SARNIA, ONTARIO

 

SARNIA STING
2009 - 2010

brought to you by

Flowers for All Occasions



Sarnia Sting at Guelph
March 5, 2010

By DAVE BORODY
special to

GUELPH – As the Sarnia Sting season winds down, players are attempting to show the coaching staff why they should have a spot on next year’s roster.

One such player is forward Tyler Peters, who despite being 19 years-old, is a rookie in the Ontario Hockey League this year.
Peters can only return to the team next year as one of three overagers.

The feisty forward had two goals and one assist as the Sting dropped a 6-3 decision to the Guelph Storm, Friday night before 4,553 fans at the Sleeman Centre.

Peters has been on fire over the past month with the Sting and now has 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points, second only to team scoring leader Kale Kerbashian who has 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points.

“We thought he could score and that’s one of the reasons he made the team,” said Sting head coach Dave MacQueen. “He’s had a hot three or four weeks. He’s got a good release with a great shot. He’s just going out and playing and things are finally falling into place.”

Aside from that, MacQueen was not happy with his team’s performance.

“We try and put together a game plan before the game. We went over it three times on the board  and asked if there were any questions and if they got it. Then they go out and didn’t do what the game plan was.

“I don’t know if they weren’t paying attention or what, but it’s inexcusable after 64 games. When I asked them about it, I got the excuse they didn’t remember.”

MacQueen added, “it’s easy for everyone to criticize Soupie (Shayne Campbell). But he must sit back in net and watch our forwards and defence make mistakes that lead to goals. Everybody wants to blame everyone else. Maybe they should be looking at themselves in the mirror.”

The Sting dug themselves a deep hole falling behind 3-0 before the game was only 12 minutes old. The Storm scored on their first shot just 37 seconds after the puck was dropped.

Sarnia got one goal back in the opening period as Peters took a rebound off the backboards and had an open corner of the net.

Peters pulled the Sting to within a goal with his second of the game at 16th of his rookie season 11 minutes into period two when he took a cross-ice pass from Brett Ritchie and ripped a quick shot past the goalie.

But the Storm finally cashed in on their fourth power play chance of the period at 17:53 and scored their fifth goal 46 seconds later to take a commanding 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.

With the score 6-2, rookie call-up Braden Kavaratzis scored Sarnia’s third goal, his second of the year knocking in a rebound.  Peters assisted on the goal.

Kavaratzis had another glorious scoring chance a few minutes later, but his slapshot from the slot went wide.
Rookie Brandon Francisco had a pair of assists for the Sting giving him 29 points on the season.

Taylor Beck and Peter Holland led the Storm with two goals each while Matthew Sisca and Cody McNaughton added singles.

Guelph held a 38-21 edge in shots on goal. Sarnia had just four shots in the second period. Brendan Foote was the winning goalie while Campbell took the loss.
 
The Sting will play their third game in as many days tonight when they host the London Knights at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre.

Next week the Sting will play their final three games of the season. Sarnia is in London on Wednesday, host Guelph on Thursday and play their final game next Saturday when they are home to the Windsor Spitfires. Both home games begin at 7:35 p.m.


- Sarnia played two players under the limit of 20, the same lineup as Thursday night against Sault Ste. Marie. Miroslav Preisinger served the second of a two game suspension, top scorer Kale Kerbashian is home in Thunder Bay attending the death of his grandmother while Ben O’Quinn, Anthony Donati and Brent Sullivan are all injured.
- Guelph was two-for-six on the power play while Sarnia was one-four four.
- Sarnia is 0-3 vs Guelph this season.

- Three ex-Sting players were traded at the National Hockey League trade deadline earlier this week. Andy Delmore went from Detroit to Calgary; Kris Newbury went to New York Rangers from Detroit while Harrison Reed was dealt to Colorado from Carolina. All three play in the American Hockey League.
- The OHL Performers of the Month for February were announced Friday.
Performer of the month was Greg McKegg of Erie who had 11 goals and 10 assists in 12 games. Rookie of the month was Matt Puempel of Peterborough with seven goals and six assists in 11 games. Defenceman of the month was Ryan Ellis of Windsor with three goals and 16 assists in 11 games. Goalie of the month was Patrick Killeen of Brampton who had a 1.84 goals against average with a .928 save percentage and three shutouts.

 

                           www.sarniasports.com     info@sarniasports.com