Gaudreau simply can't be our no. 1 goalie if we want to compete
Sarnia Sting 2022-23 Season Thread
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Imagine losing 10-0 to a team that just traded away it's best player. At what point do we look at the coaching? What has Letang ever done as a head coach in the OHL? Not a lot of coaching experience behind Sarnia's bench with those 3 guys.... quite frankly I bet Haley and Staubitz bring nothing to the table in terms of strategy or making anyone better. The second Max Namestnikov gets outta town he looks like the best player in the league. I hate to keep beating a dead horse but Gaudreau is awful. We would have been much better with Thornton. Sarnia should go after one of the Soo's goalies or something. Sarnia has 5 days or so off so lets see what happens when Oshawa rolls into town.
Flint also traded away Petrovsky, and Guryev and Stojkov didnt play tonight. They had 2 rookie dmen and 3 rookie forwards in the lineup.
Maybe just an off day for Sarnia.
Maybe just an off day for Sarnia.
StingUpdates
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We're really gonna lose our minds over 1 bad (really bad) loss with 4D & our leading scorer out on a back2back?
Flint's a good team & as Letang said last night the team is tired & beat up. The writing was on the wall for this to be a blowout. Especially when you take a double-minor & a 5 min major.
Idk. Not gonna lose my sh*t over it. I certainly want more from Gaudreau but the rest is what it is. A loss is a loss.
Flint's a good team & as Letang said last night the team is tired & beat up. The writing was on the wall for this to be a blowout. Especially when you take a double-minor & a 5 min major.
Idk. Not gonna lose my sh*t over it. I certainly want more from Gaudreau but the rest is what it is. A loss is a loss.
I dont think anyone is losing their shit... just calling it like we see it... Also I disagree I don't think Flint is all that good. Flint doesn't think Flint is good either or they wouldn't have traded away their best players. Flint is on a back to back with guys out too and while trading their best players ... Same with Saginaw. I dunno I just get bad vibes form this team starting with the goalie and the coaching in general.
StingUpdates
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Flint is still good. They are going to add. I can see your reasoning for Gaudreau, but Letang?
They've been dismantled by injuries for over a month. Missing almost the entirety of their Top-4 & they are tied for 4th & sit 1 pt back of 3rd. What more could u ask from him? He's gotten kids to come in & play good D with 0 experience.
Their PK was great until the last few nights. I just don't agree whatsoever with calling him out. He's done a great job with the hand this teams been dealt IMO.
I agree. This D has been patched together for weeks with gum and foil and has performed amazingly. It was bound to crash eventually but you would hope your 'stud' goalie would stand on his head for the boys when required but that hasn't happened in a long while.
Also, MacDonell can't be expected to fight 6'4" 20 yr olds, no matter how tough he is (and damn he is tough). Seca needs to toughen this team up before the playoffs.
I’m a MacDonnell fan. I have been for awhile now. He did pretty damn good there. When it started I said out loud “Uh-oh. MacDonnell is in trouble.” I’ll watch it again tomorrow because I didn’t get a great view because of the angle and fans but from I what I saw he was holding his own pretty good because it looked like Piercey was trying to land one giant haymaker. It’s not just a 20yo, that’s probably one of the top 2-3-4? fighters in the league. One of the others was in the press box for Flint tonight.
lol agree hes average but average is still better than what Gaudreau is.... this team would be higher in the standings if the just got average goaltending.
yah I don't know what goes on behind the scenes ect..... kinda dumb to call out the coaching on my part I agree... just frustrated ... especially from the Saginaw game because I was there. Thats now a few games where I've attended that have ben absolute duds.... The Sting are notorious for putting up duds on home ice.
Texcanuck
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Just make the damn playoffs and be healthy at the end of March. Do all your stupid sh*t and get your suspensions out of your system now, not in the spring. Learn how to deal with adversity now, because you’re bound to face some at playoff time.
10-0 or 3-2, a loss is a loss. At 3-2, there’s always a woulda, shoulda, coulda… none of that at 10-0. Look in the mirror, laugh at yourself & move on.
10-0 or 3-2, a loss is a loss. At 3-2, there’s always a woulda, shoulda, coulda… none of that at 10-0. Look in the mirror, laugh at yourself & move on.
I think the organization has ruined him, when he came into this league as a 16 year old he was a stud all year long standing on his head. His numbers were only average in his 16 year old season but they were excellent because he was 16 and the sting got absolutely walked all over every game and he stood on his head to win us games or atleast give us a chance. Also he’s proven to be world class in big games. He was unreal in the U18 tournament with good numbers and he stood on his head and put up real good numbers in the series vs windsor last year. Hopefully he returns to that form before playoffs or atleast when playoffs start. Either way we need a solid back up because whether or not gaudreau returns to form we will need a capable guy behind him incase he gets injured. Having a reliable back up might take pressure off of him and relive some of the workload too.
The fact that they traded Thornton and kept gaudreau makes sense I suppose, but the management clearly overvalued grover and made a huge mistake in judgement which gives us fans many reasons to believe that their decisions making is piss poor. They now have to get an average at worst backup goalie if this is the so called year we make a run. Would also be nice if they would update the fans once and awhile on injuries and timelines for return. People saying that a 10-0 loss vrs a 3-2 loss is the same and meaningless, shake your head. Have you ever played competive hockey? Trust me it means something
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TcNorth
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Just remember, Flint isnt as good as the score last night and Sarnia isnt that bad. Last night yes. Overall no.
Ferda11
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Didn’t see any of the game last night. Only the score. Had a feeling it was going to be a blowout type game. This depleted blue line can only play above their level for so long. It’s just a shame the goaltender can’t help the team out in situations like this. I get everyone’s frustration. It’s hard to not to want to call out everyone and everything after an embarrassing loss like that. Still really need to see this team fully healthy before I write them off in any sense.
StingUpdates
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I've definitely been the Gaudreau "defender" if you will. I 100% believed he'd be an elite, top 3 goalie this year & I feel I had reason, too.
He was sensational in the playoffs last year. One of the best playoff performances I've seen from a Sting netminder. We've been a putrid, horrific defensive team throughout his tenure so I never overly cared about his stats as the eye test (for me at least) showed he was very good.
But there's no denying or defending his play this year. We don't allow 30+ shots a game. We don't allow chance after chance. We actually defend really well on a majority of nights.
He's been outplayed by the opposing goalie in a lot of games. I was really encouraged as until Friday he started to look like the guy I expected the previous 5-6 starts. But he was a tire fire this weekend.
It's actually nuts he's the odds on favorite to be on Canada because frankly he doesn't deserve too. We can only hope what happened w/Martone happens with him. Go there, play well get his confidence & when he comes back he's a new man.
He's their guy. They will stick with him. Now they may go get a backup (Ivanov?) & if he's outplaying him then there could be a controversy, but there's no chance Ben is moved out & I'm not saying that as a fan of his, but because they've invested so much in him it's sink or swim I believe.
He was sensational in the playoffs last year. One of the best playoff performances I've seen from a Sting netminder. We've been a putrid, horrific defensive team throughout his tenure so I never overly cared about his stats as the eye test (for me at least) showed he was very good.
But there's no denying or defending his play this year. We don't allow 30+ shots a game. We don't allow chance after chance. We actually defend really well on a majority of nights.
He's been outplayed by the opposing goalie in a lot of games. I was really encouraged as until Friday he started to look like the guy I expected the previous 5-6 starts. But he was a tire fire this weekend.
It's actually nuts he's the odds on favorite to be on Canada because frankly he doesn't deserve too. We can only hope what happened w/Martone happens with him. Go there, play well get his confidence & when he comes back he's a new man.
He's their guy. They will stick with him. Now they may go get a backup (Ivanov?) & if he's outplaying him then there could be a controversy, but there's no chance Ben is moved out & I'm not saying that as a fan of his, but because they've invested so much in him it's sink or swim I believe.
StingUpdates
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This will be the only thing I remember from last night's game. What a warrior MacDonell is. This had to be one of the biggest size mismatches I've seen in a fight & the kid won the damn fight.
Not to mention OA vs 17 yr old. I'd like to think he won't be suspended for the hit, but the league is so incredibly soft now he probably will which will be just another body out for us.
Regardless he should be the next captain. If Dillingham got traded or went down he'd be my pick right now. Love everything about the kid.
Not exactly what you're looking for from a 12th overall pick or whatever he was. I like him a ton but I wish he'd contribute more offensively.I dont think hes that guy.
StingUpdates
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I wish he'd be a bit more consistent (still is only 17) on the offensive side, but among guys drafted in his class, he is ~
Tied for 6th in goals with 21. 4 of the guys ahead were taken top 6 & 1 of the others is Rehkopf, who said he was going NCAA.
13th (his draft spot) for points with 35 with 8 of the guys being taken ahead & Rehkopf having more.
He brings so much more to the table, too with physicality, effort, grit, PK work, etc.
Looking at who was taken after there are maybe 2 or 3 guys I'd prefer, one being Rehkopf, who, as I said, was doing the NCAA card, so it would've been a gamble. Barkey in LDN, but he is even smaller than MacDonell & doesn't play with any grit, so we'd be incredibly soft. Last would be Pinelli in OTT who's putting up points (also small), but I honestly can't tell u how he plays.
Suppose we shouldn't be surprised as that was the covid class, but not much great talent came out of it past a few. A lot of solid guys but not much superstar level.
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yah that was the covid year I think so it would have been really hard to make any picks that year.
StingUpdates
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Still doesn't lesson the blow how much of a bust Lalkin was haha. Another elite 2nd Round pick by us! Comical at this point.
StingUpdates
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