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Pre-Season - Game 3
Sarnia Sting vs London Knights
September 5, 2009
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It's no secret
the Sarnia Sting will be going with a number
of rookies this season. One of those
youngsters is J.C. Campagna, a fifth round
draft pick from Dublin, Ohio.
Campagna had a
goal and two assists in leading the Sting to
a 6-3 win over the London Knights, Saturday
night before about 2,000 fans at the Sarnia
Sports and Entertainment Centre.
The win was
Sarnia's first in pre-season play in the
Ontario Hockey League after two losses. The
Sting have two more exhibition games as they
host Saginaw on Thursday and Windsor on
Friday.
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Campagna, who was named the
game's first star, says he's
slowly adjusting to life in
the OHL. "This league is a
lot faster than I expected.
There's a lot of skilled
players. It's a very
hard-working league and you
have to be ready to work
hard every game." He says
the three points is nice,
but not important at this
point six foot, one inch ,
170 pounder left-winger.
"I just try to go into each
game and do the best I can.
Tonight Steve Reese played
great and helped me a lot. I
definitely need to adjust to
the speed of the game and my
reaction time. I'm also
getting used to my
teammates."
Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen likes what he sees
from Campagna so far.
"He's going to be a talent
in this league. He's big
guy who is skilled and
skates well. But he is one
of a number of our young
players who is finding out
it's a big step from minor
midget to the OHL. They can
do some real good things and
other things they can't get
away with. There's no
question he has to get into
better shape. I think he had
his eyes opened be some of
the veterans of what kind of
shape you need to be in to
compete at this level."
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First round draft pick Brett Ritchie, along
with veterans Marcus Pepe and Chris
Beauchamp each had a goal and an assist.
Kale Kerbashian, who the Sting acquired in
an off-season deal with St. Michael's,
played his first pre-season game and had a
goal along with Joe Rogalski. Steve Reese
chipped in with two assists.
Dominic DeSando had two goals and Jared
Knight one for London. All three of their
goals came with the man advantage.
Sarnia held a 36-21 edge in shots on goal.
Jesse Raymond started in goal for Sarnia and
played until the 13:05 mark of the second
period and did not allow a goal on just
eight shots. Shayne Campbell took over and
allowed all three goals on 13 shots.
Sarnia led 2-0
after one period and 4-1 after the second.
"We scored six
goals tonight," said MacQueen, when asked
what the difference was in his team compared
to Friday night in London when the Sting
lost 5-0.
"I think we had
a little more jump and energy tonight,
especially with guys like Reese and
Kerbashian in the lineup. It was nice to see
the other players bounce back. We challenged
some of our kids. But I'm not getting too
overly excited. London was without a lot of
their regulars."
MacQueen says he
has 25 players left in camp, but doesn't
expect any cuts for awhile.
"We'll talk it
over as a staff. But that's what exhibition
games are for to give everyone a fair
chance. It's been good for me to be up top
watching these three games. We need to have
some good practices next week, start working
more on systems play and see with we can
find some line combinations and build some
chemistry."
There was a new face behind the Sting bench.
Derek DiMuzio of Sarnia is joining the Sting
coaching staff on a part-time basis.
DiMuzio, an elementary school teacher at
Hanna Memorial, was with the Sarnia
Legionnaires junior B team last season.
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