A tanned and relaxed Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler met with the media at Memorial Gardens as training camp got underway with player fitness evaluations. Butler touched on a wide range of topics including references to fishing, The Bachelorette, and how his team is best compared to Burger World.
Foremost on the coach's mind was the team's depth and the hopes that with the graduation of Mike Amadio, a more balanced offence will emerge. Said Butler "We're a four-line team. Where we will give our guys extra ice time is powerplays and penalty killing.
"Mike Amadio had 12 goals at age 17. Brett McKenzie had more goals at 18 than Mike Amadio did. Someone is going to emerge. Do I know who it is right now? No."
Fifty-one hopefuls have arrived for training camp, and Butler indicated that once prospects are given their cup of coffee, he believed 31 or 32 have a solid chance of cracking an OHL roster.
Wednesday, players were put through their paces, completing the same ten fitness tests that Butler has used throughout his tenure with the club. Player results can be compared to their exit scores in May, or even to former players such as Brent Burns or Jason Spezza at the same ages.
Coach Butler bristled at being labelled a "rebuilding" team. In fact, Butler pointed to the team's defence as an area of experience and skill. "We're going to have three NHL-drafted defencemen, two guys that may go in the first round, that's probably our top-six. Three 19-year-olds, two 18-year-olds, and a 17-year-old."
"Our respect here is something that we earn game-in and game-out . People said last year was a rebuilding year, too, and we finished third in the conference. We beat a much older Peterborough team in the first round. If the second round of the playoffs is a rebuilding year, then the people of North Bay are extremely spoiled," said Coach Butler.
Adding to the team's pedigree is recently-acquired overage goaltender Brent Moran. Butler pointed to Moran's five years in the league, as a sign that the Battalion are an experienced, but not necessarily an older team. "We have two spots open on D, depending if we go with seven or eight, and probably two spots up front," added Butler.
Asked if any returning players should fear for their spots, Butler replied "I have a philosophy with older players. You either get better, or you get moved out.'
"Some of the young guys may push some of the older guys off the roster," said Butler, a competitive situation that he is fine with. Butler says the same trend is seen in the current NHL, with the average age of NHL players continuing to drop each season.
Mind you, there are salary cap implications with the NHL example, but it is clear that Coach Butler is open to selecting the best player, regardless of age. "This is an equal opportunity team, if younger guys go past them, then they move up, and the older guys adjust, or we look for other avenues for them," said Butler.
Butler points to 2015 Flames selection Riley Bruce as a returning player who will be thrust into a bigger leadership role, alluding to the fact that since Bruce wore an "A" last season, there is only one more step that is natural to take.
Butler was impressed with the overall fitness level of his charges, adding that he expects nothing less. With improvements in nutrition and fitness, any player of this calibre would be foolhardy to show up at camp out-of-shape.
Cam Dineen is expected to be a pivotal player again this year, but Butler cautions that with such an impressive 2015-16 season, Dineen has not left himself much room for improvement, at least statistically. "If Cam gets the same amount of points as last year, that's still a pretty good season," said Butler.
"Brady Lyle has a lot of potential. He can't put too much pressure on himself. Being a hometown kid," can sometimes make development a little tougher with unfair expectations, explained the coach.
Coach Butler has also made it clear that there will be no babysitting going on this season. When asked what traits he would lean to in a decision to keep one player over another, Butler immediately replied, "Attitude. Who is more coachable, and it depends on the role we see for them on the team. School plays a factor, as well as how the player will be in the community."
Training camp can be a team-building exercise as well. Butler points out that while he demands that his players act professionally and have good relationships within the team setting, he does not expect them all to be friendly away from the arena. "Not everybody is going to be lifelong friends. But in the dressing room, on the ice, in the weight room they must be good teammates," said Butler.
Getting back to the subject of often underwhelming expectations for his group, Butler said "We're like Burger World. People know about McDonald's and Wendy's down south, and the only people that know about Burger World are in North Bay. Once people from somewhere else go and eat there, they say 'that's an amazing place to eat.'
"That's our hockey team. They are going to look at our roster and say 'who's that kid, and who's that kid,' but they're going to look at the scoreboard at the end of the night and say 'I don't know who they are, but they must be pretty good because they just beat us.'"
Concluded Butler, "No one ever picks us to be any good. Out of the three northern teams, I'm sure we'll be picked third. And that's fine. We're the smallest of the three communities, but we've got a great hockey town. I haven't coached too many bad hockey teams in my career, and I don't plan on starting now."
