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Sting boost offensively with first three selections of OHL draft
andrew brethauer may 7th, 2011


The Sarnia Sting may be looking at a more offensive mindset next season, as the Sting's first three round selections add a scoring touch to a team that ranked 7th of 10 in the Western Conference last season with 243 goals scored. 

The Sting drafted centre Ryan Kujawinski fourth overall, defencemen Anthony DeAngelo in the second round and Davis Brown in the third round.

Kujawinski is a 6"0' 175lbs centre from Iroquois Falls, On, where he played with the Sudbury Wolves Triple A team. There he scored 35 goals, 21 assists and 56 points in 24 games.  This was Kujawinski's first season in Triple A hockey, and until this past season, no one really knew who he was.

"He's a very good skater, he's a big body, but he can also play a very physical game," said head scout Jim Debenham. "He's more then one dimensional."

When Kujawinski reached the Triple A level, he got a lot of looks from scouts who had never seen him before, and as his season went on he got better and better.

His scouting report lists him as an offensive minded forward that possesses some natural ability and physical tools. He's a very strong skater, has the speed and quickness to stay in on the play and is always around the puck. He is at his best with the puck on his stick, as he is very confident moving the puck around.

Debenham thinks he could possibly fit into the top two lines, giving Sarnia a one-two punch in their top 6. Sarnia could certainly use a second line centre to put up big numbers, as the Sting sports five 20+ goal scorer's from last season, including RW Nail Yakupov (49), LW Kale Kerbashian (37), C Alex Galchenyuk (31), LW Tyler Peters (21) and RW Brett Ritchie (21).

To add even more to their new scoring depth is third round selection Davis Brown who is considered one of the top scoring forwards in the draft. Brown is a 5"9', 175lbs left winger who played for the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs. In 65 games he scored 71 goals, 42 assists and 113 points.

Brown adds more to Sarnia' scoring depth, and like Kujawinski, could find his spot in the top 2 lines, possibly giving Sarnia powerplay two combination of Galchenyuk-Yakupov and Kujawinski-Brown.

With the selection of Kujawinski in the first round, it still left in uncertainty the ability for the Sting to stop goals from being scored on them, something that happened a lot last season. With Darrnell Nurse being selected in the third spot just before Sarnia, it was thought that perhaps Jordan Subban could come into play, but was passed on for Kujawinski.

But Sarnia did build up their blue line with the second round selection of defencemen Anthony DeAngelo. The 5"11', 160lbs forward was a steal for Sarnia in the second round, as he was projected to go in the first. He is scouted as an excellent skater and highly skilled puck moving defencemen who plays a high-risk high reward style of play that is almost purely focused on creating offensive chances.

"He's mobile, he's mean, he's legit," said Debenham who first saw DeAngelo at the USHL under 15 camp. "He was rated 4th overall in central scouting's final list."

Teams around the OHL were not sure if DeAngelo would report to the OHL as he currently played in the USHL and had made a commitment to a Boston college. But quietly Sarnia was able to get his commitment to playing for the Sting and he will be with the organization for next season, giving the Sting not only some much needed blue help in terms of stopping pucks, but also help to create offence.

 

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