Sarnia Sting 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

[StingUpdates]

he may take over london when the hunters retire. the hunters have a big say with the u20, u18 and u17 teams. as soon as mark hunter got involved in hockey canada, alan letang was brought in.

They do have a great relationship. Be very on brand for us for LDN to steal our best coach in a long, long time. Be comical really.

Do wonder how much longer Dale & Mark do this. Done everything there is to do 3x over.

 

[robp1219]

I feel like there is a big disconnect between the Sting and Legionnaires. The Legionnaires have been a bottom team the last 5-6 years or whatever while London has been a top team... I don't think there is trust that the Legionnaires will do the job properly.

Could always send them to strathroy. And still keep the guys around the team in sarnia.

 

[robp1219]

Definitely be interesting to see. He came to Sarnia to be with his family. Pretty sure his kids are still pretty young so he may hold out a couple years, but if a big job comes along he'll have a hard time passing it up id imagine.

Be an interesting one tonight. Flint got back some heavy hitters in the last week. Hayes, Pitre & Kressler. Full week under their new coach. Gotta think they'll show some desperation as you don't wanna start 0-5.

Hoping Chartier starts. Hopefully he won't be too rusty & or nervous. First OHL game & first game action in a month.

Looking for Filak & Vilmanis to get going a bit. See if they can keep it up & make it 3 straight!

I think if he gets offered a job in the NHL as an assistant or head coach he’s gone. That’s most likely his goal and I bet his wife and his family would support him in that. Plus NHL gig would pay much better. I think he just wanted to coach in sarnia to be with his family while he was still in the OHL since it was an option. I think if the big leagues come callin he will be gone for sure.

 

[robp1219]

he may take over london when the hunters retire. the hunters have a big say with the u20, u18 and u17 teams. as soon as mark hunter got involved in hockey canada, alan letang was brought in.

No I think Dylan hunter and Rick Steadman have been well groomed these past 10 years or so to take over for their dad /uncle. They both have been working with Dale and mark for 10 years and have won a championship or two behind the bench. They have coached Canada U17 aswell.

 

[StingUpdates]

Same lines except Sim sits & Omeri plays. 11/7. Can't stand it. So useless to dress & a guy & use him twice a period when Sim could play.

Surzycia starts which I also dislike. So he either is going B2B which is stupid or your throwing Chartier in his first OHL start vs London.

 

[StingUpdates]

Should've never traded Gaudreau. Fire Seca!

 

[Ferda11]

Yikes. Might be a long night if the boys don’t get a fire lit under their assess in the dressing room during intermission. We’ve seen this team battle back before, but this one has bad vibes written all over it, so I don’t see it happening. Prove me wrong! Tighten up D! Too many odd man chances for Flint.

 

[Ferda11]

Yikes. Might be a long night if the boys don’t get a fire lit under their assess in the dressing room during intermission. We’ve seen this team battle back before, but this one has bad vibes written all over it, so I don’t see it happening. Prove me wrong! Tighten up D! Too many odd man chances for Flint.

Annnnnnnd I’ve been proven wrong

 

[StingUpdates]

Brown is an absolute stud. Already. Best hands on the team. Doucette keeps it going. Sikic has been a man possessed so far. He's gonna get one. Omeri 1A, +3 too.

Surzycia just had a brutally unlucky night. See if they can complete the big comeback.

 

[Ferda11]

What a roller coaster of a game. It’s crazy we are playing with basically 10 forwards. Doherty saw maybe 2 shifts all game. What’s the point? Tanks empty quick when your only rolling 3 lines. Not much good outside the 2nd period. Rough rebound game going up against London tomorrow. Yikes!

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Did anyone see Fischer out there for the last two periods? I think he may have gotten hurt

 

[StingUpdates]

Biggest issue. Fischer left hurt and didn't return. Not 1 shift in the 3rd. Foot I believe. Saw him going off saying "F me". That would be a devastating blow. Devastating. Be the one loss this team can't handle imo.

Without him tomorrow might become an even bigger gong show. Poor Chartier is likely getting that as his first game. Said it before the game he should've played tonight now he's a lamb to the slaughter in his 1st game.

This team simply can not afford Filak, LeBlanc & Vilmanis being passengers and they were tonight. 22 specifically was terrible. He's been my biggest disappointment so far.

Surzycia bizarre game. Didn't dislike any of the first 4. Made some big saves. But that GWG stunk.

Defensively definitely there worst game. Way to loose. Could tell FLT was desperate. We didn't match it in 1st or 3rd. Can't stand how Letang plays Doherty. Play the damn kid. He's one of your best skaters. Nice to see Brown & Omeri play well. Hurt, Barr struggled as did mostly everyone else.

I'd be shocked if we keep it within 3 tomorrow honestly. Especially without Fischer.

 

[JAMER]

Biggest issue. Fischer left hurt and didn't return. Not 1 shift in the 3rd. Foot I believe. Saw him going off saying "F me". That would be a devastating blow. Devastating. Be the one loss this team can't handle imo.

Without him tomorrow might become an even bigger gong show. Poor Chartier is likely getting that as his first game. Said it before the game he should've played tonight now he's a lamb to the slaughter in his 1st game.

This team simply can not afford Filak, LeBlanc & Vilmanis being passengers and they were tonight. 22 specifically was terrible. He's been my biggest disappointment so far.

Surzycia bizarre game. Didn't dislike any of the first 4. Made some big saves. But that GWG stunk.

Defensively definitely there worst game. Way to loose. Could tell FLT was desperate. We didn't match it in 1st or 3rd. Can't stand how Letang plays Doherty. Play the damn kid. He's one of your best skaters. Nice to see Brown & Omeri play well. Hurt, Barr struggled as did mostly everyone else.

I'd be shocked if we keep it within 3 tomorrow honestly. Especially without Fischer.

I think we'll be fine. I think a big part of our problem was we where looking ahead for tomorrow. I also think it would be dumb to start Chartier tomorrow. It would be dumb to start him and let his confidence get destroyed in his first game. I believe you will see him start against Niagara. I believe you'll see Surzycia stand on his head tomorrow for some redemption.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Biggest issue. Fischer left hurt and didn't return. Not 1 shift in the 3rd. Foot I believe. Saw him going off saying "F me". That would be a devastating blow. Devastating. Be the one loss this team can't handle imo.

Without him tomorrow might become an even bigger gong show. Poor Chartier is likely getting that as his first game. Said it before the game he should've played tonight now he's a lamb to the slaughter in his 1st game.

This team simply can not afford Filak, LeBlanc & Vilmanis being passengers and they were tonight. 22 specifically was terrible. He's been my biggest disappointment so far.

Surzycia bizarre game. Didn't dislike any of the first 4. Made some big saves. But that GWG stunk.

Defensively definitely there worst game. Way to loose. Could tell FLT was desperate. We didn't match it in 1st or 3rd. Can't stand how Letang plays Doherty. Play the damn kid. He's one of your best skaters. Nice to see Brown & Omeri play well. Hurt, Barr struggled as did mostly everyone else.

I'd be shocked if we keep it within 3 tomorrow honestly. Especially without Fischer.

Yeah I'm not expecting a close game tomorrow but there's no way they're starting Chartier. It'll be Surzycia again. Chartier will likely get a lot of starts in the upcoming 30 day stretch (Oct 20-Nov 19) when they 15 games. As for tonight's game not much positive to be honest. Played well for the first 15 minutes of the game out shooting Flint 12-3 and after that they didn't play all well even though they scored the four goals. In the last 44:45 of the game, they were out shot 38-14. Fischer being out would hurt this team a lot. The only positive out of that would Omeri seeing the ice more often. I agree that Doherty needs to get more ice. I don't get the decision to practically play three lines tonight. Also please break up that Lominac-Filak-Vilmanis line it clearly doesn't work. I don't agree with you on Vilmanis being a disappointment this season. He wasn't great tonight but he still has 7 points and 6 games (79 point pace). That's solely with assists and he will start finding the back of the net more often. He's been one of our best play drivers this year

 

[StingUpdates]

Yeah I'm not expecting a close game tomorrow but there's no way they're starting Chartier. It'll be Surzycia again. Chartier will likely get a lot of starts in the upcoming 30 day stretch (Oct 20-Nov 19) when they 15 games. As for tonight's game not much positive to be honest. Played well for the first 15 minutes of the game out shooting Flint 12-3 and after that they didn't play all well even though they scored the four goals. In the last 44:45 of the game, they were out shot 38-14. Fischer being out would hurt this team a lot. The only positive out of that would Omeri seeing the ice more often. I agree that Doherty needs to get more ice. I don't get the decision to practically play three lines tonight. Also please break up that Lominac-Filak-Vilmanis line it clearly doesn't work. I don't agree with you on Vilmanis being a disappointment this season. He wasn't great tonight but he still has 7 points and 6 games (79 point pace). That's solely with assists and he will start finding the back of the net more often. He's been one of our best play drivers this year

Idk. I just think he's been way to much of a Puck hog. He's been looking off teammates badly all year. Needs to finish some of his looks. He hasn't been bad I just had high expectations for him. Expect more personally.

I guess we'll see. I'd find it so confusing if they go Surzycia B2B after trading Ben. Be annoying honestly. But I hope your right & it's him. As Jason said can't have him get lit up like a Christmas tree his 1sr start

We saw last yr 11&22 simply do not work. At all. Need to be split up. Put Brown with Filak. Wainwright is the only guys who's had chemistry in the 2 years with 22. Hopefully he's back soon and they can reunite.

 

[Ferda11]

I don’t know, Vilmanis should be your #1 goal scorer, so the fact that he has 0 goals should be considered disappointing. I will agree the assists should be highlighted as a positive. I just checked, all 7 of his are primary assist to boot.

 

[StingUpdates]

Maybe I was too strong with my 22 critique. I just think so highly of him. He's had some brutal TOs and not scoring. But he is helping setup on a team that has arguably 0 high end players.

Gets his chances! Just can't hit the net to save his life some nights.

 

[StingUpdates]

Nobody asked Letang post game (like come on ppl lol) about Fischer but at the end he said he's got confidence in the leadership group that they'll bounce back tomorrow & that somebody will step up with Fischer's absence. So that isn't good at all if he's already for sure a no go.

I'll have to go back and try and find it. Such a big loss. He's been eating probably close to 25 a night. PP1, Pk, vs L1. Now gonna have 3 rooks in, Young who's still so inexperienced & LeBlanc/MacDonald.

Recipe for disaster. Fingers crossed it's small and not a broken foot/toe.

 

[Petes1987]

he may take over london when the hunters retire. the hunters have a big say with the u20, u18 and u17 teams. as soon as mark hunter got involved in hockey canada, alan letang was brought in.

I think the next generations of the Hunters are set to take over when Dale and Mark Hunter retire. Dylan Hunter and Rick Steadman are already part of the coaching staff.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

I don’t know, Vilmanis should be your #1 goal scorer, so the fact that he has 0 goals should be considered disappointing. I will agree the assists should be highlighted as a positive. I just checked, all 7 of his are primary assist to boot.

Maybe I was too strong with my 22 critique. I just think so highly of him. He's had some brutal TOs and not scoring. But he is helping setup on a team that has arguably 0 high end players.

Gets his chances! Just can't hit the net to save his life some nights.

I feel like the praise and criticism of Vilmanis are both warranted. He's an incredibly frustrating player to watch at some points yet he also has the potential to take over a game. He has 100 point potential. His shot needs to get more accurate for sure

 

[StingUpdates]

Went back & watched it. Fischer took a Hayes wrist shot off the side of his foot. It made him a bit gimpy. Played 2 more shifts with a rather noticeable limp/hitch to his stride. Last shift u could see his face & he was grimacing.

Good I guess he was able to skate on it as if he broke it you'd think no chance. But the fact he had to leave and couldn't return says its hurting. A lot.

Hopefully just a bad bruise and he can comeback next week..he will be missed badly tomorrow.

 

[StingUpdates]

On a positive note Brown is 2nd in rookie scoring with 6 points in 6 games. T2 for goals with 3. He's best among rookies for +/- at +5.

He's been so impressive. Martone but smaller. If he grows a bit he'll be a fairly high pick his draft yr. Skills, speed, smarts, effort. All really high.

Omeri finished with 1A, 2 shots, +3. His best game. I like him. He isn't gonna be a T4 guy I don't think but with the right progression I can see him becoming a solid 3rd pair puck mover who can run a PP.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

On a positive note Brown is 2nd in rookie scoring with 6 points in 6 games. T2 for goals with 3. He's best among rookies for +/- at +5.

He's been so impressive. Martone but smaller. If he grows a bit he'll be a fairly high pick his draft yr. Skills, speed, smarts, effort. All really high.

Omeri finished with 1A, 2 shots, +3. His best game. I like him. He isn't gonna be a T4 guy I don't think but with the right progression I can see him becoming a solid 3rd pair puck mover who can run a PP.

With Fischer seemingly out tomorrow, I would like to see Omeri get some playing time on the PP. Maybe he can give a struggling unit a lift

 

[StingUpdates]

INJURY UPDATES: Injured forwards Easton Wainwright and Carson Hall remain week-to-week, Seca said.

“I’d expect we’ll ramp up their skating this week and maybe hopefully in the next week to 10 days we’ll see them play some games,” he said.

Defenceman Josh Hoover is also making progress, he added.

“Josh is improving,” Seca said. “I’d call him still week-to-week as well, but we hope to get some update on him soon.”

From the observer. Good to hear both guys should be back hopefully in the next 2 weeks. Be a big boost. Almost feel uneasy with Hoover. Be scared everytime he's out there he'll get hurt again & especially another head injury. But if he can catch a break finally & stay healthy he'd be a great add for our blue line. Would hate sitting Hurt or Barr + Omeri would rarely draw in but don't want the kids getting tired, destroyed

 

[StingUpdates]

Brown-Sikic-Doucette
LeBlanc-Filak-Vilmanis
Lominac-Way-Kukumberg
Sim-Doherty-Moses

Fischer-LeBlanc
Young-Omeri
Hurt-MacDonald
Barr

Surzycia

Would assume Fischer is GTD that's why there's an extra. Boys gotta keep there head up tonight. Boulton bros are out there to do one thing. Expectations are super low. See if they can surprise.