If you have been to Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens this season to see the North Bay Battalion play you may have noticed a few changes around the rink. One of those being the gallery area is now formally known as IG Wealth Management Captain's Gallery and it features some former Battalion Captains photos on the doors, as well as their jersey's framed across the façade facing the ice.

It's small touches that go a long way to enhance the fan experience of being in the building. Reminiscing about the times when Barclay Goodrow or Mike Amadio donned the "C" on their jersey. Feeling the nostalgia of Brandon Coe and Marcus McIvor coming up with big plays in big moments.

One name that will be added to that list is Ethan Procyszyn. The 19-year-old forward who was given the nod to be the team's leader in January of last season. That followed the trade of incumbent Captain Owen Van Steensel, who was sent to the Barrie Colts at the trade deadline.

"To get to have the 'C' for a full season is pretty surreal and I'm honoured to wear it," Procyszyn told the Troops Trio podcast on their latest episode title, "Leaders Lead," available now on YouTube.

The Wasaga Beach, Ontario born Captain is following in the footsteps of two predecessors in Liam Arnsby, who was the longest serving Captain in North Bay Battalion history, and Van Steensel, who played with Procyszyn for two-and-a-half seasons. Procyszyn says he's learned a lot from past leadership groups.

"When I first got here it was Arnsby wearing the "C" and Kyle McDonald and Ty Nelson wearing the "A" and they took me under their wing and helped me through my first year," he says. "I leaned on them for a while, they were always willing to come over to me and tell me little things about how to improve. Showing the younger guys what you have to do in this league and how you can perform and help your team win was something they showed me early on."

Procyszyn was joined by the rest of the leadership group, with Bronson Ride, Nolan Laid and Lirim Amidovski all getting an "A" on their jersey as Alternate Captains.

"It's a complete honour," says Ride who was also an Alternate Captain last year. "All of us know that and it's nice to be able to lead such a talented young group of guys."

Ride attended the Vegas Golden Knights training camp prior to the start of the season and says he was able to pick up a few things from that experience that will help with his leadership abilities. He says, "They're just so professional (in Vegas). Everyone does their job. Everyone knows their job. You've got to perform every day or else there's a guy coming to take your spot."

Ride adds that there was a good mix of players who could toe the line between being buddy-buddy and knowing when to push to get the best out of everyone. He says, "Guys are nice to each other, they pump each other up, but they also are hard on each other because they want to be the best out there. They want the team to be the best. So, you push each other every day.

"It was a big compete week there, and it's nice to bring that energy back here and to tell everyone that we're going to have a fun year, but we've got to put in the work. It's not just going to get handed to us."

Amidovski was in a similar situation this past summer. The Alliston, Ontario native was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the fourth round (No. 121) in the 2025 NHL entry draft.

Amidovski says he felt like he fit right in with that group, as there are a lot of similarities between the two organizations. "It was a pretty cool experience, but I feel like their mentality is to just ramp up what they've been doing. I think they've had pretty good teams the past few years, so they're trying to just get over that hump," he says.

"We're kind of in the same boat in North Bay, getting to a few conference finals the last few years, so we definitely need to get over a hump like that as well."

Amidovski says being given a letter was one of his goals for his OHL career. "It was something I was working towards and it was cool to see it happen," he says.

Laird is also new to the leadership group, "It was pretty surreal when I got the nod, and I'm just looking forward to helping the younger guys."

Laird, drafted in the eighth round (No. 145) by the Battalion in 2022, says they're already seeing some progression out of the youngest of the Troops, and he says he takes that as a sense of accomplishment.

"You can use Cam Warren as an example of that. He's a guy that's on the smaller size, but obviously you can see with his skill set and the way he plays, it doesn't really matter what size you are anymore, if they have the skills they can succeed," he says, adding to the fact that the 16-year-old Warren is second on the team with four points going into Friday, October 10 game against the Guelph Storm.

"And if you help them and push them and support them, it will make a difference and it will grow their confidence and they're going to play better as well."

Laird says it's hard to believe he's already at this stage of his career, "It's flown by. I remember that first year, it was a learning process, watching these guys play in the Eastern Conference Finals. I was in and out of the lineup and just watching that team go that deep I feel I learned a lot from being able to see that happen. Now being in those guys shoes, it's something we're hoping to do again this year."

Procyszyn says the biggest thing they want to instil in the younger players is to take things shift-by-shift and learn from everything they do. He says, "Make sure you're doing your job out there every time you're on the ice and I think that will help you in the long run."

It was the second straight year Procyszyn found himself at Anaheim Ducks camp after being selected by them in the third round (No. 68) in 2024. "I was really nervous that first year after being drafted," he says. "But going back this year, I was super excited and pumped to get there. I already knew a lot of the guys there because most of them play in the OHL, so it was good to have that familiarity and I really enjoyed my time there."

With a second year of NHL camp experience under his belt, and half a season of being the team's captain, the rest of the leadership group is looking to follow Procyszyn's lead.

"When he became captain last year, we all knew it was the right decision," says Laird. "We were able to learn so much from him last year and we're taking all of this as a chance to become better leaders on and off the ice."