Sarnia Sting 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I

[SoupNazi]

Continued from Sarnia Sting 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

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[Ferda11]

Didn't get a chance to watch any action from the opening two games, but went to the pre-season loss in London the other week. Won't speak much on that as you know it was an underwhelming result and to be honest, I don't recall much lol. What i do recall is Brown being extremely good in that game. He got me excited for his progression this year. Think he's going to score a bit more than expected.

Bums me out to see Letang using big Bodin on PP1. I guess some things just never change . Barr looked pretty damn good in that spot during the pre-season no? No brainer it should be Barr-Fischer....not rocket science coach, come on now. 1-1 opening weekend is a success however you look at it though. Well done.

As for my predictions for this year......

Finish - 6th
Leading Goal - Brown/Johnston (30 to 35 goals)
Leading PT - Johnston (we're fleecing LDN on this one, 80+ pts)
Surprise/Breakout - Barr (will have to do with coaching decisions)

Cheers

 

[StingUpdates]

Didn't get a chance to watch any action from the opening two games, but went to the pre-season loss in London the other week. Won't speak much on that as you know it was an underwhelming result and to be honest, I don't recall much lol. What i do recall is Brown being extremely good in that game. He got me excited for his progression this year. Think he's going to score a bit more than expected.

Bums me out to see Letang using big Bodin on PP1. I guess some things just never change . Barr looked pretty damn good in that spot during the pre-season no? No brainer it should be Barr-Fischer....not rocket science coach, come on now. 1-1 opening weekend is a success however you look at it though. Well done.

As for my predictions for this year......

Finish - 6th
Leading Goal - Brown/Johnston (30 to 35 goals)
Leading PT - Johnston (we're fleecing LDN on this one, 80+ pts)
Surprise/Breakout - Barr (will have to do with coaching decisions)

Cheers

Yah if there's one thing that actually bothered me opening weekend it was the PP alignment change. Barr-Brown-Di Iorio had amazing chemistry on it in pre season.. obviously not vs OHL PK units but they seemed to have a few set plays & read off each other very well.. and in turn they clicked at an amazing clip.

Why in hell would u change it without letting them try it in the regular season? If u wanna make them PP2 & have Fischer/Wainwright/Karimov/Kostuch/Johnston as PP1 then fine, but no way they should've been split up.

Barr is easily the most naturally at running it..bodin has a big shot which is why he's on it, but that's all he can bring to it & it feels forced. Only slack I'll cut them is with Fischer Bodin Kostuch Karimov Johnston all not with the team until last week they probably got very few practice reps.

Very impressive debut weekend for Johnston. He was definitely our most dangerous F by a considerable margin. Was a quiet 2 games for Brown/Di Iorio/Doucette, but we gotta remember Brown is still 16 for another month & missed half his rookie yr & Di Iorio is 16. They will be overmatched some nights vs older teams.

SAG/FLT will be a good test this weekend..hopefully can split those & beat a rebuilding Soo team Sunday although last game of a teams first 3in3 is always tough.

 

[stingwagoner]

Yah if there's one thing that actually bothered me opening weekend it was the PP alignment change. Barr-Brown-Di Iorio had amazing chemistry on it in pre season.. obviously not vs OHL PK units but they seemed to have a few set plays & read off each other very well.. and in turn they clicked at an amazing clip.

Why in hell would u change it without letting them try it in the regular season? If u wanna make them PP2 & have Fischer/Wainwright/Karimov/Kostuch/Johnston as PP1 then fine, but no way they should've been split up.

Barr is easily the most naturally at running it..bodin has a big shot which is why he's on it, but that's all he can bring to it & it feels forced. Only slack I'll cut them is with Fischer Bodin Kostuch Karimov Johnston all not with the team until last week they probably got very few practice reps.

Very impressive debut weekend for Johnston. He was definitely our most dangerous F by a considerable margin. Was a quiet 2 games for Brown/Di Iorio/Doucette, but we gotta remember Brown is still 16 for another month & missed half his rookie yr & Di Iorio is 16. They will be overmatched some nights vs older teams.

SAG/FLT will be a good test this weekend..hopefully can split those & beat a rebuilding Soo team Sunday although last game of a teams first 3in3 is always tough.

Clearly issues with Letangs's selections for lines.(think jeffery does PP)
Just doesn't see players strengths. As been my issue with him since he came.

Need to put (but won't because filak is 20 and letang will have him on 1st line but isn't top line skill or speed, we can have and make us way more dangerous karimov wainwright doucette
Brown di iorio Johnston
Filak Edward's kostuch
Moses leuke franchesschetti

Pp1 doucette wainwright Johnston filak barr
Pp1 brown di iorio karimov kostuch young

Or swap young and barr but those are our 2 best offensive D let's use them.

 

[JAMER]

Chartier to Strathroy on loan.

 

[StingUpdates]

Feels so similar to the Grover/Surzcyia situation 3 seasons ago. Went into camp with the returning goalie looking like a decent bet to backup Gaudreau & had an unknown in Surzcyia. Camp was pretty even between the two then in Grover's final pre season start he was absolutely horrid & that ended up being the end of him here while Surzcyia became the backup & now 2 years as starter. Funny enough even how all 4 play is similar. Grover & Chartier are bigger, athletic guys who struggle with consistency & remaining poised. Surzcyia & Maillet are undersized but really battle in the net.

Chartier entered camp with a leg up due to experience & familiarity on Maillet & they played somewhat even (thought Maillet was slightly better in scrimmages) then in Chartier's final pre season start vs Windsor he really struggled & let in a brutal tying goal with 1 minute left. I commented on here after that it was the kind of game that costs you a spot & I think it very well might have.

Sucks though. Chartier really showed flashes last yr especially at the start that he might be a good goalie in this league, but really battles consistency issues & struggles remaining calm in the net. Might not be the end of him with us crazier things have happened but barring an injury or Maillet really struggling it likely is.

Also, very clear Strathroy is who the team favours for sending guys too over the Legionnaires. Denes, Gaughan, Chamberlain (before making it) & now Chartier all sent there. As I've said before I'm happy about it. Former NHLer is the owner. They usually are solid compared to the Legionnaires who've been a tire fire.

 

[lazyboy]

Who owns strathroy?

 

[Ferda11]

Seems a little early to pull the plug on Chartier. I have a hard time believing that one poor preseason game was the dagger for him, or at least it shouldn't be. I mean what goalie doesn't battle consistency issues? Especially after only 24 games as a rookie goaltender. Is there more going on behind closed doors? who knows..

I thought he was primed to be our back up after last season. I'll echo everything StingUpdates said about the flashes he showed last year. Think he possesses a lot of the right tools to become an eventual starter in this league. I don't care for any argument regarding his stats because any young goaltender would have had those under the Stings weak roster last year. His size and athletic ability is top notch, there's not doubting that. Hoping this is just to help build some confidence and that he finds his way back eventually to be able to prove himself.

That being said, I personally have seen hardly anything of Maillet so I'll refrain from commenting much on him. Seems like he has certainly earned himself an opportunity based on what ya'll have been saying on here.

I think we should expect to see Surzycia most nights. I'm doubting the Sting are going to give a 1st year goaltender any more games then what Chartier had last year. Makes for an interesting timeline for Maillets development. Technically he'd be the starter next year after only whatever amount of games he gets in this year as back-up....seems risky!

Who owns strathroy?

didn't Cory Conachar buy it recently?

 

[StingUpdates]

Seems a little early to pull the plug on Chartier. I have a hard time believing that one poor preseason game was the dagger for him, or at least it shouldn't be. I mean what goalie doesn't battle consistency issues? Especially after only 24 games as a rookie goaltender. Is there more going on behind closed doors? who knows..

I thought he was primed to be our back up after last season. I'll echo everything StingUpdates said about the flashes he showed last year. Think he possesses a lot of the right tools to become an eventual starter in this league. I don't care for any argument regarding his stats because any young goaltender would have had those under the Stings weak roster last year. His size and athletic ability is top notch, there's not doubting that. Hoping this is just to help build some confidence and that he finds his way back eventually to be able to prove himself.

That being said, I personally have seen hardly anything of Maillet so I'll refrain from commenting much on him. Seems like he has certainly earned himself an opportunity based on what ya'll have been saying on here.

I think we should expect to see Surzycia most nights. I'm doubting the Sting are going to give a 1st year goaltender any more games then what Chartier had last year. Makes for an interesting timeline for Maillets development. Technically he'd be the starter next year after only whatever amount of games he gets in this year as back-up....seems risky!


didn't Cory Conachar buy it recently?

Definitely more than that game. He was really bad in the 2nd half of last yr. Big part obviously goes to a bad, super young team in front of him but I doubt he even had a 0.850 in 2024. I just brought it up as he was in a tight battle for the #2 spot and that type of game hurt his chances a lot.

Was just OK in camp then has a bad pre season. I see the reasoning. Maybe they feel he's hit his ceiling and with Maillet there's more room to grow as a player. But I am surprised they didn't keep him up & see him in a few games, but we also don't get to see practice.

I was honestly surprised Maillet started in Saginaw. He played pretty damn well too. Stats were misleading with them folding the final 5 minutes & allowing 3. Should get 1 this weekend but yah I imagine Surzycia gets 45 starts if not 50 unless Maillet plays legitimately well in most of his starts.

And yes on Conacher being their owner. The head coach is also former NHLer Jason Williams.

 

[stingwagoner]

Feels so similar to the Grover/Surzcyia situation 3 seasons ago. Went into camp with the returning goalie looking like a decent bet to backup Gaudreau & had an unknown in Surzcyia. Camp was pretty even between the two then in Grover's final pre season start he was absolutely horrid & that ended up being the end of him here while Surzcyia became the backup & now 2 years as starter. Funny enough even how all 4 play is similar. Grover & Chartier are bigger, athletic guys who struggle with consistency & remaining poised. Surzcyia & Maillet are undersized but really battle in the net.

Chartier entered camp with a leg up due to experience & familiarity on Maillet & they played somewhat even (thought Maillet was slightly better in scrimmages) then in Chartier's final pre season start vs Windsor he really struggled & let in a brutal tying goal with 1 minute left. I commented on here after that it was the kind of game that costs you a spot & I think it very well might have.

Sucks though. Chartier really showed flashes last yr especially at the start that he might be a good goalie in this league, but really battles consistency issues & struggles remaining calm in the net. Might not be the end of him with us crazier things have happened but barring an injury or Maillet really struggling it likely is.

Also, very clear Strathroy is who the team favours for sending guys too over the Legionnaires. Denes, Gaughan, Chamberlain (before making it) & now Chartier all sent there. As I've said before I'm happy about it. Former NHLer is the owner. They usually are solid compared to the Legionnaires who've been a tire fire.

Thought chartier had alot of promise my knock on him is over playing like benny used to do. Goalies that succeed are positional sound not always the best athletes. Can't teach size and athleticism think we are sending him down as no interest from other teams to trade at this time. Way better to send down and play than to waive him and lose any value. We also dont know if he asked for a trade and needs to play to draw interest.