Sarnia Sting 2022-23 Season Thread (Part 3)

[SarniaStingFan]

Nah only line changes they make are to lines that don’t need them.

Do yourself a favour and shut it down, grab a drink and get into Super Bowl mode. Not worth it lol

I did after the 7th goal, I guess that's my limit. Looking forward to the Super Bowl. Should an awesome game!

 

[davewheeler]

I only saw the hi lights so it's hard for me to comment on it but seeing as the Soo are awful I can assume they played like hot garbage. If you're Seca you've gotta be a bit worried at this point... He's given Lelang one of the most dynamic and talented rosters in the OHL and this is what you get. I've been saying the whole year that before any game starts Sarnia will be at a disadvantage because the other team will be better coached and have better goaltending. At this point im starting to wonder if Ben needs glasses because he lets in wrists shots that beer league goalies could handle.... especially on the blocker side. There is still a lot of games left but damn they need to really pick up the pace.

 

[Ferda11]

Looks like Chychrun is on the move. LA the spot. Good for him! Finally get a taste of playoff hockey. What a mentor Doughty should be for him.

Bad for my oilers tho

 

[davewheeler]

maybe Gaudreau needs to work on his blocker side…holy shit, mix in a timely save. Embarrassing effort by the entire team.

Gaudreau is awful.... There is exactly a 0 percent chance we beat London or Windsor in a 7 game series with him in the net.

 

[Ferda11]

Gaudreau is awful.... There is exactly a 0 percent chance we beat London or Windsor in a 7 game series with him in the net.

It is a disturbing trend that’s become quite noticeable. His weaknesses are glaringly obvious and easily exploited, especially when Sarnia defence isn’t on their game. I agree Ben has been better but I also think it’s complimented largely in thanks to Sarnia’s much improve defensive game up until the last two games. I’m not convinced he’s the one to carry us past round 1 either to be honest. Will rely on team defence for sure.

 

[nelli27]

I don’t even like football but I’d rather be watching the Super Bowl at least I’d have no idea how badly either team was doing.

Damn football game interrupts the commercials.

 

[Texcanuck]

Getting hard to shake the losing culture that surrounds this team.
Stuck on 8 wins, 14 to go.
Running out of games.
Teams that win less than 40 games don’t get far in the playoffs.

 

[Dougie Daryl Clark]

The Sting were out scored, out coached and out played in 2 of 3 games this wkend. If this club cant figure this out it's one round and out....as usual. Then back to JR.C hockey next year

Real question: is Letang doing any actual coaching? Are players getting better? He's got the pieces.
Its been a tough weeknd to watch.

 

[StingUpdates]

They hold some of the blame, but players not putting in effort is on them. Listened to the pre game each game & the coach interviews they called exactly what happened.


Friday it was we've been thru this scenario we told the boys to show some maturity & that they learned from KGN. They didn't.

Today they told them SSM would be hungry after such an embarrassing loss. Reminded them of how they felt after losing 10-0. They responded with maybe their worst effort of the season.

The Leaders & vets on the team need to put their foot down & not allow it. Instead Dillingham took 2 atrocious, selfish penalties & had a horrific giveaway. Del Mastro had a terrible giveaway. Pastujov was more more worried about chirping & slashing guys. Letang should've called a TO at 5-3 & let into them that it's unacceptable. Doing nothing lead to them continue to do nothing.

Their to good to lose vs these teams. Had they played even remotely close to as hard as they did in NB vs sby/ssm they'd have gone 3for3. That falls on everybody. Coaches & players.

 

[robp1219]

The Sting were out scored, out coached and out played in 2 of 3 games this wkend. If this club cant figure this out it's one round and out....as usual. Then back to JR.C hockey next year

They are out coached most nights

 

[StingUpdates]

I don't mean this in a mean/rude/snarky way, but what would you guys want to see from Letang?

What is he severely lacking at that annoys/frustrates you so much? I'm genuinely curious.

 

[StingUpdates]

Sting outworked by Greyhounds in disappointing end to road trip

If the Sarnia Sting players thought Sunday’s game was unpleasant, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

www.theobserver.ca

Easily the most animated Letang has been while here. He's one VERY unhappy coach. Promises some brutal practices this week as a result of their lackluster effort.

He's bang on with what he said. This team going back to last year has done the same thing repeatedly. They'll beat a top team to turn & not show up vs a bad one.

We can agree to disagree on the staff, but at some point as a player you need to wake up. How many times do u need to no show vs a bad team before u decide your tired of it & won't let it happen again?

Just once I want it to be easy for this org.

 

[StingUpdates]

Now we play a surging Guelph team, LDN, LDN, FLT, LDN, SAG, NB, SSM, LDN, WSR.

11 games in 18 days vs many of the league's elite. We will know in 3 weeks time if we should be optimistic/excited for April or if this is just another typical Sting team. I believe in them. I really do. Hope I don't regret it.

 

[davewheeler]

I don't mean this in a mean/rude/snarky way, but what would you guys want to see from Letang?

What is he severely lacking at that annoys/frustrates you so much? I'm genuinely curious.

The team more times than not comes out flat. No real game plan it seems. No Identity. Lack of in-game adjustments. The power play is just meh sometimes. A bad home team too... are they not below .500 at home ... If not its gotta be pretty close... Besides the Soo game Sarnia seems unable to dictate games, they play to their opponent. In my opinion all that falls on coaching. Same question for you, why do you like him? Like whats he ever done to deserve credit?

 

[robp1219]

Sting outworked by Greyhounds in disappointing end to road trip

If the Sarnia Sting players thought Sunday’s game was unpleasant, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

www.theobserver.ca

Easily the most animated Letang has been while here. He's one VERY unhappy coach. Promises some brutal practices this week as a result of their lackluster effort.

He's bang on with what he said. This team going back to last year has done the same thing repeatedly. They'll beat a top team to turn & not show up vs a bad one.

We can agree to disagree on the staff, but at some point as a player you need to wake up. How many times do u need to no show vs a bad team before u decide your tired of it & won't let it happen again?

Just once I want it to be easy for this org.

I agree it’s on the player, but we have seen this happen many times, Why is Letang just doing something about it now. Up in til now he just comments about it after games. I would be losing it in between periods, losing it on the bench, sitting guys until the message is jammed in their head. He seems to just comment about it and has basically let it go until now. Him and his staff are also for the most part un able to make in game adjustments too. You watch a team like London every single player and line has a role/identity and knows their assignment. Every single player hustles their bag off and fights for loose pucks. You watch sarnia and it’s very sloppy hockey in comparison our compete level is low in comparison. I think there is alot of room for improvement amongst our coaches.

 

[StingUpdates]

I'll agree they keep coming out flat. They didn't before the break, but since returning it has been an issue for whatever reason. I disagree about no gameplan. They constantly shut down the opponents offensively. That's their gameplan & identity. They wanna be a hard team to score on (which they are) & a team that excels in transition which they often do & be a team that controls the pace & play.

At home they are 12-7-5. Point % wise it's good, but it should be better. Especially early in the season they lost games they shouldn't of on home ice. Especially some of those OT games.


i dont agree with saying they don't dicate games. They often control the play. In both games vs OTT they controlled play & generated more chances. Same in the NB & PBO games. They've played very well vs WSR. They thoroughly dominated kit/sag.

I know shots can be meaningless but we almost always out shoot & out chance our opponents. Very rarely does this team ever allow 30+ shots.

 

[StingUpdates]

For me, coaching is not an issue & it never has been under Letang.

They're the most disciplined team in the league. They're one of the most structured, defensively sound teams in the league. Their special teams are both in the top-10. They're unbelievable at closing out games.

They did a wonderful job handling the barrage of injuries in NOV/DEC. They sit 3rd in the conference & 6th in the league despite those injuries & despite their goaltending frankly being well below average on the season (Gaudreau was doing MUCH better till yesterday)

I love how he'll run 3Fs in 4on4 & how late in games he's been using 3D to close it out. I do wish he'd put the lines in the blender more often when we aren't playing well, but other than that how many adjustments can you make mid-game?

He's been terrific for molding Dmen. Romeo improved drastically. Mast has taken a huge jump. Kyrou in just 1 month has come a long way in his own end. Ritchie has been a complete stud with us.

From a play style standpoint, they are an elite transition team, they move it around very well, use the D extremely well offensively, play phenomenal team defense & on most nights control play & puck possession.

I've just personally never sat there & watched this team & thought "man we are so poorly coached." We all watched some of those Hatcher years. Some of those teams were terribly coached. No structure, pace, cohesion to their games. Didn't make it hard on opponents. Just don't see that with this team.

 

[Ferda11]

At the end of the day, the coach isn’t the one with the skates on his feet. I think accountability could be better, especially towards the “star” players, but reality is, it’s up to the players. Only they can put the puck in the back of the net and keep it out of their own. No one else.

 

[StingUpdates]

Had already turned it off so missed this, but what a fricken hit Dillingham laid on BMB lol. Textbook. Soo coach looked a bit foolish screaming at our bench as if it was a leaping elbow 5 seconds after he had it.

Hopefully, Barker is ok, but I'm so happy the refs didn't call it. To often now you see calls for perfect hits. Also, shocking no Soo guy went after him, but if I had to guess Dillingham might have a bit of a rep as one you don't wanna f*ck with.

 

[StingUpdates]

Also, I don't mean to come off as confrontational! Just don't disagree about the coaches, but that's fine. We all see it differently!

Let's hope this tough week of practice gets them right. These next 3 weeks are gonna be a gauntlet & if they arent on their game it could be a disaster. Already down to 19 games left & we haven't separated as much as I would've liked for 3rd.

Boys gotta get into playoff mode. If they do we are in for some really exciting, good hockey the rest of the way.

 

[StingUpdates]

This is a big week for the team, but I'm really looking at Gaudreau. GUE has been really solid for 2 months now. It likely won't be a blowout. We'll need some big saves.

Then a b2b w/London who's on a tear. He's gonna have moments where he's under siege which hasn't happened much since his return. We are gonna need him to bail us out at times.

I thought up until Sunday he was playing some really good, solid goaltending. Not like he had any help but he wasn't great either. Hopefully, he can play well vs good teams. Be a big confidence booster for everybody. We saw last yr he caught fire late then was unbelievable in the playoffs. Let's hope for the same this year.

Also, looking at the tickets. Saturdays game is already sold out while Monday only has 200 tickets left! Great to see.

 

[Buttsy]

This is a big week for the team, but I'm really looking at Gaudreau. GUE has been really solid for 2 months now. It likely won't be a blowout. We'll need some big saves.

Then a b2b w/London who's on a tear. He's gonna have moments where he's under siege which hasn't happened much since his return. We are gonna need him to bail us out at times.

I thought up until Sunday he was playing some really good, solid goaltending. Not like he had any help but he wasn't great either. Hopefully, he can play well vs good teams. Be a big confidence booster for everybody. We saw last yr he caught fire late then was

Watching him at the WJC he clearly it seems is struggling with his confidence. A goal would get past him that he perhaps wishes he could have back but his body language was telling you he was waiting for the next questionable goal to happen. He needs to get pissed and say to himself that's the last puck that's getting past me I owe it to the team to do my part. Not good for any goalie to have confidence issues. However easy for us to say I never played at a high enough level to face the pressures these kids do.

 

[StingUpdates]

Watching him at the WJC he clearly it seems is struggling with his confidence. A goal would get past him that he perhaps wishes he could have back but his body language was telling you he was waiting for the next questionable goal to happen. He needs to get pissed and say to himself that's the last puck that's getting past me I owe it to the team to do my part. Not good for any goalie to have confidence issues. However easy for us to say I never played at a high enough level to face the pressures these kids do.

His body language has been MUCH better since returning. He was on a good roll until sundays fiasco which was a team wide thing.

He always seems to really wake up vs LDN so hopefully, for our sake he does it again haha. Could be some electric games.

 

[StingUpdates]

Lines meet blender! I like it. Like it alot actually. Give 22 some more skilled linematea. Filak always does well w/Voit.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Lines meet blender! I like it. Like it alot actually. Give 22 some more skilled linematea. Filak always does well w/Voit.

Hoping some new linemates bring out some more offence in Wainwright. If he can get going, consistently produce, and play in the top 9, it makes us more dangerous.