Battalion make big moves off the ice

On a sunny Wednesday in North Bay, the top brass of the Battalion announced a restructuring of the organization.

The biggest being a change to the team's president role.

“I am pleased to announce Adam Dennis has been named President and Director of Hockey Operations, succeeding Mike Griffin in the president's role,” explained Battalion owner Scott Abbott. “John Winstanley is General Manager, following Adam in that capacity, and Ryan Oulahen has been appointed as Assistant General Manager along with continuing with his duties as head coach.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank Mike Griffin for his contributions and long service dating to the fall of 1999 when the team was located in Brampton. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”

All three have also signed new three-year contracts to remain with the Battalion. That deal will take them to the end of the 2028/29 season. Previously they were in the third year of a five-year contract, but this new deal takes over immediately, superseding the previous deal.

“I think it was important to show them confidence in terms of long-range planning in player development and business development and securing their services for that time frame,” Abbott commented on the contracts. “As we have seen yesterday with the appointment of Scott Wray as head coach in Owen Sound, our achievements in the last three years have not gone unnoticed in the hockey world, and I am very pleased to have these gentlemen for the foreseeable future.

“I want to make sure we continue to go forward with a successful template, and these gentlemen have been integral to that success. Adam has been an outstanding director of hockey operations, Ryan has been an outstanding coach, and John has been outstanding with player development.”

Dennis, who joined the Battalion as assistant coach and assistant general manager for the 2016/17 season, has been serving as general manager since December 10, 2019.

“This is a great honour for me and my family,” Dennis stated. “I want to thank Scott and Charles Abbott for bestowing this opportunity upon us. I also want to thank Mike Griffin for his time, he was a big piece of bringing this team to North Bay and that shouldn’t be forgotten. At the end of the season, it was an emotional roller coaster for myself, and my family, and a number of opportunities presented themselves and we talked to everybody but the one thing that came back to us was how important the North Bay community is for us. I think a lot of people see me as from Toronto, but this is the longest we have ever lived anywhere together. My kids only know North Bay, their best friends are here and we have formed relationships.

“I am really excited to sit here today and extend a relationship with two of my best friends and go to work every day with these guys and the experiences my family has had with this team. I have made a lot of memories in this league with different teams, but I can tell you this one means the most to me, and I certainly bleed green. We really hope to spread and continue, but first and foremost this team and community means a lot to me, and we hope to see this through and put some different banners in the rafters for a long time to come.”

This role will also continue Dennis’s mission to make North Bay an attractive place for players to come to from all over the world.

“I think I get to be more hands on the ground here in North Bay. When I first started, we would have conversations with prospects for an hour talking to them about how great North Bay is. That word has kind of gotten out there, and John will do a good job continuing that. I would love to get all the positives all the players are doing and get them out to the city. I am helping out with the North Bay Minor Hockey board, I have girls with the junior Lakers, and getting more outreach. There are things we have seen in Saginaw from the Memorial Cup that we would like to try.

“Not everyone knows what our players go through on a regular basis. We have seen it with the Dalyn Wakelys and Ty Nelsons, two great people who have come into our community and been recognized nationally with their help as humanitarians. I think it’s about sharing their stories and making North Bay proud about what we’re producing and who is wearing their jerseys. It’s now time to ride the wave without giving up on what we have done. A little more fluidity between hockey and business will really help that.”

Winstanley joined the Troops in the spring of 2020 in his role of assistant general manager after a long stint as head coach of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens program. Through his role, he helped develop players like Ty Nelson, and Adam Fantilli among others. He will now step into the general manager shoes.

“I would like to thank the Abbotts for giving me this opportunity,” Winstanley started. “Working with these two guys daily is a pleasure. When I joined this organization four years ago, it felt like family right away. It’s a unique experience for me as I am from Brampton and was a captain of the Brampton Battalion minor hockey team.

“My first coaching job was with an eight-year-old Brampton Battalion hockey team, and now I sit here as general manager of the North Bay Battalion so it has come full circle.”

With the changes, however, Winstanley doesn’t see a huge change in decision-making.

“For me, I wouldn’t say anything will change drastically. As Adam said off the top, we have all worked so closely together with decision making. Moving forward with this year, we have roster decisions and a training camp in August, but it will be about communication and honesty. The goal is to continue that, get one per cent better, and earn our karma as Ryan says.

“From the first game I was here, to the last game this season, and to see the kids back in the rink and seeing the excitement in the city, we want to continue to bring that and bring good players on the ice and good humans off the ice.”

For Oulahen, the Battalion has always been his family. Joining the team as a player in Brampton for the 2002/03 season, the man known as “Oulie” became captain in 2004/05, before a professional career. After his time in the pro ranks was over, he came back as assistant coach in 2010/11, made the move to North Bay, and ultimately left for a head coaching role with the Flint Firebirds in 2016/17. He was then named interim head coach of the Troops on December 10, 2019, before being named head coach officially in March 2020.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Scott and Charles Abbott. If family starts with your parents, I feel they are the parents here and provide us with everything we need or could ask for to develop our players. When this opportunity came my way, certain things needed to take place but I was thrilled to continue to be a part of this, and I think the restructuring of this franchise will take us to the next level. I have been to different places as a player, and as a coach, and I asked my kids the other day where they are from as we passed the hospital in Barrie they were born in, and they answered clearly with North Bay and that told me a lot of what this community is.

“I bleed green, will continue to do it, and ultimately want to win and I think I am born to win a championship for this franchise.”

However, the head coach job is still his priority.

“The way I envision this and why I want to be a part of this is that we continue to work the way we have worked, and maybe it spices up my schedule a little bit. Now I can get out there on the ground a little bit. On an off Saturday, maybe I can get out there and see a little bit more and be involved in those decisions. With our current prospects, that’s where I think I will be out there.

“Quite frankly, I have been involved in that quite a bit, but to have more of that live view will help with those decisions. But this was important for me to have the title tagged along in making those decisions.”

The coach has also added that this doesn’t mean he will be missing games behind the bench for scouting trips.

With success off the ice the past three years, it looks like the business side is catching up thanks to the restructuring announced today.

Bob Dylan once put it best when he sang, “The times, they are a changing,” in his 1965 hit of the same name. For the North Bay Battalion, the times, are indeed changing.