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Sarnia Sting 2023-24 Off-Season Thread

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Davis Boyer said:
I really liked the response from Seca. His team was in a tough spot and he immediately had the group settled down. Might seem small but to kill off almost a full 2min 5on3 against one of the leagues most talented pp units was a great way to end a season for the group and fans.

I've really enjoyed my time on this page- a lot of passion and optimism is very cool to see.
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All leads to the eventual heartbreak & anger haha.

Been nice to see a couple new ppl on here this season!
 
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Our defence dropping the puck back in the neutral zone on the pp rush is absurd. Why on earth do they keep doing it? Just asking to put your forwards breaking in offside. Just dumb.
 
We're getting dominated overall but awesome to see Sikic capitalize in his final OHL game. Way had a great pass on the Filak goal too. Thought the defence did a pretty good job of keeping shots to the outside for the first 35 minutes. Started to have some breakdowns in the final 5. Surzycia is playing outstanding again!
 
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How can you not love that reaction by the team after the buzzer. Absolutely mob Surzycia. He fricken deserved and earned that. Hardest worker on the team who was better this yr than the stats say. Love it.

Sikic & Way go out with 2 PT games each. Love to see that. Filak 2G gets him to 24G.

Great to see. Go out playing really hard these final 2 weeks.

Will have some thoughts on the year in the coming days probably. Enjoy your guys summer!
 
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Amazing way to end the season! Awesome to see Surzycia get his first career OHL shutout! He was outstanding all weekend long. He had a .941 save percentage over the final three games. He's been such a workhorse for this team all year long.

I loved the shot blocking of the team in the third to get Surzycia the shutout. The one that really stood to me was in early in third when Moses had a headlong dive to block a shot off the faceoff. That's a winning play. Hopefully he can continue to grow his offensive skillset because I love his work ethic.

It was great to see Sikic and Way finish off their careers with multi-point games. Sikic's breakaway goal was a beauty! It seemed fitting for Way to finish out his OHL career with a big d-zone faceoff win that led to the empty netter. He's always been so reliable defensively.

Thought the Kostuch-Way-Filak line was really good tonight. Filak gets the two goals to get the most on the team with 24. Could have had turned the trick if he wasn't robbed by Day in the first. He was really strong along the boards all night and had a really nice back-check when Wang went in on the breakaway in the second. Kostuch played a good game too. Almost got to 10 with the Sting late but was robbed by Day's glove, setup Filak with that chance in the first, and a couple of nice back-checks in the game.

Andersen plays such a simple but effective game. That's the one thing I've been impressed with all of our rookie d-men. They play with such great compusure for being just 16. I agree with your comment from yesterday @StingUpdates Andersen/Bridgewater could be a really fun third pairing for next season

Now it's time to hope for a little luck on Wednesday night! Draft lottery at 7PM
 
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Alright this is gonna be a lengthy one probably haha.

I'd say the season ended where we mostly thought it would. Out of the playoffs. They went all in & this is what almost always comes of it the season after. I really do think they would've had a legit shot at making it had they not gotten killed by injuries. So in that sense they did play better than I anticipated & I think every prediction I saw had us last.

I think Seca did a tremendous job adding the twins + Moses for cheap before the season. They provided some experience & depth to the lineup which helped them get out to the good start. Not to mention for them to walk away out of this season with an extra '07 is phenomenal. I wouldn't of pictured that in my wildest dreams. + The picks + the good batch of picks for Gaudreau who's never had a .900 sv%. Tremendous work from Seca to maximize our returns for not truly elite players.

All last summer I was really down on them & how awful they'd be & to watch. While at times they were just terrible to watch lol, many nights i actually didn't mind watching them..they had such ridiculous youth it was fun seeing their progression from SEP to MAR.

At the beginning of the yr there was a lot of frustration about the U17s ice time & some nights rightfully so but once the calender flipped we had Kostuch, Brown Top-6, Hurt, Barr in the top-4. Four 16 yr olds playing really good minutes. Omeri played top pair for awhile. They gave Doherty T9 ice & he took off with it. When Andersen, Bridgewater came in they got regular shift& by their final games Letang played them considerably more.

Valuable experience for those guys that should do wonders for their development & for us. Outside Sim & Lominac (to small & not enough speed to be threats) I thought all those guys looked the part a majority of nights.

The returnees from last yr had fine seasons I'd say. Sikic did solid. Way was Way haha. Filak was a bit disappointing imo but still led the teams in goals with 24 on a team that couldn't score. Doucette took a giant leap which was great to watch. From 4G to 23G. Wainwright was our best player most nights. Still a bit inconsistent but it was only yr 2 for him. Have a feeling he's having a huge yr in 24-25.

Fischer had about 7-8 games where he stunk/was really bad. But I thought for a real majority of our games he was really good. 17 yr old. Asked to play 25 minutes a night & never with a vet. Always had a rookie partner. Played PP, PK, late game etc. Idk if he'll become a legitimate star #1 in the OHL, but if he keeps improving I think he can be. Young IMO is just scratching the surface. He's so dynamic. So skilled. He improved alot defensively as the yr went on. Showed at times he likes to mix it up/get in guys faces. He's got big breakout written all over him imo.

Surzycia started hot & ended hot. The middle wasn't great. If Chartier, Maillet don't develop he's at least serviceable as an OA next yr. And maybe he takes an OA jump & can be better.
 
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Figured I'd divide the vet post & rooks post. Didn't wanna make the post the whole page either haha.

I come away thrilled with our rookies. Seca smashed last year's draft + Kostuch acquisition.

Kostuch was so impressive once he got comfortable. He's gonna be such a good player. His shot was beating good goalies clean already. Plays with a certain swagger/confidence that I love in players. Little muscle added & scouts are gonna love him.

Brown really slowed down at the end which sucked, but I'm not to bothered by it. I'm so excited to see what type of player he becomes. I've said it before but I think he's got so many similarities to guys like Cowan/Barkey at 16. Little small, but he somehow wins battles you don't expect. He's always looking to make plays. Got him into trouble at times but I love to see that from a rookie. He'll also get draft attention imo.

I'll be honest when I went to watch games from last yr of Hurt after we took him I was a bit disappointed. I thought he was just meh. But my god am I happy to be WAY off. He had one of the best rookie seasons from a Sting player probably since Perreault. Might sound crazy considering he had 0Gs & 10 points. But I thought he was outstanding 90% of the season. From December on he had to of been right with Fischer playing 20-25 minutes a night. PK, late game etc. I do think he's got some untapped potential offensively but nothing crazy which will hurt him getting the attention he deserves but I think he's got all the potential in the world to be an absolute monster Dman for us.

Super bummed Barr got hurt. I was thoroughly enjoying watching him play. He took over as PP1 QB & ran it better than anyone did all yr. So calm with the puck, smooth skater. Battles defensively. If he can add some muscle I think he'll be a guy that slowly rises up NHL draft boards (not like RD1 but into middle rounds).

Sim started well but really dipped. If he doesn't grow I simply don't see a future in this league. Fingers crossed he does cause he'd be a solid player. Bridgewater excites me greatly. A+ skater. So confident with the puck. Honestly didn't defend that badly in his time up. Andersen was a real surprise. Didn't look out of place at all. Ik the Sting were pleasantly surprised by his play too. Luecke has me intrigued. Showed well in his stint here. Solid size. Solid skater. Decent skills. Could be an underrated player come camp. O'Toole got things to work on but boy do I love his snarl, physicality.

Chartier showed flashes. But super inconsistent. Too wild in the net. Needs a big summer. He huge for us if he has one.
 
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Final chapter of my novel. Moving forward im pretty happy I'd say. Wish we had another dynamic F or a more sure fire G prospect but can't have everything.

Gonna return 6 guys who scored 10+. 7 if u count Moses who has 9G in 50GP. One would hope our top 4 pick & import pick both score 10+. That would make 9. Doherty had 6. I'd hope he can put up at least 10 next yr. Fischer had 5 I think he'll definitely push for 10+. Does Denney become anything after such a tremendous yr? Getting ahead of myself but if they had 10-11-12 guys score 10+ goals that would really help them cause they won't have a truly elite F (unless that import is a stud).

Filak, Doucette should both push it if not eclipse 30Gs. Brown, Kostuch, Wainwright I'd expect to hit 20 & Wainwright push high 20s. Doherty, top 4 pick hopefully 10-15. Import you'd hope score 15-20 considering how high we'll pick. Young had 11 could be push into the teens?

Will it be lethal & scary for other teams? No. Not close. But they should be able to score pretty consistently. Especially compared to this year.

What I'm most excited about is the defence. Obviously it'll still be young. Not like they all will be 19. Young will be the only one. But Fischer will be coming off an NHL camp & this season where he played a ton. Hurt coming off a great rookie yr with more muscle. Same with Barr. Young as I said I think can breakout. Then u have Bridgewater, Andersen, O'Toole, Omeri, Schnieder to fill out the bottom pair. It won't be elite due to age but I don't see why it won't be a reliable backend that also chips in quite a bit of offense.


Goalie will arguably be the biggest question. Does Surzycia take a jump? Can Chartier be a starter? What is Maillet? Do they take on high in OHL draft or in RD2 of import (didn't even mention they could take another F in import)

Just like 2 years ago a lot of IFs but I think the foundation is pretty strong to have a solid team. Certainly won't compete for the conference next yr but I see a weak conference as of now. SSM/KIT/OS/SAG will be rebuilding. FLT will be ok. Wsr meh. Gue rebuilding. LDN/ER will be good. I don't think it'll be inconceivable they could compete for 4th/5th with a solid summer.

But a lot can change by September. Enjoyed talking with u all again this yr, despite it not being as fun as last season. Let's all get out our lucky charms for Wednesday haha.
 
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All great points but I think we have a guy come out and push 40gs next year in right situation and linemates I think both doucette and wainwright could hit that mark especially if play together with say kostuch

Surzycia gets OA spot after play last 3 weeks...
 
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stingwagoner said:
All great points but I think we have a guy come out and push 40gs next year in right situation and linemates I think both doucette and wainwright could hit that mark especially if play together with say kostuch

Surzycia gets OA spot after play last 3 weeks...
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That would be a great line.
 
One thing that I do find interesting with this team is I don't think we have a concrete "go for it" year lined up.

Like we all knew for years last season was what they built for. This roster though it's not as clear cut although I'm starting to lean one way.

You look 2 years from now. The OAs will be Wainwright & Young. Maybe Moses. But the first two will be high end OAs imo. The 19 yr olds will be Fischer, Chartier, Doherty, Omeri, Hall, O'Toole, Lominac. If they keep those last few guys which idk is likely.

So not a great crop of 19s. Especially if Chartier doesn't become anything. Unfortunately Fischer likely wouldn't be back as an OA & you'd lose Wainwright & Young. So arguably by then (if not right now already) you'd lose your 3 best players.

Issue is the bulk of the 25-26 team is gonna be 16-17-18. And you don't see OHL teams win/go far like that. You also wouldn't wanna go all in then the yr after when Brown, Kostuch, Barr, Hurt etc are 19 they have nothing around them.

So it makes me lean towards 2026-2027 being the target. Seca in an interview also said they hope guys are growing winning habits for 2 1/2 years from now. You'd have a really good crop of 19 yr olds. Especially if Luecke/Sim/Bridgewater/Andersen pan out at all. Plus the kids they take this yr that you hope are good with where they pick will be 18. OAs meanwhile wouldn't be great with Doherty, Chartier (they'd probably go add some unless those 2 develop well)

Creates a bit of a dilemma for them soon. What do u do in 2 years. Let the team rock as they'd be strong, but not championship strong? Trade off Fischer & Wainwright/Young as OAs to stock pile picks & a young player for Fischer for the following season? Try & double dip by adding "2 years players" & go for it twice (wouldn't that be something for this org to not be 1 & done)..

As I do every off season I'm getting to far ahead, but it'll be a big, big decision for them. With the strength of the 2023 draft class I think they gotta make that the priority or they try to double dip, but we've never even remotely tried to do that.
 
Denney scored last night in a 5-4 OTW. His 7th playoff goal in 7 games. Gives him 40G in 54 games this season for Stratford.

His shot pops. Been watching most of their highlights this yr. Can't speak to any other part of his game really. But he skates well & has a wicked shot. We sure could use that haha.

Hopefully he still wants to play here & it can translate to some capacity.
 
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Been watching Denney myself and in camp last year thought he could have beaten out some 06 guys last year but wasn't quite drafted high enough to force DS's hand. Now it's a sign or lose type of situation which would be nice to see him compare to guys we have now.
Be interesting camp time this year. I for one can't wait, because feel the window is 25-26 and 26-27 for a double top west team with a top 4/5 next year, I still think DS makes some moves for next year to go deeper into playoffs (surzycia) will be the OA trade bait at deadline giving chartier the run next year, I'd think.
DS has some work to do with 2 higher import picks that can come make an impact in our TOP 6! We could be alot more exciting with a Mesar/vilmanis type combo dont you think?
Good luck to us tonight top 3 would be amazing in the lottery🤞.
 
StingUpdates said:
One thing that I do find interesting with this team is I don't think we have a concrete "go for it" year lined up.

Like we all knew for years last season was what they built for. This roster though it's not as clear cut although I'm starting to lean one way.

You look 2 years from now. The OAs will be Wainwright & Young. Maybe Moses. But the first two will be high end OAs imo. The 19 yr olds will be Fischer, Chartier, Doherty, Omeri, Hall, O'Toole, Lominac. If they keep those last few guys which idk is likely.

So not a great crop of 19s. Especially if Chartier doesn't become anything. Unfortunately Fischer likely wouldn't be back as an OA & you'd lose Wainwright & Young. So arguably by then (if not right now already) you'd lose your 3 best players.

Issue is the bulk of the 25-26 team is gonna be 16-17-18. And you don't see OHL teams win/go far like that. You also wouldn't wanna go all in then the yr after when Brown, Kostuch, Barr, Hurt etc are 19 they have nothing around them.

So it makes me lean towards 2026-2027 being the target. Seca in an interview also said they hope guys are growing winning habits for 2 1/2 years from now. You'd have a really good crop of 19 yr olds. Especially if Luecke/Sim/Bridgewater/Andersen pan out at all. Plus the kids they take this yr that you hope are good with where they pick will be 18. OAs meanwhile wouldn't be great with Doherty, Chartier (they'd probably go add some unless those 2 develop well)

Creates a bit of a dilemma for them soon. What do u do in 2 years. Let the team rock as they'd be strong, but not championship strong? Trade off Fischer & Wainwright/Young as OAs to stock pile picks & a young player for Fischer for the following season? Try & double dip by adding "2 years players" & go for it twice (wouldn't that be something for this org to not be 1 & done)..

As I do every off season I'm getting to far ahead, but it'll be a big, big decision for them. With the strength of the 2023 draft class I think they gotta make that the priority or they try to double dip, but we've never even remotely tried to do that.
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Even if Sarnia performs well next year there should be no 'going for it' next year regardless of how wide open the league may seem. I would rather see sustained success than a one year run followed by 2 bad years. I cannot remember the last time London did the 'go for it' move. imo if you need to trade to acquire guys who will become the teams best players, you're not gonna win anyways.
 
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