The North Bay Battalion is happy to be home after a season-high five straight road contests.
The Battalion, who will be decked out in their black and gold Centurion jerseys, will host the Kingston Frontenacs at 7 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.
In a rematch of an 8-6 Battalion barnburning victory last Friday night at the Leon’s Centre, the Battalion will wear Centurion-themed sweaters for the first time this season before getting back on the bus to travel to Mississauga for a 7 p.m. Friday showdown.
Coach Ryan Oulahen, whose Troops went 3-2-0 in the road stretch and are 7-4-1 in their last 12 games, is focused on the Kingston clash before contemplating Mississauga.
“I’m looking at the Kingston game,” Oulahen declared Wednesday.
“We went into that building. They played extremely hard against us. If it wasn’t for some guys having some big offensive nights, that could have been a different outing for us.”
The Battalion fell 6-5 Sunday to the Ottawa 67’s in completing the series of away dates, while Kingston rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win against the visiting Flint Firebirds.
North Bay, which has scored 110 goals in 27 games, the same total as a year ago, has given up 108 for an average of 4.00 per game, compared with 76 against for an average of 2.82 in 2022-23. That doesn’t equate with the preseason view that defence was a strength and scoring might be an issue.
Coach Ryan Oulahen, whose Troops went 3-2-0 in the road stretch and are 7-4-1 in their last 12 games, is focused on the Kingston clash before contemplating Mississauga.
“I’m looking at the Kingston game,” Oulahen declared Wednesday.
“We went into that building. They played extremely hard against us. If it wasn’t for some guys having some big offensive nights, that could have been a different outing for us. Literally, the video today will be on the Kingston Frontenacs, and we’ll worry about the next one after that.”
The Battalion lost 6-5 Sunday to the Ottawa 67’s in completing the series of away dates, while Kingston rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win against the visiting Flint Firebirds.
North Bay, which has scored 110 goals in 27 games, the same total as a year ago, has given up 108 for an average of 4.00 per game, compared with 76 against for an average of 2.82 in 2022-23. That doesn’t jibe with the preseason view that defence was a strength and scoring might be an issue.
The Battalion has a won-lost-extended record of 13-9-5 for 31 points, second in the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division, two points behind the Mississauga Steelheads, who hold two games in hand. Kingston is 12-13-1 for 25 points, fourth in the East Division.
The Troops will head back on the road Friday when they head south to take on the Mississauga Steelheads.
The Troops will be without Ihnat Pazii who is representing Ukraine at the 2024 IIHF Hockey U20 World Championship Divison 1, Group B tournament taking place starting December 11 in Bled, Slovenia.
Speaking of international hockey, Those two games this week will be the final two contests for Battalion star goaltender Dom DiVincentiis and defenceman Ty Nelson, who will be heading to Team Canada's World Junior Evaluation Camp on Sunday. The two Battalion stars were named to the camp earlier this week.
