Greyhounds toy with Troops on teddy bear toss night

It was a reignition of a northern rivalry Thursday night at Memorial Gardens as the North Bay Battalion welcomed the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds to town. Ultimately the Greyhounds spoiled teddy bear toss night with a 4-1 victory over the Troops.

“We knew we were going to get their best game, and we certainly got that,” explained head coach Ryan Oulahen. “We weren’t executing tonight. There weren’t many sequences where we made two or three crisp passes in a row, and that was our downfall tonight.

“We got some looks and we were gripping the stick, or it bounced, or couldn’t execute. Disappointed with our effort tonight.”

It was the Soo who broke the ice first as Marco Mignosa (12) was given credit on the goal. Stick handling his way around the Battalion end, Mignosa headed back towards the blue line before spinning and firing what looked like an innocent shot, but after hitting a couple of defenders on the way through, the puck found twine behind Troops netminder Mike McIvor. The goal came 4:36 into the opening frame.

The Mignosa goal proved to be all the offence in the first, however, so the Greyhounds led 1-0 after 20 minutes played.

In the second the Battalion finally let the teddy’s fly as Andrew LeBlanc (5) finished off a pretty passing play from Nick Wellenreiter, and the overager one timed the shot past the Soo’s Landon Miller. The goal came 2:05 into the second.

“Lot of experience, they’ve been through a lot here and have really elevated themselves  in terms of their leadership,” Oulahen said on the LeBlanc twins. “It’s good to get Andrew back in the lineup. He adds a different dimension for us in the puck possession category.

“A really nice goal, a nice pass by Wellenreiter, I actually thought we were going to get going from that goal. We came out flying in the first two minutes of the second period, but obviously we weren’t able to sustain it.”

LeBlanc joins teammates Reyth Smith and Anthony Romani, along with such alumni like Brandon Coe and Justin Brazeau as Battalion members who have scored the memorable teddy bear toss goal.

However, 1:25 after the teddy bears flew in game time (in real time it was more like 10 minutes thanks to clean up), the Greyhounds retook the lead. This time it was Brodie McConnell-Barker (2) who roofed the puck over McIvor.

Just under two minutes later the Greyhounds added their third goal of the game. This time a pass out front found Brady Martin (15) for a quick one timer past McIvor. Martin is expected to go in the first round of the upcoming NHL draft in 2025.

Keeping up the assault, Sault Ste Marie added another moments later as Charlie Hilton (2) handcuffed McIvor. The netminder made the initial save, but only about 95% of it, as the puck hopped out of his glove and trickled over the goal line.

Despite a late powerplay for North Bay, the Greyhounds held a 4-1 lead heading into the third period.

The score held through the third, as well, making the final 4-1 for the Greyhounds.

Looking back at the delay for the teddy bear cleanup, one could argue that was the moment the game went off the rails for North Bay, but it’s something both teams have to fight through says Oulahen.

“When you’re the team that gets scored on, you wonder if it’s going to be a downfall. I don’t think it has an advantage or disadvantage for either team, especially early in the period. We have to do a better job of responding.

“All in all, awesome moment. Glad we scored one and got the teddy bears going on the ice and a great crowd, good atmosphere. That’s a positive of the night for sure.”

A major positive for sure, especially when it looked like the trucks picking up the bears would have to make multiple trips off the ice with how many were thrown.

“It’s awesome,” explained Oulahen. “The Brick does an amazing job with it, it’s all for a fantastic cause, certainly it excites our players. Maybe in the first period that’s why our guys were gripping the stick as everyone wants that goal. I just think it adds a lot of buzz and gets the fans out here.”

The Troops visit Sudbury for a dance with the Wolves Friday before an eight game holiday break before welcoming back Dalyn Wakely and the Barrie Colts to the Gardens on the 28th.

For Oulahen, this time of year is all about family.

“I’m lucky I don’t have to ask for much. I’m just hoping for a really good Christmas with my family. My kids are getting older now, so these times are dwindling a bit for a traditional Christmas’s that we have, so we’re going to take advantage of that.”