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COLUMN: Colts-Battalion series an NHL scout's dream

Between Barrie and North Bay, clubs have unsigned free agents, players vying for NHL contracts and OHL rookies still cutting their teeth
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Barrie Colts forward Evan Vierling (left) and North Bay Battalion defenceman Ty Nelson will be two of the players to watch in the second round of the OHL playoffs. The two teams kick off their series tonight.

Remember this feeling? An exciting hockey team playing in the playoffs in packed or near-packed arenas with beautiful spring-like weather outside?

Yes, it’s been a while.

Five years and a host of traumatic and tragic events have taken place in that span: the death of beloved Barrie Colts coach Dale Hawerchuk, a pandemic-squelched a playoff appearance and then the season that followed.

Until the Colts closed out their Eastern Conference quarter-final series on Monday night in Hamilton, local fans had been waiting five years to see their team go at least two rounds deep in the playoffs. It’s been twice that long since the local Ontario Hockey League club has had this good of a team.

The Colts' comeback win over the Hamilton Bulldogs and the North Bay Battalion’s victory a day earlier against the Mississauga Steelheads sets up an interesting Eastern Conference semifinal series, which starts tonight in North Bay.

The Battalion holds home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 takes place in North Bay on Sunday, while the series shifts to Barrie for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday at Sadlon Arena. Puck drop next week for both games in Barrie is 7:30 p.m.

An underlying theme that will be playing out during this series is a handful of players who will be trying to bolster their prospects at turning professional next season.

Both the Colts and Battalion have multiple players who are hoping to earn an NHL contract, either as free agents or as the June deadline looms for players selected in the 2021 NHL Draft.

It’s a difficult series to handicap. The Colts are now a much better team than the one that trailed the Battalion all season. But North Bay showed a sturdier frame in turning back the Steelheads by dominating for much of Game 5 and 6 of their series after, like the Colts had done against Hamilton, allowing an inferior opponent to tie it up at two games apiece.

All eyes in both buildings will be on Barrie captain Brandt Clarke. The star Colts defenceman has registered 17 points (5G, 12A) in four playoff games, while sitting out one contest because he was suspended. It’s difficult to criticize a player on a record scoring place, but that Clarke emboldened the Bulldogs to make that series much closer than it should have is something the 20-year-old Los Angeles Kings prospect and his team should avoid doing against the Battalion.

Besides, North Bay is a much better hockey team than Hamilton.

Though he’s younger, the Troops have their own carrot-topped defender who could be a problem: Ty Nelson. The former No. 1 overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection plays a more conventional game than Clarke and is a draft pick of the Seattle Kraken.

Clarke is a year older and more celebrated given his NHL cameo and gold medal from the world junior tournament from earlier this season, but Nelson could have similar acclaim next year at this time.

The similarities between both teams extends beyond Clarke and Nelson.

In the OHL Coaches Poll released earlier this week, North Bay’s Matvey Petrov and Colts centre Evan Vierling were both cited as being among the top three play-makers in their conference. Vierling’s brilliant pass to Ethan Cardwell as the clocked ticked down in Hamilton on Monday night showed some of that acumen, as did Petrov’s 10 assists against the Steelheads.

Vierling (35G, 60A) and Petrov (27G, 66A) led their respective clubs in scoring during the regular season.

That Cardwell buried Vierling’s pass, his third goal of the game and sixth of the playoffs so far, was also worth noting beyond the fact it closed out the series. The same poll honoured Cardwell for being one of the Eastern Conference’s most dangerous players.

Battalion right-winger Kyle McDonald was a devastating physical and offensive force against Mississauga, scoring seven times, and last month signed a free-agent contract with the Dallas Stars.

Overage centre Kyle Jackson, another Kraken draft pick, is a big, rangy centre who has had 145 points in 112 games over the past two seasons.

Unlike the Colts — who acquired defenceman Braden Hache and forwards Tyler Savard, and got Clarke back from the Kings — the Battalion had less deadline activity, picking up forward Pasquale Zito. Two months earlier, and like the Colts had done by dealing Hunter Haight for picks, the Battalion made a move with the Saginaw Spirit, adding centre Josh Bloom and defenceman Brayden Hislop.

As stated, many players in this series are trying to earn NHL contracts.

On the Colts, that list includes Hache (Florida) and fellow defenceman Artur Cholach (Vegas), along with overage forwards Vierling and Declan McDonnell, both of whom were left unsigned by the original clubs that drafted them in 2020.

Vierling has been speculated as being among the top available unsigned free agents, but NHL clubs so far are not biting. That could change if he continues his terrific form he’s shown since Christmas.

On the Battalion, Bloom has signed an entry-level deal. The Vancouver Canucks acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL deadline. Petrov is signed by the Edmonton Oilers, but both Jackson and Nelson remained unsigned by the Kraken, as do Justin Ertel (Dallas), Zito (Detroit) and Liam Arnsby (Florida).

In goal, the Battalion rely on Dominic DiVincentis, an unsigned draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets and the Colts starting netminder is Anson Thornton. Thornton played in five games against the Bulldogs and scored into an empty net in Game 5. He signed a free-agent deal with the Arizona Coyotes in 2021 while still with the Sarnia Sting.

Though the future is now for both teams and many of their players, this series will also feature two intriguing 16-year-olds. Colts forward Cole Beaudoin has seen his role increase and was on the ice late into Monday’s game. On the Battalion, Ethan Procyszyn is a local product having grown up in Wasaga Beach and played for the North Central Predators, based in Orillia.

Procyszyn had a goal and an assist in the Battalion’s series win over the Steelheads.

Puck drops tonight at 7 p.m., at North Bay Memorial Gardens.


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Peter Robinson

About the Author: Peter Robinson

Barrie's Peter Robinson is a sports columnist for BarrieToday. He is the author of Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto, his take on living with the disease of being a Leafs fan.
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