I have been a STH since 1999, followed this team in it's up's and it's down's. Since the new ownership have come along they have done nothing but improve in every area. They have been in the Top 10 of the CHL the entire season, set point records, have players in top stats in many categories , attendance is rising and are heading into the playoffs with high expectations. Congratulations Sting players and owners you deserve a pat on the back .
Sarnia Sting 2018 Offseason Thread
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Texcanuck
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Agree as well.
They’ve played great stretches of hockey, unlike anything we’ve ever seen here, including over the past month and a half where they have had virtually nothing to play for in the standings.
Like any hockey team, they have some off games but they’re finding ways to win a decent amount of those ones as well.
Looking forward to the playoffs, which they’re aptly calling “The Real Season” on their website. It’s just such a change in attitude for this team and it’s history of mediocre play, year in and year out. As a fan, I’m looking for something great.
They have done an amazing job. 100x better than the Ciccarelli's. You can tell they care about winning and by the new score board they care about the fans and the future. lol next step is dropping the beer prices from 9.50 to something logical.
Texcanuck
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Random thoughts:
- remember a month ago when it was all Kyrou vs Frost when discussing scoring titles. You can Luchuk that one out the window.
- speaking of Kyrou, hope he is able to get rid of the face shield by playoff time. Hasn’t played worth a hoot since it appeared.
- looks likely that Windsor will be our 1st round opponent, based on the schedule. They have Niagara, Owen Sound, Flint & Saginaw left. Guelph has Kitchener twice & Erie. Saginaw has Kitchener, Soo, London & Windsor. I may be wrong but I see Windsor taking at least 2 of their 4 and Guelph & Saggy winning 1 each at the most. DiPietro vs Fazio. Here we go...
- Fazio best homegrown, played at home player in Sting history. Haven’t done research, but I’m betting on it.
- speaking of Fazio, we have no games for at least 5 days at the end of the season; that’s lots of rest before playoffs. Far as I am concerned, he can start the last 3 and it won’t hurt. Speaking of hurt... don’t get hurt!!!
- remember a month ago when it was all Kyrou vs Frost when discussing scoring titles. You can Luchuk that one out the window.
- speaking of Kyrou, hope he is able to get rid of the face shield by playoff time. Hasn’t played worth a hoot since it appeared.
- looks likely that Windsor will be our 1st round opponent, based on the schedule. They have Niagara, Owen Sound, Flint & Saginaw left. Guelph has Kitchener twice & Erie. Saginaw has Kitchener, Soo, London & Windsor. I may be wrong but I see Windsor taking at least 2 of their 4 and Guelph & Saggy winning 1 each at the most. DiPietro vs Fazio. Here we go...
- Fazio best homegrown, played at home player in Sting history. Haven’t done research, but I’m betting on it.
- speaking of Fazio, we have no games for at least 5 days at the end of the season; that’s lots of rest before playoffs. Far as I am concerned, he can start the last 3 and it won’t hurt. Speaking of hurt... don’t get hurt!!!
StingDrone
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That would probably be a safe bet, Texcanuck. According to HockeyDB.com, 19 Sarnia natives have played for the Sting. They are: Mateo Ciccarelli, Justin Fazio, Jamie Fraser, Shawn Futers, Jordan Gladwish, Steve Haddon, Ryan Hare, Shawn Harris, Jordan Hill, Darryl Knight, Zack McQueen, Dustin McArthur, Brock Perry, Tyler Peters, Rodney Richard, Brad Smulders, Franco Sproviero, Nick Sproviero and Tim Verbeek.
I would agree that Fazio would be #1, followed by Ryan Hare, Jamie Fraser, Darryl Knight and Franco Sproviero
The complete Sting all-time roster is at: Sarnia Sting all-time player list at hockeydb.com
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Texcanuck
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Thx StingDrone. The other guy who crossed my mind was Mortier, waaaay back when, but I guess he was from Forest. And while he was decent , I don’t think he brought game-breaker stuff to the team.
DavePoulin4PM
2x NHL all star, Selke winner, NHL exec
- Nov 6, 2017
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None of that matters unless they get out of the 2nd round. Playoff success is the only thing that matters at this point. Fans like you are part of the reason why this franchise has been a disgrace for over 2 decades. Keep tolerating the mediocrity.
What a disgusting thing to say to one of your fellow fans.
Maybe he or she just loves to watch junior hockey and support the players who give everything every night to play for the fans that show up. Kids that move to a different city away from home just to play the game they love. I know this is not my teams board and I apologize for hijacking but that was a pretty ignorant comment. Maybe the good fans of Sarnia don't need you supporting the team.
dansk55
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- Jul 30, 2010
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Nothing wrong with tinkering when it isn't desperation. One or two flat games does not mean panic.
I don't have all the answers but i certainly would change things. When you played in the O, did you have mental acuity for 68 games? So i am thinking the lazy Slovak, as i think someone called Ruzicka, and other lazy players are mentally fatigued at times. There is no reason not to rest some players and play the horde of rookies sitting in the stands. That aside i would put 21, 46 and 12 on the same line. 17,16 and 10. Then 13, 25 and 19 if he stay healthy. Finally 27, 26 and 39. I would rotate Eggert and Hough in the playoffs for a bit of toughness.
And no matter how hard 26 plays, and no matter how big a fan favourite he is, he is not a #1 forward. His strength is the PK.
Wonder why we have trouble getting out of our own end. Our breakout is easily cracked and we often buckle under pressure.. I thought Guelph had a better transition game for a bunch of young kids than we did Saturday.
There you go Ferda... take a crack. What would you do?
I think he was comparing how the ciccarellis didn’t put a winning product on the ice or even a contending team with the 20 years they had the team (with most years being out of the playoffs and getting blown out of games) and letting the arena go to shit... compared to Hatcher and legwand having this team in the playoffs all three years they have been here, one year winning their division and another year finishing second in the entire league and being a true contender.. ciccarellis had the organization in the bottom of the league, Hatcher/legwand have turned the organization around on and off the ice in 3 years and they seem like they are going to Continue to build on that.... as far as I’m concerned if you are waiting for the team to get passed the 2nd round to celebrate you can sit your ass at home, because this is a whole new organization that sarnia has never seen before and should be proud of, if you can’t celebrate that then you shouldn’t be at the rink.
Texcanuck
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Have to disagree with Poulin...
There are no guarantees in the playoffs. It’s about having the hot goalie versus playing against the hot goalie. It’s about your key players staying injury-free. It’s about a little bit of puck luck when you need it most. If the sting get beat in the first round, that would be a bitter failure. Past that, I believe any of the 1 thru 5 seeds in the western conference can get hot and go all the way. Team that works the hardest has the best chance.
One thing I find interesting is that, aside from Raaymakers in London, not a whole lot of career playoff wins among the rest of the starting goalies in the top 5 in the West. Might be meaningful; might not???
There are no guarantees in the playoffs. It’s about having the hot goalie versus playing against the hot goalie. It’s about your key players staying injury-free. It’s about a little bit of puck luck when you need it most. If the sting get beat in the first round, that would be a bitter failure. Past that, I believe any of the 1 thru 5 seeds in the western conference can get hot and go all the way. Team that works the hardest has the best chance.
One thing I find interesting is that, aside from Raaymakers in London, not a whole lot of career playoff wins among the rest of the starting goalies in the top 5 in the West. Might be meaningful; might not???
Ferda11
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I have no issues sitting Ruzicka, He doesn't seem too interested since after Christmas. I also don't have issues with Fazio or Kyrou sitting the next few either. My issue is the lack of 60 min efforts being put forth heading into the playoffs and the inconsistency our top players have been showing. If they aren't going to play to their ability then why play at all? get the rookies in for sure. Give the big guns some rest. However it would be a little more comforting to see this team get into playoff mode sooner rather then later. Part of me thinks they are just taking it easy down the stretch here and saving it for playoffs but another part of me thinks they are actually just playing bad hockey and that is concerning for a team of this caliber.
As far as the lines go, I'm not sure. They had some good chemistry going before so maybe its time to reunite 17 and 25 for the next few games to see how that pans out. Maybe having 16 who has 27 goals on the 4th line should come up the depth chart?
BoxerMax
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One thing everyone needs to remember, besides the coaching staff, the rest of the management team was in place before the current ownership bought the team.
Thats a tough one, pretty sure he won't go on the have a successful NHL career. The question is do you only retire numbers based on NHL performance or OHL performance. Seems like you need both to get your OHL jersey retired.
Texcanuck
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Somehow I think Sinclair has distinctly different guidelines under the current regime than with previous owners. We would have never seen anything like the Konecny trade and this year’s deals in the Ciccarelli era. I think there’s a completely different philosophy in the GM office, yielding completely different results.
Texcanuck
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Regarding 16 (and 26, for that matter), I believe having them on 4th line actually benefits the team. Their major contribution is special teams and logging 4th line minutes while 5 on 5 keeps them relatively fresh for their key roles on PP (16) & PK (both).
Will be interesting to see if Hatcher still rolls 4 lines & 6 D in playoff. I haven’t been really tracking but I feel like I’m seeing a lot more lines 1&2 and a whole lot of Dineen & Eliot lately.
Ferda11
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You're not wrong Tex..I've defiantly noticed 4 and 22 logging some extra mins. But one thing that has been a constant is all 4 lines have always rolled, with no line getting any noticeable extra time then the others....and that SHOULD benefit this team in a 7 game series. We saw what happened to OS when they basically rolled two lines and eventually fell apart in the 3rd period because of how gassed they were.
So the fact that we have been rolling 4 lines consistently all year long makes it all the more frustrating when your top guys are playing as lazy and as unmotivated as someone like Ruzicka has been. Everyone suffers from a off night and it is expected, but there have been too many from our top guys and its concerning.
So the fact that we have been rolling 4 lines consistently all year long makes it all the more frustrating when your top guys are playing as lazy and as unmotivated as someone like Ruzicka has been. Everyone suffers from a off night and it is expected, but there have been too many from our top guys and its concerning.
Ferda11
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Where do you see that? I heard the Friday and Saturday...nothing confirmed anywhere though.
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