Sarnia Sting 2022-23 Season Thread (Part 2)

[Dougie Daryl Clark]

I more mean teams value picks in the now (2023, 2024) more than ones in 3-4 years because theyll get those back by those drafts. But it was always gonna be a loss for us if we traded him. We overpaid quite badly at the time & he actually turned into an OK dman which at least kept his value decent.

I was looking forward to seeing this d core all together because of their size, but Hoover has been a rock solid 3rd pair guy. Definitely someone u want in the lineup come playoffs. Romeo has become a solid defender but he can have some horrific turnovers. Had 2 brutal one's yesterday that could've resulted in goals. Not something u want playing 20+ come a game 6 or 7.

I like getting picks in the 2023 cupboard. Least now the scouts have an actual job to do haha. But we'll see if we keep them. Need a 3rd liner. Not much out there but hopefully Seca can find one.

Agree but I think Seca was painted into a corner and had to trade someone he could get picks for in this year's draft and unfortunately for Romeo but he was the guy that would make that happen.

 

[davewheeler]

London guys on the Sarnia board complaining about their team ... I never thought I would see the day.

 

[LDN]

Added some size to your lineup. You’ll have a tough squad for the playoffs

 

[Jnrl0719]

Thought on Anderson that we acquired from Hamilton ?

 

[Ferda11]

Added some size to your lineup. You’ll have a tough squad for the playoffs

Well there's the size and grit we wanted/needed. I think it was hoped that whoever was coming this way would also have a bit of offense to their game in case of an injury in the top 6. I guess we view Filak and Sikic as those guys.

My fellow home town Hammer fans, what should we expect from our new addition?

 

[Jawk]

Well there's the size and grit we wanted/needed. I think it was hoped that whoever was coming this way would also have a bit of offense to their game in case of an injury in the top 6. I guess we view Filak and Sikic as those guys.

My fellow home town Hammer fans, what should we expect from our new addition?

Big body that moves around pretty good for how lanky he is. Definitely works hard and cares about his team mates. Every once in awhile shows some skill.

Realistically he's probably a 4th line guy that you can trust for a few shifts when the big boys need some rest.

 

[honeydripper]

Big body that moves around pretty good for how lanky he is. Definitely works hard and cares about his team mates. Every once in awhile shows some skill.

Realistically he's probably a 4th line guy that you can trust for a few shifts when the big boys need some rest.

Ok, so by this description, (and thanks for that) it looks like we just traded for a Ryder McIntyre type player. Here's hoping his playoff experience, and intangibles benefit the team. I'm interested to watch him play.
It's exciting, and frustrating that we don't get to see this new team live in the hive until the 20th.

 

[Ferda11]

Ok, so by this description, (and thanks for that) it looks like we just traded for a Ryder McIntyre type player. Here's hoping his playoff experience, and intangibles benefit the team. I'm interested to watch him play.
It's exciting, and frustrating that we don't get to see this new team live in the hive until the 20th.

HFBoards Sting Thread eastern road trip this weekend? lol

 

[Ferda11]

Former Sting Nolan Dann traded to Flint. Oh Niagara.......lmao

 

[Knownothing]

Former Sting Nolan Dann traded to Flint. Oh Niagara.......lmao

Flint

Former Sting Nolan Dann traded to Flint. Oh Niagara.......lmao

Flint

 

[Ferda11]

Flint


Flint

ya sorry, just fixed that. my bad.

 

[robp1219]

Added some size to your lineup. You’ll have a tough squad for the playoffs

Hopefully he can play, I have never heard of him or watched him

 

[robp1219]

Former Sting Nolan Dann traded to Flint. Oh Niagara.......lmao

We should have kept him. Or kept him until the trade deadline. Niagara got a good return for him.

 

[StingUpdates]

Was certainly hoping for a little more offense than a 1 goal winger lmao. Seca says he's a playoff type guy so assume he's an energetic, physical guy which I like.

Imagine we are done. See between Wainwright, Way, Doucette, Anderson who can crack L3

Also what is Flint doing lol. It cost NIA two 2nds for Dann for a full 2 years coming off a near 30G year. Now u get 1.5 years of him when he has SIX goals for 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4??? Holy overpay

 

[bobber]

Hopefully he can play, I have never heard of him or watched him

Inquired about this kid. He was Ranger draft pick originally. Tough kid that can look after himself and your top players if need be. Not a lot of points.

 

[StingUpdates]

We should have kept him. Or kept him until the trade deadline. Niagara got a good return for him.

Had we kept him we wouldn't of been able to do other trades. He's been atrocious this season & while his environment has sucked just watching a few games his effort level has been embarrassing. Maybe it gets upped In FLT.

 

[robp1219]

I still think sting should get Bowman or someone similar. Between anderson and him that would make us big and tough and add good depth down our forward lines.

 

[StingUpdates]

Looks like we're done. Wish we could've gotten a legit 3RW but clearly there wasn't much out there & if the two NIA trades were any indication the asking prices were ridiculous for the ones that were available.

This team has all the potential in the world. I'm quite confident in this group, but it'll all come down to Gaudreau.

We will go as far as he can take us. Gives us goaltending he can give us & I like our chances. He underperforms & all bets are off. Never wanna do this in Sting land but....

I believe. Let's go on a run.

 

[dmead]

I really hope you guys see a second round this year. You have the team.

 

[cupcrazyman2]

I've never had issues with LDN fans really. Some a bit more obnoxious than others especially when a few beers get in them but every fan base has those.

I just hated how bloody cocky some of there teams used to be. Sure they had a right too at times but some of them were overboard as heck. Especially when it's the guys who pulled the "I'll only go to London" card.

They've been getting 9K a game for 15 years how can u not respect that aspect. I wish we had that type of fan base (a good product goes a long way!!!)

This One Time:I remember getting chirped by some Knight's fan back in the day at the Ice House.Long story short, I watched the rest of the game indoors & he had to sober up outside in the snow. lol
The rest of the Knight's faithful are great fans of their team.

 

[Ferda11]

Wish we could have added another body that would chip in 10-15 goals down the stretch but it is what it is. We made some massive moves....bigger than any year I can remember.

What are we thinking for lines? What's everyone's realistic expectations?

Burke - DBB - Voit
Sikic - Filak - Pastujov
Vilmanis - Lantz - Wainwright
Anderson - Way - Doucette

Del Mastro - Mast
Kyrou - Ritchie
Dillingham - Hoover
Fischer

Gaudreau
Surzycia

Based off the last few games with 15/11/36 together, I'd keep that little experiment going. Fully expect that top line to gel and catch fire once given a chance to practice and get a few games in. Line 3 worries me a bit. Really need to see Vilmanis pick up his game and production. A little more consistent would be great. Same goes for Wainwright. Lantz is just purely dependable in every aspect of the game, so he will be a good leader for the two on either side of him.

In my opinion there are two crucial factors that will be the most important to this teams success going forward. Both need to improve significantly at this point. Goaltending and the Power Play. Not gong to beat a dead horse about Benny and his struggles, he knows what he needs to do and I still believe he can get the job done. Hope he believes that to. The power play has been getting a bit better as of late but, I can assure you that a 18.2% PP success rate will not get you past the 1st round of the playoffs. No reason this line up can't produce a 28% conversion rate or better. PK is currently mid-pack but should improve and move up with a healthy line up and defined roles.

Let's see what happens. Exciting times...enjoy it while it's here lol.

 

[StingUpdates]

Wish we could have added another body that would chip in 10-15 goals down the stretch but it is what it is. We made some massive moves....bigger than any year I can remember.


What are we thinking for lines? What's everyone's realistic expectations?


Burke - DBB - Voit
SIkic - Filak - Pastujov
Vilmanis - Lantz - Wainwright
Anderson - Way - Doucette

Del Mastro - Mast
Kyrou - Ritchie
Dillingham - Hoover
Fischer

Gaudreau
Surzycia

Based off the last few games with 15/11/36 together, I'd keep that little experiment going. Fully expect that top line to gel and catch fire once given a chance to practice and get a few games in. Line 3 worries me a bit. Really need to see Vilmanis pick up his game and production. A little more consistent would be great. Same goes for Wainwright. Lantz is just purely dependable in every aspect of the game, so he will be a good leader for the two on either side of him.


In my opinion there are two crucial factors that will be the most important to this teams success going forward. Both need to improve significantly at this point. Goaltending and the Power Play. Not gong to beat a dead horse about Benny and his struggles, he knows what he needs to do and I still believe he can get the job done. Hope he believes that to. The power play has been getting a bit better as of late but, I can assure you that a 18.2% PP success rate will not get you past the 1st round of the playoffs. No reason this line up can't produce a 28% conversion rate or better. PK is currently mid-pack but should improve and move up with a healthy line up and defined roles.

Let's see what happens. Exciting times...enjoy it while it's here lol.

Honestly, I really like your lines. Quite a bit, actually. We'd be asking a bit of Pastujov to generate offense, but we gotta start talking about how he's one of the elite, elite talents this league has + that line has shown great chemistry & has a bit of everything.

Would make line 3 so much more threatening. Be easily one of the best in the entire league & give us 3 good scoring lines. 4th line would give us almost nothing offensively, but hopefully, some physicality & energy.

With all our injuries & all our trades, it may take a couple of weekends to get fully on the same page, but the potential would be there to have a lethal F unit.

The backend, as mentioned, 100 times should be elite. I am curious to see how 3-77 will work & if it will stick. The upside is huge but I could see it not clicking for some reason. Hopefully, it does though because I've been loving these other pairs.

 

[StingUpdates]

What a wild couple of weeks & months really. One of the craziest years for trades I can remember. Here's how I see WSR, LDN, SAR, OS, FLT, KIT, SAG lineups. Apologies from other boards if I get ur lines wrong. Will make another post my thoughts on each lineup (don't want this to be an entire page itself lmao)

WSR:
Harrison-Wright-Maggio
Abraham-Peer-Christopolous
Smith-Maillet-Castle
Greentree-Spellacy-Johnston

Sobolev-Renwick
Holmes-DeAngelis
Christiforo-Dioncio

Onuska/Costanzo

LDN:
Diaco-McGurn-Gazizov
Cowan-Barkey-Winterton
McCue-Sim-Humphrey
Crane-Julien-Paris

George-Mailloux
Edward-Bonk
Dickinson-Leonard

Brochu/Bowen

KIT:
Arcuri-Pinell-Mesar
Martin-Zhilkin-Sop
Valade-Rehkopf-Swick
Misaljevic-Morey-Bottineau

Moore-Schmidt
Hamara-Brzustewicz
Andonovskiy-Motew

Constantinni/Vandenberg

FLT:
Giroux-Lombardi-Pitre
Piercey-Kressler-Hayes
Pitre-Hay-Dann
Slavicek-Bradshaw-Pitters

Kuzmin-Bertucci
Deline-Guryev
Smith-Stojkov

Cranley/Day

OS:
Goure-Petrovsky-Barlow
Lawrence-Guindon-Burroughs
Bryant-Papais-Hookey
Brennan-Cormier-Stewart

Petrovskiy-Sedley
Seed-Sawyer
Jordan-Steen

Chenard/Votary

SAG:
Misa-Haight-Loukos
Willis-Sapovaliv-Mangone
McNamara-Hill-Sima
Moore-Gervais-Storch

Mancini-Smith
Parekh-Forgione
Savard-Guo

Lennox/Oke

SAR:
Voit-DelBelBelluz-Burke
Pastujov-Filak-Sikic
Vilmanis-Lantz-Wainwright
Doucette-Way-Anderson

Del Mastro-Mast
Ritchie-Kyrou
Dillingham-Hoover

Gaudreau/Surzcyia

 

[4 Bobby ORR]

What a wild couple of weeks & months really. One of the craziest years for trades I can remember. Here's how I see WSR, LDN, SAR, OS, FLT, KIT, SAG lineups. Apologies from other boards if I get ur lines wrong. Will make another post my thoughts on each lineup (don't want this to be an entire page itself lmao)

WSR:
Harrison-Wright-Maggio
Abraham-Peer-Christopolous
Smith-Maillet-Castle
Greentree-Spellacy-Mourneau

Sobolev-Renwick
Holmes-DeAngelis
Christiforo-Dioncio

Onuska/Costanzo

 

[StingUpdates]

Windsor: Elite team. No need to sugarcoat it. Arguably best F unit in the league for my money. Might have 6 point per game players in their T6. B6 is very strong. 3rd line is gonna be a pesty, annoying line that can contribute. 4th line is rookies so may not play a ton but they're solid rookies. I do think you can get to that defence. I don't think they handle a good forecheck overly well, but they aren't bad by any means. Costanzo has been far better than Onuska but can he handle being the #1?

London: Structure. They have a gameplan & they stick to it. Don't love their Fs, but they aren't bad. D&G are elite & will keep them in any game & series. They'll be one of those teams that'll be impossible to put away. Patience, disciplined will be the name of the game vs them.

Kitchener: Complete wildcard. Their 6 best Fs can match almost anyone's. On paper their D is highly touted but I have serious questions if they can defend & do what it takes to win playoffs games. Can't dismiss having the reigning OHL champ in net.

Flint: Puzzling. Should've been an all-in season. Still a dangerous group led by Lombardi who we know personally can take over games. Don't love their F depth, D is okay & Cranley is inconsistent. Definitely a team that could pull off an "upset" RD1 but not 2.

Owen Sound: Sneaky. Just like last year they'll be a team that'll give you everything you can handle round one. Elite top-6 that really carries the load. Defence is fine. Chenard is a bit up&down, but when he's on he can be really good.

Saginaw: Titanic. They've already proven me wrong being this good so maybe they'll continue to do so, but I think losing Mintyukov (trade made total sense) will sink them. He'd be the league MVP if it ended today. He's freaky good. A total game changer who did SO much for them. Still a fun group of Fs who will score & Lennox is one of the league's better Gs & that'll make them dangerous.

Sarnia: Talent. Not many teams, especially in the west can match the sheer talent of Voit/Pastujov/Burke/Vilmanis/DelBelBelluz/Del Mastro/Kyrou/Mast/Lantz/Ritchie. T6 should be lethal. Defence should be elite. Biggest questions will be production from B6 & goaltending. If they get those they can take anybody. If they don't they become very beatable.

I think WSR/SAR slightly separated this past week with their huge swings. LDN remains a threat. KIT has the ingredients. FLT/OS will push any team they play to the brink. SAG maybe too but I wanna see how they look w/o Mintyukov. Just my opinion & how I personally see it. Probably wrong & will look like a moron in a few months.

One thing I notice too is last season WSR & FLT were really mean, physical teams. They'd beat you & beat you up. I don't really see that at the moment from any team. LDN doesn't play like that, KIT doesn't & SAG doesn't. FLT, SAR are sorta the same where most of that comes from their defence & only 1 or 2 Fs. WSR's B6 should be a crash & bang type. OS always plays physical but don't have any crushers like prior years.