North Bay Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler was not happy with his team’s performance on Friday against Niagara. He called the performance of some of his older players “disgusting” and threatened if things didn’t improve in a hurry guys could be on the way out of town.
After two days of practise this week, his message hasn’t changed. Butler says his guys need to learn to have an OHL level work ethic. Next on the docket for the Troops is the Kitchener Rangers. Butler says his team is in tough for the first few games of the season playing against tough opponents. If his players don’t realize that, they’ll dig themselves into a deep hole.
Sometimes the performance is more important than the result. Sometimes you win, and you’re not happy. Sometimes you lose, and you are happy. Butler wants to see players taking what they’ve done in practise this week and apply it when the puck drops Friday night. As a coach at this level, Butler can’t go into games hoping his team is going to work hard. He needs to know they’re going to work hard. If he doesn’t know his team is going to work hard, it’s going to make it tough for him to evaluate his team going forward.
Puck drop is 7:00pm Friday night at Memorial Gardens. Justin Brazeau and Brett McKenzie are expected back in the lineup. Captain Riley Bruce is still at Calgary Flames camp, but assistant captain Cam Dineen might be returning to North Bay soon.
