It may be hard to believe but Riley Bruce’s graduation finishes the first complete junior hockey cycle for the North Bay Battalion since the team arrived here in the fall of 2013.
Bruce, a 3rd round pick from the 2013 OHL Priority Selection, is the lone Battalion player to have played on the first North Bay Battalion team.
“I think it is pretty special to say that I have spent my whole career with one organization,” said Bruce.
“The North Bay Battalion has been amazing to me and I can’t thank them enough for everything.”
That five-year stint includes more than 265 regular season games and another 46 postseason contests during his time in the Gateway City.
Battalion fans will miss his bone-jarring hits next season. He will miss North Bay too.
Bruce joined a pretty special group in 2013-14 that went all the way to the OHL final only to lose to the Guelph Storm. While that was an amazing experience, the veteran defenceman admits playing in a marathon game - the third longest in OHL history- was a pretty unique way of ending a long junior hockey career.
“Definitely winning the Eastern Conference was a huge highlight of my career but that game on Saturday night was something pretty special too,” he said about Saturday's 6-5 loss to Kingston.
“Definitely it is bittersweet, obviously we wanted to go further but it is something I will always remember for sure.”
See related: Triple OT heartbreak as Battalion season ends
While veteran stars were being moved out at the deadline like Cam Dineen and Brett McKenzie, Bruce was still here trying to lead the retooled Battalion team towards success. He did just that helping the team jump into a sixth spot in the Eastern Conference when many so-called hockey experts had written off the Troops at the deadline.
“That has kind of been the story of the season, we started off kind of a little bit slow and made some moves and the guys we brought in and really gave everything they had and I am really proud of this whole group,” admitted Bruce, the 6'7" defenceman.
But the hockey future for Bruce is uncertain right now. He went unsigned after being drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames. For five seasons he has known where he was going, this fall will be somewhere new.
“I just have to give it everything I can and hopefully I get an opportunity somewhere,” he said.
Despite his absence on the blue line next season, Bruce can be sure the Battalion faithful will not ever forget the giant defenceman wearing 8, that they called,”Bruuuccceee.”