2026 - 2027 Sarnia Sting Season Thread, Part I

[SoupNazi]

New thread for a new season

 

[davewheeler]

Hey just throwing this out there but is anyone interested in a OHL fantasy hockey league? The best option I have found would be to use Drafty+google spreadsheets.

Drafty + Google Sheets​

1. I will build an OHL player list:
2. Upload that list into Drafty.
3. Run the fantasy draft. it would be a normal hockey fantasy draft style just with OHL players rather than NHL players.
4. Export the draft results into a google spreadsheet
5. Manage:

• rosters
• daily/weekly scoring ... daily may be a task so perhaps weekly would be better we will see.
• standings
• trades
• playoffs
• all in a google speadsheet.

 

[buzzer33]

I would

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Third-round pick Brody Brown (Leamington Flyers) and third-round U18 pick Jayden O'Neill (Toronto Patroits) signed with OJHL teams today.

 

[frontsfan67]

Third-round pick Brody Brown (Leamington Flyers) and third-round U18 pick Jayden O'Neill (Toronto Patroits) signed with OJHL teams today.

Poor legionnaires

If I was the sting I wouldn’t want to send them there either though

 

[buzzer33]

Better league, better development. Will help the sting in the long run hopefully.

 

[frontsfan67]

Sgro is a standout on day 1

 

[stingfann20245]

Why are the lablanc twins a suitcase my goodness another team

 

[dirty12]

Why are the lablanc twins a suitcase my goodness another team

Mercuryhurst no longer has a hockey program?

 

[buzzer33]

Jacob Reese commits to Uconn for this season. One less OA in the mix. Makes senses with a loaded d-core.

 

[StingUpdates]

Jacob Reese commits to Uconn for this season. One less OA in the mix. Makes senses with a loaded d-core.

Good for him! Honestly didn't see him cracking our Dcore & he turns it into an NCAA spot at a great school.

Still hoping we see Bogas sign.

 

[DuckingandCupping]

Restaurant renos started today

 

[StingUpdates]

Restaurant renos started today

Surprised it took this long to get it going. Hopefully it turns out good & is an actual viable spot to eat, hangout before & after games.

 

[robp1219]

Surprised it took this long to get it going. Hopefully it turns out good & is an actual viable spot to eat, hangout before & after games.

7 weeks for Reno’s not sure exactly what they are doing. 7 weeks isn’t a lot of time. You think they would have started the Reno the start of June.

 

[DuckingandCupping]

Surprised it took this long to get it going. Hopefully it turns out good & is an actual viable spot to eat, hangout before & after games.

You know what, I shouldn’t say they started today… nothing was going on yesterday, but they were at it today… I guess they could have been going at it for a while and simply weren’t doing anything yesterday when I was there… all closed up though, couldn’t peak in

 

[Jason M]

In other news Sgro has 4pts in 3 games at u17 camp.

 

[StingUpdates]

In other news Sgro has 4pts in 3 games at u17 camp.

Hearing so many good things about him. So happy we FINALLY went D round 1. I think he'll be immediately able to help us & play good minutes. Luckily we should be able to ease him in if he needs it with our depth on D, but won't be surprised if he's nipping at the heels of some of our more established D for ice time.

 

[Jason M]

K. Aucoin has been invited to Hilinka-Gretzky cup camp.

 

[StingUpdates]

K. Aucoin has been invited to Hilinka-Gretzky cup camp.

Surprised Lammens didn't get one too. But good for Kaden. Look forward to seeing what kind of step he took this summer.

 

[StingUpdates]

I'm not sure the West division has legitimately ever been more open for the Sting than it will be this season. Not even saying I think we are elite, or anywhere near close to that but...

Windsor heavy rebuild.

Soo need to rebuild.

Flint lost a ton.

Saginaw lost Klepov, Barabanov & now Lazary (HC) is off to NCAA too. Their big additions have been U17 players as well potentially pointing towards them aiming at 27-28 as their "go for it" year.

Their biggest competition will be a team building towards the following season.

If they can't win it now, especially with them adding Holmes, Emerton, 3 imports on top of a near fully returning roster they never will.

 

[BluewaterHky]

Agree this is as open as the West has ever been for the Sting. And it’s not just because Windsor, Soo, Flint, and Saginaw are all resetting. The whole OHL seems to be shifting into a new era where teams are younger, top guys leave after 2–3 years, and the league just isn’t going to have those stacked, veteran‑heavy rosters anymore. Drafting and development will be huge moving forward.

This year’s Memorial Cup is probably the last time we see a team like Kitchener with 12–13 NHL‑drafted players. That model looks unfortunately like it’s gone. Organizations will have to work on fan engagement so that fans feel an attachment since players will come and go much quicker.

Not a bad spot for Sarnia for this season. They weren’t a top team the last couple seasons, so they didn’t get gutted like most teams and that stability is an advantage.

With the division resetting and the league getting younger, this is our window in this new OHL landscape.

 

[buzzer33]

I'm not sure the West division has legitimately ever been more open for the Sting than it will be this season. Not even saying I think we are elite, or anywhere near close to that but...

Windsor heavy rebuild.

Soo need to rebuild.

Flint lost a ton.

Saginaw lost Klepov, Barabanov & now Lazary (HC) is off to NCAA too. Their big additions have been U17 players as well potentially pointing towards them aiming at 27-28 as their "go for it" year.

Their biggest competition will be a team building towards the following season.

If they can't win it now, especially with them adding Holmes, Emerton, 3 imports on top of a near fully returning roster they never will.

There’s definitely a route to having home ice just all has to come together. We will soon know, but I struggle to see where the goal scoring is gonna come from. Gonna need big years from walos, di iorio, katolicky.
Big Steps from a lammens,challenger, hawery
Hopefully a van volson with an OA bump is good for 25-30 goals would be huge.
IMO allot of unknowns.

 

[StingUpdates]

There’s definitely a route to having home ice just all has to come together. We will soon know, but I struggle to see where the goal scoring is gonna come from. Gonna need big years from walos, di iorio, katolicky.
Big Steps from a lammens,challenger, hawery
Hopefully a van volson with an OA bump is good for 25-30 goals would be huge.
IMO allot of unknowns.

Yah there's quite a bit that can go wrong. I think it's a safe expectation that Di Iorio & Walos are consistent producers.

I'm pretty confident Katolicky is gonna be a great add, but gotta stay healthy & get back to form.

Lammens play under Turcotte has me encouraged for what he'll do year 2, but gotta have a good summer. Same goes for Challenger.

I liked what I saw from Hawery but he needs to be more consistent and add muscle. See if Holmes can be more than he was in BRNT. Like u said hopefully Van Volsen can push for 30G as an OA.

But the strength of the team **should** be defence and goaltending.. but gotta show it on the ice.

 

[buzzer33]

Nice to see hall sign with the Toronto patriots of the ojhl. Was getting worried they were seriously going to bring him to camp.

 

[StingUpdates]

Nice to see hall sign with the Toronto patriots of the ojhl. Was getting worried they were seriously going to bring him to camp.

Yah when I saw him attending the draft with Lammens I thought holy hell he's gonna be back as an OA lmao.

Wish him well with Toronto. Obviously I went pretty hard at him a few times, but it was never his fault Letang & Seca loved him so much & overplayed him.