A goal in the last minute and a save by Mike McIvor led the Battalion to win it, in their second pre-season game, beating the visiting Owen Sound Attack 3-2 in a shootout at Memorial Gardens on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 2-1 late, the Battalion pulled their netminder to get the extra attacker on the ice with a minute and a half left and the six Troops moved the puck seamlessly around the zone, trying to bait the Owen Sound defenders into moving a step or two out of position. A pass down low from Jacob Therrien went across the crease and onto the tape of Andrew LeBlanc (1) and the over age forward slapped it past Owen Sound goaltender Carter George to tie the game with a minute remaining.
In the shootout McIvor made the first save. Therrien broke down the right side and went backhand forehand before sliding it five-hole under George to give the Battalion a 1-0 lead. McIvor made a second save. Owen Van Steensel hit blocker side post. And McIvor made a third save to seal the victory.
“You really try not to focus on the results here in exhibition and just staying the course. There’s a lot of things that we’re doing on the teaching side as we move forward. From game to game, we’re attacking a bit better on offence, but we’re doing a really good job defensively. Exhibition or not, it’s nice to have a good outcome here today,” says Battalion Head Coach Ryan Oulahen.
Just before the end of the second period newcomer Natan Teshome got a partial breakaway from the Attack blue line and went for an aggressive shot that bounced off George’s shoulder and off the glass. It was a nice rush from the Finnish forward who is playing in his first OHL pre-season games and still adjusting to the speed of this level. Teshome looks like he’s fitting in well so far with the Troops forward corps, he played on the left wing on a line centred by Nolan Laird, with Lirim Amidovski on the right side.
It was that line that got things going for the Battalion almost five minutes into the third period. Amidovski pushed a puck past an Owen Sound defender at the blue line right onto the tape of Richter, who caught the defender flat footed and went in on a break away. His shot bounced off George into the slot where Amidovski picked it up and buried his first, and the teams first goal, of the preseason at 4:51 on their 22nd shot of the game.
Oulahen says that in-period adjustment is part of that learning process. “This is a good, hard, fast league and when you’re playing a good opponent who are trying to accomplish the same thing, you have to learn as the game moves along. I like that line sticking with it and while I would like us to be a little bit sharper, I think offensively those will come as we work towards that. But there are good things happening out there.”
There were good things happening off the ice and around the rink as well as the Battalion held their first annual fan fest. Despite the cold weather and the rain, the concourse was packed with fans at the beginning of the festivities and Oulahen says it was good to have the support.
“I knew it would be a cool event, but I wasn’t even picturing a jam-packed concourse. Our players certainly talked about it, after walking the red carpet and high fiving the minor hockey players, you could hear them saying that they did not expect to have that kind of atmosphere and all that fan fare. Some of the youngest fans in the building aren’t dreaming of being NHL players, they are dreaming of being North Bay Battalion players and this was a great way to blend minor hockey in North Bay with our program. It was awesome.”
The Battalion players came out looking pumped up and ready to put on a show for the home side.
Ethan Procyszyn sent a shot off the cross bar shortly after the opening draw. Dylan Richter sat on the crease and sent a puck into the pads of Matthew Koprowski. Jacob Therrien threw a couple of loud checks onto the boards. All within the opening 4:15 of the game.
McIvor made his first big save just over 6:00 into the contest. The Attack moved with precision into the Battalion zone then played pitch and catch at the blue line before a shot from the left side point found its way through traffic, only to be stopped by McIvor’s right-side pad.
The first penalty of the game came on a tripping call against Ty Therrien of the Attack with 5:19 remaining in the first. Despite the Battalion power play moving the puck well and keeping the Attack on their heels, they couldn’t break the deadlock on the man advantage.
The opening goal came in the second period as the Battalion couldn’t clear a bouncing puck out of the zone. The Attack sent a shot in that bounced off Troops defenceman Wyatt Kennedy right into the pads of McIvor who pushed it to his left side. The Attack pounced on the rebound and found open space near the bottom of the left side circle with Pierce Mbuyi (1) firing the puck high over McIvor’s shoulder at 6:23.
The Attack struck again at 8:54. Sam Ethier (1) standing at the top of the right-side circle got a clear shot off against McIvor that the second-year defender could trap, putting Owen Sound ahead 2-0.
Mid-way through the second period, the Attack switched things up in net, with Koprowski giving way to Carter George, who led Team Canada to a Gold Medal at the 2024 U18 World Junior Championship and was named to the OHL All-Rookie team last season. The LA Kings prospect went 23-21-6-3 with a 3.30 Goals Against Average and .907 save percentage in 56 games. The Battalion put seven shots against George in his first three minutes of ice time, but he showed off his calm demeanor and puck blocking ability, withstanding that first barrage.
At 14:51 Ben Cormier was sent to the penalty box for tripping, resulting in another power play chance for the Battalion. Looking to cut the lead in half the Troops once again had the Attack moving side to side and they managed a couple of shots on net but couldn’t find the back of the twine during the two-minute advantage.
Immediately after the first Battalion goal, McIvor made a huge save with the Attack sending two players in to crash the crease, but McIvor made a sprawling save in the crease to keep the deficit at one.
“I feel like we’ve got one of the best goaltenders in the league on our team here. I mean McIvor and George are going head to head there in the third period and I think to be able to keep them off the board, for Mike, that gives him a little more confidence. He was excellent in the shootout to,” says Oulahen.
The play became physical over the ensuing eight minutes of play as both teams were throwing heavy body checks, with the moments getting more desperate inside both attacking zones.
The physical play led to an interference call against Laird at 12:28, putting the Battalion on the penalty kill for the first time in the game. Battalion 2024 first round draft pick Ryder Carey had a good chance short handed, getting the puck in the neutral zone and driving in one-one-one, while being pushed out of shooting range by an Owen Sound defender at the last second, but it helped the Battalion kill the penalty without much fan fare from the visiting Attack.
The Battalion went 0/2 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill, while out shooting the Attack 32-23.
Behind the Attack bench was Scott Wray, returning to the Gardens for the first time since moving in the off-season to become the Head Coach of the Owen Sound Attack, following seven years as an assistant coach in North Bay, alongside Oulahen since 2019.
“We’re really tight, he’s one of my best friends,” Oulahen said after the game. “I couldn’t be prouder of him and judging by how Owen Sound played today, that team is going to play hard for him.”
Baytoday will release a full feature story with Wray later this week.
