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

[StingUpdates]

Also I seen Hughston Hurt sitting front row behind the Knights bench lastnight.

Advanced scouting for next yr haha. Saw ppl say there were quite a few Sting guys there including Jacob Perreault. How I wish covid didn't cost seeing 2 seasons of him.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Sarnia to host the world U17 tournament in November. 2nd time we are hosting it. Was some great hockey last time.

Seems like a pretty safe bet Di Iorio will be there for Canada. It will be really interesting to see if Beckham Edwards is on the roster. If he is, it would a huge opportunity for the Sting to show him why this such a great place to play

 

[davewheeler]

Sorry boys, not enough hotels in town to host something like that. Lots of quality stuff going on here outside of the game broadcast. You ought to come to a game & have a look

if Rimouski ... a town of 45k can host it so can we.... there are plenty of hotels.

A lot of people coming from out of town bought the full week package. Some people skipped so games. I know a few people that are knights fans that did that. Went to see Moose Jaw and London lastnight, mostly full but it was a fun game. Moose Jaw has a ridiculous amount of fans there.

lol one day we'll get there.

 

[StingUpdates]

if Rimouski ... a town of 45k can host it so can we.... there are plenty of hotels.


lol one day we'll get there.

The yr Sarnia wins (so never) it'll be in the farthest possible spot from us haha. Can guarantee that.

Would still do everything possible to attend. Just give us an OHL championship first please

 

[davewheeler]

The yr Sarnia wins (so never) it'll be in the farthest possible spot from us haha. Can guarantee that.

Would still do everything possible to attend. Just give us an OHL championship first please

it will be the first year the Memorial cup is in Europe lol

 

[davewheeler]

What reasons would the Sarnia Sting not be a destination for potential ohl players being drafted into the league. I keep reading other team threads that player a or player b said no to sarnia. Also heard something about Seca being hard to work with and arrogant. Anyone in the know care to share details?

sorry just seeing this now...what players specifically said no to only Sarnia?

 

[StingUpdates]

sorry just seeing this now...what players specifically said no to only Sarnia?

Fitzgerald apparently was Sarnia's 1st choice & he said no. Commited to USHL then after going to PBO (his hometown team) he signed with them.

Wassilyn is another but apparently that went farther back & wasn't just a Sarnia thing. His agent & Niagara are tight. Many of their top picks are his clients.

Valentini told everyone no (outside LDN I'd imagine).

Fitzgerald is the main one though. For whatever reason he or his family didn't wanna come. Is what it is. I prefer Di Iorio anyways haha.

 

[OHL4Life]

Fitzgerald apparently was Sarnia's 1st choice & he said no. Commited to USHL then after going to PBO (his hometown team) he signed with them.

Wassilyn is another but apparently that went farther back & wasn't just a Sarnia thing. His agent & Niagara are tight. Many of their top picks are his clients.

Valentini told everyone no (outside LDN I'd imagine).

Fitzgerald is the main one though. For whatever reason he or his family didn't wanna come. Is what it is. I prefer Di Iorio anyways haha.

they went back to wasslyn after fitzgerald said no. i think there was some comments about wasslyn from sarnia's brass (nothing personal, just criticism of his game) that made its way to the wasslyn family that did not sit well, so when sarnia called and said how much they loved him, wasslyn's group said no way.

i think it also didnt help that seca evidently ghosted the waslynn group after they made their mind up on fitzgerlad. didnt say they were moving on, just left the kid hanging a bit.

 

[davewheeler]

kids get more and more dramatic each year.... I find it unlikely Seca would ghost Wassilyn without getting a commitment from Fitzgerald first.... I will say I find Seca to be more on the arrogant side of things.... I will also say I don't mind Fitzgerald saying no to Sarnia to stay with PTBO. It's not like he was pulling an only London thing. The original post made it seem like lotsa players were only saying no to Buzz which doesn't seem to be true.

 

[StingUpdates]

they went back to wasslyn after fitzgerald said no. i think there was some comments about wasslyn from sarnia's brass (nothing personal, just criticism of his game) that made its way to the wasslyn family that did not sit well, so when sarnia called and said how much they loved him, wasslyn's group said no way.

i think it also didnt help that seca evidently ghosted the waslynn group after they made their mind up on fitzgerlad. didnt say they were moving on, just left the kid hanging a bit.

Pretty soft lmao. But many things are nowadays. Yah Seca definitely seems uber confident in himself/his staff so I bet that can come off as cocky/arrogant.

Hopefully learns from it as he's still a young GM. Love everything else he's been doing.

Really like Di Iorio anyways. Hopefully look back & it's blessing those guys told Sarnia no, although I expect Fitzgerald & Wassilyn to be great players too.

 

[OHL4Life]

Pretty soft lmao. But many things are nowadays. Yah Seca definitely seems uber confident in himself/his staff so I bet that can come off as cocky/arrogant.

Hopefully learns from it as he's still a young GM. Love everything else he's been doing.

Really like Di Iorio anyways. Hopefully look back & it's blessing those guys told Sarnia no, although I expect Fitzgerald & Wassilyn to be great players too.

it’s unfair that what was said about the kid made its way hack to him, what’s said in Sarnia’s draft room should stay there, but it’s also unfair to ghost the kid for 3 days when everyone knows your committing to someone else (Fitzgerald) but then come back and act like you never made your mind up and Wasslyn was the guy all along. just be honest and communicate l. I would have told Sarnia to kick rocks too

 

[davewheeler]

it’s unfair that what was said about the kid made its way hack to him, what’s said in Sarnia’s draft room should stay there, but it’s also unfair to ghost the kid for 3 days when everyone knows your committing to someone else (Fitzgerald) but then come back and act like you never made your mind up and Wasslyn was the guy all along. just be honest and communicate l. I would have told Sarnia to kick rocks too

Im not gonna argue but it seems like you're only getting one side of the story. Seems like a lot of speculation. Doesn't make much sense for Seca to commit to Fitz and cut off communication with every other player when Fitz wasn't committed back. Also, I heard before the draft Wassilyn wanted to go to Niagara anyway. I wouldn't trust a word coming from a player and his 'team'

 

[davewheeler]

Watching London tonight makes me think Sarnia can never play at that level ... So disciplined its nuts.

 

[StingUpdates]

Watching London tonight makes me think Sarnia can never play at that level ... So disciplined its nuts.

Just so patient. They didn't force anything tonight. Just waited for Saginaw to make a mistake & eventually they did.

Last year's Sting team was pretty unbelievable at structure/Dzone play. Many nights Gaudreau only saw 20-25 shots. Including in the playoffs. Easy to forget they really outplayed LDN in that game 5. Bowen played unbelievable & Gaudreau let in 2 absolute trash goals back 2 back after we tied it. If it weren't for that I think we'd still be on cloud 9.

If there's one thing I think you should feel confident about with Letang it's defense/structure/discipline. He's rather good at that. Be more so offense/creativity that he is hit or miss at.

 

[robp1219]

it’s unfair that what was said about the kid made its way hack to him, what’s said in Sarnia’s draft room should stay there, but it’s also unfair to ghost the kid for 3 days when everyone knows your committing to someone else (Fitzgerald) but then come back and act like you never made your mind up and Wasslyn was the guy all along. just be honest and communicate l. I would have told Sarnia to kick rocks too

Or just be happy you are getting drafted into the OHL and stop being a whiny bitch, put your head down and put the work in to get to the next level.

 

[HockeyPops]

There are multiple ways to get to the next level, it's not like it used to be. Some would argue this is better for the players.

Would you pick a path where you felt like you were being taken advantage of?

 

[robp1219]

Pick a path? What do you mean like OHL route or NCAA route or Sarnia vs Niagara?

 

[HockeyPops]

Yes.

 

[OHL4Life]

Or just be happy you are getting drafted into the OHL and stop being a whiny bitch, put your head down and put the work in to get to the next level.

the widely accepted way to deal with the draft, especially when your picking 1/2, is make your pick, get an agreement done and let everyone else know. its been that way for years. it seemed like sarnia felt like they had something done but did not let anyone know, but also didnt really keep the other agents in the loop either. this isnt the first time ive heard about seca and a lack of communication.

agents and other gms complain about it. it is what it is, i could care less, but lets not act like hes completely innocent. wasslyn was the 2nd best player imo, but if they liked fitzgerald then you say so and say that they are still making their mind up vs not returning calls and ignoring agents, that isnt gonna get you anywhere, agents have more power then anyone knows, look at all the ushl postering here, look at what happened to fitzgerlad,

 

[StingUpdates]

Thanks for coming W&Q to the mem cup lol. Jesus. Shocked how bad moose jaw and drummondville looked. All tournament. It's not like Saginaw and London are these all time unstoppable teams like we've seen other years. Just a very clear gap between league's.

What an ultimate revenge game for Saginaw. Get one last crack at London & it's for the biggest trophy. I think if Sarnia ever had a season like SAG (lose to LDN conf finals, in mem cup then if they losemem cup final) I'd stop watching hockey lmao. Be unbearable.

 

[Knownothing]

If anyone is looking to attend the Memorial Cup Final, I have two seats in Section U23, Row U, seats 5&6. $150 CAN each.

 

[Knownothing]

If anyone is looking to attend the Memorial Cup Final, I have two seats in Section U23, Row U, seats 5&6. $150 CAN each.

Tickets are sold

 

[davewheeler]

Saginaw looks so good... You know LDN is going to get about 30 calls coming for the major. I'm not sure what Sim is even thinking there and im also not sure why LDN are all up in arms about that. LDN flopping allover the ice I truly hate them lol I am pulling hard for Saginaw.

 

[davewheeler]

I've gotta be honest im not as excited as I thought I would be for LDN losing.... feels like a fake championship like Windsor a bit ago... I don't know. LDN is clearly the better team. At least the cup is back in the O ...

 

[StingUpdates]

Well that was entertaining. Shocked beyond belief how awful London played. 1 shot thru 30 minutes. Somehow only had 10 when they tied it. Big game jitters? Worst night for a dud? Whatever it was it happened at the worst possible time.

Testament to how good they were though that they somehow were still tied in the mem cup final in the 3rd while playing a horrific game.

Gotta be a bitter pill to swallow to have to shake saginaw's hands while they win the trophy when they eliminated them a month ago. But that's part of the beauty of the mem cup.

Saginaw was a great team. I think most would agree LDN is the better team as we saw that all year + playoffs but on this night they were a determined bunch. Played a helluva game. Congrats to them.

I've gotta be honest im not as excited as I thought I would be for LDN losing.... feels like a fake championship like Windsor a bit ago... I don't know. LDN is clearly the better team. At least the cup is back in the O ...

Yah it is what it is. I hate it. But it's how it has to be done. I'd love if it was like Jr B where the top 4 teams play then the final 2 play a series to determine who the best is, but I see why they don't do that.