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“I’m
pretty pumped up. The competitive juices are
flowing.”
Those were the words of interim head coach Trevor
Letowski on Wednesday as he prepares the Sarnia
Sting for action this weekend in the Ontario Hockey
League.
It begins Thursday night when they host the London
Knights at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. Sarnia plays
in Kitchener on Friday night and in Windsor on
Sunday afternoon.
Letowski will be the main man behind the bench after
the dismissal of head coach and general manager Dave
MacQueen earlier this week.
The 33-year-old Letowski, who joined the Sting this
season as an assistant coach, says he’s looking
forward to the challenge.
“I’m excited about the opportunity. I appreciate the
fact the organization has faith in me to give me
this opportunity. I want to make the most of it.”
The former captain of the team says it’s been a
bittersweet few days.
“Obviously it’s been a very busy few days and very
unexpected. Mac and I had a good relationship and we
were trying to build something here. It was a tough
situation. I have a lot of respect for Mac and he
was great for me. It’s too bad things didn’t work
out.”
So what has been Letowski’s message to the players
this week?
“We’ve tried to put a little more structure into our
workouts, both on and off the ice. I want to hold
the players accountable, but I want them to go out
and have fun. We’ve stressed our compete level. It
starts in practice. That’s so important to how you
play in a game.”
He continued. “We need to move the puck quicker as
this has become a fast game. We need to be more
aggressive and come after teams in waves. It’s
obvious we’ve been spending away too much time in
our own end. We have to chip pucks out and be more
responsible in our own end.”
Letowski says he’s sent another message to the
players.
“The big message is don’t be afraid to make a
mistake. It’s a fast game and mistakes are going to
be made. But they also have to be held accountable
for their efforts and play hard. The team has
struggled of late, but we are now doing things a
little differently and hope the guys respond. We
need to go step by step.”
Letowski will retain assistant Derek DiMuzio behind
the bench as well as Alex Galchenyuk Sr., the father
of Sting top draft pick Alex Galachenyuk Jr. (Alex
Sr. has run option able workouts for the team all
season).
“Alex Sr. is going to take a bigger role and be
behind the bench,” Letowski confirmed. “He’s very
knowledgeable when it comes to hockey. He played pro
hockey for many years, including the Russian Super
League. I played in what used to be that league so
we have a connection.”
Letowski says Galchenyuk also has coaching
experience.
“He has coached in the Moscow Dynamo program. That’s
one of the best hockey programs in Russia. It’s an
elite program. There are 15 million people in Moscow
and they put a lot of money into that program. Only
the top players make it and that’s where many of the
Russian players come out of who go to the National
Hockey League. Alex has some great ideas.”
Letowski added, “I’ve learned a lot this year from
Derek (DiMuzio) as well. We’ve developed a good
friendship and I certainly respect his thoughts and
ideas.”
The Sting has been on a slide of late losing six in
a row. They are 3-11-1-1 since being at the .500
mark midway through the season. Sarnia is currently
in ninth place in the Western Conference, 11 points
back of Guelph and 14 behind Erie with 18 games
remaining.
Thursday’s game with London will be the fifth
between the two clubs this season. The Knights have
won all four.
“I don’t think it really matters my first game is
against London. Like I say, I’m pumped up and
looking forward to the game,” said Letowski.
The Sting got some good news this week as injured
players Brett Ritchie and Anthony Donati are skating
with the team. Ritchie has been out since
mid-January with mono and Donati a knee injury. But
there is no timetable when the pair will be back in
the lineup.
Rookie Nail Yakupov of the Sting remains in fourth
spot in league scoring with 39 goals and 39 assists
for 78 points. He is second in goals behind Tyler
Toffoli of Ottawa, who has 44 goals. Toffoli also
leads in points with 87. Ryan Strome of Niagara is
second in league scoring with 82 points and Jason
Akeson of Kitchener third with 80 points.
Kale Kerbashian of the Sting is ninth in league
scoring with 27 goals and 43 assists for 70 points.
The Sting has just six home games remaining.
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