Sarnia Sting 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[StingUpdates]

I quite like how they did the lines for the opener. The all vet line should be one they can rely on in big spots, offensively & defensively. Huge night from them getting 4 of the 5 goals (if wainwright gets credited for the obvious game winner lol).. Putting a vet in Doucette with Brown/Di Iorio is smart so it isn't all on them to create. Then line 3 is the youngsters line with three U17s & I loved their game vs WSR. Kostuch looked maybe 60-70% & still had 2A & threw the body. Karimov is so fun to watch. Great hands, powerful, energetic. Edwards has such a high IQ & is so aware defensively already at 16 that they can trust that line more than they often would. Once Franceschetti & Moses are back line 4 is gonna be a wrecking ball & create chaos. Letting will enjoy being able to roll 4 lines I think.

Defensively I don't mind putting Fischer-Bodin together. Upside is apparent right away for them being an elite shutdown pairing. thought they did a much better job having them out vs Belchetz-Nesbitt-Greentree in the 2nd & 3rd & they didn't dominate like they did in the 1st. Just wonder if the Dcore as a whole would defend better if they had Fischer pair 1, Bodin pair 2. Thought Barr-Bridgewater were solid on 3rd pair. Moved it, didn't get hemmed in to much.

Gotta say though, absolutely hate switching up the PP units from pre season! Barr-Brown-Di Iorio had amazing chemistry on it. They scored at nearly a 50% clip. Obviously they weren't facing complete OHL rosters & what not, but why mess with it right away & not see if they can carry it into the season? PP looked way out of whack because of it. They also went from running it thru Brown down low, to Fischer & Bodin at the top which wasn't working at all. Brown barely touched it. Then Barr barely got out there it felt like with the 2nd unit.

Overall I think that game was a pretty good showcase of what this team will be like this year. Some young mistakes. Some recklessness/carelessness. Got stuck chasing the game at times vs their big boys. But once they got to playing their game the pace ramped up massively. Ton of speed. Pushing the pace, rolling the lines & pairs. Was very fun to watch. Saginaw & Misa especially have come out good & Parekh is likely back so gonna be a tough game. Be interesting to see who starts, I'm guessing Surzcyia. See if they can have a great opening weekend!

 

[stingwagoner]

I quite like how they did the lines for the opener. The all vet line should be one they can rely on in big spots, offensively & defensively. Huge night from them getting 4 of the 5 goals (if wainwright gets credited for the obvious game winner lol).. Putting a vet in Doucette with Brown/Di Iorio is smart so it isn't all on them to create. Then line 3 is the youngsters line with three U17s & I loved their game vs WSR. Kostuch looked maybe 60-70% & still had 2A & threw the body. Karimov is so fun to watch. Great hands, powerful, energetic. Edwards has such a high IQ & is so aware defensively already at 16 that they can trust that line more than they often would. Once Franceschetti & Moses are back line 4 is gonna be a wrecking ball & create chaos. Letting will enjoy being able to roll 4 lines I think.

Defensively I don't mind putting Fischer-Bodin together. Upside is apparent right away for them being an elite shutdown pairing. thought they did a much better job having them out vs Belchetz-Nesbitt-Greentree in the 2nd & 3rd & they didn't dominate like they did in the 1st. Just wonder if the Dcore as a whole would defend better if they had Fischer pair 1, Bodin pair 2. Thought Barr-Bridgewater were solid on 3rd pair. Moved it, didn't get hemmed in to much.

Gotta say though, absolutely hate switching up the PP units from pre season! Barr-Brown-Di Iorio had amazing chemistry on it. They scored at nearly a 50% clip. Obviously they weren't facing complete OHL rosters & what not, but why mess with it right away & not see if they can carry it into the season? PP looked way out of whack because of it. They also went from running it thru Brown down low, to Fischer & Bodin at the top which wasn't working at all. Brown barely touched it. Then Barr barely got out there it felt like with the 2nd unit.

Overall I think that game was a pretty good showcase of what this team will be like this year. Some young mistakes. Some recklessness/carelessness. Got stuck chasing the game at times vs their big boys. But once they got to playing their game the pace ramped up massively. Ton of speed. Pushing the pace, rolling the lines & pairs. Was very fun to watch. Saginaw & Misa especially have come out good & Parekh is likely back so gonna be a tough game. Be interesting to see who starts, I'm guessing Surzcyia. See if they can have a great opening weekend!

Totally disagree with lines.
Filak has never 1st line guy, would easily excel in 3rd line support role pk and pp.
That being said doucette would be better suited with speed on 1st line with wainer and Johnston. Brown di iorio karimov (need size and grit to open more ice)
3rd would be great line Edwards filak kostich
Then crash line. Totally obvious Wainwright and doucette chemistry just go back to Preaseason 5 vs london. And last year when were together 4 on 4 and PK very electric.
bodin /young need to play together young caused 2 of 3 windsor goals indirectly and hurt struggled 1st period young needs to play with bodin help that.
Fisher hurt he top pair.
Bodin young solid pair size and skill.
Barr /Anderson (not a fan of Bridgewater, his game processing is just lacking for me, see how that goes plus Anderson way more physical, be more complementive with Barr)
That's my thoughts on things but I remember last bunch years with Letang or so lines all over the place for 1st 10 games then things get settled in with 2 complementary players per top 3 lines.

Wainwright/doucette...Johnston
Brown /di iorio...karimov
Kostich/Edwards....filak

Johnston/karimov/kostich can move around top 3 times rest should be locked

That's my 2 cents, I know there are some filak lovers out there but don't see upside in role outside of 3rd line support where he can really succeed.


I'm going to say it again agree or not every game til letang wakes up! Filak has never been a complimentary 1st line guy.
Tried many times but just isn't, think this is big mistake not having him 3rd line support role help Edwards grow in his game(lots to learn) at same time Bring stability to young inexperienced 3rd line.

 

[StingUpdates]

Same lines as yesterday except Karimov is out. I'm guessing he can't go to the states yet. Need a seperate visa for that. So that sucks. Luecke takes his spot on L3. Andersen listed as line 4 RW.

Maillet gets the start so they are giving him a shot right away. See how he plays!

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Awesome to see some resilience from the team on opening night. I was only able to watch the first period and had to rely on highlights for the rest of the game. It was a pretty sloppy opening frame but it seems they got it going after that. Johnston having a great opening game is a positive sign. Maybe Seca found the forward version of Ethan Ritchie or Mitch Young.

It's interesting to see them go to Maillet tonight. I thought they would stick with Surzycia but they do have a very busy opening stretch so they probably want to make sure they don't use Surzycia too much. It will be a good test for Maillet against a red hot Michael Misa and Zayne Parekh who's returning from Calgary's camp

 

[StingUpdates]

It's interesting to see them go to Maillet tonight. I thought they would stick with Surzycia but they do have a very busy opening stretch so they probably want to make sure they don't use Surzycia too much. It will be a good test for Maillet against a red hot Michael Misa and Zayne Parekh who's returning from Calgary's camp

Yah might be a big part. 3in3 next weekend then a quick turnaround Wednesday. But I also thought they'd go back to Nick.

Big test for Maillet. Be huge for him to play well to give them confidence he can play often.

 

[StingUpdates]

Who else but Johnston to open the scoring. He is absolutely buzzing out there. He really seems to know the soft areas. Amazing setup by Filak.

Sucks they tied it with a flukey/odd play. Thought they defended very well. Maillet some solid stops in his 1st OHL period. Hopefully they can keep it up.

 

[StingUpdates]

Well that wasn't a good period in the slightest. Never got going. Maillet did all he could to keep them in it. The vet line is the only one doing much of anything so far tonight up front.

Helluva shift from Di Iorio at the end. Would've been huge if he scored, but unfortunately rang it off the bar.

 

[JAMER]

Well one thing I didn't miss this off-season. Were the Saginaw announcers lol.

But we really need to clean things up defensively this week in practice.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

It was a really solid first period. Thought they played really well defensively. They were chasing the puck all of the second. Had way too many defensive breakdowns. I hate to harp on a player but it's clear Lane Sim can't see the ice anymore. Doesn't do anything offensively and is a black hole defensively. Both goals in the second could have been prevented if he got back in the play in the d-zone

 

[StingUpdates]

Great 1st. Awful 2nd. So-so 3rd. Maillet was really good in his first OHL start despite what the numbers say. Some marvelous saves especially on Parekh. So that's nice to see. Not a fan of their effort those final few minutes leaving him out to dry.

Didn't really deserve it but they also had some rotten luck..Saginaw scored 3 goals off broken plays & Sarnia rang the bar 2 or 3 times.

Unfortunate but we'll see a few games like this early on I think with so many young guys up front. Gotta learn the league & some of the opponents!

Take the split & move onto their first 3-in-3 weekend on the year. And to echo what @SarniaStingFan said, Sim simply isn't OHL level. He got maybe 5 shifts tonight & was -2 & late to get back on both. Hopefully JJ & Moses can get back soon to bolster that 4th line.

 

[JAMER]

Minus the first 10 mins of the 2nd and the last min of the 3rd. I thought we play pretty well. Be a better test Friday when we have Karimov and hopefully Franceschetti and Moses back. I think we missed Moses and Franceschetti a fair bit this weekend.

 

[StingUpdates]

Minus the first 10 mins of the 2nd and the last min of the 3rd. I thought we play pretty well. Be a better test Friday when we have Karimov and hopefully Franceschetti and Moses back. I think we missed Moses and Franceschetti a fair bit this weekend.

Most definitely. 4th line got absolutely hammered both games. Having two 19 yr olds in will stabilize it. And they bring great energy & more scoring upside than Sim/Chamberlain/Luecke as a trio.

Gonna be a tough weekend to start. Saginaw obviously is a strong team & so is Flint. Hopefully split there before facing a weaker Soo team.

 

[JAMER]

Most definitely. 4th line got absolutely hammered both games. Having two 19 yr olds in will stabilize it. And they bring great energy & more scoring upside than Sim/Chamberlain/Luecke as a trio.

Gonna be a tough weekend to start. Saginaw obviously is a strong team & so is Flint. Hopefully split there before facing

Most definitely. 4th line got absolutely hammered both games. Having two 19 yr olds in will stabilize it. And they bring great energy & more scoring upside than Sim/Chamberlain/Luecke as a trio.

Gonna be a tough weekend to start. Saginaw obviously is a strong team & so is Flint. Hopefully split there before facing a weaker Soo team.

The problem with Saginaw this year is. If Misa or Parekh get hurt there screwed.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Not many redeeming qualities about that game. Maillet made some big saves throughout the night. If I was on the coaching staff I'd be pretty miffed at the team leaving their goalie out to dry in the final minute. They have to stop chasing the game so much. They've only lead for 12:36 of the first two games. You're not going to win many games like that. Hopefully they can correct some mistakes in practice and rebound next week

 

[JAMER]

Don't really get why Bodin is on PP1 or even on the PP at all. He wasn't brought in as an offensive guy. Don't really understand it at all.

 

[JAMER]

In other news. To the surprise of no one Boulton takes 4 penalties in the 1st period tonight in Flint including a 10 min misconduct. If he doesn't lead the league in pims this year I'll be very surprised.

 

[stingwagoner]

And again lines not working.
Brown Di iorio not many chances for amout of icetime and pp time. We are a low end team with these line combinations. Similar to last year, just not properly pairing speed and quick play and vision, for example doucette isn't getting puck from Brown(I rewatched last w games and counted aprox 7 times brown didnt recognize the pass) either because he doesn't see it quick enough or feels he doesn't have to move it. That's being said until they put wainwright and doucette together, we won't have a legitimate top line. brown and di iorio are fine creating on their own and played best game with Karimov, they need some size to help them. 3rd line also needs filak to steady Edward's, who needs to learn game at speed that's all minor tweaks, but would create way more for us.
I'll leave it with that and hate to waste games for letang to swallow his arrogance and put our 2 best players w/ similar speed together and filak where he belongs in checking support role on 3rd line.

Maillett was solid did enough to keep team close.

 

[stingwagoner]

Just hard to watch until things get set up properly and give players chance to succeed with like players

 

[stingwagoner]

Not many redeeming qualities about that game. Maillet made some big saves throughout the night. If I was on the coaching staff I'd be pretty miffed at the team leaving their goalie out to dry in the final minute. They have to stop chasing the game so much. They've only lead for 12:36 of the first two games. You're not going to win many games like that. Hopefully they can correct some mistakes in practice and rebound next week

Just not setup for success that's on Letang, Dylan brought in enough letang just sabotaging chances with pairings and line combos.
I believe that's only issue with result.
Prove me wrong????