The North Bay Battalion will be looking for a fourth straight victory as they take on the Owen Sound Attack for a rare Wednesday night OHL contest at North Bay's Memorial Gardens.
After going 1-2 on a Western Conference road swing, the Battalion seems to have found its stride. Ryan Oulahen, Battalion head coach, believes it is all about the level of compete with his Battalion soldiers.
“What’s kind of been clear is our battle levels have just been very, very good the last little bit,” said Oulahen. “We’re out-battling teams like 60 to 40 in terms of just one-on-ones, so that’s where it starts with us.
“If we’re doing that, then we have the puck and then usually the rest of our game can get engaged, so that’s been probably the biggest difference from the weekend prior to our last weekend and something we want to continue here down the stretch.”
The Attack is 29-24-5 for 63 points, third in the Midwest Division and, holding two games in hand, tied with the Flint Firebirds for sixth place in their conference.
However, Oulahen says they cannot take the Attack for granted.
“They’re a team that pride themselves on being a very hardworking organization,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said Tuesday of the Attack.
“I know they haven’t had the standards to what they want to do in the second half, but lately they’ve been beating some really good teams and they’re a dangerous team in the Western Conference. They’re going to come in here and compete, work, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for that.”
Oulahen also admitted that the return of Justin Ertel is imminent.The Dallas Stars prospect has been out with an upper body injury since late January. Oulahen says Ertel could return to the lineup this weekend.
The Troops have eight games left on the schedule, six at home and two on the road. After facing Owen Sound, they complete this week by visiting the Oshawa Generals on Friday night and entertaining the London Knights on Sunday.
North Bay has a won-lost-extended record of 40-17-3 for 83 points, first in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference. The Battalion has won at least 40 games in back-to-back seasons for the second time in franchise history, after 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The Owen Sound game features North Bay Youth Soccer Night. Registration is open for the organization’s Timbits program for boys and girls aged 3 to 8.
