If the North Bay Battalion are going to qualify for the playoffs this season, Head Coach Stan Butler knows the time to start playing like it is now. Butler says if they don’t win any games this weekend, they won’t be mathematically eliminated, they’ll definitely put themselves in a situation where they’re getting closer to being eliminated.
The opponent tonight is the Niagara Icedogs, a team that was behind North Bay for much of the season until recently. A 4-0 victory by the Icedogs over the Troops last Saturday helped Niagara get rolling, and now they sit in 7th place in the East at 46 points. The Battalion are in 9th place at 42 points, which is four back of Niagara and three back of the Ottawa 67’s in 8th place.
Butler says there may be some good news on the injury front, as he hopes to have forward Max Kislinger back in the lineup this weekend. Defenceman Eric Allair has also started practicing with the team. Defenceman Cam Dineen, Captain Riley Bruce, and forwards Jacob Ball, Brett Hargrave and Zach Poirier will not play tonight. All of them are injured, with Poirier the only exception as he sits out with a suspension.
The Battalion have dropped five straight games, and look to get the ship turned around tonight when the puck drops at 7:00pm.
