The off season officially starts for the Sarnia Sting tomorrow and kicks into high gear next Saturday when the OHL has it's 2012 Priority Selection which is being held a month earlier than normal. The Sting will hold the 12th overall selection in that draft.
More importantly the off season for the Sarnia Sting won't only revolve around the rookies that are drafted, or the prospects coming up through the ranks but the main topic around the Sarnia Sting this off-season will likely be who will be returning next year? This post will mainly revolve around that topic. We will start from the net and work our way out with potential returnees and at the end we will eliminate those likely not to return to the Sarnia Sting for 2012-2013.
Goaltenders:
JP Anderson - San Jose Prospect, AHL/ECHL Eligable and potential return for an overage season
Brandon Hope- 1994 birth year leaves him with 3 more years eligible in the OHL.
Defence:
Craig Dunnick- 1993
Nathan Chairlitti- 1992, will likely be back for his final season as Sarnia Sting Captain, potential OA
Jack Kuzmyk- 1993
Mike DiPaolo- 1994 saw limited action for the Sting this year, could be candidate for next year
Julian Luciani- 1992 potential OA
Alex Basso- 1993
Connor Murphy- 1993, Phoenix Coyotes prospect, AHL eligible
Anthony DeAngelo- 1995, will be a big part of the Sting blue line
Forwards:
Dominic Alberga- 1992, potential OA
Nail Yakupov- 1993, Import, Likely 1st overall NHL draft pick
Charles Sarault- 1992, potential OA
Justice Dundas- 1994
Reid Boucher- 1993, New Jersey Devils Prospect, AHL eligible
Davis Brown- 1994, Sting prospect, Appeared in 14 games with Sting (0 pts)
Craig Hottot- 1992, potential OA
Daniel Nikandrov- 1995, Sting Prospect, Appeared in 7 games with Sting (1 goal 1 assist)
Ryan Spooner- 1992, Boston Bruins Prospect, Potential OA, AHL Eligible
Nathan Mater- 1994, Sting Prospect, Appeared in 19 games (1 assist, 6 PIM)
Nickolas Latta- 1993
Ludvig Rensfeldt- 1992, Import, Potential OA, Chicago Blackhawks Property
Alex Galchenyuk- 1994, Likely top 5 NHL draft pick
I excluded Justin Thomas from my list as he departed Sarnia 2 times in 1 year. I do not believe the Sting have any plans to keep Justin Thomas next year.
Now onto who is likely to return next year to the Sarnia Sting?
Goaltending
I believe you will see both return next year as I do not believe JP Anderson turns pro and the San Jose Sharks return him to the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. However what are the Sting's plans with Brandon Hope? I don't believe JB showed much confidence in the young net minder this year and the question is will Hope want out of the Sarnia Sting? For right now I will go with both returning. Note that takes 1 of 3 OA spots off the table if Anderson returns to net for the Sarnia Sting.
Returning: Hope, Anderson (OA)
Defence:
You don't through your Captain out the season after a 1st round play off season so I believe you will see Nathan Chairlitti take up overage spot #2. I think Julian Luciani will be an odd man out and being moved to forward late in the regular season and being scratched in the playoffs is a fine indication of that in my mind. I also believe that Connor Murphy will be returned to the Sarnia Sting for another year next year by the Coyotes as I believe there is still a lot of work to be done in his development and Phoenix will see that the OHL is the best place for that. DiPaolo will need to prove he deserves a spot on the roster next year and is a question mark for me but he has given up his NCAA eligibility and I believe you will likely see him as a member o the Sarnia Sting next season on the blue line.
Returning: Chairlitti (OA), Dunnick, Kuzmyk, DeAngelo, DiPaolo, Basso, Murphy
Forwards:
This is where the overage dilemma comes in if you have Anderson in net and Chairlitti on the blue line. I believe that gritty Dominic Alberga will be the odd man out in the overage race at the forward position leaving Sarnia native Craig Hottot and Charles Sarault to battle for the final overage spot. Luckily you are allowed to carry 4 OA's for the first part of the season but only dress 3 so I believe that you will see Hottot and Sarault both start the season as members of the Sarnia Sting and then 1 of the 2 will be traded.
Ryan Spooner is most likely not going to return to the OHL for an overage season. As a top prospect for the Boston Bruins it is likely that Spooner will be headed to the AHL Providence Bruins next year. 5% chance Spooner returns next season and if he does the Sting will have an OA problem.
Ludvig Rensfeldt will likely not be taking up and OA spot and import spot so I believe you will likely see Sarnia take 1 possibly 2 players in the Import draft depending on if they want to keep Nail Yakupov protected or not. Rensfeldt is Chicago property so he is likely on his way to the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. 0% chance Rensfeldt returns to the Sting as I believe they release his rights to draft someone in the Import Draft.
Nail Yakupov will likely be the 1st overall draft pick in this years NHL Entry draft at least all things point in that direction. Based on the fact that he is going 1st overall alone is the only reason I do not think that Nail Yakupov will return to the OHL. However, I do believe that there is a chance that he does return as I do not believe that he is physically ready for the NHL and Brandon Saad pushing him around in the playoffs was a fine example of that. I give it a 10% chance of Yakupov returning to the Sarnia Sting though.
Alex Galchenyuk is likely going to be a top 5 or at worst a top 10 draft pick in this years NHL entry draft. In my opinion I believe he deserves to go number 1. Galchenyuk is much stronger on the puck then Yakupov and more defensively responsible. I believe that the only reason Galchenyuk returns to the OHL next year is because the team that drafts him will want to see what he can do in a full season in the OHL. That being said i give it a 40% chance that he sticks in the NHL.
Finally my last question mark. I believe although Reid Boucher is AHL eligible that he will be returned to the Sarnia Sting next year. Boucher has a lot of growing to do, needs to get stronger, needs to work on his defensive game and his offensive consistency. I believe that one more season in the OHL will benefit him in his long term development. 10% chance that Boucher does not return to Sarnia.
Returning: Sarault (OA), Hottot (OA), Galchenyuk, Boucher, Latta, Mater, Nikandrov, Brown, Dundas
Saturday 31 March 2012
Why The Sarnia Sting Lost To The Saginaw Spirit
Brandon Saad, Josh Shalla, Vincent Trocheck, Jake Patterson, Brandon Archibald, Garrett Ross, Steven Strong... Those names are the major reason that the Saginaw Spirit were able to force the Sarnia Sting out of the post season in six games.
Notice how many names are on that list. The Saginaw Spirit showed up with possibly a more complete team and played more of a team game in the 1st round of the playoffs then the Sarnia Sting. The big bodies of the Saginaw Spirit seemed to be too much for the Sting to handle. Brandon Saad showed why he doesn't belong in the OHL. Saad was a man against boys in this series, out muscling and out scoring anyone on either team. Saad had 6 goals and 6 assists for the Saginaw in the 6 game series. Saad just out muscled the Sarnia Sting and showed why he should have been a 1st round draft pick instead of a second round draft pick in last years NHL draft. Saginaw was one of the better teams in the 2nd half of the season and was the better team in this series and that is the bottom line.
It seemed fitting that while the Sting were only trailing by 1 goal and had been applying a constant pressure on the Saginaw Spirit in Game #6 that they would lose 2 of their top players to injury. Ryan Spooner may have possibly finished his OHL career when he went hard into the boards mid way through the 1st period. Spooner would return to the bench but never took a shift on the ice and would again leave the bench this time not to return. Spooner only had 1 goal and 2 assists in the 6 game series for the Sting, which starts to beg the question was he playing all ready injured? Then late in the 2nd period JP Anderson would take a rocket of a shot off the mask that would eventually see him leave the game with a probable concussion. Enter into the game Brandon Hope who has seen limited game time all year and hasn't seen any in a few weeks.
Keys to Saginaw's Win
Jake Patterson: Don't get me wrong when I saw this but Jake Patterson was the better goaltender in this series. The 17 year old draft eligible goaltender made key saves at points in games that allowed the Spirit to get wins (This is no slam on JP Anderson by the way who stood on his head for the Sarnia Sting). Patterson made 163 saves over the 6 game series and would boast a .902 save percentage and a record of 4-0-2.
Brandon Saad: I pretty much talked about this completely above. Saad was a men amongst boys and I said it early on in the season that Saad should have been in the NHL and if not for being a Chicago Blackhawk draft pick I still believe he would have been. Saad averaged 2 points per game at the end of everything (held off the score sheet in game 6) with 6 goals and 6 assists in 6 games.
Josh Shalla: The rumour came out during the series that Shalla was almost made a member of the Sarnia Sting in the last season that Matt Martin captained the Sting, if that rumour is true (which I completely believe it is) Alan Millar screwed the Sarnia organisation worse then people thought, this years team could have been much more successful if Millar was a seller that year instead of holding onto his players for his own personal reasons. Shalla was a pivotal member in the Spirit success boasting 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in the 6 game series.
Plus/Minus: A lot of people will say that it is a useless stat category that doesn't tell the full story but when you look at the two teams after this series I believe that it does tell a story. Saginaw had 3 players that were +7 (Saad, Shalla, Walsh) and only two players in the minus category that were -1 (Archibald, Trafford). Mean while when you take a look at the Sarnia Sting they only had 2 players above even, Ludvig Rensfeldt (+2) and Jack Kuzmyuk (+1). The Sting also had 9 players that were -2 or worse on their roster.
Saginaw's Defense: Saginaw limited Sarnia who came into the series able to say that they had 8 twenty goal scorers in the regular season (Hottot, Sarault, Yakupov, Thompson, Spooner, Boucher, Brown, Rensfeldt). Saginaw limited Sarnia's shots on net and pretty much eliminated the scoring threats of the Sarnia Sting. Steven Strong and Brandon Archibald lead the Spirit defence being probably the 2 strongest blue liners on the ice the entire series. Walsh and Young were also very pivotal pieces and while Ringuette and Lopez didn't see a ton of ice when they were on the ice they weren't a detriment to their team.
Sarnia Sting Notes
Where was Yakupov?: Yakupov I believe you will hear in the coming days was playing through injuries but the potential 1st overall pick in this years NHL entry draft was not very noticeable in this series. Yakupov had 2 goals and 3 assists and was a -7. While he still had a tied for team lead 5 points in the 6 games he wasn't really noticeable. Also when it came down to do or die for the Sarnia Sting in the 3rd period his ice time was extremely limited.
Galchenyuk Returns: While Nail was seemingly invisible Galchenyuk was all over the ice making sure he was noticed. Galchenyuk missed almost the entire season recovering from knee surgery but still managed to make himself appear as Sarnia's best player in the series. While Alex battled to shake off the cob webs it was evident that his knee is just as good as ever. Galchenyuk was strong on the puck, winning face offs, and making things happen by driving to the net and creating a good chunk of Sarnia's scoring chances.
JP Anderson: JP stood on his head keeping the Sting in games. Other than a rather big mistake made in game 6 when he challenged Kea while on a SH break JP didn't really make any big mistakes in the series. Anderson boasted a .900 save percentage while making 197 saves and allowing 22 goals in the series.
Coaching: It is in my opinion that Jacques Beaulieu was out coached in this series by Greg Gilbert. At times it appeared JB didn't play the right players in key situations. An example is Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov seeing limited ice time late in the 3rd period in game 3.
Chemistry: With the Sarnia Sting not icing their full line up until the 1st game of Round 1 of the 2012 OHL playoffs they obviously aren't going to have the chemistry that other teams have. I have not seen a team go through so many injuries in one season.
Not enough heart, too much skill?: Yes I will say it. The Sarnia Sting had a ton of skilled players. Unfortunately when you see teams when championships you see a team that has more then 2 heart and soul players. Nathan Chairlitti and Craig Hottot are the 2 players on the Sarnia Sting that play the gritty heart and soul type game. Justice Dundas is another however he only received 3 games and saw maybe 5 shifts in those games. Jack Nevins and Garrett Hooey would have been another one of those players but that will be in a later post looking back at the full season of the Sarnia Sting. Sometimes too much skill isn't a good thing and I believe that is partly a case for the Sarnia Sting who may have had too many offensive minded players.
Injuries: JP Anderson and Ryan Spooner going down in game 6 definitely did not help the Sting push for a game 7. That being said I believe you will see the Sarnia Sting announce a few players who were playing through injuries that may be minor or major. I believe Nail Yakupov was still not even close to 100% after the Halmo hit.
Notice how many names are on that list. The Saginaw Spirit showed up with possibly a more complete team and played more of a team game in the 1st round of the playoffs then the Sarnia Sting. The big bodies of the Saginaw Spirit seemed to be too much for the Sting to handle. Brandon Saad showed why he doesn't belong in the OHL. Saad was a man against boys in this series, out muscling and out scoring anyone on either team. Saad had 6 goals and 6 assists for the Saginaw in the 6 game series. Saad just out muscled the Sarnia Sting and showed why he should have been a 1st round draft pick instead of a second round draft pick in last years NHL draft. Saginaw was one of the better teams in the 2nd half of the season and was the better team in this series and that is the bottom line.
It seemed fitting that while the Sting were only trailing by 1 goal and had been applying a constant pressure on the Saginaw Spirit in Game #6 that they would lose 2 of their top players to injury. Ryan Spooner may have possibly finished his OHL career when he went hard into the boards mid way through the 1st period. Spooner would return to the bench but never took a shift on the ice and would again leave the bench this time not to return. Spooner only had 1 goal and 2 assists in the 6 game series for the Sting, which starts to beg the question was he playing all ready injured? Then late in the 2nd period JP Anderson would take a rocket of a shot off the mask that would eventually see him leave the game with a probable concussion. Enter into the game Brandon Hope who has seen limited game time all year and hasn't seen any in a few weeks.
Keys to Saginaw's Win
Jake Patterson: Don't get me wrong when I saw this but Jake Patterson was the better goaltender in this series. The 17 year old draft eligible goaltender made key saves at points in games that allowed the Spirit to get wins (This is no slam on JP Anderson by the way who stood on his head for the Sarnia Sting). Patterson made 163 saves over the 6 game series and would boast a .902 save percentage and a record of 4-0-2.
Brandon Saad: I pretty much talked about this completely above. Saad was a men amongst boys and I said it early on in the season that Saad should have been in the NHL and if not for being a Chicago Blackhawk draft pick I still believe he would have been. Saad averaged 2 points per game at the end of everything (held off the score sheet in game 6) with 6 goals and 6 assists in 6 games.
Josh Shalla: The rumour came out during the series that Shalla was almost made a member of the Sarnia Sting in the last season that Matt Martin captained the Sting, if that rumour is true (which I completely believe it is) Alan Millar screwed the Sarnia organisation worse then people thought, this years team could have been much more successful if Millar was a seller that year instead of holding onto his players for his own personal reasons. Shalla was a pivotal member in the Spirit success boasting 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in the 6 game series.
Plus/Minus: A lot of people will say that it is a useless stat category that doesn't tell the full story but when you look at the two teams after this series I believe that it does tell a story. Saginaw had 3 players that were +7 (Saad, Shalla, Walsh) and only two players in the minus category that were -1 (Archibald, Trafford). Mean while when you take a look at the Sarnia Sting they only had 2 players above even, Ludvig Rensfeldt (+2) and Jack Kuzmyuk (+1). The Sting also had 9 players that were -2 or worse on their roster.
Saginaw's Defense: Saginaw limited Sarnia who came into the series able to say that they had 8 twenty goal scorers in the regular season (Hottot, Sarault, Yakupov, Thompson, Spooner, Boucher, Brown, Rensfeldt). Saginaw limited Sarnia's shots on net and pretty much eliminated the scoring threats of the Sarnia Sting. Steven Strong and Brandon Archibald lead the Spirit defence being probably the 2 strongest blue liners on the ice the entire series. Walsh and Young were also very pivotal pieces and while Ringuette and Lopez didn't see a ton of ice when they were on the ice they weren't a detriment to their team.
Sarnia Sting Notes
Where was Yakupov?: Yakupov I believe you will hear in the coming days was playing through injuries but the potential 1st overall pick in this years NHL entry draft was not very noticeable in this series. Yakupov had 2 goals and 3 assists and was a -7. While he still had a tied for team lead 5 points in the 6 games he wasn't really noticeable. Also when it came down to do or die for the Sarnia Sting in the 3rd period his ice time was extremely limited.
Galchenyuk Returns: While Nail was seemingly invisible Galchenyuk was all over the ice making sure he was noticed. Galchenyuk missed almost the entire season recovering from knee surgery but still managed to make himself appear as Sarnia's best player in the series. While Alex battled to shake off the cob webs it was evident that his knee is just as good as ever. Galchenyuk was strong on the puck, winning face offs, and making things happen by driving to the net and creating a good chunk of Sarnia's scoring chances.
JP Anderson: JP stood on his head keeping the Sting in games. Other than a rather big mistake made in game 6 when he challenged Kea while on a SH break JP didn't really make any big mistakes in the series. Anderson boasted a .900 save percentage while making 197 saves and allowing 22 goals in the series.
Coaching: It is in my opinion that Jacques Beaulieu was out coached in this series by Greg Gilbert. At times it appeared JB didn't play the right players in key situations. An example is Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov seeing limited ice time late in the 3rd period in game 3.
Chemistry: With the Sarnia Sting not icing their full line up until the 1st game of Round 1 of the 2012 OHL playoffs they obviously aren't going to have the chemistry that other teams have. I have not seen a team go through so many injuries in one season.
Not enough heart, too much skill?: Yes I will say it. The Sarnia Sting had a ton of skilled players. Unfortunately when you see teams when championships you see a team that has more then 2 heart and soul players. Nathan Chairlitti and Craig Hottot are the 2 players on the Sarnia Sting that play the gritty heart and soul type game. Justice Dundas is another however he only received 3 games and saw maybe 5 shifts in those games. Jack Nevins and Garrett Hooey would have been another one of those players but that will be in a later post looking back at the full season of the Sarnia Sting. Sometimes too much skill isn't a good thing and I believe that is partly a case for the Sarnia Sting who may have had too many offensive minded players.
Injuries: JP Anderson and Ryan Spooner going down in game 6 definitely did not help the Sting push for a game 7. That being said I believe you will see the Sarnia Sting announce a few players who were playing through injuries that may be minor or major. I believe Nail Yakupov was still not even close to 100% after the Halmo hit.
Sunday 25 March 2012
OHL Saturday Night Recap
Sting Even Series
The Sarnia Sting and Saginaw Spirit took the ice for Game #2 of their series Saturday at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, MI. Fans would be treated to a very high tempo back and forth game not much like Game #1. Sarnia would come out with the victory courtesy of Tyler Brown scoring the overtime winner after Craig Hottot rapped the puck around the back of the net and fed it to Brown for the wide open cage.
Saginaw would open the game taking a 1-0 lead after the first period. Carlos Amestoy would open the scoring for the Spirit at the 6:57 mark of the first period after fooling JP Anderson and the Sting defenders by using his forward partner as a perfect distraction. Amestoy's goal would be his second of the series after scoring 1 in Game #1 as well, assists on the goal would go to Garrett Ross and Eric Locke.
Sarnia wasn't a slouch in the first period they came out very motivated with a high tempo and gave Saginaw all they could handle in the first period out shooting the Spirit 17-12 in the first period. Mark Glavin (Assistant General Manager of the Sarnia Sting) said it best via twitter after the first period "Unfortunately trailing 1-0 after 1 but a better period than any of the 3 last night..Yak flying..like our chances w 2 more periods like that".
The second period would see the teams trade power play goals. Saginaw would score first at 5:33 to give them a 2-0 lead early in the period. Garrett Ross would score his second goal of the series on the power play with assists going to Brandon Saad and Josh Shalla. Nail Yakupov would respond for the Sting at 8:14 of the second period with an absolute rocket that handcuffed Saginaw goaltender Jake Paterson. Yakupov's goal was assisted by Alex Galchenyuk and Connor Murphy to cut Saginaw's lead back to 1 goal.
At the conclusion of the second period emotions would run high as Brandon Saad would take a run at Dominic Alberga and Craig Hottot would then take a return run at Saad. After the final buzzer the players on the ice would all come together and would take a little extra time to vacate the ice for intermission. The scrums at the end of the period would lead to another Sarnia power play as Michael Fine would be the only player to receive a penalty.
Just 29 seconds into the third period Sarnia would receive a two man advantage as Garrett Ross would take a slashing penalty to kick off the third period. Ryan Spooner would score his first goal of the series on that two man advantage to tie the game at 2-2 for the Sarnia Sting. Josh Shalla would waste no time responding for the Spirit reinstating their 1 goal lead at 5:10 of the third period. 16 year old defenseman Anthony DeAngelo would then score his 1st career OHL Playoff goal only 21 seconds later to tie the game at 3 again for the Sarnia Sting. That would be all the scoring in the 3rd period and the teams would have to go to overtime where Tyler Brown was the hero 3:52 in for the Sarnia Sting allowing them to win the game and tie the series at 1 game a piece.
Game Notes
- Nail Yakupov had 1 goal and 1 assist and Dominic Alberga had 2 assists for the Sting
- Garrett Ross and Carlos Amestoy both had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Spirit while Brandon Saad has 2 assists
- 3 Stars were: 3- Nail Yakupov, 2- Josh Shalla, 1- Tyler Brown
- Sarnia will need to keep that high tempo pace come Monday night when the two teams face off for Game #3 at the RBC Center in Sarnia, ON
- Both teams seemed to bring a very high temp and upped the physical play in Game 2 which probably added to some of the animosity between the two teams
- Saginaw out shot Sarnia 46-37
- Sarnia would go 1/7 on the PP while Saginaw was 1/5
Scoring Summary
1. SAG C. Amestoy (2) (G. Ross, E. Locke) 6:57
2. SAG G. Ross (2) (B. Saad, J. Shalla) 5:33 PP
2. SAR N. Yakupov (1) (A. Galchenuk, C. Murphy) 8:17 PP
3. SAR R. Spooner (1) (B. Thompson, N. Yakupov) 1:35 PP
3. SAG J. Shalla (1) (B. Saad, M. Fine) 5:10
3. SAR A. DeAngelo (1) (D. Alberga) 5:31
OT. SAR T. Brown (1) (C. Hottot, D. Alberga) 3:52
Owen Sound Discipline Problems
I don't think anyone would really be surprised if I said that the Owen Sound Attack have been having trouble with the Kitchener Rangers or if I said that discipline is a big part of their struggles. With Attack Captain Mike Halmo suspended for 6 more games already and now Arthur Gurvus out with an injury the Attack are already short staffed only icing 16 skaters. To add on to the fact that they only iced a 16 skater roster they allowed the Rangers 6 power plays. Kitchener would go 1/6 on the PP and Owen Sound would go 1/3.
If Owen Sound wants any chance at going longer then 4 games in this series they are going to have to tighten up their game plan and stay out of the penalty box. With a short roster it is going to be tiring enough taking needless penalties constantly isn't going to help their game.
Tempers ran high to end game game 2 as a full line brawl would break out with even Kitchener goalie John Gibson trying to get involved in the festivities. At the buzzer 2 fights would break out with scrums going on with other players on the ice. 8 penalties would be given out at the end of the game including a 4 min spearing penalty to Cameron Brace of the Owen Sound Attack.
- Kitchener would win the game 3-2 to go up 2-0 in the best of 7 series.
- Faska, Iafrate and Reider would be the goal scorers for Kitchener while Brace and Hope would be the goal scorers for the Owen Sound Attack
- While the scrums were going on on the ice at the end of the game Owen Sound Fans disgraced themselves by through various pieces of garbage at the Kitchener Rangers bench and players
- Owen Sound out shot Kitchener 37-28
- 3 stars: 3- Tobias Reider, 2- Cameron Brace, 1- John Gibson
The Sarnia Sting and Saginaw Spirit took the ice for Game #2 of their series Saturday at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, MI. Fans would be treated to a very high tempo back and forth game not much like Game #1. Sarnia would come out with the victory courtesy of Tyler Brown scoring the overtime winner after Craig Hottot rapped the puck around the back of the net and fed it to Brown for the wide open cage.
Saginaw would open the game taking a 1-0 lead after the first period. Carlos Amestoy would open the scoring for the Spirit at the 6:57 mark of the first period after fooling JP Anderson and the Sting defenders by using his forward partner as a perfect distraction. Amestoy's goal would be his second of the series after scoring 1 in Game #1 as well, assists on the goal would go to Garrett Ross and Eric Locke.
Sarnia wasn't a slouch in the first period they came out very motivated with a high tempo and gave Saginaw all they could handle in the first period out shooting the Spirit 17-12 in the first period. Mark Glavin (Assistant General Manager of the Sarnia Sting) said it best via twitter after the first period "Unfortunately trailing 1-0 after 1 but a better period than any of the 3 last night..Yak flying..like our chances w 2 more periods like that".
The second period would see the teams trade power play goals. Saginaw would score first at 5:33 to give them a 2-0 lead early in the period. Garrett Ross would score his second goal of the series on the power play with assists going to Brandon Saad and Josh Shalla. Nail Yakupov would respond for the Sting at 8:14 of the second period with an absolute rocket that handcuffed Saginaw goaltender Jake Paterson. Yakupov's goal was assisted by Alex Galchenyuk and Connor Murphy to cut Saginaw's lead back to 1 goal.
At the conclusion of the second period emotions would run high as Brandon Saad would take a run at Dominic Alberga and Craig Hottot would then take a return run at Saad. After the final buzzer the players on the ice would all come together and would take a little extra time to vacate the ice for intermission. The scrums at the end of the period would lead to another Sarnia power play as Michael Fine would be the only player to receive a penalty.
Just 29 seconds into the third period Sarnia would receive a two man advantage as Garrett Ross would take a slashing penalty to kick off the third period. Ryan Spooner would score his first goal of the series on that two man advantage to tie the game at 2-2 for the Sarnia Sting. Josh Shalla would waste no time responding for the Spirit reinstating their 1 goal lead at 5:10 of the third period. 16 year old defenseman Anthony DeAngelo would then score his 1st career OHL Playoff goal only 21 seconds later to tie the game at 3 again for the Sarnia Sting. That would be all the scoring in the 3rd period and the teams would have to go to overtime where Tyler Brown was the hero 3:52 in for the Sarnia Sting allowing them to win the game and tie the series at 1 game a piece.
Game Notes
- Nail Yakupov had 1 goal and 1 assist and Dominic Alberga had 2 assists for the Sting
- Garrett Ross and Carlos Amestoy both had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Spirit while Brandon Saad has 2 assists
- 3 Stars were: 3- Nail Yakupov, 2- Josh Shalla, 1- Tyler Brown
- Sarnia will need to keep that high tempo pace come Monday night when the two teams face off for Game #3 at the RBC Center in Sarnia, ON
- Both teams seemed to bring a very high temp and upped the physical play in Game 2 which probably added to some of the animosity between the two teams
- Saginaw out shot Sarnia 46-37
- Sarnia would go 1/7 on the PP while Saginaw was 1/5
Scoring Summary
1. SAG C. Amestoy (2) (G. Ross, E. Locke) 6:57
2. SAG G. Ross (2) (B. Saad, J. Shalla) 5:33 PP
2. SAR N. Yakupov (1) (A. Galchenuk, C. Murphy) 8:17 PP
3. SAR R. Spooner (1) (B. Thompson, N. Yakupov) 1:35 PP
3. SAG J. Shalla (1) (B. Saad, M. Fine) 5:10
3. SAR A. DeAngelo (1) (D. Alberga) 5:31
OT. SAR T. Brown (1) (C. Hottot, D. Alberga) 3:52
Owen Sound Discipline Problems
I don't think anyone would really be surprised if I said that the Owen Sound Attack have been having trouble with the Kitchener Rangers or if I said that discipline is a big part of their struggles. With Attack Captain Mike Halmo suspended for 6 more games already and now Arthur Gurvus out with an injury the Attack are already short staffed only icing 16 skaters. To add on to the fact that they only iced a 16 skater roster they allowed the Rangers 6 power plays. Kitchener would go 1/6 on the PP and Owen Sound would go 1/3.
If Owen Sound wants any chance at going longer then 4 games in this series they are going to have to tighten up their game plan and stay out of the penalty box. With a short roster it is going to be tiring enough taking needless penalties constantly isn't going to help their game.
Tempers ran high to end game game 2 as a full line brawl would break out with even Kitchener goalie John Gibson trying to get involved in the festivities. At the buzzer 2 fights would break out with scrums going on with other players on the ice. 8 penalties would be given out at the end of the game including a 4 min spearing penalty to Cameron Brace of the Owen Sound Attack.
- Kitchener would win the game 3-2 to go up 2-0 in the best of 7 series.
- Faska, Iafrate and Reider would be the goal scorers for Kitchener while Brace and Hope would be the goal scorers for the Owen Sound Attack
- While the scrums were going on on the ice at the end of the game Owen Sound Fans disgraced themselves by through various pieces of garbage at the Kitchener Rangers bench and players
- Owen Sound out shot Kitchener 37-28
- 3 stars: 3- Tobias Reider, 2- Cameron Brace, 1- John Gibson
Saturday 24 March 2012
Zanetti, Randall Suspended Indefinitely
The Ontario Hockey League announced today that Kitchener Rangers forward Tyler Randell and Mark Zanetti of the Ottawa 67's would both be suspended indefinitely after preliminary reviews of their incidents.
Randell was suspended for a hit to the head which typically this season has carried a 10 game suspension. The question is now with it being playoffs does Branch really say that Randell is suspended for 10 playoff games? Generally playoff suspensions have been lighter then regular season suspensions in the past as playoff games are much more important. Randell scored 2 goals for the Rangers in Game #1 vs the Owen Sound Attack in their 6-2 win and was named the games second star. The hit occurred early in the first period. Randell came down the ice and caught up to Gavurs who had the puck at the time and was along the boards. I watched the hit a few times and it looks almost like a clean hit but when you watch the Rogers replay it appears as though Randell follows through and his elbow connects with Gavurs's head. Randell looked to have tried to connect with the shoulder but never really leaned in for a hit. Gavrus would remain on the ice and have to be helped off the ice by trainers of both teams and went to the dressing room with what would appear to be a concussion. I did not watch the whole game so I am unaware if he returned or not. I think this is a minor hit with no malice or intent. To me Randell deserves 2-5 games since he is being suspended, however it is always difficult to predict what the OHL discipline team will do.
The Zanetti incident was a match penalty for spearing during the pre game warm ups. Since the incident occurred prior to the game there is no footage of it in the OHL archive. Since the incident occurred before the game I believe the OHL has to take that a little more seriously. I believe Zanetti deserves at least 5 games based on the fact that he was given a match before the game even started.
OHL Discipline Release
Randell was suspended for a hit to the head which typically this season has carried a 10 game suspension. The question is now with it being playoffs does Branch really say that Randell is suspended for 10 playoff games? Generally playoff suspensions have been lighter then regular season suspensions in the past as playoff games are much more important. Randell scored 2 goals for the Rangers in Game #1 vs the Owen Sound Attack in their 6-2 win and was named the games second star. The hit occurred early in the first period. Randell came down the ice and caught up to Gavurs who had the puck at the time and was along the boards. I watched the hit a few times and it looks almost like a clean hit but when you watch the Rogers replay it appears as though Randell follows through and his elbow connects with Gavurs's head. Randell looked to have tried to connect with the shoulder but never really leaned in for a hit. Gavrus would remain on the ice and have to be helped off the ice by trainers of both teams and went to the dressing room with what would appear to be a concussion. I did not watch the whole game so I am unaware if he returned or not. I think this is a minor hit with no malice or intent. To me Randell deserves 2-5 games since he is being suspended, however it is always difficult to predict what the OHL discipline team will do.
The Zanetti incident was a match penalty for spearing during the pre game warm ups. Since the incident occurred prior to the game there is no footage of it in the OHL archive. Since the incident occurred before the game I believe the OHL has to take that a little more seriously. I believe Zanetti deserves at least 5 games based on the fact that he was given a match before the game even started.
OHL Discipline Release
Game #1 Sarnia Sting vs Saginaw Spirit (OHL Playoffs)
Missing In Action
Sting Saad After Game #1
The Sarnia Sting opened the 2012 playoffs last night (March 24th, 2012) vs the Saginaw Spirit at the RBC Center in Sarnia, ON. The Sting would drop their first game of the 2012 OHL playoffs at home to the Spirit in a 5-1 decision. Sarnia are in the playoffs for the 1st time in 3 years and have home ice advantage for the first time in 8 years. The last goal scored in a playoff game by Sarnia (in Sarnia) was by now current New York Islander Matt Martin. Sarnia would ice their full roster and have 2 healthy scratches (Jack Kuzymk and Justice Dundas) for the first time this season for their first playoff game (talk about good timing).
The game started off with a very high tempo and whistles were limited in the first 10 minutes of the game. Sarnia would score their only goal of the game on the powerplay in the 1st period as Alex Galchenyuk would score his 1st career playoff goal and first goal of 2011-2012 (as he missed almost the entire season with an injury) and the Sting would take a 1-0 lead to the dressing room. Unfortunately for Galchenyuk he would be the only player to score for the Sarnia Sting in Game #1.
The second and third period would see Saginaw domination. Saginaw would put pressure on Sarnia constantly gaining access to the slot and not allowing Sarnia to penetrate the slot in the Saginaw zone. Saginaw would score 4 unanswered goals in the second period (Saad, Amestoy, Saad, Archibald).
Sarnia would show frustration late in the third period and Saginaw would score a single goal curtesy of Garret Ross.
- Sarnia was out shot in all 3 periods and 33-27 in the game
- The Sting are going to have to change their game plan up for Saturday night as they need to tighten up defensively and find a solution for Saad, Shalla and Trocheck
- Alex Galchenyuk's speed and skating hasn't been effected by his knee injury and neither has his hands. One thing that is clear is that Alex still isn't in game shape (that will happen when you only play a game and a half all year though)
- Sarnia iced a line of Galchenyuk, Spooner and Yakupov has their top offensive line.
- The Sting seemed to have some chemistry issues as timing crossing the blue line seemed to be off at times along with a lot of missed passes
- Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was apparently in Sarnia taking in the game last night, maybe the Sting lost just to impress him? Brandon Saad probably opened his eyes though (I said last year at the draft that Burke should have taken him before Chicago ended up picking him up)
- JP Anderson faced 33 shots and only stopped 28 while at the other end Jake Patterson turned aside 26 of 27 shots
- 3 stars were: (3) Josh Shalla (2) Carlos Amestoy (1) Brandon Saad (all had multi point games)
- Sarnia went 1/5 on the PP while Saginaw went 1/4
2012 1st Round OHL Playoff Predictions
East
(1) Niagara Ice Dogs vs (8) Oshawa Generals Niagara in 5
I believe Oshawa will steal a game. However after seeing the results of the first 2 games I am not even sure that Oshawa knows that it is playoffs.
(2) Ottawa 67's vs (7) Belleville Bulls Ottawa in 4
Ottawa won all but the first game in the season series vs Belleville. While the Bulls ice a decent team Ottawa had a very impressive season and is much better on paper. Belleville doesn't stand a chance in my mind. (After the first two games it looks like my prediction is going to be right, however Belleville did force game one into Overtime)
(3) Barrie Colts vs (6) Mississauga St Mike Majors Majors in 7
Barrie has a very good team and but Mississauga took the 6 game season series 4-2. This is going to be a very close and tight scoring series though as every game in the regular season were 1 goal games. I believe the Majors finished in a lower position then they should have and ice a very strong and competitive team. I do believe this series will go 7 games though. (The two teams have split the first two games with Barrie winning game 1 3-1 and Mississauga winning game 2 4-0)
(4) Brampton Battalion vs (5) Sudbury Wolves Series goes 7 toss up who wins but I will say Brampton
West
(1) London Knights vs (8) Windsor Spitfires London in 5
The London Knights clearly have a more dominant team in all aspects. Windsor is incredibly young and Bob Bougner has done and excellent job with this young team getting them into the playoffs. I believe Windsor will win 1 game probably game at home but London doesn't have too much problem getting past them in the first round. London and Windsor split season series 3-3. (London took game #1, 3-0)
(2) Plymouth Whalers vs (7) Guelph Storm Plymouth in 7
I think Guelph is a very under rated team and possibly didn't have a season like they should have. Guelph and Plymouth split the season series winning 2 games a piece. I believe this will be a very high scoring back and forth series and possibly goaltending may have to win a couple games for either team in order to win the series. I believe Guelph has the ability and tools to upset Plymouth but the Whalers have possibly the best goaltending tandem in the OHL this year. (Guelph took game #1, 4-2)
(3) Kitchener Rangers vs (6) Owen Sound Attack Rangers in 6
I believe that Owen Sound will be able to steal a couple of games but with Captain Mike Halmo being suspended for the 8 playoff games I don't think Owen Sound has what it takes to steal the series away from a powerful Kitchener team. Kitchener took the season series 4-2. (Kitchener won game #1 6-2)
(4) Sarnia Sting vs (5) Saginaw Spirit Sting in 7
I believe that this series could go either way. In fact I almost want to pick the Spirit in 7. Sarnia seems to have a bad reputation in the playoffs and only has 1 player on their roster that has actual playoff experience in Sarnia (Captian Nathan Chairlitti). I think the Sting just have too many offensive weapons and if they can get some chemistry going and have a solution for Saad I think they will win this series. Sarnia took the season series 4-2 but Saginaw took the final 2 games in the regular season outscoring Sarnia 13-3 for those final 2 games. (Saginaw took game 1 as you can see in the review above)
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