Goodbyes are never easy, but Dalyn Wakely, Owen Van Steensel, and Anthony Romani made sure to leave a “lasting impression” in what was most likely their final game at the North Bay rink they called home for three previous seasons.
Van Steensel scored the winner four minutes into overtime and Wakely finished with two goals and four points as the former Battalion top line powered the Barrie Colts to a 5-4 victory, Sunday afternoon, at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
If the game did mark the trio’s final appearance there, it was a heck of a way to go out.
“It’s a spot where we’ve had a lot of success and today, we needed a big win,” said Wakely, who along with Romani and Van Steensel led the Battalion to three straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals from 2022 to 2024. “So, to go in there and be able to get two points and leave a lasting impression there, I thought was important for us.
“We got the job done.”
Marty Williamson was happy for his three big trade acquisitions as the Colts look to make their own lengthy playoff run this season.
The lineup of fans before the game and after on Sunday was a good indication of just how much Wakely, Romani, and Van Steensel were appreciated in North Bay.
“You could see the lineup of people here to meet the three of them before the game even,” said the Colts’ general manager and head coach. “Now there’s a crowd of them out there that want to say bye to them. They spent some good time here.
“They did a good job for North Bay getting to the (conference) finals a bunch of years and it’s nice to see the congratulations that they’re getting from their fans.”
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It was the second overtime win in as many days and the seventh victory in the last 10 games for a Barrie team looking to build some consistency heading into the playoffs.
A desperate Battalion squad fighting for its playoff lives battled back twice in this one, rallying from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits.
Jacob Therrien scored with just 40 seconds left to tie at 4-4, but Van Steensel, who also had a pair of assists, would play the hero in his return to North Bay.
The former Battalion captain forced a turnover in the North Bay end and then took a feed in front from Wakely. His first shot was stopped by Mike McIvor, but Van Steensel kicked the rebound in his skates to his stick and slid it past the North Bay goaltender to give him a goal in each of his last four games.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, the trio is rounding into shape heading into the playoffs. Romani has nine goals in his last 10 games, while Wakely has collected three goals and nine points over his last four games.
“A lot of people expected it to happen right away back in January (at the trade deadline),” said the Edmonton Oilers prospect of playing that dominating style that resulted in 301 combined points between the three last season. “After not playing together for a while things take time and we knew if we just stayed patient with it, it would start to come.
“Now we’re starting to feel better about our game together and it’s a good time. As we head into the playoffs, we want to keep it going and stay focused each night.”
Jaiden Newton, with his second goal in his last four games, and Kashawn Aitcheson also scored for the Colts (41-21-2-2), who moved to within three points of the Brantford Bulldogs atop the Eastern Conference standings.
While the Colts are focused on playing consistent hockey and getting their game in order over the last week, they still have an opportunity at home ice throughout the conference playoffs.
“You always want to win games,” said Wakely. “I don’t know if we’re out of it for first too, if we win out and Brantford loses out. At the end of the day, we got to clean up as many things as we can in our game heading into the playoffs and try to get as close to perfect hockey as much as we can.
“We’re trending in the right direction so far and next weekend coming up will be a great opportunity to do it.”
Jacob LeBlanc, Andrew LeBlanc, Ihnat Pazii, and Jacob Therrien scored for North Bay (25-34-6-0), which held on to its two-point lead on the Ottawa 67’s in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I know they were desperate,” Williamson said of the Battalion. “This meant a lot to them, and you can see the emotion when they got one point. It kind of worked out. Ottawa got one point, and they got one point, so they didn’t lose any ground and their two-point lead.
“It was a big point for them.”
North Bay caught a break late in the game to tie things up at 4-4. Tristan Bertucci had his stick knocked from his hands in front of the net and then it was kicked into the corner.
As the puck went into the corner, Bertucci followed to pick up his stick, leaving Therrien alone in front to take a pass from Ethan Procyszyn and fire it up over Barrie goaltender Ben Hrebik.
“I think we played a pretty good game,” said Williamson. “It’s funny when you play good games bounces go your way, and we got the overtime goal at the end, but we were the better team for most of the night.
“The (tying) goal was a bit of a lucky break (for them), that we lost a stick, and it got hit twice, and (Bertucci) couldn’t pick it up. It was kind of a comedy of errors and that just left the guy open in front. It was kind of an unlucky break. It’s not a breakdown, so I was pretty happy with the team today.”
The Battalion had the puck in the Barrie end pretty much all of the opening three minutes of overtime, but as they have done often this season, the Colts found a way and improved to 8-2 in overtime.
“There were a couple of fortunate bounces that got them in the game, even late, but when we got four lines rolling like we do, and three lines of defenceman that are hard to play against, and obviously both of our goaltenders making big-time saves all night long, we can be pretty tough to beat,” said Wakely.
“I’m pretty impressed with our group right now and we just got to try and keep this going.”
ICE CHIPS: The Colts will close out their regular season at home, hosting the Owen Sound Attack on Thursday night and the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday night. . . With Beau Akey (bruise) back in the lineup, the Colts iced a full lineup for one of the few times this season. “I thought there was a lot more purpose,” Williamson said of his team’s game. “It was nice to see Akey back and we had a full lineup, and it was nice to see. We haven’t had this in a long time, where we had just what our lineup is. It was nice for that group to go out and play a good game like they did, and we’ll make some decisions (on scratches) these last two games at what we want to do.” . . . Hrebik made 28 saves to record his 20th win of the season. Only London’s Austin Elliott (.922) and Kitchener’s Jackson Parsons (.921) have a better save percentage in the OHL than Hrebik (.920). . . Barrie outshot North Bay 44-32. . . Wakely, Newton, and Aitcheson scored a little under three minutes apart past midway through the second to give Barrie a 3-1 lead. . . A combination of a Brantford win and two Sudbury wins, or two Niagara losses, will lock up a first-round playoff series between the Colts and IceDogs.
