Erie Otters Demolish Sarnia Sting
The Erie Otters entered the game vs the Sarnia Sting just scoring more than 4 goals once all season and then opened up a can of offence on a Sarnia team that seemed to take the game for granted. Sarnia lost the game to Erie 7-3. Erie had lost their last 13 games going into the game vs the Sting. Brandon Hope would get a rare start and really only gave up 1 bad goal vs Erie allowing 3 goals on 15 shots, Jacques Beaulieu decided after the 3rd goal that he should put in Brandon Maxwell who had allowed 14 goals in the 3 games prior to the game on Friday night. Maxwell would go on to allow 4 goals on 21 shots. The loss was not the fault of either goaltender but it was the team in front of the goalies that game out flat and seemed to take the game as a guaranteed win rather then put forth an effort. I question the faith that Jacques Beaulieu has in his young net minder Brandon Hope and it further leads me to wonder if this is another goalie development issue with the Sarnia Sting. Sarnia has a very poor track record in helping to develop highly touted goaltenders (Peter DiSalvo, Shane Campbell the most recent). What would be the fate for Brandon Hope in the future with the Sting, if they are competitive next year do they bring in yet another overage goaltender to help? Hope has not received a fair shake this year and his future with the team is in question. See the rumours section.
The bright spot from Friday nights game vs the Erie Otters was the much anticipated addition of Phoenix Coyotes 1st round pick Connor Murphy. Murphy wouldn't take long to make his presence known in the OHL. Murphy recorded his first OHL assist in only his 2nd shift of the game on a Craig Hottot goal.
Murphy would not appear in the Saturday game vs the Plymouth Whalers but then would return vs the Peterborough Pete's on Sunday.
Yakupov Makes Big Splash in Return
Nail Yakupov went 7 games on the IR for the Sarnia Sting and made his presence known when he made his return on Sunday afternoon vs the Peterborough Pete's. A game in which Sarnia won 4-2. Yakupov would be names the games 2nd star after tallying 1 goal and 2 assists. Yakupov was a dominant force on the ice.
The only player with more offensive out put in that game was Sarnia's Charlie Sarault who was in on every single one of Sarnia's goals. Sarault who has been a pleasantly great addition to the Sting line up had 1 goal and 3 assists. Many amateur scouts and avid fans are starting to realize that Sarualt may garner some NHL attention as the season goes on and may be drafted or get an invite to a pro camp come next summer.
Brandon Maxwell also played a huge part as he played arguably his best game of the month. Maxwell turned away 36 of 38 shots that he faced vs the Pete's.
While the return of Yakupov and Murphy playing in the Sting line up were pleasant spots for Sting fans to enjoy there were a lot of scary situations in the Pete's/Sting game. Players were taking liberties and making dangerous hits. I wouldn't be surprised if Sarnia's injury list expands again this upcoming weekend but lets all cross our fingers and hope that everyone is ok.
With Yakupov out of the line up for those 7 games the Sting only managed to achieve 2 wins.
Sarnia Sting Rumour Mill
Take this section with a grain of salt remember that this is a rumour mill for an issue, nothing is confirmed, parts may or may not be true. I am not fully investigating all of these rumours as they are mostly an I will believe it when I see it type thing.
Over the past couple weeks the rumour mill in Sarnia has been heating up. Everything from unhappy players that want out to what players are going to be traded where.
The most interesting I have heard is that Brandon Hope wants out and that his agent as been bashing the organisation. If this is true or not I doubt it but it very well could be. It could also be started by someone who sits in their mothers basement on their computer. Lets look at the logistics of this rumour though. Usually you won't hear of player agents bashing the team that they currently play for, it isn't a good reputation to be making for the player or the agent because really who wants to work with someone like that? Is Brandon Hope really unhappy? Hope has a great support system in Sarnia his family isn't that far away across the border, Hope has made lots of friends and has great billet parents. Does Hope want out of Sarnia? Would you really blame him? Hope has been seeing limited ice time and as the game vs Erie showed Jacques Beaulieu doesn't instill much confidence in him. On top of the lack of confidence is the Sarnia Sting track record with developing of goalies. When was the last time Sting fans can remember that the Sting were not going to trade for a veteran between the pipes.
The Brett Ritchie to Peterborough for Austin Watson saga. Late last week twitter exploded with rumours that Brett Ritchie was headed to join his brother in Peterborough and in exchange the Sting would receive veteran forward Austin Watson. The trade made sense as Ritchie has had injury issues and not preformed as well as expected lately, it would put him with his brother to play together and the Sting fans have not been so kind to Brett this season. The rumours went as far as saying Watson was in Sarnia on Thursday; however he was in the line up in Peterborough that night. Ritchie has a nagging hip flexor injury and Peterbrough is already suffering in that department so don't expect that trade to happen any time soon, if at all.
Sting to acquire Spooner? The same day the Ritchie rumours occurred it was insinuated that the Sting had a deal prepared to acquire Ryan Spooner from Kingston. There are multiple rumours surrounding this one. One is that the deal won't happen until the Sting are able to trade Ryan Kujawinski to Kingston in January, the other's are that the deal just completely fell through. I don't see the Sting being prepared to trade Kujawinski as this kid should be a force in years to come. I could believe that the deal fell through as Spooner was diagnosed with mono and with the Sting's injury issues they cannot really afford to bring on another injured player especially if they are giving away a healthy player.
Galchenyuk Blog
Alex Galchenyuk has been blogging about his rehab and his injury. From what I can tell it appears Alex is progressing well and personally I wouldn't be surprised if he is back in the line up at the end of Feburary/start of March. You can find his blog here: Galchenyuk starting Rehab Routine
Around the OHL:
The Brampton Battalion and Plymouth Whalers currently have the longest running winning streaks going in the OHL both winning their last 4 straight games.
London Knights and Plymouth Whalers are the hottest teams in the OHL going 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games.
The Peterborough Pete's are the coldest team in OHL on an 8 game losing steak (0-6-0-2) and 2-6-0-2 in their last 10.
The Erie Otters won their 1st game in their last 13 by beating the Sarnia Sting 7-3 and then losing to Windsor in OT the next night by a score of 6-5.
Brendan Ross has a special WJC editions of The OHL Rundown this week that includes great Nail Yakupov info.
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Sting get good news?, Hunters win 1st games, OHL Suspensions, Erie gets a point!
Sting Bugged But Battling
The Sarnia Sting battled through another though 3 games last weekend coming out with 4 out of 6 points without a number of key players. The Sting would play the entire weekend with out Brett Ritchie (hip?), Nail Yakupov (back), Alex Basso (hand), Connor Murphy (knee), Alex Galchenyuk (knee out until March). Sarnia would lose both Nathan Mater and Craig Dunnick for the games on Sunday vs the Sault Set Marie Greyhounds. I never really heard why Mater wasn't playing but Dunnick didn't play as the Sarnia Sting were under the impression that Dunnick would receive a suspension for his 5 min major hit from behind penalty he received on Friday vs Erie Otters.
The Sting played Brandon Maxwell in all three games over the weekend, Maxwell faced 116 shots over the 3 games and allowed 17 goals over those 3 games. This begs me to start and question is Jacques Beaulieu playing Maxwell a little too much and not playing Brandon Hope enough? Hope has played 8 games total this season compared to 24 games that Maxwell has received. Going into the season most people thought that Brandon Hope would receive a lot more games then that or split half and half with Maxwell. The fact is Maxwell has been playing great for the Sting with a 15-6-1-2 record with a 2.85 GAA and 0.908 save percentage; mean while, Hope is 2-1-0-2 3.24 GAA 0.888 save percentage. But how can a goaltender get into game mode and be fully ready for games if he barely ever plays? This is why the Sarnia Sting have ruined the development of their young goaltenders previously, they have given up on them early and brought in overages to fill the roles. Hope can't be in game mode when he only plays every now and then. 8 games in almost half a season will not help Hope's development and it will just wear Maxwell out when it comes down to the stretch and the Sting need him to be at his best to gain playoff position possible and carry the team deep.
The Sting have seemed to receive some bad news this week as apparently Nail Yakupov and Brett Ritchie will both not play this upcoming weekend. However, apparently Connor Murphy will suit up for his first game this weekend in a Sarnia Sting uniform.
London Knights Don't Miss A Beat
While Dale Hunter has left for the Washington Capitals the London Knight's didn't miss a beat this weekend winning 2 of 3 games with their only loss vs Kitchener last night in Kitchener's teddy bear toss game (Tuesday Dec 7th,2011). Mark Hunter took the reins as head coach and brought former NHLer and former London Knight Rob Ramage to join Dylan Hunter, Mika Donskvo and Mark Hunter behind the London Knights bench.
Mean while Dale has had a rough start behind the Washington bench going 1-2-0-0 in his first 3 games. Alexander Semin has been a health scratch for all 3 of those games.
Erie Otters Pick up a Point
The Erie Otters broke their 11 game pointless streak by picking up an overtime loss to the Barrie Colts. Erie however still does not have a win in 13 games and is slowly putting themselves out of play off contention (if you didn't already know that).
OHL Suspends Pumpel
The Ontario Hockey League has suspended Peterbrough Pete's forward Matt Pumpel for 8 games for a hit to the head (Pumpel Suspension Video).
The OHL has also chosen to suspend Michael Kantor (SSM)but only for 1 game which has been served (on Sunday vs Sarnia), Nick Cousins (SSM) received 2 games for his slew foot vs the Sarnia Sting and Jarren Tinordi (LDN) for his actions during a brawl vs the Owen Sound Attack.
Craig Dunnick either didn't receive a suspension or only received 1 game for his hit from behind vs the Oshawa Generals on Friday December 2nd, 2011. Dunnick sat out Sunday's game vs the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds under the impression that he would be suspended.
Greyhounds/Wolves Make Minor Deal
On December 1st the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds and the Sudbury Wolves made a minor deal last week that saw SSM send Chad Thibodeau to the Wolves for a 6h round pick in 2012 and a 15th round pick in 2012. Thibodeau has played 38 games in the last 2 seasons with the Greyhounds accumulating 113 PIM's. Thibodeau had requested a trade to play a bigger role on another team. Greyhounds Press Release
The Sarnia Sting battled through another though 3 games last weekend coming out with 4 out of 6 points without a number of key players. The Sting would play the entire weekend with out Brett Ritchie (hip?), Nail Yakupov (back), Alex Basso (hand), Connor Murphy (knee), Alex Galchenyuk (knee out until March). Sarnia would lose both Nathan Mater and Craig Dunnick for the games on Sunday vs the Sault Set Marie Greyhounds. I never really heard why Mater wasn't playing but Dunnick didn't play as the Sarnia Sting were under the impression that Dunnick would receive a suspension for his 5 min major hit from behind penalty he received on Friday vs Erie Otters.
The Sting played Brandon Maxwell in all three games over the weekend, Maxwell faced 116 shots over the 3 games and allowed 17 goals over those 3 games. This begs me to start and question is Jacques Beaulieu playing Maxwell a little too much and not playing Brandon Hope enough? Hope has played 8 games total this season compared to 24 games that Maxwell has received. Going into the season most people thought that Brandon Hope would receive a lot more games then that or split half and half with Maxwell. The fact is Maxwell has been playing great for the Sting with a 15-6-1-2 record with a 2.85 GAA and 0.908 save percentage; mean while, Hope is 2-1-0-2 3.24 GAA 0.888 save percentage. But how can a goaltender get into game mode and be fully ready for games if he barely ever plays? This is why the Sarnia Sting have ruined the development of their young goaltenders previously, they have given up on them early and brought in overages to fill the roles. Hope can't be in game mode when he only plays every now and then. 8 games in almost half a season will not help Hope's development and it will just wear Maxwell out when it comes down to the stretch and the Sting need him to be at his best to gain playoff position possible and carry the team deep.
The Sting have seemed to receive some bad news this week as apparently Nail Yakupov and Brett Ritchie will both not play this upcoming weekend. However, apparently Connor Murphy will suit up for his first game this weekend in a Sarnia Sting uniform.
London Knights Don't Miss A Beat
While Dale Hunter has left for the Washington Capitals the London Knight's didn't miss a beat this weekend winning 2 of 3 games with their only loss vs Kitchener last night in Kitchener's teddy bear toss game (Tuesday Dec 7th,2011). Mark Hunter took the reins as head coach and brought former NHLer and former London Knight Rob Ramage to join Dylan Hunter, Mika Donskvo and Mark Hunter behind the London Knights bench.
Mean while Dale has had a rough start behind the Washington bench going 1-2-0-0 in his first 3 games. Alexander Semin has been a health scratch for all 3 of those games.
Erie Otters Pick up a Point
The Erie Otters broke their 11 game pointless streak by picking up an overtime loss to the Barrie Colts. Erie however still does not have a win in 13 games and is slowly putting themselves out of play off contention (if you didn't already know that).
OHL Suspends Pumpel
The Ontario Hockey League has suspended Peterbrough Pete's forward Matt Pumpel for 8 games for a hit to the head (Pumpel Suspension Video).
The OHL has also chosen to suspend Michael Kantor (SSM)but only for 1 game which has been served (on Sunday vs Sarnia), Nick Cousins (SSM) received 2 games for his slew foot vs the Sarnia Sting and Jarren Tinordi (LDN) for his actions during a brawl vs the Owen Sound Attack.
Craig Dunnick either didn't receive a suspension or only received 1 game for his hit from behind vs the Oshawa Generals on Friday December 2nd, 2011. Dunnick sat out Sunday's game vs the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds under the impression that he would be suspended.
Greyhounds/Wolves Make Minor Deal
On December 1st the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds and the Sudbury Wolves made a minor deal last week that saw SSM send Chad Thibodeau to the Wolves for a 6h round pick in 2012 and a 15th round pick in 2012. Thibodeau has played 38 games in the last 2 seasons with the Greyhounds accumulating 113 PIM's. Thibodeau had requested a trade to play a bigger role on another team. Greyhounds Press Release
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