Sarnia Sting 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I

[stingwagoner]

Our pk is aweful, we play any team with good coach they pick us apart because we don't pressure on pk. We have so much speed on team we could be so dangerous with pressure. Sad that coaches don't pressure and we give up seditary goals

 

[NBBFan]

No Karimov or Kostuch in OT. Di Iorio and Edwards 1 shift in OT. Johnston out there for 3 of 5 minutes. Just nuts.

 

[JAMER]

We didn't deserve to win this game. It's one of those wins where u feel like u lost in a way. That 3rd period was horrific. If we play like this Sunday it will be a blow out.

 

[stingwagoner]

You know I'm super shocked Johnston didn't take the shootout as much as he played tonight OMG.

Good for Di iorio for finally scoring on shootout 1/4 and wainwright another slick shootout goals give him 3/3 on year now in shootouts.
Well after 1st period I would say Letang dialed some lines up had some jump or maybe Ottawa was asleep? now I say that blender isn't working use the magic bullet.and work the lines out.

Kostuch played his best game as a sting tonight legs were jumping and he was into the play alot great pass ans stay with play on Di iorio goal. Not to get on ice in OT though, is a head scratcher.

Brown, I don't know what to say looks like different player from last year. He is starting to get me worried little bit with him. Little surprised johnston played over him just effort alone brown kills Johnston.

Edward's too, looks different on wing than in the middle like him better as 3rd line center, that's just me.

Well buzz back in W column, felt like loss the way we continually tried to shoot ourselves in foot with soft penalties. time to prep for sunday need to have better defensive effort sunday and ofcourse change lines again lol

 

[StingUpdates]

Di Iorio was awesome. 1G/2A, shootout winner. 1 shift in OT is f*cking criminal. Loved his chemistry with Kostuch & Doucette. 18s best game of the yr. That looked like 2nd half Kostuch from last yr. Utter insanity he didn't get an OT shift. Let's hope this can become a go to trio the rest of the way.

Filak 8PT last 8GP. 17/30 on draws tonight. Wainwright no points but won 16/22. I'm hating Edwards on the wing. He isn't getting the puck at all now. He doesn't mesh all that well with Wainwright who's all gas no brakes & Beckham is more methodical, slow.

Karimov was good, but barely played in the 3rd & also didn't see an OT shift. Stupidity. Brown looks lost. He's trying his hardest, but he is somehow making every wrong read & play. He needs a flukey goal. badly. Also no OT shift but frankly cant complain with his current play.

Hibbert-Bridgewater was our best pair lol. Didn't expect to say that, but they were. Both +2. Had some bad shifts, but for the most part just played smart, efficient & hard. Bridgwater was our best D all night I thought. Hurt is strugggggggling. Hope Young's absence is short.

That's all the positives. Surzycia stole that game. He was outrageous. 42 fricken saves. SO many of high quality especially in the 3rd & OT then 2/2 in shootout. Cant speak highly enough of that kid. He just keeps improving. Sole reason this team has a couple wins this yr & has kept them in a lot of games.

Won't lie had they lost I was only gonna comment "Fire the coaches into the sun" lol. PK is god awful. Stood back & let Ottawa do whatever they wanted. ZERO aggression which is what made their PK elite a month ago. Johnston was truly horrific tonight & had to of played more than maybe any game he has all yr. No 18/19 in OT. 17 gets one shift, but 37 is out there turning it over constantly.

If they play Sunday like they did the 2nd & especially the 3rd tonight they will be RAN out of their own building.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Glad they finally got a win! Kostuch is a different player when he gets his feet moving. Was more active defensively, picking off a few passes at the line in his own zone. Hopefully we see that version of him going forward. Glad to see 5v5 offence from Di Iorio. He's been great on the PP but has struggled at 5v5 at times. Surzycia was outstanding especially in the third and OT. We'd have a record similar to Peterborough if it weren't for him. Undoubtedly Sarnia's MVP.

Honestly, they didn't deserve to win tonight. We've seen good first periods against Kitchener and Ottawa, but then teams figure out that the Sting's d-core gets sloppy when you pressure them. Fischer and Young can make a good first pass or skate them out of trouble but nobody else on the d-core can do that consistently. I think Letang knows that and that's why Bridgewater is getting ice time because he can do that a bit. The reason Hurt and Bodin are struggling is because they don't have a puck mover playing with them. Neither has a good first pass to get you out of the d-zone. They'll turn it over or flip to the neutral zone if they feel the pressure. They both need to improve on that.

The team has to be more disciplined. How do you stop giving up as many PP goals? Well, you can help yourself by not taking bad penalties. O-zone penalties by Johnston and Wainwright and a undisciplined roughing penalty by Andersen cost them. When people get healthy I wouldn't be against sitting Andersen the majority of the time. He has to learn to be smarter if he wants to be a full-time OHL d-man.

Glad they got the W but this game didn't make me anymore confident about this team. Same mistakes but Surzycia bailed them out. Hope we see a better effort in all facets against Barrie on Sunday

 

[StingUpdates]

Glad they finally got a win! Kostuch is a different player when he gets his feet moving. Was more active defensively, picking off a few passes at the line in his own zone. Hopefully we see that version of him going forward. Glad to see 5v5 offence from Di Iorio. He's been great on the PP but has struggled at 5v5 at times. Surzycia was outstanding especially in the third and OT. We'd have a record similar to Peterborough if it weren't for him. Undoubtedly Sarnia's MVP.

Honestly, they didn't deserve to win tonight. We've seen good first periods against Kitchener and Ottawa, but then teams figure out that the Sting's d-core gets sloppy when you pressure them. Fischer and Young can make a good first pass or skate them out of trouble but nobody else on the d-core can do that consistently. I think Letang knows that and that's why Bridgewater is getting ice time because he can do that a bit. The reason Hurt and Bodin are struggling is because they don't have a puck mover playing with them. Neither has a good first pass to get you out of the d-zone. They'll turn it over or flip to the neutral zone if they feel the pressure. They both need to improve on that.

The team has to be more disciplined. How do you stop giving up as many PP goals? Well, you can help yourself by not taking bad penalties. O-zone penalties by Johnston and Wainwright and a undisciplined roughing penalty by Andersen cost them. When people get healthy I wouldn't be against sitting Andersen the majority of the time. He has to learn to be smarter if he wants to be a full-time OHL d-man.

Glad they got the W but this game didn't make me anymore confident about this team. Same mistakes but Surzycia bailed them out. Hope we see a better effort in all facets against Barrie on Sunday

Great points. They desperately need Fischer back. Young as well. They push everyone down a spot. Take so much pressure off the others. That is easily Hurt's biggest weakness right now.

I like Andersen's snarl & grit, but yah he's way to reckless. Can't be taking 1 bad penalty a game let alone in tight games.

Gotta get back to
13-9
5-72
16-43

Got a good skater on each pair, good passer on each pair to help them get out quicker & get going offensively. I do think Bridgewater has steadily gotten better. Been nice to see.

No clue what to do with the lines. Gotta keep 18/17/25 together. I don't mind 23/11/19 together. 12 has to stick at C but 81 looks significantly worse at wing. Beamish is also a C but no room there for him so he'll be on wing but with who?

 

[StingUpdates]

Seca interviewed with the observer. Definitely seems a bit annoyed that they have the most games played & had such a brutal road trip that ended with playing a rested KIT team while Sarnia had a 3in3.

He like us pretty much said from the get go he knew that stretch would be terrible.

Also interesting he says he believes in the group, he believes in where they are going in future seasons then said I still believe in our coaches.

Might be looking to far into it but saying I still believe in them when he didn't use still for the team & it's future tells me maybe some doubts have crept in. Also said "you can just see a good number of players aren’t playing to their ability or their capacity."

Mentioned the 2nd half being a huge opportunity with it being a lot more favorable. I'd have to think if our 17 yr olds don't get it going a bit & they underperform with that easier schedule we maybe see a coaching change

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Great points. They desperately need Fischer back. Young as well. They push everyone down a spot. Take so much pressure off the others. That is easily Hurt's biggest weakness right now.

I like Andersen's snarl & grit, but yah he's way to reckless. Can't be taking 1 bad penalty a game let alone in tight games.

Gotta get back to
13-9
5-72
16-43

Got a good skater on each pair, good passer on each pair to help them get out quicker & get going offensively. I do think Bridgewater has steadily gotten better. Been nice to see.

No clue what to do with the lines. Gotta keep 18/17/25 together. I don't mind 23/11/19 together. 12 has to stick at C but 81 looks significantly worse at wing. Beamish is also a C but no room there for him so he'll be on wing but with who?

It will be interesting to see what they do at centre. Filak and Wainwright have the capability to shift to the wing but I wouldn't want to do that. You could shift both the rookies there but that wouldn't be ideal for their development. I wouldn't hate trying Di Iorio on the wing with Edwards shifting back to centre. Stick him in the middle of the Di Iorio & Kostuch pairing that worked well together. Move Doucette up to play with Wainwright. No clue who would drop out of the top 9. I would like it to be Johnston. Feels more likely it will be Brown or Karimov

 

[stingwagoner]

Don't think Beamish is coming to play 4th line., but yet karimov looks like he will be there by letang and letang likes to bury his guys in draft years which will force karimov to stay home after christmas, thats my bet in his draft year
Letang has always shafted his players during that time over showcasing them like other teams.
Brown is struggling but has played 1 game with wainwright (where he had his best game) and then been mixed around. Confusing for a video guy like letang that went unnoticed.
Beamish will have to move to wing on this team as Edward's needs to get back to the middle as he has disappeared when playing wing. As mush as filak has played decent in middle he still is our best option on wing as we need to keep di iorio on center for our future and Edward's. Filak gone at end of year so we need to move away from him there if we are to get better.
Johnston doesn't help his linemates so he needs to go to 4th or just go away lol
Think he is on trade block with moses now too as moses has dropped to 4th line at best on this team, he isn't playing his 4th line role play isn't physical enough for that spot and can't think game quick enough to be top 9 on this team. Needs to embrace 4th line role or get moved. Gaughan last game for a while forsure. Also puts alot of pressure on Hall as missed entire year and I see it hard with this group to get him top 9.
Anyway we have peices but I think we would be further along with a coach like Cameron, Walter's butler etc our group could be so good if we had a coach. I've been saying that for last 3 years now more than ever Letang is good Assistant coach just not a leader. Team has taken his personality soft and cautious. Not a good combination with a change to a harder coach we would probably change identities immediately for better.
This will essentially all fall back on SECA, team has great potential but at this moment it's all potential and could become wasted opportunity if we don't get the right leader in charge or letang learns in a hurry and gets great supporting staff, our staff is inexperienced and just taking us down wrong path especially with Pp and PK OMG whoever heads that needs to go.

With beamish coming in we 1000% making moves, johnston's future looks Dim, but maybe we see Wainwright, Young, filak, Doucette even kostuch or Brown moved get back assets and perhaps more pieces for the future. Can we trade for a coach?
My 2 cents

 

[Stingfan91]

I come on here and read these posts every day and get my good laugh for the day…everyone gets mad when letang uses a “blender” to change the lines every game and you guys beat him down for it and say “just keep lines together and stick to them for a while”, then after every game I see you guys say he’s lines are wrong and should change them up…just straight comical stuff…and again back to what I said before, a mid season coaching change isn’t as simple as it seems, great coaches like Cameron, Walters, and Butler aren’t just sitting at home right now looking for a job. Even if they hired a different staff by Christmas it would take pretty much the rest of the year to get used to that coaches new system (with the young team we have, it will take that long) and we would be at the bottom of the conference still or just sneak into playoffs to end up playing London, Kitchener, or Windsor and get swept and still be in the situation we are now. With this team we have of only 1 NHL prospect and being so young, it will take time to get back where we were a few years ago. Now, is letang gods gift to coaching? Not even close, there are things I don’t agree with what he does, but he has a pretty good resume with multiple u18 and world jr gold medals, and turned a Owen sound attack team (with no big star players) into a good hockey team before coming here, and took us to the farthest out franchise has even been.

 

[stingwagoner]

That's not true, resume? All fluff, unless it's his associate coaches that make him look bad most times. Owen sound hahaha was already in place when stepped in. Just don't see the development from guys that should be developing that's on staff, we should be further ahead here in development.
Regression is a word that is on coaches.
We have some regression.
Brown
Kostuch(not last night)
Hurt
Assistant cosches(lol)
To name some key peices

I will agree that we disagree with outlook

 

[Stingfan91]

Agree to disagree works for me, I guess all we can do is wait to see how it turns out the rest of the year and next few years

 

[JAMER]

Heard a rumor this morning that Beamish is in town. If true I wonder if we see him play tomorrow. I also wonder when the Sting will make an announcement.

 

[Flyers 1st]

I come on here and read these posts every day and get my good laugh for the day…everyone gets mad when letang uses a “blender” to change the lines every game and you guys beat him down for it and say “just keep lines together and stick to them for a while”, then after every game I see you guys say he’s lines are wrong and should change them up…just straight comical stuff…and again back to what I said before, a mid season coaching change isn’t as simple as it seems, great coaches like Cameron, Walters, and Butler aren’t just sitting at home right now looking for a job. Even if they hired a different staff by Christmas it would take pretty much the rest of the year to get used to that coaches new system (with the young team we have, it will take that long) and we would be at the bottom of the conference still or just sneak into playoffs to end up playing London, Kitchener, or Windsor and get swept and still be in the situation we are now. With this team we have of only 1 NHL prospect and being so young, it will take time to get back where we were a few years ago. Now, is letang gods gift to coaching? Not even close, there are things I don’t agree with what he does, but he has a pretty good resume with multiple u18 and world jr gold medals, and turned a Owen sound attack team (with no big star players) into a good hockey team before coming here, and took us to the farthest out franchise has even been.

thats so true. with such a young team , development is not wholly on Letang as a whole . These kids coming in, MUST already have as they say high hockey IQ . 6 ft 4 and 200 lbs doesn't work if you panic making a pass. All the work the coaches put it at practice negates everything if you have the puck in the corner and rather than reverse it to open ice( or opposite corner
) you shoot it into a scrum of 4 players.see this happen too many times. this is what separates Mark Hunter from everyone else , he has this uncanny sense to pick the kids with the above average skills and IQ to match

 

[JAMER]

I come on here and read these posts every day and get my good laugh for the day…everyone gets mad when letang uses a “blender” to change the lines every game and you guys beat him down for it and say “just keep lines together and stick to them for a while”, then after every game I see you guys say he’s lines are wrong and should change them up…just straight comical stuff…and again back to what I said before, a mid season coaching change isn’t as simple as it seems, great coaches like Cameron, Walters, and Butler aren’t just sitting at home right now looking for a job. Even if they hired a different staff by Christmas it would take pretty much the rest of the year to get used to that coaches new system (with the young team we have, it will take that long) and we would be at the bottom of the conference still or just sneak into playoffs to end up playing London, Kitchener, or Windsor and get swept and still be in the situation we are now. With this team we have of only 1 NHL prospect and being so young, it will take time to get back where we were a few years ago. Now, is letang gods gift to coaching? Not even close, there are things I don’t agree with what he does, but he has a pretty good resume with multiple u18 and world jr gold medals, and turned a Owen sound attack team (with no big star players) into a good hockey team before coming here, and took us to the farthest out franchise has even been.

Look u can think people having different opinions are funny all u want. My issue with the lines are. No matter how good or bad they are they always get changed. Also with Letang remind me did Owen Sound ever win a title or championship when he was there. Also yes he won a gold at the u18s as a video coach on a LOADED team. And yes he won gold at the WJC but not as a head coach. When was the head coach at the WJ they did the worst they have done In a long time. And yes they didn't have a LOADED team but they where still good enough to have won a medal. But the main issue I have with this group is that I haven't seen any improvement in any aspect of there game from last year to this year. In some aspects we're actually getting worse for example the PP and PK.

 

[StingUpdates]

I just want some set lines & for him to stick with them for more than 1 game. Brown, Kostuch, Karimov haven't produced a ton but it sure as heck doesn't help when u have new linemates literally every weekend.

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov looked good & was the best 23 played all yr. Lasted like 2 games. Now Edwards is swapping between C & wing.

Moses has bounced around to each line for like a month. Filak has been 3LW, 2LW, 1LW, 2C, 1C.

Even the D swap partners literally every other shift. That's been a Letang staple for years & while I don't hate it, I do question it at times.

Dave mentioned it he does all this never ending tinkering, but then there's seemingly no adjustments to there strategies. They are horrid on the PP, PK, 4on4, 3on3. How is that even possible.

Ottawa's roster is not very strong & they looked MILES better than Sarnia for team cohesion, structure, special teams.

Maybe brown is overrated by me and he just isn't as good as he looked, but every 17 yr old on the team is struggling, stagnating at the same time & that's as big a red flag as one can have in Jr hockey.

Trust me I try to be mr optimistic (outside playoffs lol) with this team & I've defended Letang his entire tenure. Just seeing some very concerning trends, habits.

Heard a rumor this morning that Beamish is in town. If true I wonder if we see him play tomorrow. I also wonder when the Sting will make an announcement.

Be nice. Came from a long way though. Could see them just letting him settle in then play Wednesday. Kitchener did that with Pridham.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Sting make the Beamish signing official. They confirmed that he would make his debut on Wednesday night against Flint

 

[StingUpdates]

Tweeted his highlights.

From a few ppl I've talked to he sounds a bit like Edwards. High IQ, methodical scorer that's reliable in all 3 zones.

Looks like he has a pretty nice shot. Be interesting to see where he fits into the lineup & with who. Hopefully can provide a boost!

 

[Stingfan91]

Look u can think people having different opinions are funny all u want. My issue with the lines are. No matter how good or bad they are they always get changed. Also with Letang remind me did Owen Sound ever win a title or championship when he was there. Also yes he won a gold at the u18s as a video coach on a LOADED team. And yes he won gold at the WJC but not as a head coach. When was the head coach at the WJ they did the worst they have done In a long time. And yes they didn't have a LOADED team but they where still good enough to have won a medal. But the main issue I have with this group is that I haven't seen any improvement in any aspect of there game from last year to this year. In some aspects we're actually getting worse for example the PP and PK.

So let’s say tomorrow morning letang and the staff are fired, what are your expectations for this team after that? And I don’t mean improvement on pk or pp or growth in players, I mean finish in the standings and how far in playoffs are you expecting them to get?

 

[JAMER]

So let’s say tomorrow morning letang and the staff are fired, what are your expectations for this team after that? And I don’t mean improvement on pk or pp or growth in players, I mean finish in the standings and how far in playoffs are you expecting them to get?

I'm hoping to finish 6-7 in the west. As for playoffs I'm hoping to be a tough out in round 1 maybe take it to 6 games.

 

[Stingfan91]

I'm hoping to finish 6-7 in the west. As for playoffs I'm hoping to be a tough out in round 1 maybe take it to 6 games.

And a new coaching staff (again there isn’t any out there sitting at home waiting for a job, and won’t be poaching top coaches from other teams mid season because the top coaches wouldn’t leave teams to come to us half way through a season), with new systems and getting used to our players will accomplish that? And make a series/ be a tough out against top teams like London, Kitchener, Windsor, Saginaw, etc. who all will only improve as the season goes along with the deadline and signings? That’s a lot to ask in my option and I’ll believe it when I see it

 

[HkyBeegs3]

So let’s say tomorrow morning letang and the staff are fired, what are your expectations for this team after that? And I don’t mean improvement on pk or pp or growth in players, I mean finish in the standings and how far in playoffs are you expecting them to get?

I think a large percentage of sting fans including myself would say that the expectation of the coach whether it's letang or not is to 100% improve the pp and pk, get some consistent line chemistry and to cut down on penalties.I think everything else takes care of itself once they crack that code lol, easier said then done but I'm not seeing it with letang. Sometimes having a new voice is what a team needs. Who is this savior of a coach? no clue but you'd have to think that there's something out there and Seca has at least peeked a bit. I hate when coaches get fired but this is a development league and when there's not a whole lot of that going on something needs to change.

 

[stingwagoner]

And a new coaching staff (again there isn’t any out there sitting at home waiting for a job, and won’t be poaching top coaches from other teams mid season because the top coaches wouldn’t leave teams to come to us half way through a season), with new systems and getting used to our players will accomplish that? And make a series/ be a tough out against top teams like London, Kitchener, Windsor, Saginaw, etc. who all will only improve as the season goes along with the deadline and signings? That’s a lot to ask in my option and I’ll believe it when I see it

Looking for better support staff, a head coach that is willing to learn and protect his players and just help them all develop.

 

[StingUpdates]

Have pretty low confidence vs Barrie who's my pick to win the OHL. This is a big, mean, elite defensive team. Not a better top-4 in the league. Some really good Fs up front too. If they want any chance they gotta play like they did in the 1st vs Ottawa all game.

Hopefully Young is back because if he isn't could definitely see Barr, Bridgewater, Hibbert having a tough go vs such a big, strong F unit.