Sarnia Sting 2022-23 Off-Season Thread (Part 5)

[nelli27]

Continued from: Sarnia Sting 2022-23 Off-Season Thread (Part 4)

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[ucanthanzalthetruth]

9

 

[StingUpdates]

Was saying to someone after the game these series ending losses at home are getting VERY tiresome. Especially the one's where we lay a complete egg.

2023 - 5-1 L to LDN to lose in 6 at home.
2022 - 3-1 L to WSR to lose in 6 at home.
2021 - no season
2020 - playoffs cancelled
2019 - 5-4 OTL to SAG to lose in 4 at home.
2018 - 6-2 L to KIT to lose in 6 at home.
2017 - 9-3 L to ER to lose in 4 at home.
2016 - 4-3 L to SSM to lose in 7 at home.
2015 - 7-0 L to ER to lose in 5 on the road!!!
2014 - Didn't make playoffs
2013 - 5-2 L to Plymouth to lose in 4 at home.

That's our last 8 playoff series. 7 of which ended on our ice. 4 of the 7 with us scoring 2 or less goals with the 2 being in ones we got swept lmao.. 3 of them 1 or 0. It's truly uncanny & some sick joke to make us sit thru it live every. fricken. season.

Wish I had your optimism @SarniaStingFan lol. I just don't see where we score goals consistently, where we defend at a good level or where we get saves at a high level. Gonna be an incredibly young team.

 

[StingUpdates]

Saw @OMG67 do this after Ottawa lost & liked it so thought I'd give it a go. Gonna "Grade" each player. Obviously gonna be a bit different cause we all had different expectations or opinions of guys before the season & during. Will do a grade for regular season & playoffs separately. Prepare to read!! Lmao.

Forwards:

Sasha Pastujov - Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs A-. He absolutely smashed the expectations I had for him when we got him. 120 point pace. Was easily our best player on a ton of nights. he often was the straw the stirred the drink. Made every player he played with far better than without him. Lead us in points in the playoffs & while he was a touch more hit or miss, he had 9 points in 6GP vs LDN in a series where goals were an absolute struggle in 4 of the 6 games. Really enjoyed watching him play.

Nolan Burke ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs A-. Just a phenomenal season from Burke. 2nd in goals in the league. always reliable for putting in a great effort. one of the heart beats of the team. 2 playoff OT winners + primary assist on our other OT win. Fought a nasty illness & still managed to be over point-per-game. Really gonna miss watching him play.

Ty Voit ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs B+. Outstanding season from Voit. Far & away the league's best playmaker. Big reason why Burke got 50 & DBB, Pasutjov got 40. Ultimately I feel like we all knew he wouldn't be able to do what he did all season in the playoffs. Still had a solid post-season with 16 points in 16 games. A true blast to watch. Gonna miss watching him make other teams look silly.

Luca Del Bel Belluz ~ Regular season ~ A-, Playoffs ~ B-. Feel like this will be one ppl disagree with, haha, but I was good with what we got from him for the most part. Took him a few weeks to get adjusted here, but once he did he absolutely took off. Helped form maybe the best 2nd line in the league. 8G/7A in 16 playoff games. Had points in 12 of the 16. He certainly was frustrating at times with the lazy passes, unwillingness to throw the body, but he was brought in to score goals & he did that at a high-level.

Marcus Limpar-Lantz ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ A-. Really solid showing for Lantz in his 1 yr in the O. Said it multiple times early in the yr but this team would've been screwed without him until they made some additions. So damn reliable. Wasn't the most dynamic guy, but when with the right guys he produced consistently. Thought he was most consistent F vs LDN in RD3. One of the few who actually got to the net & won battles consistently. He also fought an illness but still got 5G/6A in 14 games & went +6 which was best among our Fs. Wish we got more than 1 yr with him.

Sandis Vilmanis ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs C+. Of all our Fs I thought Sandis got handled the worst by the coaches. He not once played a game with Voit which to me is ridiculous & a major blunder. He struggled quite a bit post-deadline on line 3. Once he got chemistry with Lantz he picked it up & finished strong which was great. On more than a few nights he stood out on a team filled with stars. His issue was consistency. Went missing far to often & my god I've never seen a kid miss the net more. He got sick in RD2 so I wanna be fair that maybe he never fully recovered, but his RD3 performance was incredibly disappointing as someone who thinks very highly of him. He'll be our best player by a MILE next season.

Marko Sikic ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ C. Really up & down yr for Marko. I think we all argued he could be a 50-60 PT player before the yr to outsiders & even though it didn't feel like it he was (okay 49 but call it 50.) He is a dynamite 2way guy who you could always count on for the little things, but only 13 goals with line mates like Pasta/DBB is pretty rough. Wasn't for a lack of chances either he just couldn't finish to save his life at times. 1G in 15 playoff games simply isn't good enough, only had 14 shots, too. I didn't agree with Dave at the time, but he should've been put down to L3 for more offence (Vilmanis/Wainwright). Still very appreciative of how hard he works & his commitment to D. Will be our best OA next yr.

Zach Filak ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ B-. I'd say it was a fine year for Filak. Started really slow, but once he got going he was a solid contributor for us. He did a ton of dirty work for whatever line he was on. Fought threw a shoulder injury which I think affected him in the playoffs. For whatever reason he & Vilmanis just could not mesh & that really hurt our ability to role 3 consistent lines. Think he'll be a guy teams who are competing will really want next season.

Easton Wainwright ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ A. I thought Wainwright made the best of the situation he was in. Played L4 for pretty much exclusively until Christmas. He stepped up massively after the deadline when we feared 3LW would be a major weakness. continued to just get better & better. Thought he was terrific in the playoffs. Played fearless & used his speed a ton to draw penalties & create space for his line mates. Probably the player I'm most excited to see back next season.

Cooper Way ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ C. I think all of us thought wtf are we doing when we first acquired Way looking at his stats. He far surpassed me expectations. He was so reliable on the PK, late in games, down low etc. Even chipped in 15 goals. Unfortunately, maybe it got me to confident in his ability to contribute come playoffs because he was a total non-factor offensively, especially vs LDN.

Tyson Doucette ~ Regular season ~ C, Playoffs ~ C. Hard to have much expectations for a late free agent signing, but I thought Doucette did alright. I honestly could see him producing a fair bit next season in a bigger role. Always gave a good effort & was pretty responsible.

Brenden Anderson ~ Regular season ~ C, Playoffs ~ C+. Can't say I expected a ton from Anderson. He came in fantastic though. Remember thinking this kid has changed our 4th line completely. He just became very inconsistent for being willing to playing physical, gritty every night. It wouldn't of changed much likely, but I do think him getting hurt at the end of G4 actually hurt a bit. He got under a couple LDN players skin & was legitimately effective.

Doherty, Hall to small a sample to say. Did think Doherty showed legitimate improvements when he came back at year's end.

Defence:

Ethan Del Mastro ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs ~ A. One of the best deadline additions this org has ever had. An absolute game changer. It's gonna hurt watching Martone utterly dominate for years to come & likely win the league because of course, but I'd do the deal again & again. For my money the league's best defenceman outside Clarke. Probably the best Dman I've seen this team have. So bummed we only got half a season of him.

Ethan Ritchie ~ Regular season ~ A, Playoffs ~ A. Fantastic season from Ritchie. The only Dman who stayed healthy all season. So goddamn reliable. Lead the team in +/- going +39 & had 44 points playing very limited PP time, especially post-deadline with Kyrou, EDM added. Thought he was outstanding vs LDN. Highway robbery we got him for only a 6th. Phenomenal leader, too. on many nights the most vocal guy on the bench.

Nolan Dillingham ~ Regular Season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ A. I remember us talking about potentially moving off Dilly solely because of his shoulder. thankfully he was able to overcome it & stay healthy the rest of the way. Heart & soul of the backend. When he was out there was a noticeable hole. For a guy who wasn't very offensive he always seemed to score at pivotal times for this team. Really thought that tying goal in G5 was something we'd look back on as a gigantic one. Man am I gonna miss him absolutely lighting guys up with CLEAN open ice hits. Don't make many like him anymore. Fantastic captain for this team who truly loved this city & team.

Christian Kyrou ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ B+. Bit of a polarizing player, but I was quite happy with Kyrou's play with us. So dynamic & I thought he always did his best to push the play & generate offence. Had his mistakes, issues, but I loved watching him play. Thought his defensive play improved a ton just in his 3-4 months here as well.

Ryan Mast ~ Regular season ~B, Playoffs ~ B. Bit of a weird yr for Mast. Had pretty high expectations for him & at times he lived up to them & at other times he didn't. Had some bad luck with injuries. Thought he started well then fell off then when paired with Del Mastro he really settled into a shutdown role. Played thru an injury in the playoffs I believe which effected his play at times. Wish he would've learned to use his size more in his time here but some guys just don't. Not a bad Jr career for a 9th rd pick!

Lukas Fischer ~ Regular season ~A, Playoffs ~ B+. What a rookie season for Fischer who joined at a time when we only had 3 other healthy D. Could got thrown right into the fire & didn't blink. At times look overwhelmed but for the most part he looked right at home. Sky is the limit for this kid & it said a ton about his character he dropped the gloves yesterday to try & get the team going.

Josh Hoover ~ Just fricken brutal luck. Worst I have ever seen. Was carving out a legit role on this team until he got destroyed by the injuries. Fingers crossed he can get past them & catch a break.

Mitch Young ~ really happy with the progress Young showed. Also got thrown into the fire & looked like he belonged. Think he'll be a surprise for many next season.

Carson Campbell ~ Like Hoover got unlucky with multiple injuries, but before them I thought he was having a fine rookie season. Think he's got some good tools to work with.

Owen MacDonald ~ Also, suffered a bad injury. Just a hard working kid. Always know what you'll get from him.

Goalies:

Ben Gaudreau ~ Regular season ~ B-, Playoffs ~ B. A story of 2 seasons for Gaudreau. started well then totally fell apart for multiple months. Confidence clearly got rocked at a point. Was terrific once returning from WJCs. Played great at home in RD1. Struggled mightily in GUE. Phenomenal series vs SAG. Might be being kind, but I honestly was satisfied with his play vs LDN in games 1, 2, 3, 4. That one minute in G5 though is hard to forget & will bother me for a long while. G6 was what it was. wasn't good. wasn't bad. Those Benny chants were some of my favourite moments this yr. Ultimately, if his time here is done truly a roller coaster of a time. Sometimes he was the best goalie in the league & others not even close.

Nicholas Surzcyia ~ C+. He outperformed my expectations. I wanted a backup most of the yr, but he really stepped up with Ben gone & shut me up. Kid is fun to watch as he battles for everything.

GM/Coaches

Seca ~ A. Thrilled with Seca's yr as GM. Dann, Thornton moves were excellent. Loved the guys he added. More than happy with what he gave up. Didn't drain the cupboard & leave us utterly screwed. Actually has it solid. Think we are in solid hands with him. My biggest complaint would be not getting a legitimate power forward that could play anywhere in the T9. Do think options were very limited in those finals days, but, man could that have really made a difference.

Coaches ~ B+. This will be one some disagree with, haha, but I was happy with them. They got this team to play incredibly structured. one of the leagues elite defensive teams. Special teams were outstanding in 2023. Were very good on face-offs, holding leads & team discipline was the best in the league. Loved using 3Fs in 4on4 if we were trailing & loved using 3D late in games with empty nets while leading. But Letang could definitely improve on switching the lines up more, especially during games & even though you want your coaches to be laid back, calm, maybe showing a bit more emotion or urgency at times would help. U listen to Dillingham's post game interview yesterday & it says all u need to know what the players thought of Letang & Co. They absolutely loved being coached by them & credit them with changing the entire feeling & culture behind closed doors.

 

[Bra Wavers]

Unfortunate end but exciting to see things buzzing in the beehive come playoff time!
So happy for Peterborough boy Burke having such a great season.
Hoping you guys can build on this successful season and keep the momentum going.

 

[Texcanuck]

Saw @OMG67 do this after Ottawa lost & liked it so thought I'd give it a go. Gonna "Grade" each player. Obviously gonna be a bit different cause we all had different expectations or opinions of guys before the season & during. Will do a grade for regular season & playoffs separately. Prepare to read!! Lmao.

Forwards:

Sasha Pastujov - Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs A-. He absolutely smashed the expectations I had for him when we got him. 120 point pace. Was easily our best player on a ton of nights. he often was the straw the stirred the drink. Made every player he played with far better than without him. Lead us in points in the playoffs & while he was a touch more hit or miss, he had 9 points in 6GP vs LDN in a series where goals were an absolute struggle in 4 of the 6 games. Really enjoyed watching him play.

Nolan Burke ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs A-. Just a phenomenal season from Burke. 2nd in goals in the league. always reliable for putting in a great effort. one of the heart beats of the team. 2 playoff OT winners + primary assist on our other OT win. Fought a nasty illness & still managed to be over point-per-game. Really gonna miss watching him play.

Ty Voit ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs B+. Outstanding season from Voit. Far & away the league's best playmaker. Big reason why Burke got 50 & DBB, Pasutjov got 40. Ultimately I feel like we all knew he wouldn't be able to do what he did all season in the playoffs. Still had a solid post-season with 16 points in 16 games. A true blast to watch. Gonna miss watching him make other teams look silly.

Luca Del Bel Belluz ~ Regular season ~ A-, Playoffs ~ B-. Feel like this will be one ppl disagree with, haha, but I was good with what we got from him for the most part. Took him a few weeks to get adjusted here, but once he did he absolutely took off. Helped form maybe the best 2nd line in the league. 8G/7A in 16 playoff games. Had points in 12 of the 16. He certainly was frustrating at times with the lazy passes, unwillingness to throw the body, but he was brought in to score goals & he did that at a high-level.

Marcus Limpar-Lantz ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ A-. Really solid showing for Lantz in his 1 yr in the O. Said it multiple times early in the yr but this team would've been screwed without him until they made some additions. So damn reliable. Wasn't the most dynamic guy, but when with the right guys he produced consistently. Thought he was most consistent F vs LDN in RD3. One of the few who actually got to the net & won battles consistently. He also fought an illness but still got 5G/6A in 14 games & went +6 which was best among our Fs. Wish we got more than 1 yr with him.

Sandis Vilmanis ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs C+. Of all our Fs I thought Sandis got handled the worst by the coaches. He not once played a game with Voit which to me is ridiculous & a major blunder. He struggled quite a bit post-deadline on line 3. Once he got chemistry with Lantz he picked it up & finished strong which was great. On more than a few nights he stood out on a team filled with stars. His issue was consistency. Went missing far to often & my god I've never seen a kid miss the net more. He got sick in RD2 so I wanna be fair that maybe he never fully recovered, but his RD3 performance was incredibly disappointing as someone who thinks very highly of him. He'll be our best player by a MILE next season.

Marko Sikic ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ C. Really up & down yr for Marko. I think we all argued he could be a 50-60 PT player before the yr to outsiders & even though it didn't feel like it he was (okay 49 but call it 50.) He is a dynamite 2way guy who you could always count on for the little things, but only 13 goals with line mates like Pasta/DBB is pretty rough. Wasn't for a lack of chances either he just couldn't finish to save his life at times. 1G in 15 playoff games simply isn't good enough, only had 14 shots, too. I didn't agree with Dave at the time, but he should've been put down to L3 for more offence (Vilmanis/Wainwright). Still very appreciative of how hard he works & his commitment to D. Will be our best OA next yr.

Zach Filak ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ B-. I'd say it was a fine year for Filak. Started really slow, but once he got going he was a solid contributor for us. He did a ton of dirty work for whatever line he was on. Fought threw a shoulder injury which I think affected him in the playoffs. For whatever reason he & Vilmanis just could not mesh & that really hurt our ability to role 3 consistent lines. Think he'll be a guy teams who are competing will really want next season.

Easton Wainwright ~ Regular season ~ B, Playoffs ~ A. I thought Wainwright made the best of the situation he was in. Played L4 for pretty much exclusively until Christmas. He stepped up massively after the deadline when we feared 3LW would be a major weakness. continued to just get better & better. Thought he was terrific in the playoffs. Played fearless & used his speed a ton to draw penalties & create space for his line mates. Probably the player I'm most excited to see back next season.

Cooper Way ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ C. I think all of us thought wtf are we doing when we first acquired Way looking at his stats. He far surpassed me expectations. He was so reliable on the PK, late in games, down low etc. Even chipped in 15 goals. Unfortunately, maybe it got me to confident in his ability to contribute come playoffs because he was a total non-factor offensively, especially vs LDN.

Tyson Doucette ~ Regular season ~ C, Playoffs ~ C. Hard to have much expectations for a late free agent signing, but I thought Doucette did alright. I honestly could see him producing a fair bit next season in a bigger role. Always gave a good effort & was pretty responsible.

Brenden Anderson ~ Regular season ~ C, Playoffs ~ C+. Can't say I expected a ton from Anderson. He came in fantastic though. Remember thinking this kid has changed our 4th line completely. He just became very inconsistent for being willing to playing physical, gritty every night. It wouldn't of changed much likely, but I do think him getting hurt at the end of G4 actually hurt a bit. He got under a couple LDN players skin & was legitimately effective.

Doherty, Hall to small a sample to say. Did think Doherty showed legitimate improvements when he came back at year's end.

Defence:

Ethan Del Mastro ~ Regular season ~ A+, Playoffs ~ A. One of the best deadline additions this org has ever had. An absolute game changer. It's gonna hurt watching Martone utterly dominate for years to come & likely win the league because of course, but I'd do the deal again & again. For my money the league's best defenceman outside Clarke. Probably the best Dman I've seen this team have. So bummed we only got half a season of him.

Ethan Ritchie ~ Regular season ~ A, Playoffs ~ A. Fantastic season from Ritchie. The only Dman who stayed healthy all season. So goddamn reliable. Lead the team in +/- going +39 & had 44 points playing very limited PP time, especially post-deadline with Kyrou, EDM added. Thought he was outstanding vs LDN. Highway robbery we got him for only a 6th. Phenomenal leader, too. on many nights the most vocal guy on the bench.

Nolan Dillingham ~ Regular Season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ A. I remember us talking about potentially moving off Dilly solely because of his shoulder. thankfully he was able to overcome it & stay healthy the rest of the way. Heart & soul of the backend. When he was out there was a noticeable hole. For a guy who wasn't very offensive he always seemed to score at pivotal times for this team. Really thought that tying goal in G5 was something we'd look back on as a gigantic one. Man am I gonna miss him absolutely lighting guys up with CLEAN open ice hits. Don't make many like him anymore. Fantastic captain for this team who truly loved this city & team.

Christian Kyrou ~ Regular season ~ B+, Playoffs ~ B+. Bit of a polarizing player, but I was quite happy with Kyrou's play with us. So dynamic & I thought he always did his best to push the play & generate offence. Had his mistakes, issues, but I loved watching him play. Thought his defensive play improved a ton just in his 3-4 months here as well.

Ryan Mast ~ Regular season ~B, Playoffs ~ B. Bit of a weird yr for Mast. Had pretty high expectations for him & at times he lived up to them & at other times he didn't. Had some bad luck with injuries. Thought he started well then fell off then when paired with Del Mastro he really settled into a shutdown role. Played thru an injury in the playoffs I believe which effected his play at times. Wish he would've learned to use his size more in his time here but some guys just don't. Not a bad Jr career for a 9th rd pick!

Lukas Fischer ~ Regular season ~A, Playoffs ~ B+. What a rookie season for Fischer who joined at a time when we only had 3 other healthy D. Could got thrown right into the fire & didn't blink. At times look overwhelmed but for the most part he looked right at home. Sky is the limit for this kid & it said a ton about his character he dropped the gloves yesterday to try & get the team going.

Josh Hoover ~ Just fricken brutal luck. Worst I have ever seen. Was carving out a legit role on this team until he got destroyed by the injuries. Fingers crossed he can get past them & catch a break.

Mitch Young ~ really happy with the progress Young showed. Also got thrown into the fire & looked like he belonged. Think he'll be a surprise for many next season.

Carson Campbell ~ Like Hoover got unlucky with multiple injuries, but before them I thought he was having a fine rookie season. Think he's got some good tools to work with.

Owen MacDonald ~ Also, suffered a bad injury. Just a hard working kid. Always know what you'll get from him.

Goalies:

Ben Gaudreau ~ Regular season ~ B-, Playoffs ~ B. A story of 2 seasons for Gaudreau. started well then totally fell apart for multiple months. Confidence clearly got rocked at a point. Was terrific once returning from WJCs. Played great at home in RD1. Struggled mightily in GUE. Phenomenal series vs SAG. Might be being kind, but I honestly was satisfied with his play vs LDN in games 1, 2, 3, 4. That one minute in G5 though is hard to forget & will bother me for a long while. G6 was what it was. wasn't good. wasn't bad. Those Benny chants were some of my favourite moments this yr. Ultimately, if his time here is done truly a roller coaster of a time. Sometimes he was the best goalie in the league & others not even close.

Nicholas Surzcyia ~ C+. He outperformed my expectations. I wanted a backup most of the yr, but he really stepped up with Ben gone & shut me up. Kid is fun to watch as he battles for everything.

GM/Coaches

Seca ~ A. Thrilled with Seca's yr as GM. Dann, Thornton moves were excellent. Loved the guys he added. More than happy with what he gave up. Didn't drain the cupboard & leave us utterly screwed. Actually has it solid. Think we are in solid hands with him. My biggest complaint would be not getting a legitimate power forward that could play anywhere in the T9. Do think options were very limited in those finals days, but, man could that have really made a difference.

Coaches ~ B+. This will be one some disagree with, haha, but I was happy with them. They got this team to play incredibly structured. one of the leagues elite defensive teams. Special teams were outstanding in 2023. Were very good on face-offs, holding leads & team discipline was the best in the league. Loved using 3Fs in 4on4 if we were trailing & loved using 3D late in games with empty nets while leading. But Letang could definitely improve on switching the lines up more, especially during games & even though you want your coaches to be laid back, calm, maybe showing a bit more emotion or urgency at times would help. U listen to Dillingham's post game interview yesterday & it says all u need to know what the players thought of Letang & Co. They absolutely loved being coached by them & credit them with changing the entire feeling & culture behind closed doors.

Alway so sad to see “Off-season Thread” show up on the boards (except the seasons when we miss the playoffs - those I can’t wait for).
Thanks so much for your great, informative posts all year. This assessment is pretty close to bang-on IMO.
A couple points from my perspective:
I think Marcus was a very interesting guy - not the greatest skill guy but whichever line he was playing on immediately got better. He has a unique way of filling in any gaps the other 2 linemates have. I noticed he was near the top of the voting when the league announced “most underrated player” and I couldn’t agree more. Awesome find by the scouting group.
Vilmanis, on the other hand, just never seemed to fit in with any linemates. Playing with Li’l Max early in the season, Max did nothing and got run out of town. Scored 40 or so elsewhere. Made a few spectacular eye catching solo plays and scored some big late-game goals, but I had expected a lot more teamwork based on how good his skills looked. He never looked comfortable out there for the entire playoff run. I’m not sure what to expect from him next year.
I think Voit’s size was a detriment during the heavy playoff schedule. I think he might have lost a step due to fatigue, and with the way he plays and uses his skills, he needed that step.
Perhaps the same thing for Gaudreau. A lot of games in a row; something you don’t see in regular season. Perhaps tired, either mentally or physically. He went back to being too deep in his crease during the last couple games, and without a couple of pretty big “luckys” in period 2, Sunday’s game could have been over much earlier.
I think, based on small sample size, that Young is going to be great next year. I liked almost everything I saw from him.
Anyway, enough random rambling. See ya…

 

[StingUpdates]

Alway so sad to see “Off-season Thread” show up on the boards (except the seasons when we miss the playoffs - those I can’t wait for).
Thanks so much for your great, informative posts all year. This assessment is pretty close to bang-on IMO.
A couple points from my perspective:
I think Marcus was a very interesting guy - not the greatest skill guy but whichever line he was playing on immediately got better. He has a unique way of filling in any gaps the other 2 linemates have. I noticed he was near the top of the voting when the league announced “most underrated player” and I couldn’t agree more. Awesome find by the scouting group.
Vilmanis, on the other hand, just never seemed to fit in with any linemates. Playing with Li’l Max early in the season, Max did nothing and got run out of town. Scored 40 or so elsewhere. Made a few spectacular eye catching solo plays and scored some big late-game goals, but I had expected a lot more teamwork based on how good his skills looked. He never looked comfortable out there for the entire playoff run. I’m not sure what to expect from him next year.
I think Voit’s size was a detriment during the heavy playoff schedule. I think he might have lost a step due to fatigue, and with the way he plays and uses his skills, he needed that step.
Perhaps the same thing for Gaudreau. A lot of games in a row; something you don’t see in regular season. Perhaps tired, either mentally or physically. He went back to being too deep in his crease during the last couple games, and without a couple of pretty big “luckys” in period 2, Sunday’s game could have been over much earlier.
I think, based on small sample size, that Young is going to be great next year. I liked almost everything I saw from him.
Anyway, enough random rambling. See ya…

Thanks! Hopefully learned a few things from you haha. Proved me wrong enough times lol.

Yah Vilmanis definitely struggled to find chemistry. Thought he had it with 93 & when Pastujov first got here I thought they looked good together.

Still frustrated they never tried him on L1 with Voit. Probably wouldn't of worked but why not try it. Upside would've been massive.

 

[sbpointer]

In the closed last page of this thread someone asked StingUpdates if he still thought Allan Letang was a great coach. From an outsiders perspective he got the Sting further then any other coach has before him and even Brian Kilrea has lost one playoff series to Dale Hunter

This years Sting played an exciting brand of hockey and made it to the final four. On paper they probably should have won this series but that's why the games are played and it could be argued why at the deadline the knights aquired Humphry and Winterton and not some other maybe bigger names out there...

 

[davewheeler]

In the closed last page of this thread someone asked StingUpdates if he still thought Allan Letang was a great coach. From an outsiders perspective he got the Sting further then any other coach has before him and even Brian Kilrea has lost one playoff series to Dale Hunter

This years Sting played an exciting brand of hockey and made it to the final four. On paper they probably should have won this series but that's why the games are played and it could be argued why at the deadline the knights aquired Humphry and Winterton and not some other maybe bigger names out there...

put it into context tho here for a second here .... Letang had the oldest roster in the OHL and one of .... if not the most talented one too. The team was highly under-performing early in the year. In the playoffs Sarnia faced two re-building teams who traded their best players for runs in the next 2 years... They looked just meh in those first two rounds... especially Guelph. Sarnia got lucky we didn't play Kitchener round 1 and Windsor round 2. Sarnia had the easiest path to the west final we've ever had. If looking at the season on paper without adding any context sure you can say he was good... I disagree with anyone who says he was good... hes a mid to bottom mid coach. The guy can't even pull the goalie right. I am hearing some in the organization thought he should have been better and didn't make the necessary adjustments to keep up with London.... I said at the start of the year that Sarnia will always be out-coached and out-goaltended.

 

[StingUpdates]

Didn't wanna do this to myself or u guys haha, but with PBO winning in 7 we would've had home ice in the finals had we won.

Oh what could've been. PBO limps in too with multiple key players hurt or banged up too.

*sigh*

 

[StingUpdates]

put it into context tho here for a second here .... Letang had the oldest roster in the OHL and one of .... if not the most talented one too. The team was highly under-performing early in the year. In the playoffs Sarnia faced two re-building teams who traded their best players for runs in the next 2 years... They looked just meh in those first two rounds... especially Guelph. Sarnia got lucky we didn't play Kitchener round 1 and Windsor round 2. Sarnia had the easiest path to the west final we've ever had. If looking at the season on paper without adding any context sure you can say he was good... I disagree with anyone who says he was good... hes a mid to bottom mid coach. The guy can't even pull the goalie right. I am hearing some in the organization thought he should have been better and didn't make the necessary adjustments to keep up with London.... I said at the start of the year that Sarnia will always be out-coached and out-goaltended.

I would have to disagree about them highly under-performing in the first half. They were dismantled by injuries. I remember us being rather happy with them at the Christmas break for managing to survive the onslaught of injuries & still be in a spot to compete for first place.

They played unbelievable hockey for 3 months. were the league's best team in almost every category. Obviously, they loaded up & that helps, but the coaching staff deserves praise for that & getting all those highly skilled guys on the same page to nearly steal 1st at the very end.

I do agree with the playoffs. GUE is better than you give them credit IMO, but still this wasn't "their year" & if not for a pretty late lucky tying goal in G2 by Sikic & the ensuing Burke OT winner who knows how that series goes with Gaudreau's rather subpar play in Guelph that series. Not to mention won G6 in OT, too.

SAG was a mismatch from the get go, but we still didn't play that great. Part of that I'm sure was the illness that went thru half the team & the other part was this teams brutal tendency to be complacent, satisfied with their work & Letang harped on that all season.

LDN series those first 2 games, specifically the first one were just inexcusable & truly mind boggling. I can see why ppl would point at Letang & he deserves blame for sure, but I've always personally been more pissed off at players for coming out super flat, not pushing back etc. Coach needs to find ways to motivate for sure, but Jesus Christ your in a championship series. you've worked tirelessly for months to get here. Shouldn't need a pep talk to wanna give everything you have. G3, G4, G5 they gave it their all & showed when they did they could control the game & outplay LDN by a fair bit. Then whatever the F G6 was I don't know. That was our worst game maybe since that SSM loss. That's on everybody.

I think it's the thing I am most disappointed with. That little run late in the yr when they played LDN x4, NB x2, KIT x2, WSR, FLT was the best hockey I have probably ever seen this org play. They were a runaway train it seemed. Nobody could handle them. They made some elite teams look like they didn't belong on the same ice with them. I remember saying it to my buddy, but when we finally lost I said god I hope that wasn't us hitting our peak & now we regress.

Turns out it was because we never saw that team again. Least not to the level they were at. Sure, playoffs are a different animal but not like GUE, SAG posed legitimate misatches to this team or played a style that should've affected us significantly. LDN honestly was not that impressive. had we just gave a damn in G1 or G2 we would've been coming back up 2-0 or at the very least tied at 1. Hell look at game 5. such a big game in a series & LDN came out shockingly flat & didn't look all that great in the 2nd either. got the 2 bad goals B2B then totally locked it down. G6 they smelled blood in the water & circled, but when we played like we did it sure wasn't difficult lol.

I said it over & over & over again after the deadline, but the ONE thing that truly worried me was our lack of a killer instinct & boy did that show in the playoffs. I cant remember if I posted it, but I remember thinking if they got to RD3 by beating LDN, but lost to WSR I'd have been somewhat satisfied because at least they beat somebody legit. The fact we lost to the only legitimately good team we faced really leaves me disappointed & not to rag on LDN I mean they won lmao I just honestly don't think they are *that* good in comparison to recent conference winners. We were bigger, faster & had far more elite talent. they simply worked harder & never got away from their system. I'm appreciative of finally reaching RD3 & I loved this fricken team/roster, but I cant escape this feeling of being let down/underwhelmed. Especially adding in Brochu's injury.. Feels like they truly let an OHL championship go right thru their fingers.

 

[davewheeler]

I would have to disagree about them highly under-performing in the first half. They were dismantled by injuries. I remember us being rather happy with them at the Christmas break for managing to survive the onslaught of injuries & still be in a spot to compete for first place.

They played unbelievable hockey for 3 months. were the league's best team in almost every category. Obviously, they loaded up & that helps, but the coaching staff deserves praise for that & getting all those highly skilled guys on the same page to nearly steal 1st at the very end.

I do agree with the playoffs. GUE is better than you give them credit IMO, but still this wasn't "their year" & if not for a pretty late lucky tying goal in G2 by Sikic & the ensuing Burke OT winner who knows how that series goes with Gaudreau's rather subpar play in Guelph that series. Not to mention won G6 in OT, too.

SAG was a mismatch from the get go, but we still didn't play that great. Part of that I'm sure was the illness that went thru half the team & the other part was this teams brutal tendency to be complacent, satisfied with their work & Letang harped on that all season.

LDN series those first 2 games, specifically the first one were just inexcusable & truly mind boggling. I can see why ppl would point at Letang & he deserves blame for sure, but I've always personally been more pissed off at players for coming out super flat, not pushing back etc. Coach needs to find ways to motivate for sure, but Jesus Christ your in a championship series. you've worked tirelessly for months to get here. Shouldn't need a pep talk to wanna give everything you have. G3, G4, G5 they gave it their all & showed when they did they could control the game & outplay LDN by a fair bit. Then whatever the F G6 was I don't know. That was our worst game maybe since that SSM loss. That's on everybody.

I think it's the thing I am most disappointed with. That little run late in the yr when they played LDN x4, NB x2, KIT x2, WSR, FLT was the best hockey I have probably ever seen this org play. They were a runaway train it seemed. Nobody could handle them. They made some elite teams look like they didn't belong on the same ice with them. I remember saying it to my buddy, but when we finally lost I said god I hope that wasn't us hitting our peak & now we regress.

Turns out it was because we never saw that team again. Least not to the level they were at. Sure, playoffs are a different animal but not like GUE, SAG posed legitimate misatches to this team or played a style that should've affected us significantly. LDN honestly was not that impressive. had we just gave a damn in G1 or G2 we would've been coming back up 2-0 or at the very least tied at 1. Hell look at game 5. such a big game in a series & LDN came out shockingly flat & didn't look all that great in the 2nd either. got the 2 bad goals B2B then totally locked it down. G6 they smelled blood in the water & circled, but when we played like we did it sure wasn't difficult lol.

I said it over & over & over again after the deadline, but the ONE thing that truly worried me was our lack of a killer instinct & boy did that show in the playoffs. I cant remember if I posted it, but I remember thinking if they got to RD3 by beating LDN, but lost to WSR I'd have been somewhat satisfied because at least they beat somebody legit. The fact we lost to the only legitimately good team we faced really leaves me disappointed & not to rag on LDN I mean they won lmao I just honestly don't think they are *that* good in comparison to recent conference winners. We were bigger, faster & had far more elite talent. they simply worked harder & never got away from their system. I'm appreciative of finally reaching RD3 & I loved this fricken team/roster, but I cant escape this feeling of being let down/underwhelmed. Especially adding in Brochu's injury.. Feels like they truly let an OHL championship go right thru their fingers.

Agree.. London this year was just ok... the league was so gettable....which makes it 100x more frustrating. The loss at home to Ottawa was a microcosm of what was to come vs London.... Sarnia couldn't handle a team that was well structured and defensively sound.... aka a team with some talent and a good coach..... Back to Letang... in my opinion you get disqualified from being a good coach when you leave the goalie in down 4-1 with 3 minutes left with the puck in the opposing teams zone in a do or die game... 3 times he mis-handled that situation in one series.

 

[davewheeler]

Was saying to someone after the game these series ending losses at home are getting VERY tiresome. Especially the one's where we lay a complete egg.

2023 - 5-1 L to LDN to lose in 6 at home.
2022 - 3-1 L to WSR to lose in 6 at home.
2021 - no season
2020 - playoffs cancelled
2019 - 5-4 OTL to SAG to lose in 4 at home.
2018 - 6-2 L to KIT to lose in 6 at home.
2017 - 9-3 L to ER to lose in 4 at home.
2016 - 4-3 L to SSM to lose in 7 at home.
2015 - 7-0 L to ER to lose in 5 on the road!!!
2014 - Didn't make playoffs
2013 - 5-2 L to Plymouth to lose in 4 at home.

That's our last 8 playoff series. 7 of which ended on our ice. 4 of the 7 with us scoring 2 or less goals with the 2 being in ones we got swept lmao.. 3 of them 1 or 0. It's truly uncanny & some sick joke to make us sit thru it live every. fricken. season.

Wish I had your optimism @SarniaStingFan lol. I just don't see where we score goals consistently, where we defend at a good level or where we get saves at a high level. Gonna be an incredibly young team.

This is an absolute joke. This franchise has been awful to the city and people who support them. Yet at the end of the day we keep congratulating them lol very weird. We need to expect more because this is not normal. If this was London, Kitchener, Guelph ect.. they would be on the front page of the free press calling them out. What does Sarnia do? give the Sting a standing ovation. As I said ... weird.

 

[Ferda11]

This is an absolute joke. This franchise has been awful to the city and people who support them. Yet at the end of the day we keep congratulating them lol very weird. We need to expect more because this is not normal. If this was London, Kitchener, Guelph ect.. they would be on the front page of the free press calling them out. What does Sarnia do? give the Sting a standing ovation. As I said ... weird.

Don’t worry, they will put a “we made it to round 3” banner up and the sting faithful can gawk at that for another 30 years. At the end of the day, this dream team won absolutely nothing of importance just the same as they have the 30 years prior.

Anyways, that’s it for me. This organization left a pretty sour taste in my mouth with the way they shunned their out of town fans for playoff tickets. Not going to keep supporting a losing franchise if that’s how they treat their long time fan base. Not even a single reply from the Sting after I called them out via email so honestly, f**k em lol. Enjoy the extra bank made this year Hatch, you’re gonna need to put that extra revenue away to cover the next 30 years of disappointment.

Good chatting with everyone on here tho! Hadn’t seen this much interaction on this board since I’ve been around so it’s been fun! Have a good summer and I hope to god for the fans sake, you don’t actually have to wait another 30 years. Not a better city of fans then Sarnia, it’s just to bad the organization doesn’t get that! Cheers

---

 

[StingUpdates]

Don’t worry, they will put a “we made it to round 3” banner up and the sting faithful can gawk at that for another 30 years. At the end of the day, this dream team won absolutely nothing of importance just the same as they have the 30 years prior.

Anyways, that’s it for me. This organization left a pretty sour taste in my mouth with the way they shunned their out of town fans for playoff tickets. Not going to keep supporting a losing franchise if that’s how they treat their long time fan base. Not even a single reply from the Sting after I called them out via email so honestly, f**k em lol. Enjoy the extra bank made this year Hatch, you’re gonna need to put that extra revenue away to cover the next 30 years of disappointment.

Good chatting with everyone on here tho! Hadn’t seen this much interaction on this board since I’ve been around so it’s been fun! Have a good summer and I hope to god for the fans sake, you don’t actually have to wait another 30 years. Not a better city of fans then Sarnia, it’s just to bad the organization doesn’t get that! Cheers

---

Been great chatting with you too, Ferda. Hopefully you come on back in a couple years cause this board might become pretty dead haha. Don't need it becoming 3or4 of us & upcoming new player parents lol.

I think I'd walk out if they had a banner raising for the 3rd round lmaooo.

Enjoy your summer & peace of mind not cheering for next year's team haha.

 

[nelli27]

Been great chatting with you too, Ferda. Hopefully you come on back in a couple years cause this board might become pretty dead haha. Don't need it becoming 3or4 of us & upcoming new player parents lol.

I think I'd walk out if they had a banner raising for the 3rd round lmaooo.

Enjoy your summer & peace of mind not cheering for next year's team haha.

We're still friends, right?
You're moving up the rankings of my favourite posters, just being Dirty12.

 

[StingUpdates]

We're still friends, right?
You're moving up the rankings of my favourite posters, just being Dirty12.

Haha yah. Thank you, I appreciate that. Will say probably won't be on here as much next season with how bleak it looks.

Won't be much to talk about when we are getting our show ran every other game. Lol

 

[StingUpdates]

This is an absolute joke. This franchise has been awful to the city and people who support them. Yet at the end of the day we keep congratulating them lol very weird. We need to expect more because this is not normal. If this was London, Kitchener, Guelph ect.. they would be on the front page of the free press calling them out. What does Sarnia do? give the Sting a standing ovation. As I said ... weird.

Different mindsets right. Some ppl are on the "as long as they give it a good try I'll be happy!" While others (us) are more up front/black&white.

End of the day they got eliminated earlier than they should've & in this series they lost 3 games purely do to being outworked & at this stage of the playoffs that pisses me right off. Would've rather them ran into a buzz saw like the 2015 Knights & been swept than lose to a team you were clearly more talented than.

 

[StingUpdates]

Interesting to see former Sting D & Sarnia native, Jordan Hill step down from assistant coach on Owen Sound for family reasons after 5 years.

Obviously could be something very serious & he has no intentions to coach for a bit, but could also be a Letang type situation where he just wants to be home/with his family.

He also would've worked with Letang for a couple years so they'd be familiar with one another. Letang seems to like Staubitz & Haley a fair bit & they were very well liked by the players so I don't anticipate anything, but might be worth keeping an eye on if either step down. Could maybe hire Hill for a different department, too if he was willing.

 

[Jason M]

Benny is officially re-entering the draft

 

[Buttsy]

Haha yah. Thank you, I appreciate that. Will say probably won't be on here as much next season with how bleak it looks.

Won't be much to talk about when we are getting our show ran every other game. Lol

I wouldn’t give up to quickly on your team. Yes they traded away a great deal of the future for this years run. But it’s what your GM does NEXT; this summer and early fall that will tell you if your an “Erie” or an “Ottawa / Hamilton” type team? It can be a lot of fun watching youngsters develop. This year in London for example watching Cowan, Barkey, Bonk, Dickenson (sp?) etc develop has been really enjoyable. Yes we had the benifet of a long run into the playoffs as well but still it’s fun to watch the youngsters. I believe Sarnia has the pieces in place (management & ownership) and now some valuable experience to retool quickly. Your GM pulled off some great deals to get this years pieces let’s see if he knows what the next steps are or not? Cheers it’s been great posting with all of you as you clearly have some great knowledgeable hockey fans on the board. You’re also for the most part very respectful of your oppositions posters and that’s refreshing as it can get silly at times on here?

 

[StingUpdates]

I wouldn’t give up to quickly on your team. Yes they traded away a great deal of the future for this years run. But it’s what your GM does NEXT; this summer and early fall that will tell you if your an “Erie” or an “Ottawa / Hamilton” type team? It can be a lot of fun watching youngsters develop. This year in London for example watching Cowan, Barkey, Bonk, Dickenson (sp?) etc develop has been really enjoyable. Yes we had the benifet of a long run into the playoffs as well but still it’s fun to watch the youngsters. I believe Sarnia has the pieces in place (management & ownership) and now some valuable experience to retool quickly. Your GM pulled off some great deals to get this years pieces let’s see if he knows what the next steps are or not? Cheers it’s been great posting with all of you as you clearly have some great knowledgeable hockey fans on the board. You’re also for the most part very respectful of your oppositions posters and that’s refreshing as it can get silly at times on here?

I don't mind watching young teams play (what Sarnia was just a year ago haha) & grow together. That's what makes winning that much better. Well I think at least....

Just hard to envision them being anything more than bad. Maybe they become a lunch bucket team & steal wins but they don't have the talent to push farther than 8th. Conference should be pretty loaded too, with LDN, GUE, OS, SAG all looking really good. ER, SSM should improve.

Have confidence in Seca just sort of what we Signed up for going all-in.

 

[StingUpdates]

Benny is officially re-entering the draft

Not a surprise. Might get drafted if not probably invited to some NHL camps.

He'll need a big summer to go pro. Gets beat clean to much & showed a bit of a temper at times lol.

 

[robp1219]

Not a surprise. Might get drafted if not probably invited to some NHL camps.

He'll need a big summer to go pro. Gets beat clean to much & showed a bit of a temper at times lol.

I think he has all the tools to be a good goalie. It’s the mental with him. Sometimes he’s not confident which makes him bad for stretches, sometimes he lets pests get him off his game because he’s a hothead, other times he not focused for a full 60 and can be playing real good then let’s a random stinker in then goes back to playing good.

 

[StingUpdates]

I think he has all the tools to be a good goalie. It’s the mental with him. Sometimes he’s not confident which makes him bad for stretches, sometimes he lets pests get him off his game because he’s a hothead, other times he not focused for a full 60 and can be playing real good then let’s a random stinker in then goes back to playing good.

I do think another yr in the O would do him good. He needs to get a bit more consistent, maybe needs to mature a bit from a temper standpoint & learn to not let things bother him.

Definitely has all the tools to one day be a great pro. Can't forget he lost a full yr of development, too. Didn't go play overseas either.

We'd definitely look to trade him to a contender, too.

We are in a weird spot in net. They are really banking on Chartier becoming something. See how it all plays out.