During the 2002 off season the North Bay Centennials were bought and moved to Saginaw, Michigan to become the Spirit and thus leaving the East and West unbalanced so the Battalion were moved to the Eastern Conference and given North Bay's former spot in the Central Division. Once again the Battalion surged above the .500 mark finishing with a 34–24–10 record good enough to win their first Division Championship in franchise history beating the Toronto St. Michaels Majors by only 2 points.