New season, new Captain, new banner, similar result.
The Battalion have won more games than any other Eastern Conference team in the last three years (130 to be exact) and just one game into the 2024-25 season they picked up #131 in the post-COVID era with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Peterborough Petes in front of 3922 fans at Memorial Gardens.
The Battalion had some pomp and circumstance that got the crowd going before puck drop including raising the 2023-24 Central Division championship banner and announcing the lineups, with the ninth captain in North Bay Battalion history, Owen Van Steensel skating out from under the inflatable tank last to a raucous home crowd.
“I got emotional watching him get that ovation when he came out,” says Battalion Head Coach Ryan Oulahen. “I’ve told him this before, you can put him in a group with the ultimate Battalion players.”
The over age Van Steensel had 86 points in 65 games played last season and was originally drafted in the fourth round (63rd overall) in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection. Seen by many as a defensive specialist during his first two seasons with the club, Van Steensel emerged offensively last year as part of one of the best forward lines in the league, with centre Dalyn Wakely and right winger Anthony Romani, who topped the OHL in scoring with 58 goals.
In 199 OHL games, Van Steensel has 62 goals and 86 assists for 148 points. In 49 games over three playoff runs to the Eastern Conference final, he has 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points.
“He deserves to wear the “C” and I couldn’t be more proud of him and I know he’s going to lead us the right way,” says Oulahen.
“Not a bad game,” Van Steensel said following the victory. “I thought we got better as the night went on.”
Van Steensel is following in the footsteps of Barclay Goodrow, Marcus McIvor, Mike Amadio, Riley Bruce, Justin Brazeau, Brad Chenier, Luke Moncada and Liam Arnsby, who wore the ‘C’ for the past three seasons.
“I’ve got some big shoes to fill, we’ve had some great captains and I’m going to do my best here to lead these guys.”
He’s led them to a 1-0-0 record right out of the gate, with the team firing 49 shots on Peterborough goaltender Zach Bowen. While the Troops got 36 saves out of second-year netminder Mike McIvor.
“Couldn’t have started better, but as per usual, can’t get to satisfied, just take what we can out of this one and get ready for the next game,” McIvor said.
The 6’1” 174 lbs Warkworth, Ontario native was 8-9-0-0 with a 3.78 GAA and .876 save percentage in 18 games during the regular season last year, but peaked in the playoffs, posting a 10-5-0-0 record with a 2.68 GAA and 0.914 save percentage in 15 postseason games. That performance caught the attention of the Anaheim Ducks, who invited McIvor to their preseason camp, where he got plenty of reps and lots of ice time against some high calibre NHL hopefuls.
He says, “It was a bit faster at the pro-level, but it’s not like they are moving in slow motion in the OHL. I still needed to get my feet set and be ready for everything.”
And ready he was, keeping the Petes at bay with every chance they had, including a difficult sequence in the last three minutes of the period. With the Troops ahead 2-0, McIvor made one glove save with the shot coming directly towards him from just inside the blue line from a Petes player on the rush. He then made consecutive saves with the pads, kicking the rebounds well out of the reach of any Petes players within the scoring areas.
“He was great. It’s amazing to look back at his playoff run last year, which I think matured him. He’s just very calm. When I look back there and everything is square and, in the chest, that’s when you know your goalies on and he was on tonight,” says Oulahen.
The Battalion scored 11 shorthanded goals last season, ranking 8th in the league and they picked up their first shorty of the new season in the first game, on their first goal from over age forward Andrew LeBlanc (1). The puck got knocked loose out of the zone and LeBlanc went down the ice on a 2-on-1 with Natan Teshome taking the initial shot. The puck got under the glove of Bowen and LeBlanc snuck in behind the netminder and tapped the puck in for the 1-0 lead.
The Battalion killed the remainder of the five-minute major that was assessed to Jacob Therrien who was being penalized for a check to the head, which also resulted in a game misconduct after a review of the play.
Right before the period ended, Wyatt Kennedy put the Troops ahead 2-0 with a sneaky goal. LeBlanc started the play by skating out from behind the net and dishing the puck off to Bronson Ride at the blue line. The 6’7” Ride found his 6’4” defensive partner behind everyone on the far side and a perfect pass into the far side circle was snapped in by Kennedy (1) at 19:39.
The major plot point in the second period came just after McIvor made a huge save at 12:50, after the Petes tried a wrap around, the puck went in the air, which bounced off McIvor's shoulder and then went behind the Troops goaltender. McIvor then whipped around and forced himself to flop onto the puck just as a Petes player dove towards the goal line trying to push it across. After a review they deemed the puck never did cross and the Battalion held maintained their 2-0 lead.
But it was what happened a minute later that really put an exclamation mark on the second frame. A couple of fights broke out on the ice simultaneously in the North Bay zone almost 13 minutes in. The initial bout pitted Lirim Amidovski in a tussle with Colin Fitzgerald, but the Main Event had Ihnat Pazii and Blake Gowan throwing some haymakers, bringing the crowd to their feet before Pazii and Gowan were eventually separated. Both were given five minutes for fighting, plus a game misconduct for being the second fight after the whistle. Meaning the Troops were now down to 10 forwards for the remainder of the game.
“It was tough on our guys because some players ended up playing a different position on every shift,” says Oulahen. “We were trying to find some chemistry, and just get through that third period.”
But they passed the early season test with flying colours as they poured in two more goals in the final frame.
After a three-game call-up as an affiliate player last season, (in which he scored a goal) Reyth Smith showed exactly why he’s being looked at as a guy who could be a big piece of the offensive puzzle this season with his third period goal. It started by blocking a pass in the defensive zone and breaking out on a 2-on-1 with Amidovski. The pair crossed the blue line with Smith feeding Amidovski the puck and just as he crossed the hash marks, fed it back to a wide-open Smith, whose blocker side shot beat Bowen. Smith was drafted in the fifth round (100th overall) in 2023 and scored 53 points (27 goals) as a 16-year-old in the NOJHL with Powassan last season.
“He’s a talent. He can skate, he’s got a knack for the net,” says Oulahen. “That was an electrifying play there with Amidovski, and he’s someone who’s going to have a really bright future with us.”
2021 first round pick (20th overall in the OHL priority selection) Ethan Procyszyn rounded out the scoring. Wearing number 21, he scored his 21st career goal at 19:08.
The Battalion were 1 for 6 on the power play and 2 for 2 on the penalty kill.
After a three month wait to see the Troops back on the ice, Battalion fans will now have to wait 17 days before they get another home game as the Troops begin a six-game road trip that will take them through October 12. With the Colts on tap in Barrie tomorrow (Saturday) evening, the Battalion then get to visit the eastern part of the province with stops in Peterborough, Kingston and Ottawa. They head over the border to play Erie and stop in Niagara before they return home for a game on Thanksgiving Monday versus Owen Sound.
