Sarnia Sting 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I

[SarniaStingFan]

Beckham Edwards named rookie of the week in the OHL! 3G/1A weekend for him. Been a phenomenal start for him. I've said this before, but I knew the hype around him was that he could score but I had no idea he was such a smart, high IQ, 2way player.

We know how Letang is with rookies sometimes & he has him out regularly on the PK including in the final 3 minutes yesterday where he had a big clear.

He's gonna be a really special player in this league. Having him & Di Iorio down the middle sure is gonna be exciting.

The best part of the first two weeks has been Di Iorio/Edwards both looking like natural centres. Both support very well in the d-zone. As you said yesterday Di Iorio especially has made a number of good defensive plays thru the first five games.

Awesome to see Edwards get the rookie of the week. I was looking yesterday and he's only the fourth true rookie (16 year old) in Sting history to score four goals in the first four games of the season. Eric Himelfarb (99-00), Steven Stamkos (06-07), and Alex Galchenyuk (10-11) were the only other ones to do it. Pretty good company if you ask me. Can't remember the last time I was this excited about a future 1-2 punch down the middle

 

[stingwagoner]

Wainwright scored OT winner game 1, wasn't credited for it.(doucette got it)
Wainwright scored goal again in flint but was called back. I think he will be fine as will Di iorio and Brown who yet to bulge netting. When they do get that 1st one the flood gates will open.
PP needs to score at near 20% if not we need to change alot starting with D on it.
Barr played preseason and has yet to quarterback pp.
Need net front presence!! Without we are ineffective

 

[StingUpdates]

The best part of the first two weeks has been Di Iorio/Edwards both looking like natural centres. Both support very well in the d-zone. As you said yesterday Di Iorio especially has made a number of good defensive plays thru the first five games.

Awesome to see Edwards get the rookie of the week. I was looking yesterday and he's only the fourth true rookie (16 year old) in Sting history to score four goals in the first four games of the season. Eric Himelfarb (99-00), Steven Stamkos (06-07), and Alex Galchenyuk (10-11) were the only other ones to do it. Pretty good company if you ask me. Can't remember the last time I was this excited about a future 1-2 punch down the middle

I was wondering myself about 4G first 5 games. Thanks for that info. What company to be in! U know Letang is giddy about those 2 being the top Cs when they are 18-19 lol.

Yah you'd have to go back awhile. Especially as homegrown Cs and not a trade deadline addition. Very exciting.

I've also been super happy with Kostuch. I figured he'd start really slow after having mono and missing all of camp. He's flying out there. He's throwing the body a lot too.

Wainwright scored OT winner game 1, wasnt credited for it.(doucette got it)
Wainwright scored goal again in flint but was called back. I think he will be fine as will Di iorio and Brown who yet to bulge netting. When they do flood gates will open.
PP needs to score at near 20% if not we need to change alot starting with D on it.
Barr played preseason and has yet to quarterback pp.
Need net front presence!! Without we are in effective

Yah I've watched the replay for that OT winner 10 times and I don't understand why Wainwright never got credit. Very clear he jammed it in. Hell if the PP could just be 18% (still bad) it'll be big lol.

I'm hoping they r just taking it slow with Barr after he missed the 2nd half and had an injury then mono. But I think they are just being stupid about it.

 

[robp1219]

Well, if that's what Legwand wants so be it, You get what you pay for as they say

I agree, if the attendance and support continues may be able to afford to bring in some better coaches. Which would be nice

 

[StingUpdates]

Complete speculation from me, but Letang is well regarded. I imagine he's paid a normal amount for OHL coaches. Haley & Jeffery tho are probably dirt cheap because no prior experience & just retired.

I've always wanted them to hire a more experienced assistant. Instead they keep hiring guys with little experience as coaches. They at least were longtime pros/NHLers so they obviously have some wisdom & things to teach but that's probably more helpful off the ice than on it.

End of the day I think Letang is a fine head coach. He has his issues. PP deployment. Reliance on vets even if they aren't good. Sometimes waits to long to change the lines up.

But the teams been very disciplined (usually near the bottom for PIMs) since he arrived. I like the structure he tries to bring, I've been very happy with how guys have developed in his time here, especially Dmen. I've heard (even from players) he's a great teacher & communicator which is important at this level.

I think we forget at times what a truly bad coached team looks like. Compete level bad, no identity, undisciplined, selfish play, careless attitudes, no accountability & just miserable to watch. Sarnia has not had that since he came. They've had bad teams because like last yr that talent was so poor they couldn't stay afloat but they are usually good for compete level, discipline, standing up for each other etc & I appreciate that as a fan.

I started going to games around 2008 & some of the teams from then to about 2019 were truly embarrassing to watch (I know some of y'all have seen even farther back & even worse teams lol) so my bar is very low for sure, but I've been happy with this organization since Letang joined. It's been far more professionally ran on & off the ice. They act right. Haven't had any "bad eggs" on the team. Guys have developed well. Guys getting drafted or getting pro deals/invites has become more common I feel. They actually had a playoff run & it's led to them having there best run of attendance in a long time though I'm still bitter about it lol.

Certainly have my issues with them it's not perfect but outside London nobody is.

Sorry for the rant. But I was due for one of these it's been a little bit

 

[stingwagoner]

Not sold on Letang I've been fan before he came and I'll be fan after I'm sure.
I think Letang is overrated, had allstar team and still couldn't beat a weaker team. London flat out out coached him in playoffs when we need adjustments etc. He sure does take too long to change his lines to find chemistry and that affects players. But with that being said and I'm surely not a Fan of Letang's but I do think the pp is solely on Jeffery. I'm sure he decides the system how its run as well as who is one it and where. I think this year especially jeffery doesn't know the spots players will excel and where they will struggle and who can make plays in pressure etc
Hope this week Head coach gets involved and sets up lines that can succeed as we need pp1 to make stuff happen as it's no use being disciplined if we can't score on pp! Even with our pk being solid just decline pims and maybe we just play 5 on 5 and SH! Lol

 

[Ferda11]

That whole World Jr fiasco with Letang and his decisions that had the entire country scratching their heads really put a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths. Think the Sting fan base suffered a little second hand embarrassment with that one. My view of Letang certainly took a hit after that as I'm sure it did with a lot of people. There's no doubt he struggles in high pressure situations. We've seen it many times in Sting games and the rest of the world saw it last winter. His apparent weakness is his inability to make adjustments in game when it isn't working. He's stubborn that way. I also think Letang is big on the character of the player and spends a lot of his efforts trying to mold and shape these kids into decent human beings, which is great...but we're here to win hockey games right? It doesn't really matter who is running the PP either. The head coach is the head coach. Responsibility to adapt and make changes falls on him at the end of the day if Jefferys or whoever can't figure it out.

Letang has me sold on character development but hasn't shown me he knows how to coach a hokey team to success. Here or anywhere. That being said, his career as a head coach is in the early phases. He got what? 2 seasons as head coach in OS? Then covid cancelled a season then he came to Sarnia in 2021 I believe. Just like the players, this league is a development league for coaches too and that's easy to forget.

 

[stingwagoner]

head coach falls on the sword for his decisions on pp pk lines adjustments etc.
So far haven't seen any difference from past years to this with his ability to adjust, we will see more as play better coaches. Frankly it really worries me because his staff isn't helping him

 

[StingUpdates]

That whole World Jr fiasco with Letang and his decisions that had the entire country scratching their heads really put a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths. Think the Sting fan base suffered a little second hand embarrassment with that one. My view of Letang certainly took a hit after that as I'm sure it did with a lot of people. There's no doubt he struggles in high pressure situations. We've seen it many times in Sting games and the rest of the world saw it last winter. His apparent weakness is his inability to make adjustments in game when it isn't working. He's stubborn that way. I also think Letang is big on the character of the player and spends a lot of his efforts trying to mold and shape these kids into decent human beings, which is great...but we're here to win hockey games right? It doesn't really matter who is running the PP either. The head coach is the head coach. Responsibility to adapt and make changes falls on him at the end of the day if Jefferys or whoever can't figure it out.

Letang has me sold on character development but hasn't shown me he knows how to coach a hokey team to success. Here or anywhere. That being said, his career as a head coach is in the early phases. He got what? 2 seasons as head coach in OS? Then covid cancelled a season then he came to Sarnia in 2021 I believe. Just like the players, this league is a development league for coaches too and that's easy to forget.

Think my counter argument to that would be last year's world Junior team was by far one of the weakest I've seen Canada have. Savoie & Potrais were the headliners up front.. it was a bad team (for our standards lol)

He certainly made some questionable decisions I agree with that & I also was annoyed at it, but Canada dominated that quarter finals game vs CZE. Their goalie let in an atrocious goal & the game winner with 15 seconds left was a complete fluke/brutal bounce off Bonk and in.

As for high pressure situations idk. What does that entail? Sarnia was pretty elite at closing out close games a couple years with ago with a good roster. They didn't lose one playoff game if they were leading midway thru the game. I'll say it to the end of time they really controlled game 5 in LDN (the swing game), but at the worst time possible time Gaudreau fell apart right after we tied it & had all the momentum midway thru the 3rd. If part of that falls on Letang then fair play & their G6 performance might've been the most irritating/frustrating thing in my time watching them.

Feel like we need more sample size for that because as u said he's fairly young in the HC game still & we've only had 1 legit roster in his time here

in game adjustments he does make some, but I'd definitely like to see them more for sure. He also really isn't a coach who chases matchups which can be good depending said matchups/your team, but can also hurt you. Like vs LDN he needed to put more emphasis on getting Voit away from George on LDN or even this year he isn't chasing having Fischer-Bodin out vs Greentree/Misa every shift like I'd try to do.

He trusts his guys and it's to a fault. It's better than what some other coaches do & it's a weird thing to get mad at in a way, but it's definitely frustrating at times because that gives ur team the best chance to win.

I've never said he's a great coach. I just think he's a solid one. I think he does himself a disservice (or maybe it's Seca or Legwand) not having better assistants. Being a fairly young coach I gotta think it would be nice to have a veteran assistant to bounce things off, speak about experiences etc instead he's probably the one teaching them too lol.

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

Latang has all the markings of a good coach but when the game is on the line is far too conservative and cannot measure risk appropriately.

When you are down by two and are on the power play with four minutes left, PULL THE GOALIE!!

He was schooled by the hunters two year ago (Sarnia had the better paper tiger) and no excuse for the world junior performance, you are team CANADA! That is on the coach, in both cases the players were stellar!

 

[StingUpdates]

Go

Latang has all the markings of a good coach but when the game is on the line is far too conservative and cannot measure risk appropriately.

When you are down by two and are on the power play with four minutes left, PULL THE GOALIE!!

He was schooled by the hunters two year ago (Sarnia had the better paper tiger) and no excuse for the world junior performance, you are team CANADA! That is on the coach, in both cases the players were stellar!

I don't disagree. Pretty sure every coach outside 2or3 has been schooled by Dale tho lol. And not getting past QF is brutal no matter the roster with the expectation here no doubt. Just don't think it was a great yr for us. This yr tho Canada is looking nasty.

 

[StingUpdates]

Don't got a great feeling about these next 2 games. Got 2 eastern favorites both coming off rough weekends so you know they got put thru the ringer a bit in practice & wanna get on track vs us.

I feel we can hang with most but our biggest issue is gonna be vs those teams with the truly elite of the league & Lardis/O'Brien/Vanacker for BRNT & Sennecke/Barlow are that for OSH.

But if they play like they did vs SAG & FLT they'll give themselves a chance especially if Surzycia can keep it up in net.

 

[stinger94]

Latang has all the markings of a good coach but when the game is on the line is far too conservative and cannot measure risk appropriately.

When you are down by two and are on the power play with four minutes left, PULL THE GOALIE!!

He was schooled by the hunters two year ago (Sarnia had the better paper tiger) and no excuse for the world junior performance, you are team CANADA! That is on the coach, in both cases the players were stellar!

No chance I am pulling the goalie with our PP

 

[Ferda11]

No chance I am pulling the goalie with our PP

Maybe risk it when you got guys like DBB, Voit, Burke, Pasta, Kyrou and Del Mastro at your disposal. That or a team full of the best players in all of Canada!

I think what GKG44 is saying is bang on. Look at what Letang had on paper. He had a better team at his disposal than arguably any other team in the west. Sure he went up against Dale, but with the amount of talent we had it comes down to Letang just not having what it takes to carry this team to a championship. I've simply yet to see him succeed in high pressure situations. We shouldn't accept "oh well we lost to the Hunters and the Knights" because they are always good. This team has been living in the Hunters shadows for many years as is.

Anyway, as previously said it's still relatively young in his career as a HC so no need to fly off the rails just yet. I'd like to see how he handles a true rebuild like the one we're currently in. We have the makings of a potential championship winning team come 2 years from now with our core 4 in Edwards, Brown, Kostuch and Di Iorio.

 

[StingUpdates]

Same F lines as Sunday. No SSPD for Karimov. Looks like Chamberlain back in on L4. Barr still out stick. Surzycia starting.

 

[StingUpdates]

Slow start but the Fischer fight really seemed to spark them. So many close looks on that 2nd line shift & then they come down & score to go up 2. That hurts a lot. Probably the worst goal Surzycia given up so far. Wasn't terrible but when he's on he saves those.

See if they can battle back.

 

[StingUpdates]

This is just insane from Edwards. Another goal. 5 already for the rookie. Team is flying now. This 2nd line has seriously got it going on too. Karimov especially.

 

[stinger94]

Edwards gotta be feeling pretty darn good about his decision to come to Sarnia right now.

 

[StingUpdates]

PP gonna cost them yet another god damn game. This is F*cking maddening. Dominating the entire 2nd period 5on5. Get back 2 back PPs to try & tie it. Do nothing. Minute after PP they go up 3-1. So unbelievably frustrating.

Hate when guys gotta fight after clean hits but still appreciate Wainwright sticking up for brown after that big hit. Unfortunately he's out most of the 3rd now.

See if they can somehow tie this up. Hopefully we get no PPs to up our chances to.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

In Brantford for the first time today. Very nice building. Good 2nd period for the most part. These lines look they have a lot more chemistry. Brown-Wainwright-Karimov is looking like a very good line. Defence started breaking down later in the period especially on the third goal. Had two or three chances to kill the play and couldn't do it. PP entries look better tonight but too much of the play once they get in is at the top of the zone. Need to be more like Brantford on the PP and use the guys low in the zone to open passing lanes up. Surzycia made a few saves on the PK in the final few minutes to keep this a two goal game. See if they can mount a comeback in the third

 

[StingUpdates]

Ability to finish been a big difference in this one. Chances are probably pretty even but when they've had there's it's been bar down/post-in. Sarnia's obviously, have not.

 

[StingUpdates]

Not a bad effort. Thought after the first 10-12 mins they played a solid road game. Had more than a few chances to have the game tied at 1 or at 2 but couldn't finish. PP let's them down again. Also can't leave their best guy (Lardis) & one of the league's best shooter wide open in the slot twice like they did. Bit loose tonight in front of our net.

What I referenced yesterday about Letang also showed again tonight. Lardis is one of the league's elite shooters. U have to stress having Fischer against him. He doesn't. Lardis gets 4 points none with Fischer on the ice.

Need Di Iorio, Karimov, Wainwright, Brown to find the net. They've been around it. Karimov tonight was a beast & that trio seems to have something which is nice. Definitely snakebitten but they play T6 & having four guys at 0 ain't great lol.

Fine game from Surzycia. Wish he had that 2nd goal but he made some big stops after that. Certainly not his fault when ur team scores once.

Onto a really good Oshawa team Friday.

 

[HkyBeegs3]

Whats everyone's legit guess on overall record this year?

 

[JAMER]

Well we arguably lose another game due to our PP. going 0/4 tonight if we score 1-2 PP goals it's a totally different game. If our PP carries on like this it'll probably sit dead last all year IMO.

 

[StingUpdates]

Whats everyone's legit guess on overall record this year?

Somewhere around .500. couple games over, couple games under depending on goaltending & if their PP provides anything positive semi consistently.