There’s just something about opening night and Stan Butler teams. Friday’s 3-1 loss against the Niagara Ice Dogs drops Butler’s record on opening night all time to 4-13-2. In year’s past, maybe the Battalion could find some silver lining in a losing effort, but not tonight. Butler was not happy with his team’s performance, especially his older guys who’s play he called disgusting. Players who were on the bubble before this game might be feeling a bit uneasy now. Butler said their performance looked more like a shinny game on the outdoor rink in Callander.
The 1st period started off slowly for both teams, a lot of passes missing sticks, and breakouts stalling in the neutral zone. The one constant in this game was goaltender Brent Moran, who made a ton of tough stops in the first frame to keep his team in it. The Battalion had a big opportunity to get on the board when Niagara’s Nick Pastorious hammered North Bay’s Mark Shoemaker and was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for charging. The Battalion couldn’t do anything with the man advantage and the teams were scoreless after one.
The first ten minutes of the second period saw the bulk of the scoring. The Troops opened the scoring at 2:37 when Brad Chenier banged home a rebound off the boards for his first OHL goal. But the lead wouldn’t last long, as William Lochead evened the score at 5:31. Less than a minute later Kyle Langdon scored what would end up being the game winning goal. The third period saw the Ice Dogs turn the heat up and pepper Moran with shots, but he was up to the task. Until Matthew Philip put home the goal that put the game out of reach, after the third or fourth whack at a jam play near the crease at 5:52. Niagara finished the game with 41 shots, and North Bay with 33.
The Troops played without captain Riley Bruce, and assistants Cam Dineen and Brett McKenzie but Butler wasn’t looking to make any excuses. Asked whether or not he thought any of his guys played his brand of Battalion hockey, Butler said no. He was impressed with the performance of Brent Moran, but that was about it. Butler said he saw a lot of older guys who were lazy, unresponsive, had a lack of competitiveness and were missing a little bit of pride.
The Battalion will have a chance to regain their coach’s confidence next Friday when they host the Kitchener Rangers.
