The city of Brampton remains the hometown of the Battalion hockey club, at least, for the 2012-13 season. But if you were in Sudbury on Wednesday night, you’d think the team had already relocated to North Bay.
Busloads of over 200 North Bay fans rolled into the Nickel City and filled sections 17 and 18 in the Sudbury Community Arena to support the visiting Battalion in a 4-2 win over the Wolves.
As you can see from the photos circulating around the world of social media, the Troops had plenty of backup.
North Bay fans! yfrog.com/momueljj — Gino Donato (@SudburyStarPics) November 15, 2012
North Bay fans! yfrog.com/momueljj
— Gino Donato (@SudburyStarPics) November 15, 2012
Section 17 of #sudbury arena sure looks and sounds like #northbay Memorial Gardens tonight @bringohlhome twitter.com/erikjwhite/sta… — Erik White (@erikjwhite) November 15, 2012
Section 17 of #sudbury arena sure looks and sounds like #northbay Memorial Gardens tonight @bringohlhome twitter.com/erikjwhite/sta…
— Erik White (@erikjwhite) November 15, 2012
Courtesy: Bring OHL Home Facebook page
Following the game, it was reported that Battalion players showed their appreciation for North Bay supporters by paying a visit to fans on the buses, and some players later carried that respect forward through Twitter, including veterans Barclay Goodrow and defenceman Cam Wind.
Unreal support from all the North Bay fans tonight in Sudbury!! Great win for the guys tonight — Cam Wind (@CWind8) November 15, 2012
Unreal support from all the North Bay fans tonight in Sudbury!! Great win for the guys tonight
— Cam Wind (@CWind8) November 15, 2012
Wow, how about those north bay fans in sudbury tonight!! — Barclay Goodrow (@bgoodrow23) November 15, 2012
Wow, how about those north bay fans in sudbury tonight!!
— Barclay Goodrow (@bgoodrow23) November 15, 2012
The passion and commitment demonstrated by North Bay fans didn’t go unappreciated by the hosts either. Even with a long-time northern Ontario rivalry on the brink of renewal after a 10-year hiatus, North Bay fans were welcomed into the Wolves barn, and then some.
In good spirits, the Wolves offered North Bay locals in attendance a $10 discount on ticket prices.
The 130-kilometre journey into rival territory came just hours after North Bay fans surpassed the required 2,000 season ticket sales for the next three seasons — a stipulation in the agreement-in-principle between the city and the Battalion organization. After being given until Dec. 31 to accomplish, what some thought might be a challenge, North Bay hockey fans answered in just seven days.
If selling over 2,000 season ticket packages in a week was a statement by North Bay hockey fans, then Wednesday night’s invasion was the exclamation mark.
It’s evident that North Bay residents want OHL hockey back in their city, where it belongs.