Preview: Firebirds Set to Battle Sarnia on Presidents/Family Day Monday Afternoon
| Flint Firebirds at Sarnia Sting | |
| Date | Time | Monday, Feb. 17 | 7:05 p.m. |
| Location | Sarnia, Ont. | Progressive Auto Sales Arena (capacity 5,500) |
| Tickets | Online | (519) 541-1717 ext. 1 |
| TV | – Cogeco TV channel 6 / 700 HD Live (Sarnia) – OHL Action Pak: Cogeco TV 471 & Rogers TV 471 Live (Ontario) – Broadcast Coverage |
| Video Stream | OHL Live |
| Radio | WQUS 103.1 FM (Flint & Mid-Michigan) | Pregame Show: 1:30p |
| Radio (Mobile) | US 103 App: Android | iPhone/iPad |
| Live Stats | Here |
| Social Media | @FlintFirebirds  | Facebook  | Instagram  |
The Firebirds will ride a franchise-best 12-game winning streak into a Monday afternoon West Division battle with the Sting. Puck drop is set for 2:05 p.m. (ET) at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena (cap. 5,300) in Sarnia, Ont.
Monday marks the seventh of eight regular-season meetings between these clubs this campaign, and the third of four games in Sarnia. The Firebirds have won three of six contests against the Sting this season, all on home ice. All-time, Flint holds a record of 19-18-1-0 in games against the Sting. In away games, the ‘Birds are 6-12-0-0 in the series. Last season, the ‘Birds finished with an overall record of 3-4-1-0 versus the Bee’s, but dropped all four decisions in Sarnia.
The Firebirds enter Monday’s contest in second place in the West Division and fourth in the Western Conference with a record of 34-17-1-1. The ‘Birds are currently the third-highest scoring team in the 20-team OHL, having found the back of the net 229 times. Flint is also riding a franchise-best away-game winning streak, now at eight consecutive victories. The Sting are 18-30-5-1 on the season, ranking fifth in the West Division and tenth in the Western Conference. On home ice this year, Sarnia carries a record of 6-15-4-1 compared to Flint’s road record of 16-9-0-1.
Saturday night, Flint defeated the visiting Guelph Storm on the club’s annual “Flint Tropics Night.” The victory extended their winning streak to a franchise-best 12 games, and was the team’s 34th victory, another new milestone. It also tied the best-ever home win-streak at five consecutive games. Jack Phibbs lit the lamp twice and was named the game’s ‘First Star’, Quinn Yule logged one goal and an assist, and Emmet Pierce recorded two helpers. Anthony Popovich made several key saves in the contest, totaling 24 stops on 27 shots through 65 minutes of play. He shut down four of Guelph’s five shootout attempts to earn his 23rd victory between the pipes this season, another club record.
On special teams this season, the Firebirds hold the fourth-best overall penalty kill (PK) in the league at 82.2%. Sarnia’s penalty-killers rank 15th at an 76.6% efficiency. With the man-advantage the Sting ranks 12th, scoring at a 21.0% rate. The ‘Birds score at a rate of 19.0% on the power play, which ranks 17th.
Players to Watch:
Flint Firebirds (34-17-1-1, 2nd West Division):
Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) remains in the top spot on the stat sheet for Flint with 31 goals and 34 helpers in 43 games. He’s tied for the sixth-most game-winning tallies in the OHL with six. Belarusian forward Evgeniy Oksentyuk sits second with 26 goals and a team-high 37 assists for 63 points in 48 contests. Earlier this season, Oksentyuk carried Flint’s longest-ever point-streak at 17 games (13G, 16A).
Defenseman Riley McCourt set the record for the most assists by a defenseman in Flint history this past weekend, and now holds the franchise records for most points (97), assists (71) and goals (26) by a Flint rearguard. For this season, he’s third in total offense with 26 goals and a team-high 37 assists for 63 total points in 53 games. He ranks fifth among OHL blue-liners in points, is tied for sixth in both assists and goals, and ranks eighth with .98 points-per-game.
Tyler Tucker (St. Louis Blues) joined the Firebirds at the trade deadline this season. Since then, he has 13 points (5G, 8A) in 17 games. For the season, he has 13 tallies and 29 helpers in 45 games. He ranks 10th among OHL rearguards with a .93 points-per-game average. He’s also in the top-15 for power-play assists in the league (14).
Two noteworthy performances of late include forwards Jack Wismer and Cody Morgan. Wismer has ten goals and three assists for 13 total points in his last ten games, and Morgan has 11 points (2G, 9A) in has past nine contests.
Brennan Othmann continues to lead Flint’s freshman class with 27 total points (13G, 14A) through 45 games. Othmann sits tied with Dellandrea for the most-ever goals (13) by a rookie for Flint, and he ranks inside the top ten among OHL rookies in points, goals and points-per-game.
In net, Anthony Popovich has played in 37 games this season. He’s earned 23 victories, which are the most by any Flint netminder in a single season and tied for fifth-most among OHL netminders this season. Popovich’s goals-against average (GAA) is 3.62 and his save-percentage (SAV%) sits at .897. Luke Cavallin now has 11 wins in 20 appearances and carries a 3.68 GAA and a .895 SAV%. Cavallin recently became Flint’s all-time leader in minutes-played (4,422) and saves (2,273) by a Firebirds’ netminder. Friday night, he tied former Firebirds’ goalie Garrett Forrest for most career wins (25) by any Firebirds’ netminder.
NHL: The Firebirds have five players with NHL ties consisting of Dennis Busby (Arizona Coyotes), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars), Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Vladislav Kolyachonok (Florida Panthers) and Tyler Tucker (St. Louis Blues). Additionally, Evgeniy Oksentyuk was named to the NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings for the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft.
Despite Flint being in the midst of just their fifth OHL season, three former Firebirds have already played in NHL regular-season games: Nick Caamano (Dallas Stars), Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes) and Kole Sherwood (Columbus Blue Jackets). Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars), Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Vili Saarijarvi (Arizona Coyotes) and Jalen Smereck (Arizona Coyotes) have played in NHL pre-season contests. In total, the team has produced an impressive 18 drafted or signed NHL players in that short time.
Sarnia Sting (18-30-5-1, 5th West Division):
Sean Josling leads the Sting on the stat sheet with 70 points (31G,9A) through 52 games-played. Jacob Perreault’s 13 power-play goals are tied for fifth-most in the league and his 62 total points (31G, 39A) are second on the Sting’s roster. Ryan McGrergor (Toronto Maple Leafs) sits third with 20 goals and 36 helpers in 44 contests.
The Sarnia rearguards are led by Eric Hjorth (Columbus Blue Jackets) who has ten goals and 16 assists through 53 games. The rookies are led by Ty Voit who has 23 points (6G, 17A) in 43 games. Among first-year players in the OHL, Voit is tied for the eighth most assists.
Second-year netminder Ethan Langevin has played in 32 games for the Sting this season, earning victories in eight of them. He holds a 4.72 goals-against average (GAA) along with a .875 SAV%. Benjamin Gaudreau has seven victories in 21 appearances, along with a 4.32 GAA and a SAV% of .889.
NHL: The Sting have four players with NHL ties, including Ryan McGregor (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jamieson Rees (Carolina Hurricanes) and Erik Hjorth (Columbus Blue Jackets). Additionally, Jacob Perreault was named to the NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings for the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft.
13 notable Sting’s alumni to play in the NHL are Steven Stamkos, Reid Boucher, Eric Boulton, Daniel Carcillo, Jakob Chychrun, Alex Galchenyuk, Matt Martin, Connor Murphy, Dalton Prout, Brett Ritchie, Ryan Spooner, Nail Yakupov and Pavel Zacha.
Broadcast Coverage:
Monday afternoon’s contest against the Sarnia Sting can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com or by downloading the US 103 app here. Firebirds’ broadcaster Dominic Hennig will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Radio Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin 30 minutes prior to puck drop at 1:30 p.m.
The game will be televised live in Sarnia on channel 6 / 700 (HD) for Cogeco TV cable subscribers and across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 471 for both Cogeco TV and Rogers TV cable subscribers. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home or away all season long. Along with Monday’s game, 65 of the Firebirds’ 68 games throughout the 2019-20 season are also scheduled to be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak.
All Flint Firebirds home and away games throughout the 2019-20 season can be watched anywhere in the world online on www.ohllive.com or on the OHL Live app. OHL Live is a league video streaming platform that delivers high quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost is $6.99 per game, $69.99 for Flint Firebirds away games only, $149.99 for all 68 home and away Firebirds games and $179.99 for all 1,360 OHL games throughout the 2019-20 season.
For more information:
Dominic Hennig
Director of Broadcasting & Communications
Flint Firebirds Hockey Club
[email protected]
(810) 519-9347
