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The Sarnia Sting goes after their first win
in 2011 this week with three games in the Ontario
Hockey League.
But it’s not going to be easy.
The Sting play three games in three nights beginning
Thursday night when they host the Kitchener Rangers
at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre. On Friday night
Sarnia is home to the Windsor Spitfires, also at
7:05 p.m. while Saturday night Sarnia travels to
Plymouth to battle the Whalers.
“Every week we say it’s not going to be easy and
this week is no different,” said Sting head coach
Dave MacQueen prior to practice on Wednesday. “We
are going head to head with teams in the Western
Conference and teams you have to beat to stay
competitive with in the Conference.”
Sarnia is coming off back-to-back losses against the
London Knights where the Sting allowed 15 goals in
those two games. So what has the message been this
week at practice?
“The same message we’ve been preaching for the last
month and that is we have to be more committed in
our own end. Offensively we are fine, but
defensively we need to play with more passion. It’s
a team game and not just goalies and defence. It’s
not easy playing in your own end especially when you
don’t have the puck. We need to do a better job.”
He added, “When we play well defensively, we can by
a very dangerous team.”
The last time Kitchener came to Sarnia they skated
off with an 11-2 victory, handing the Sting their
worst loss of the season.
“The start of the game wasn’t bad,” recalled
MacQueen. “We were only down 2-1 after the first
period. But what could go wrong after that did go
wrong. It seemed everything they shot went in the
net. But we have to put that game behind us and come
ready to play.”
When asked if he needs to get his team motivated to
play Kitchener, MacQueen said, “If I have to get
them motivated, we will be in trouble. The coaches
can put together the game plan, but at some point
the players have to take the bull by the horns and
go out and execute.”
MacQueen knows the Rangers, who sit in third place
in the Western Conference with a 22-9-3-1 record,
are a strong team.
“They have tremendous veteran presence and have
veterans playing on their third and fourth lines.
That’s a luxury a lot of teams don’t have. They have
one of the top goalies in the league, they work hard
and compete hard.”
Sarnia will get a couple of forwards returning to
their lineup. Rookie Garrett Hooey should be back
from Winnipeg where he helped Team Ontario win the
gold medal at the World Under-17 tournament. Team
Ontario defeated Team USA in the championship game
in front of over 12,000 fans to finish the event
with a perfect 6-0 record.
Nick Latta should also be back from the World Junior
Tournament in Buffalo where he played for Team
Germany.
Forward Brandon Francisco will miss this weekend’s
game as he recovers from an upper-body injury while
Craig Hottot is also listed as doubtful with an
upper body injury.
The OHL trade deadline is Monday.
“We are beating the bushes and making phone calls,
but there’s nothing eminent right now. For some
reason this is not an easy year. Right now it’s very
quiet.”
MacQueen added, “We are only going to make trades if
it makes our team better for the next two or three
years, but still stay competitive this year.”
Defenceman Anthony Donati says the Sting needs a
good weekend.
“We need to stick to the game plan and work hard,”
said Donati. “We have to make sure we win all the
battles. We can’t get down if we go down by a goal
or two. We also have to go hard to the net and get
some garbage goals.”
Donati added, “I think everyone knows the season is
half over and now every game means so much. A lot of
teams are battling for a playoff spot so you have to
be ready to play every game and get as many points
as you can.”
Sarnia currently its in ninth place in the Western
Conference with a 15-17-3-1 record. They are 4-6-0-0
in their last 10 games.
Nail Yakupov and Kale Kerbashian share the team lead
in scoring with 52 points apiece. Yakupov has 25
goals and 27 assists and Kerbashian 22 goals and 30
assists.
Alex Galchenyuk is next with 11 goals and 26 assists
for 37 points, Tyler Peters has 14 goals and 19
assists for 33 points while Brett Ritchie rounds out
the top five with 13 goals and eight assists for 21
points.
Jason Akeson leads Kitchener with 15 goals and 48
assists for 64 points, second in league scoring.
Akeson had a goal and five assists in his last trip
to Sarnia.
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