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So far, so good for the
newest member of the Sarnia Sting, goalie Troy
Passingham.
The overager, who came to the Sting last week in a
trade with Windsor, backstopped the team to a pair
of victories over his former team and the Plymouth
Whalers.
He's expected to get lots of action this week as the
Sting once again play three games in three nights in
the Ontario Hockey League.
It begins Thursday night when the Sting hosts the
London Knights. Sarnia is also home Friday night to
Plymouth while those two teams play again Saturday
night in Plymouth.
Both home games begin at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC
Centre.
"It was nice to get a couple of games under my belt
with my new team," said Passingham this week. "It
all happened so quickly (the trade). I was a little
nervous against Windsor because it was my old team
and I came on their bus to Sarnia. I thought I
played more my game in Plymouth and was able to hold
the fort back there until our offence got the job
done."
The Sting defeated Windsor 9-4 and edged Plymouth
4-2.
It's kind of ironic that Passingham is finishing his
junior career in Sarnia since he almost became a
member of the Sting two years ago.
He explained what happened.
"Two years ago my agent got me an invitation to the
Sting rookie camp. I thought I did all right and got
a shutout in one of the scrimmages. I wanted to sign
then, but the Sting didn't. So a couple of weeks
later I went to the Spitfires rookie camp. They
invited me back to their main camp and I made the
team."
He added, "it was a little weird coming into the
Sting dressing room the first time the other night
as there were some faces I recognized from a couple
of years ago. It all worked out in Windsor as I
played a lot, had good teammates, won a Memorial Cup
and I have a lot of good memories from playing
there."
Although he doesn't wear it all the time, Passingham
does have his Memorial Cup ring with him."
Passingham says it hasn't taken long to adjust to
his new team.
"It all happened so quickly and I was doing a lot of
running around and then we played two games
back-to-back. But I've been able to settle in and
take part in some practices. It doesn't take long to
learn the systems and me new defencemen."
One thing that will be different for Passingham in
Sarnia is the number of ticket requests he is
getting because several family members live in
Sarnia.
"My dad, Matt, grew up here in Sarnia and went to
Central Collegiate. I still have lots of family
here, my grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. I come
to Sarnia two or three times a year to visit
relatives. Usually just my parents came to Windsor
for games, but on Friday there were plenty of family
members in Sarnia to see my first game. Yeah, I'm
already getting more ticket requests."
He will get his first exposure to the Sarnia-London
rivalry on Thursday night.
"I found out in a hurry there is a pretty healthy
rivalry between Windsor and London so I don't expect
much different between Sarnia and London. It's a big
game because we are close in the standings and both
teams a fighting for a playoff spot."
He added, "We just have to keep things simple and
not make a lot of mistakes. We also have to score on
our chances. From what I've seen so far, we have a
young team with a lot of talent. We can score goals.
My job is to keep them out."
Passingham grew up in Mississauga.
"What can I say? The Toronto Maple Leafs is my
favourite NHL team. I know they haven't been a
winner for a long time, but I got hooked watching
them in Mississauga every Saturday night when I was
a youngster."
As far as his favourite
NHL goalie, Passingham says, "I guess it would be
(Roberto) Luongo. He's a big body with quick feet
who plays his position well."
At six feet, four inches and 223 pounds, Passingham
is a big body of his own.
"When you are big like I am, you just try and keep
it simple, make the easy saves and control the
rebounds. I'm a butterfly style goalie."
STING NOTES
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Sarnia is
0-3 vs London this season. The Knights lead Sarnia
by just three points in the battle for the eighth
and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Knights made several moves at the OHL trade
deadline earlier this week, including trading their
captain, overager Michael D'Orazio. The Sting did
not make any deadline deals.
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Ex-Sting
Brent Sullivan, who part of the trade with Windsor
for Passingham, was dealt again Monday to the Sault
Ste. Marie Greyhounds. But Sullivan has decided not
to report. He plans on playing university hockey in
Canada in the fall.
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Forward
Craig Hottot is expected back in the Sting lineup
this week after missing all three games last weekend
with an upper body injury. Forward Brandon Francisco
is listed as doubtful with an upper body injury.
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