Sarnia Sting 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

[SarniaStingFan]

Great win tonight! Loved seeing Surzycia have a bounce back game after struggling for a few. He had a nice pad stop on Zhugin in the final minutes to keep us up. Thought the bottom six looked good. Luecke definitely didn't look out of place and Sim had a couple of chances to get his first goal but just couldn't bury them. Doherty showed good speed but he does need to work on what happens when the puck is on his stick. Had a couple bad passes and turnovers. On D, another great effort. didn't give Saginaw much all game and held them to just one good chance in the third. Seemed they were playing MacDonald a lot less. Seemed like he was only out there for a couple shifts all game, which is the right move IMO. Hopefully, the team can close out the weekend with another win against Niagara. I'd think it'll be Chartier starting

 

[StingUpdates]

Great win tonight! Loved seeing Surzycia have a bounce back game after struggling for a few. He had a nice pad stop on Zhugin in the final minutes to keep us up. Thought the bottom six looked good. Luecke definitely didn't look out of place and Sim had a couple of chances to get his first goal but just couldn't bury them. Doherty showed good speed but he does need to work on what happens when the puck is on his stick. Had a couple bad passes and turnovers. On D, another great effort. didn't give Saginaw much all game and held them to just one good chance in the third. Seemed they were playing MacDonald a lot less. Seemed like he was only out there for a couple shifts all game, which is the right move IMO. Hopefully, the team can close out the weekend with another win against Niagara. I'd think it'll be Chartier starting

Yah MacDonald is fine against the heavier teams (Niagara, London, Owen Sound) but vs the faster teams (KIT, SAG) he gets exposed pretty hard. Omeri is sort of the opposite. He's done well vs the quicker teams, but struggled vs the bigger teams.

Doherty definitely comes off as frantic. Needs to settle down a bit. His speed can be such a weapon. Gotta use it effectively.

Thought Kukumberg had a good game along the boards, down low. One shift late he dominated & completely stood up a SAG Dman.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Yah MacDonald is fine against the heavier teams (Niagara, London, Owen Sound) but vs the faster teams (KIT, SAG) he gets exposed pretty hard. Omeri is sort of the opposite. He's done well vs the quicker teams, but struggled vs the bigger teams.

Doherty definitely comes off as frantic. Needs to settle down a bit. His speed can be such a weapon. Gotta use it effectively.

Thought Kukumberg had a good game along the boards, down low. One shift late he dominated & completely stood up a SAG Dman.

Yeah that was a great shift late in the game by Kukumberg. The more you watch him the more you understand why Seca picked him in the Import draft. I just wish some of his good scoring chances would come when he's not dead tired, LOL. Every single time he gets an odd man advantage he's always seems to be at the end of a shift and out of gas. Happened again tonight, blocked a shot and had a lane to get a breakaway but was so tired he just got a shot from above the circles

 

[davewheeler]

didn't get a chance to watch the game.... just checking the box score.... obviously an impressive win for the boys...this league is so wide open holy.... Saginaw should be concerned about the state of their team... they aren't very good.... Last time im going to mention this but damn imagine this team with martone....

 

[StingUpdates]

didn't get a chance to watch the game.... just checking the box score.... obviously an impressive win for the boys...this league is so wide open holy.... Saginaw should be concerned about the state of their team... they aren't very good.... Last time im going to mention this but damn imagine this team with martone....

Hard not to think about it. Especially when Mississauga will likely be in an OHL finals this yr or next haha. Have quite a roster of U19s.

But such is life in the O. Be nice to be on the other side of it, but we so rarely ever have a superstar to trade to get a young stud. Last one I can remember is DeAngelo to the Soo for Salinitri.

 

[Petes1987]

Hard not to think about it. Especially when Mississauga will likely be in an OHL finals this yr or next haha. Have quite a roster of U19s.

But such is life in the O. Be nice to be on the other side of it, but we so rarely ever have a superstar to trade to get a young stud. Last one I can remember is DeAngelo to the Soo for Salinitri.

It is the cost of contending. As a Petes fan it was not easy to see Nick Lardis and Jack VanVolsen traded last year but the ensuing playoff run made it worthwhile.

 

[StingUpdates]

Boys will have to dig in today. First 3in3 for many of them. Fs especially down so many guys. Played so hard in SAG I hope they don't come out flat.

NIA despite their seed actually has points in 7 of 8 games. So their playing well. Fingers crossed Brown &/or Wainwright can get in. Hopefully Chartier can have an equally as impressive game as he did in NIA.

See if they can make it a successful weekend!

 

[robp1219]

Hard not to think about it. Especially when Mississauga will likely be in an OHL finals this yr or next haha. Have quite a roster of U19s.

But such is life in the O. Be nice to be on the other side of it, but we so rarely ever have a superstar to trade to get a young stud. Last one I can remember is DeAngelo to the Soo for Salinitri.

If Mississauga stands pat at the deadline or even trades Cas sharpe to get a few extra picks for next year. They will 100% win the championship next year. They will be so Damn good next year. I dont think they should buy this year I think they should pretty much stand pat and ride a solid young team as far as they can into playoffs and go all in next year.

 

[davewheeler]

It is the cost of contending. As a Petes fan it was not easy to see Nick Lardis and Jack VanVolsen traded last year but the ensuing playoff run made it worthwhile.

100p ... my thoughts would be much different had we won the League like you guys.. but we fell short and lost to a rival with a worse roster... so it was a hard pill to swallow.... lol Martone with another hatty last night too sheesh.

 

[JAMER]

Brown's back no Wainwright.

 

[JAMER]

Brown's back no Wainwright.

Never mind no Brown. He was listed and now he's not.

 

[StingUpdates]

Same lines, pairs with Chartier in net. See what they got. Be awesome if Sim or Luecke could get their 1st.

 

[StingUpdates]

Great start! Doherty with his 1st! Good for him. Lominac is buzzing & Luecke, Sim are flying again.

Chartier couple big stops.

 

[StingUpdates]

Sim the destroyer?!?! Hahaha. What a hit on 6'6 Ride!! Hurt then laid out their captain. Love to see it. Sim slowly but surely is finding his groove. Doherty been good too

Chartier playing really well. Can tell we r starting to fade.

 

[Texcanuck]

Boys starting to run out of legs. Tremendous effort thru 2. Be nice if they could notch one more early in the 3rd.
Very impressed with Chartier. Great positioning, all the time.

 

[StingUpdates]

Only one team can do any wrong in this one I guess..what a joke these refs were. Atrocious.

 

[StingUpdates]

Sucks they blew it for Chartier, but a W is a W in the 3rd of a 3in3 down bodies. Deserved the W & got it. Chartier was rock solid. Only goal that was remotely questionable was the 3rd but I don't blame him as every one of our guys somehow avoided the puck. He's so calm in the net at times it's almost to calm lol. Love the confidence. 3/3 in the SO too. Huge. Great two starts to start his O career. Love what I see.

Top line was dominant. Filak is back on his game. Scores again & was driving Nia nuts. Absolute garbage he gets the extra 2 then Flores throws the puck at him the next shift and it isn't called. Vilmanis was a force this weekend. Just so strong. So skilled. A. LeBlanc gotta be one of the best puck protectors I've seen. Gotta love Jacob winning it last week & him winning it this week! Jacob was letting their bench know lmao. Love it.

OT was ugly. Definitely be nice to have Brown and Wainwright in that lol. Thought this was the best weekend for our rookie Fs (outside Brown)..Sim, Luecke, Doherty, Lominac all had solid weekends

Another rock solid game from Hurt & Barr. Even had Hurt out for the last shift & in OT. Such great experience for these guys.

4,200 at the game. Another great crowd. I'm almost in shock honestly seeing 4,000 a game this early in the yr for a rebuilding team. Just crazy what one playoff run does.

Somehow, someway we sit 2 points out of 1st. Despite the age & despite the injuries. Well deserved couple days off ahead for the boys.

 

[Ferda11]

Few weeks ago we were talking about the remaining Oct schedule. The hope was to go 4-2 and and that’s exactly what we did. Pretty impressive first month for this young team. Don’t think anyone here would have guessed we’d go 8-5 to start. Great stuff.

Chartier was solid. Our goalies stats are going to suffer a bit due to the youth of our team. Just sucks they couldn’t kept NIA to one today like they should have. 2-0 to start your OHL career ain’t bad!

I’m guessing Filak isn’t our captain because of instances like today with Flores. Maybe I missed something, but just a silly thing to do after scoring a goal to get a penalty. Just not smart. Push the envelope but learn to know the limit at least.

Continue to be super impressed by this teams commitment to defence. They have done such a good job keeping shots to the outside and being engaged down low and along the boards. Not a lot of second guessing going on and these young kids are making some great plays with confidence. Obviously the blips still happen, but not to the extent that one would think.

Good weekend for Sandis. Couple multi-point games and found the back of the net twice. Hoping he’s close to breaking out. But man, he’s still seems like such a wildcard because of his inability to hit the damn net lol.

Agree with all the other comments on Doherty and the other young guys. They continue to gain little by little, game after game. When you can see the progression, things are good!

 

[StingUpdates]

Few weeks ago we were talking about the remaining Oct schedule. The hope was to go 4-2 and and that’s exactly what we did. Pretty impressive first month for this young team. Don’t think anyone here would have guessed we’d go 8-5 to start. Great stuff.

Chartier was solid. Our goalies stats are going to suffer a bit due to the youth of our team. Just sucks they couldn’t kept NIA to one today like they should have. 2-0 to start your OHL career ain’t bad!

I’m guessing Filak isn’t our captain because of instances like today with Flores. Maybe I missed something, but just a silly thing to do after scoring a goal to get a penalty. Just not smart. Push the envelope but learn to know the limit at least.

Continue to be super impressed by this teams commitment to defence. They have done such a good job keeping shots to the outside and being engaged down low and along the boards. Not a lot of second guessing going on and these young kids are making some great plays with confidence. Obviously the blips still happen, but not to the extent that one would think.

Good weekend for Sandis. Couple multi-point games and found the back of the net twice. Hoping he’s close to breaking out. But man, he’s still seems like such a wildcard because of his inability to hit the damn net lol.

Agree with all the other comments on Doherty and the other young guys. They continue to gain little by little, game after game. When you can see the progression, things are good!

Yah probably right with Filak. He was going at it with their guys all day. Probably just thought they wouldn't be looking lol. I still love it. He plays so much better with that fire & energy.

Pulls guys into the fight. But yah at that point don't do it. Save it for when it's out of reach if ur gonna do it at all. Be lying tho if I wasn't dying to see what he would've done had he scored on that breakaway lmao. Edit: I guess he & Flores are actually good friends. So might of been a bit more playful than it looked. Still wasn't smart.

PK quietly has been unbelievable. 3rd in the league at 89%! 4th lowest PIMs in the league. Very clearly a Letang trademark. We were most disciplined team last yr. With such a young Dcore that's incredibly impressive. Even with those late NIA PPs we gave them nothing. Only took 6 penalties in the 3 games this weekend.

Been giving Young so much praise offensively, but he has defended rather well..isn't cheating in his own end at all. I'm not sure what his ceiling is, but he's damn impressive to watch. Sick elusiveness & stick handling before our 2nd goal.

I don't think Doherty is gonna be the PT producer I hoped, but I hope they can make him into a Lajeunesse type F. Speedy, some skill & a hound on the puck. When he's playing his best he's really effective. Just comes & goes. Been nice seeing him in the T9 getting consistent TOI. Luecke is a way better skater than I thought in camp. Loved his weekend. Hopefully he can become a good one. Oh how I pray Sim grows like 3 inches. He'd be such a good player if he does. Just so tough at his size.

 

[StingUpdates]

Sim may be small but man he battles. This gotta be one of the biggest possible size differences in the entire league & he crushes him.

As I said if this kid grows we'll have a real stud. He's got great hands & feet. Pretty good shot too for his age/size.

 

[JAMER]

Very happy with this team after are first 13. I knew from the start we where going to be better then most people thought. But I was thinking more like 500 or just below 500. This month is going to be interesting. Got 11 games I think going 6-5 or 7-4 is very possible. Also interested to see what happens with are OA situation. Only have about 2 weeks till teams gotta be down to 3. And we're 1 of only a few teams that can take 1.

 

[Petes1987]

Very happy with this team after are first 13. I knew from the start we where going to be better then most people thought. But I was thinking more like 500 or just below 500. This month is going to be interesting. Got 11 games I think going 6-5 or 7-4 is very possible. Also interested to see what happens with are OA situation. Only have about 2 weeks till teams gotta be down to 3. And we're 1 of only a few teams that can take 1.

Teams don’t have to be down to three overages until January. They have to be down to four by November 1st.

 

[StingUpdates]

Very happy with this team after are first 13. I knew from the start we where going to be better then most people thought. But I was thinking more like 500 or just below 500. This month is going to be interesting. Got 11 games I think going 6-5 or 7-4 is very possible. Also interested to see what happens with are OA situation. Only have about 2 weeks till teams gotta be down to 3. And we're 1 of only a few teams that can take 1.

Seems like most of the league is still trying to find themselves. So while 8-5 is tremendous I do see a fall off happening. Just a matter of how big. Eventually SAG, OS will get it together + add big players. LDN & probably SSM too.

FLT has been MUCH better under their new coach. Erie been better with Gaudreau. I don't see us falling behind Windsor honestly. They look terrible to my surprise. We haven't seen GUE yet but they've been really good just not getting back Potrias (probably) hurts a ton. See what way they go in the trade market.

So I still think 9th can happen. But 7th certainly looks a lot more viable if not hanging around 6th. Question is who do they sell? Realistically if they wanted too they could totally sell. Vilmanis, Leblanc's, Filak, Doucette. But I don't think we see that. Think 22 goes & maybe Filak or Doucette.

28 games left vs top teams. At some point the rookie D probably hit a wall mentally and/or physically. Letang being gone a month+ for WJCs will hurt too. He's done a terrific job with them & while I like Haley, Sullivan it's a significant step down. Sandis & Kukumberg both could be gone for that, too.

As of now I'm open for anything. Finish 7th/8th & get some experience = good with me. Finish 9th & have a 50% chance at a top 2 pick = also good with me. Maybe that changes by January, but I'd be fine either way. Just as long as they don't hold onto everyone..that would annoy me. Haha.

But not sure we could've asked for a better opening 2 months. Especially adding in no Wainwright, Hall & the recent injuries to Brown & Moses. Young D have been terrific. Brown's been amazing. Returning/new Fs have been really good. Gotten really solid goaltending. Great return on Gaudreau trade.

 

[Texcanuck]

Sting goals last night all shoot-the-puck-stuff-the-rebound type. Hope the boys learn something from that. Go to the net without the puck & play hard in the dirty zone.
Great start to the season. Love the work ethic this team shows. Feet always moving, which in the end means less lazy penalties (holds, hooks, trips). That’s the way to win.
Really happy with what I’m watching.

 

[FatKid]

One thing that baffles me a bit is this:

Filak took an unsportsmanlike penalty (well deserved) for taunting Flores after scoring - horrible penalty to take.
But, how did Flores not get a similar penalty when he threw the puck at Filak a shift or 2 later?
Instead, Flores was just warned by the ref.