Sarnia Sting 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

[davewheeler]

wow what a nice effort from the boys .... sikic was flying ... things got a bit greasy at the end of the 1st there... ben throwing his helmet... guy needs to take some pills or something absolute psycho.... I love young's game a lot same with Jacob LeBlanc. .... pretty good crowd too.... buzz need to stop winning and get a better pick

 

[HockeyPops]

Good job Moses

 

[StingUpdates]

Well I didn't expect that at all. Great stuff. SSM didn't really show up but gotta worry about yourself. Sikic was a man possessed. LeBlanc twins were awesome. Moses 2G vs his former team & let's them know about it which I LOVED.

Fischer +3, Barr 1A, +1, Hurt +1 & Young scores again. So impressed by them man. They have there shaky moments but that's to be expected. They're limiting them & not getting discouraged at all when they do happen.

Sim I thought was good. Gets his first point. Brown chips in an assist. Doherty had a terrible shift where he didn't hold the line for a pinching Hurt. He got benched after it. Of all the rooks he seems to be the one Letang likes the least which I'm not a fan of.

Gaudreau was fine. 4G on 23 ain't great, but none sucked, tho you'd like him to fight thru traffic on the late PPG.

Onto Windsor who I'm sure wants some revenge from last week

 

[Ferda11]

Wasn't expecting that! I guess the vets got the message as they were clearly in the game tonight.

Sikic was a man on fire...his best game ever lol. Need to see him contribute to the offence on a more consistent basis. He can disappear quick. Hell of a showing from him tonight. His line in general skated well and created.

Moses certainly was fired up to play his old squad. Maybe a little too fired up after his 2nd goal lol. Love his intensity and his motor.

Young with another great game. Awesome to see him get his 1st! Fischer a nice rebound game as well. Hurt I thought was exposed quite a bit tonight but that's to be expected. He needs to drop the high risk passes tho...he had several big time give aways.

If I had a dollar for every time Vilamnis missed the net I'd be rich.....please start scoring.

Gaudreau sure looked childish chucking his helmet around after that 2nd goal...tough look. Same old performance out of him tonight. Was hoping that whinny attitude wore off in the off season tho..I guess not lol.

Quick turnaround with the afternoon game in Windsor tomorrow. It would be nice to win a weekend!

 

[StingUpdates]

Wasn't expecting that! I guess the vets got the message as they were clearly in the game tonight.

Sikic was a man on fire...his best game ever lol. Need to see him contribute to the offence on a more consistent basis. He can disappear quick. Hell of a showing from him tonight. His line in general skated well and created.

Moses certainly was fired up to play his old squad. Maybe a little too fired up after his 2nd goal lol. Love his intensity and his motor.

Young with another great game. Awesome to see him get his 1st! Fischer a nice rebound game as well. Hurt I thought was exposed quite a bit tonight but that's to be expected. He needs to drop the high risk passes tho...he had several big time give aways.

If I had a dollar for every time Vilamnis missed the net I'd be rich.....please start scoring.

Gaudreau sure looked childish chucking his helmet around after that 2nd goal...tough look. Same old performance out of him tonight. Was hoping that whinny attitude wore off in the off season tho..I guess not lol.

Quick turnaround with the afternoon game in Windsor tomorrow. It would be nice to win a weekend!

They need to get filak away from Vilmanis lol. Didn't work last yr & multple times tonight filak was open & 22 tried to dangle. 11 was noticeably pissed off at times. And yah worst accuracy I've seen with Vilmanis lol. Can't hit anything which is crazy with how sick his hands are.

Yah hurt tried some risky risky stuff lol. Still love his game. Thought Barr was awesome. Young again was great. He's so fun to watch and he's just getting better with experience.

 

[StormWatcher]

Gaudreau is earning himself the backup spot in Sarnia... doubt anyone trades for him, I hope he likes opening and closing the gate. Not even the stats, he's a liability.

 

[davewheeler]

Gaudreau is earning himself the backup spot in Sarnia... doubt anyone trades for him, I hope he likes opening and closing the gate. Not even the stats, he's a liability.

I wouldn't be surprised if Surzycia gets moved pretty soon.

 

[StormWatcher]

I wouldn't be surprised if Surzycia gets moved pretty soon.

I know that Sarnia are desperate to restock the cupboard, but whatever return you think Surzycia would get, is it worth showing the team that Ben's behaviour gets rewarded and he becomes the starter? It's a culture thing... move any vet skaters to recoup your picks. Just my outsiders opinion.

 

[Ferda11]

I wouldn't be surprised if Surzycia gets moved pretty soon.

Would be the absolute dumbest thing this team could do.

 

[StingUpdates]

If somebody offers something crazy take it. But I can't see a team offering up what we want/need over 3 starts.

I think you'll be seeing Ben/Surzycia for a bit. Let's see how Gaudreau looks in his next few starts. I know I'm a Gaudreau apologist lol but it's his first game action in weeks. But there's 0 doubt right now who should be our starter.

 

[davewheeler]

I know that Sarnia are desperate to restock the cupboard, but whatever return you think Surzycia would get, is it worth showing the team that Ben's behaviour gets rewarded and he becomes the starter? It's a culture thing... move any vet skaters to recoup your picks. Just my outsiders opinion.

obviously if you can trade ben do it... I just think he's going to be hard to move.... hes on overage goalie... most teams have the OA's... also Ben just isnt very good.... the league knows that. The return for Surzycia should be no worse than a 2nd in my opinion.

 

[robp1219]

obviously if you can trade ben do it... I just think he's going to be hard to move.... hes on overage goalie... most teams have the OA's... also Ben just isnt very good.... the league knows that. The return for Surzycia should be no worse than a 2nd in my opinion.

I think he needs more than 3 good games to get a 2nd. See what his numbers are like after 10 games atleast so teams have a decent sample size.

 

[davewheeler]

Would be the absolute dumbest thing this team could do.

I actually disagree ... Surzycia is an OA next year... if you can get a haul for him then you gotta do it.... were not gonna compete this year or next.

 

[davewheeler]

I think he needs more than 3 good games to get a 2nd. See what his numbers are like after 10 games atleast so teams have a decent sample size.

he was decent last year. I agree, teams are prolly gonna need to see a bit more.... London gave a 3rd and Bowen for Simpson who's an OA so well see.

 

[howler2]

obviously if you can trade ben do it... I just think he's going to be hard to move.... hes on overage goalie... most teams have the OA's... also Ben just isnt very good.... the league knows that. The return for Surzycia should be no worse than a 2nd in my opinion.

And just who are you putting in goal next year !

 

[davewheeler]

And just who are you putting in goal next year !

tbh im not really worried about winning next year....there are a ton of goalies out there ... I think the play is to load up on picks and young players.... who knows maybe Seca could get a pick and a goalie prospect back who knows.... we need to be primed to make this team a juggernaut in 3 years! I know its painful to think about but its our reality.

 

[davewheeler]

If somebody offers something crazy take it. But I can't see a team offering up what we want/need over 3 starts.

I think you'll be seeing Ben/Surzycia for a bit. Let's see how Gaudreau looks in his next few starts. I know I'm a Gaudreau apologist lol but it's his first game action in weeks. But there's 0 doubt right now who should be our starter.

just to clarify I didnt mean I think he will be getting traded tomorrow.... I mean soon as in like a month or so.

 

[StingUpdates]

We'll see how it all shakes out. Some teams have had some ugly goalie play which is great for us. Let's hope one gets desperate.

Best case Gaudreau gets dealt for a pick or two & we run Surzycia & Chartier. Worst case nobody wants to take on an OA G & nobody offers anything substantial for Surzycia so we run them all yr which is horrific for Chartier.

Tough decisions to be made. Let's hope Nick can keep up the stellar play & Gaudreau can play well.

Winnable game tomorrow vs WSR, next Friday vs FLT then the week after vs NIA & ER followed by KIT, WSR & NIA again.

LDN/SAG in there too but those will be tough. If we are to be a playoff team this would be a decent time to get some Ws.

 

[StingUpdates]

tbh im not really worried about winning next year....there are a ton of goalies out there ... I think the play is to load up on picks and young players.... who knows maybe Seca could get a pick and a goalie prospect back who knows.... we need to be primed to make this team a juggernaut in 3 years! I know its painful to think about but its our reality.

I'd like to be competitive. Tired of this worst to first back to worst thing we always do. Be nice for once to maybe battle for 4th-5th then the following yr be elite.

Wishful thinking I know. But entire Dcore will be back & they already look promising as rooks. Top 5-6 OHL pick, top 10 import pick, LeBlanc, Filak as OA Fs. Kukumberg yr 2 in OHL. Brown, Lominac, Doherty, Sim year 2. Luecke joins. Moses be 19. Wainwright 19. Could have a great tandem with Surzycia - Chartier if all goes well. Or if Maillet is anything.

Not saying I think we would be 4th or 5th but I think with a good summer of draft picks & maybe a trade/signing or 2 we could push for it. I hope. Just be nice for once lol.

 

[davewheeler]

I'd like to be competitive. Tired of this worst to first back to worst thing we always do. Be nice for once to maybe battle for 4th-5th then the following yr be elite.

Wishful thinking I know. But entire Dcore will be back & they already look promising as rooks. Top 5-6 OHL pick, top 10 import pick, LeBlanc, Filak as OA Fs. Kukumberg yr 2 in OHL. Brown, Lominac, Doherty, Sim year 2. Luecke joins. Moses be 19. Wainwright 19. Could have a great tandem with Surzycia - Chartier if all goes well. Or if Maillet is anything.

Not saying I think we would be 4th or 5th but I think with a good summer of draft picks & maybe a trade/signing or 2 we could push for it. I hope. Just be nice for once lol.

I for sure agree... you'd like to see improvements year by year... tbh the way this team has been playing thus far we very well may be a sleeper team next year... then year 3 you content WITHOUT mortgaging the future .... then try to run it back year 4... much like the Soo did 4-5 years ago.

 

[StingUpdates]

LeBlanc-Filak-Kukumberg
Brown-Wainwright-Import
Luecke-Hall-Moses
Sim-Doherty-Lominac

Fischer-Barr
Hurt-Young
Omeri-Brigdewater

Surzycia
Chartier

That could be the roster next yr. Be 16/17 returning players. Not even counting top 5-6 OHL pick & whatever other picks that push for a spot from the draft + picks from the past 2 drafts or any deals they make that brings someone in by September of next yr.

It's still so so early for projecting/predicting what guys will look like but I'd hope we'd be solid. If the import were to be legit (which he better as we'll probably pick top 10 lol.) I'd like that T6.

B6 hard to say. But Im loving Moses so far as a depth F. Energy, speed, size, physicality. Hall I think is gonna be a really solid 2way C. Sorta like Way just a touch faster & more skilled. Hopefully Luecke is solid but TBD on that. I've been pleasantly surprised so far with Sim but small sample size. Lominac I think has gotten a lot better as times gone on. Adjusted to the speed. I think he'll be a fine middle 6 F for us as he matures. I like Doherty but he's gotta be more consistent & earn Letang's trust.

Then on D still young with potentially 3 17 yr olds, but Young will be 19 & he's looking awesome so far, Fischer 18 coming off an NHL camp, Barr/Hurt year 2 after getting a ton of ice time this season. If what we've seen has been any indication I'd like that top 4 quite a lot.

But we are ways away from all this haha. Just sorta my reasoning why I *hope* we will be a solid team. So many things could go sideways & we do stink again next yr. Still Sarnia at the end of the day haha. Gotta show us before we believe they've changed.

 

[JAMER]

There was a trade idea I was thinking about last night. And the more I think about it the more I like it.

Vilmanis/Gaudreau to Erie for Molnar and a pick or two

Molnar an 05 show will return next year and is a fellow country man of Kukumberg.

After Erie's 8-0 lose last night they need all the help they can get and quick if they want to make the playoffs this year. And Vilmanis and Gaudreau would give them the playoff experience that team needs.

 

[Texcanuck]

By the way, Memorial Cup ticket packages are on sale at discounted rates to Sting season ticket holders. Full package (9 games) only at this point.
In case anyone is interested…. Sting, Windsor, Flint all supposed to advertise this to their STH’s, but apparently didn’t bother…

 

[Ferda11]

I actually disagree ... Surzycia is an OA next year... if you can get a haul for him then you gotta do it.... were not gonna compete this year or next.

I just think there is more value in keeping Surzycia over Gaudreau. We could easily get a haul for Surzycia as an OA next year, especially if he keeps up his current projection. He would be the most saught after OA/goalie in the league for a team looking to run. You could argue his value could double next year in a trade. Keeping him this year and giving this team a chance to win games is the right move, compared to a mediocre Gaudreau and his antics, which would do more harm to the development of this team. Not the role model I want for Chartier. The plan should be to run with Surzycia and Chartier this year and next. Get Chartier 25 games this year and prep him to take over for Surzycia once he is dealt by trade deadline next year.

Give Gaudreau 5-8 games to show something and try to get him to another team. If not, release him. Him finishing this year in a Sting jersey will set this team back a year in development in my opinion.

 

[StingUpdates]

Some tweaks to the lines. Bit odd coming off a 7 goal game.

Doucette to L3 w/Brown & Way. Lominac to L2 w/Filak & Vilmanis. Moses to L4 w/Doherty & Sim.

Love 25 to L3 for Brown. Fine with 93 to L2. But why the heck is Moses down to L4 after a 2 goal game.

Same D pairs as yesterday. Surzycia starts