road trip for the Troops, who have not played in the friendly confines of Memorial Gardens since a 4-0 win over the Windsor Spitfires on home ice October 26th.
The Troops are home Sunday afternoon as they face the visiting Niagara IceDogs as the Troops will sport special Canada 150 jerseys as part of Military Appreciation Day.
See related story: Battalion to wear special Canada 150 jerseys for Military Appreciation Day
New Battalion netminder Christian Propp, who left early in the October 26th win over Windsor, still is not expected to play this weekend as he continues to recover from his lower body injury.
Butler says it’s hard to evaluate this group without Propp in the lineup but he still expects others to step up.
“I’m hoping that we have some players on our team that probably haven’t played at the level they need to play at; hopefully we can find a way to get them playing at that level, and that will neglect some of the moves we might need to make.”
The Troops will continue to play without top 2017 pick Brandon Coe who is still in Northeastern B.C. competing for 2-2 Team Canada Red in the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge. Coe and his teammates face the Czech Republic tonight in Fort St. John.
Tonight’s game can be viewed on YourTV Cable 12 or 700 or you can listen live on Country 600 CKAT.
