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Battalion look for more solid goaltending heading into Christmas break

'Once Christian could play, I think Julian really stepped up his game too'
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Battalion goalie Christian Propp smothers a puck in Sunday's win over the Barrie Colts. Photo by Tom Martineau.

Another tough weekend for the North Bay Battalion heading into the Christmas break starts tonight. 

The Troops are on home ice as they face Ben Garagan and the Hamilton Bulldogs.  On Friday they travel to Niagara to take on the IceDogs in St. Catharines and then cross the border to face the Erie Otters on Saturday night.  

The Battalion is coming off a weekend where they snared wins in two of three games last week improving to 11-16-4 and now sit in third in the Central Division.  

“We need to come into the Christmas stretch here with a few more wins, and that’s what we told our guys, that we’ve got to get some points this weekend and build from there,” Butler said Wednesday during his weekly media conference.  

The Battalion skipper believes his club is starting to turn the corner thanks to more consistency and strong goaltending.  

“I think we’re playing pretty good,” stated Butler. 

“I mean the challenge that we’ve got is we dug ourselves into a deep hole. We had an eight-game winless streak and a six-game winless streak, and when you do that you’ve got to get a lot of wins to get back into it.”

New Battalion netminder Christian Propp has returned from injury in his debut and now boasts a 3-0-1 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. 

Partner Julian Sime is 5-11-3 with a 3.43 GAA and .893 save percentage but has brought those numbers up since Propp’s return.  

“Once Christian could play, I think Julian really stepped up his game too, so our goaltending lately has been really good, and when you get goaltending like we’ve had lately it gives you a really good chance to win,” noted Butler.

Rookie defenceman Travis Mailhot, who lost the first 25 games of the schedule to shoulder and ankle injuries suffered in the preseason and practice, has played five of the last six games.

“He’s done pretty well,” said Butler. “I think he missed half the season, which is tough, and he’s come back now and has played pretty well. I’m pretty happy with how he’s played.”

North Bay's Ben Garagan, who was traded to Hamilton from the Sudbury Wolves last season, has one goal and six assists for seven points in 25 games so far this season with the Bulldogs.  

 

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Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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