Wolves, Battalion in a battle
There’s a frantic race for playoff spots in the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League and Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion are part of the chase.
At this writing, Sudbury is in sixth place with 43 points from a record of 19-21-5. North Bay, meanwhile, has 39 points from a record of 18-24-3 and is tied for the eighth-and-final playoff spot with the Niagara IceDogs.
Both teams have lost their last two games though the Wolves are 4-3-3 over their past 10 outings while the Battalion is 3-7-0 during the same span.
After missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, the pressure is on Sudbury — and third-year Wolves head coach David Matsos — to be one of the eight teams to make it in the Eastern block. Via the draft and trades for players with winning backgrounds, second-year Wolves general manager Barclay Branch has pieced together a team that is of definite playoff calibre.
North Bay, meanwhile, has had difficulty putting together a full 60 minutes of hockey, something that is uncharacteristic of teams coached by the venerable Stan Butler, who has now been behind the bench for an amazing 1,400 OHL games.
As the Battalion clings to the edge of a playoff spot, Butler said the team needs to find a way to win. And he came with a choice line to describe where the Battalion may be headed.
“We’re swimming in the lake but I don’t know if we’re getting to shore,” Butler told the North Bay media after the Battalion’s most-recent setback.
PHOTO: North Bay Battalion and Sudbury Wolves, in recent OHL action between the Eastern Conference rivals. (Photo by Postmedia.)