"Bluelines with Ranjan & Greg" is written by Ranjan Rupal (right), the play-by-play voice, and Greg Theberge (left), a former Memorial Cup winner and Washington Capitals defenseman and hockey analyst for The OHL Tonight on TVCogeco. Photo by Lindsay Sarazin.
An amazing thing happened at Memorial Gardens the other day, and it reminded me of an NHL playoff game I once attended.
The 1993-94 Western Conference semi-finals, between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the visiting San Jose Sharks had Yonge Street buzzing. The traffic on Carlton Street, having come to a complete and reverential halt, was gridlocked, the air filled with hooting and honking, with hapless drivers yielding to the crush of fans. Maple Leaf Gardens itself was steamy, the atmosphere hair-raising, absolutely electric, with the holy trinity of Doug Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk and Wendel Clark gearing up to lead the Spring crusade.
Following a whistle, the crowd began to clamour. As the din intensified I spotted the location upon which all eyes in the arena were now fixed, high up in an end zone corner, in the nosebleeds, the Blues as they were called, the lair of salt-of-the-earth, diehard Leafs fans, those God-blessed souls who had mostly commiserated during the bleak years, but were now in rapture, leading a roar that had become deafening.
An enormous, man-sized, plush shark had been suspended from a rope by its tail, a noose actually, and was spinning wildly out of control as a frenzied attacker thrashed the living snot out of it. First a series of hard right hooks, each landing and winning thunderous approval from dazzled onlookers, followed by a lethal flurry of left crosses, the armless teddy shark helpless in the face of the Wendel-esque barrage. The ovation, which had now engulfed the entire building, was astounding, and more than a few players on the ice were witness to the spectacle.
Trailing in the series 3-2, and now facing overtime, the tense Toronto crowd had been ignited by the bizarre display. We had been granted permission by a complete stranger, one with lunatic tendencies, to undo our neckties and loosen up, to high-five and embrace complete strangers, to realize that public displays of fandom were okay, and that we should cast aside our shyness and get wild together.
So during Thursday night's 5-2 win over the Ottawa 67's, on the eve of the OHL playoffs, the appearance of a horse at Memorial Gardens was a particularly welcome sight.
This horse, of course, was one visionary Battalion supporter who had smuggled a horse head mask into a crucial game and, with impeccable timing, donned the mask and started to...well...horse around. The olive green Battalion jersey-wearing Horse Man was displayed on the jumbotron for all to see, and the response from the crowd was loud and resounding.
It was funny. Will Ferrell funny. And a home crowd, which had been incredibly tense with the 4-2 lead, erupted with the comic relief.
Perhaps Horse Man was paying homage to Battalion owner Scott Abbott, whose passion for thoroughbreds rivals his passion for hockey. But I think it was more than that: it was a signal that the same 7th man who made life miserable for the visiting Icedogs, Colts and Generals in last year's run, had awakened, just in time for this year's playoffs.
And we're gonna need our 7th man.
Don't think for a minute that our 7th man wasn't a factor in every Battalion goal, blocked shot and save in last year's playoffs. Barrie Colts' captain Joseph Blandisi remembers, and recently told the Barrie Examiner's Gene Pereira how important it was to finish ahead of the Battalion in the current standings.
“The crowd is the seventh man out there for our team, especially if we’re going to be looking at North Bay in the second round,” Blandisi said. “It’s tough to go in their building and pull out a win.”
Tough. Building.
In predicting a second round match up, Blandisi might have put the cart ahead of the horse, but he remembers our building and how hard it was to play here. As such, the Troops will be counting on fans to provide a 7th man advantage, a responsibility that just makes a lot of sense...horse sense.
Ranjan: So Greg, the remaining teams are at the starting gate, the playoffs are set, a brand new season…
Greg: That’s right, Ranjan. The players and the teams have played 68 games to hone their skill sets, build team chemistry, forge their own identity, or their team identity, all with the goal of making the playoffs. You break it down: you have regular season players and you have playoff players and the Battalion have a lot of playoff players in their lineup from the experience they had last season when they went to the OHL championships.
Ranjan: The Oshawa Generals, the Memorial Cup favorites, will host the Peterborough Petes, but the ‘shwa has dropped games to the 67’s, the Bulls and the Frontenacs down the stretch. Greg, you’ve lived and breathed the rivalry between these two cities over the years. Even though the Generals dominated the season series, should coach D. J. Smith be concerned about his Generals heading into an opening round series against their archrivals?
Greg: No, he shouldn’t be concerned. I’m sure he has respect for coach Jody Hull and the Peterborough Petes’ players, but most coaches will focus on what their team does best. For example, with players like Michael Dal Colle, and Cole Cassels, and Tobias Lindberg up front, Vande Sompel and Carlisle on the blueline, and don’t forget about Brownie, the captain, and Appleby between the pipes, it’ll be a very hard matchup for the Liftlock City to compete against. I think Oshawa will take this series. They have too much depth right now. Peterborough made some good trades for the future: they moved Nick Ritchie and Connor Boland, but they’ve got a young team there.
Ranjan: After fending off the hard-charging Battalion, the Barrie Colts capture the Central Division, and play the Belleville Bulls for the very last time. The Colts haven’t exactly been on fire lately but they demolished the Bulls in both of their meetings this season…
Greg: With Colts’ head coach Dale Hawerchuk’s intensity versus the Bulls’ George Burnett’s wisdom, it should make for a very interesting series. The Colts have players with experience from last year’s playoff run: Blackwood in the net, Harpur anchoring the d-men, Blandisi, Labanc and Mangiapane, with well over 100 points each this season…and let’s not forget the testy Brendan Lemieux. The question is: can Belleville contain this offensive powerhouse? I’m calling Barrie, and only because of the explosive three 100-point men they have up front and Blackwood in net.
Ranjan: A rare sneak peak at both the North Bay Battalion and the Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday afternoon. Two questions: what makes Kingston so dangerous? And what habits do you want to see from the Battalion in order to win this series?
Greg: What makes Kingston so dangerous is the fact that Sam Bennett, the Calgary Flames’ 1st round, 4th overall pick, has just returned having recovered from surgery, and is only now hitting midseason form. His body and mind haven’t been taxed from a 68-game season. He’s eager. He’s fresh. But I believe if you can stop Sam Bennett, you can stop the Frontenacs. Up here in the press box we witnessed Sam Bennett’s game face. He wanted no part in talking to anybody. He was strictly business and he had his game face on in the press box and he’ll have his game face on come Friday night. For the Battalion, I would like to see the best defensive d-man in the Eastern Conference, Marcus McIvor, take charge of the defensive duties, and I would like to see the best defensive forward in the Eastern Conference, Nick Paul, do what he does best against the smartest player in the Eastern Conference: Sam Bennett. I think that makes for great storylines and it’ll make for a great series. This is going to be a real tough one: I’m going to say North Bay and why? I think they have more maturity and experience, and I think that Stan Butler is going to rely on that early in the series.
Ranjan: The Ottawa 67’s, with perhaps the unluckiest draw of all, are pitted against a red hot Niagara Icedogs team that’s gone 26-5-2 since New Year’s Day. In the season series, Ottawa comes out on top, 3-1-0-0, but all of Ottawa’s success came before Christmas, when Niagara was in disarray. On March 7, the ‘Dogs beat the Barberpoles handily: 8-3.
Greg: Well, I think Ottawa coach Jeff Brown realizes this as well, Ranjan, and he’ll have the 67’s prepared. Brown was a great OHL player for the Sudbury Wolves and he realizes that offense wins games, but defense wins playoff series. Now, that’s a great challenge for Brown’s players to shut down Niagara’s special K-9 unit of Carter Verhaeghe, Josh Ho Sang and Brendan Perlini. I think the better team is going to win here and I’m going to pick those pesky Icedogs.
Ranjan: The big red machine - the Sault Greyhounds - take on the Saginaw Spirit. The Spirit dealt Nick Moutrey to the Battalion at the deadline, but still managed to string a few W’s together, though against mostly inferior teams, late in the season. But, before you call this an epic mismatch, the Sault lost only 14 games this season, and one team, Saginaw, was responsible for 3 of those losses…
Greg: Well, I don’t read very much into that statistic because, as I’ve mentioned earlier, the playoffs are a totally different season. Saginaw will have to greatly overachieve to be successful against Sheldon Keefe and his Greyhounds. So no question: Sault Ste. Marie. Saginaw just can’t handle the firepower.
Ranjan: The Erie Otters, led by Connor McDavid, begin their march to the Cup by hosting the Sarnia Sting. The Sting have been dreadful, but did manage to edge the Otters 4-3 on January 8, after dropping the first three games of the season series.
Greg: Well, Sarnia Sting head coach Trevor Letowski will need a few more killer bees in his lineup beyond Korostelev and Nikandrov. Their goalie, Taylor Dupuis is going to face an explosive offensive team led by Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome. If they could win just one game, that’ll be an achievement. Erie will eliminate Sarnia…a mismatch there.
Ranjan: Here’s a real beauty. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the London Knights and the Kitchener Rangers do battle, in the playoffs. Interestingly, Kitchener had the edge in the season series, going 3-1-1-1 with London ending up 3-3-0-0. Former Battalion Brandon Robinson is having a terrific season in K-dub, but will that be enough to beat Marner, Dvorak and Domi?
Greg: That’s a huge rivalry, and it stems all the way back to Bill Long’s tenure behind the London Knights’ bench, with Dennis Maruk, and Rick Green, and you had the Riggins, and let’s not forget Ciccarelli. If Marner, Dvorak and Domi can play up to their capabilities, then the Rangers will have a tough time matching the Knights’ offense. I’m calling the London Knights. It’s all about accountability and Dale Hunter and his staff will have those players playing ugly and in your face.
Ranjan: And finally, the defending OHL champions, the Guelph Storm, take on the Owen Sound Attack. Now Guelph has a championship pedigree, and all that experience. Owen Sound was awesome in February, but they’ve come back down to earth this month. Still, they’re a hard-working team. Guelph took the season series 5-2-0-1, which looks more dominating than it really was. These were all close games and Owen Sound actually ended up 3-3-0-2.
Greg: Dale DeGray, the GM of the Owen Sound Attack, has iced a good hockey team in a good small town hockey market and they’ve proven they can be successful, going all the way back to Mark Reeds’ days as a head coach when they won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 2011, and continuing to the present. However, the Guelph Storm, under new head coach Stewy, will be well prepared and they still have some of their players from last season. This will be a closer series than you think. I have to go with Guelph. I really like Bill Stewart and assistant Todd Harvey and they’re still riding the coat tails of last year’s playoff success with Fabbri and Dickinson.
Ranjan: Well, Greg, that should just about do it for this week. A reminder to Bluelines readers: If you want to be part of something big, something fun, something you'll remember for a long, long time...just ask anyone who went to Memorial Gardens last year during the playoffs. The hockey, the sense of community and togetherness, the atmosphere, was mindblowing. Do yourself this favour. Tickets are on sale this week at the box office or at BattalionHockey.com.
