The North Bay Battalion welcomed a few former faces to the Gateway City on Thursday when the Windsor Spitfires came to town. When it was all said and done, the Spitfires skated away with a 5-3 victory.
“The outcome’s not there, but there’s a lot of positives,” explained head coach Ryan Oulahen. “I think we’re going to rewatch the game tomorrow and like a lot of things that we’re doing. They’re one of the highest scoring five-on-five teams, and to hold them to 21 shots, it’s a pretty good job by our guys. The effort is there.
“When you get into a game like that in junior hockey, especially when things like that happen in the first period, you can have the tendency to fold sometimes. These guys didn’t do that, and I am very proud of their last 40 minutes.”
On the Spitfires currently is former Troops Tnias Mathurin and Owen Outwater. A former first round pick, Outwater had played one year in Battalion green, he had already made his return to North Bay as a member of the Kingston Frontenacs. However, this was the first time back for Mathurin, who had played parts of three seasons with the Troops, including all three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.
As part of the overloaded 2004 overage Battalion crop, Mathurin was traded to Windsor this off season.
“We love Tnias,” stated Oulahen. “What’s so great about having a guy like that, he moves on to a different team this year and when we were in Windsor and had a good outcome in that game, and Tnias walks over to the coaches room and gives everyone a big hug.
“He’s a pretty high character individual, an unbelievable person, did so much for our team. Really, the turnaround that happened with our group, he’s a big part of that. It’s nice to see him doing well, and I am hoping and praying he continues to stay healthy because we all think he’s a potential pro hockey player.”
Lineup note, winger Lirim Amidovski was not in the lineup, but according to Oulahen post game, he expects him to be in the game for Sunday against Sudbury.
After an emotional pregame ceremony honouring local hockey legend Butch Turcotte, who passed away this past summer, the game got underway with momentum initially favouring North Bay. The Troops had the first great chance, but Spitfires netminder Joey Costanzo made the save. Moments later, Windsor defender Carter Hicks (1) threw a puck towards Charlie Laroque from the blueline, beating the netminder just over his freshly painted helmet. Assist on the play went to Outwater.
A few minutes later, with Andrew LeBlanc serving a penalty for high sticking, Liam Greentree (10) shovelled the puck under Laroque’s pads from the slot to put Windsor up 2-0. Adding on a few minutes later was Ethan Belchetz (5), who like a hot knife through butter, deked around the Troops defenders, and beat Laroque with a highlight reel goal.
Keeping up the onslaught in the first period, Anthony Cristoforo (4) threw the puck on net from the corner, and the puck slid in past Laroque.
All told, Windsor netted four goals on 10 shots in the first, making the score 4-0 heading into the first intermission. That resulted in Mike McIvor replacing Laroque in net for the second period. The last time “Cash Money” appeared in the Battalion crease was October 25 in a 3-1 loss to the Wolves in Sudbury, as he had battled injuries since.
The result didn’t change early though, as 1:07 into the second, and the first shot McIvor saw, beat him, with Ryan Abraham (8) being credited for the goal.
North Bay finally gained momentum as Zach Wilson (1) fired a point shot and before his beloved Yankees could become a laughing stock, Costanzo’s bid for a shut out was over. The goal was Wilson’s first in the OHL.
Moments later with the Troops on a powerplay, Ethan Procyszyn (13) slipped the puck under Costanzo, and believe it or not, he wasn’t at home. So North Bay left a message at the beep to make it 5-2.
With 3:04 left in the period, former Powassan Voodoo superstar, Reyth Smith had a golden chance. Dipsy doodling his way to Costanzo, the rookie put the puck on net. But much like teaching Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams how to hit home runs in the World Series, Costanzo made it look easy making the save. The rebound was there for the taking as well, but the netminder remained calm.
The score after two periods of play was 5-2 Spitfires.
After some good pressure by the Battalion to start the third, they pounced. Late in the frame and with McIvor pulled, Procyszyn (14) got the puck past a diving Costanzo to bring North Bay to within two.
However that was as close as they would get as Windsor held on for the 5-3 victory.
The Troops are back in action Sunday when they host the Sudbury Wolves. Puck drop from Memorial Gardens is at 3:00 p.m.
“It’s really good that we have two days to prepare for them,” assessed Oulahen.
“It’s a team in our division and I think it’s going to be tooth and nail all year with them. They’ve had two good outcomes for them, so we have to get something done against them on Sunday.”
