Ultimate Drivers Weekend Preview : On the road again
Keep on Buzzing
The Steelheads (11-10-1-0) kick off their road trip by traveling west to visit the Sarnia Sting (8-13-1-3) this Friday. The Trout and Sting split the season series last year with both teams’ victories coming on the road. This year’s campaign kicked off in a similar fashion as the Sting took the first matchup in Brampton. The Trout will look for a repeat of last year, as they aim to even the Series in Sarnia.
The Sting will enter this upcoming contest with additional firepower. Rookies Beckham Edwards and Alessandro Di Iorio missed the prior matchup to play for Canada in the World U17 Challenge. Di Iorio and Edwards are prize pieces of the quick Sting rebuild, as they both sit near the top of the rookie scoring leaderboards. The Trout will need to contain these two young stars, as they look to avoid being Stung by Sarnia.
Friday’s matchup in Sarnia will have extra meaning for the Trout’s Captain Porter Martone. After being selected 5th overall by the Sting in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection, Martone was traded to the Steelheads. It is safe to say that Martone has made his mark on the Trout, who now leads the Trout on the ice and the score sheet. The Trout will look for Martone to lead the way to a victory against his former club.
You can tune in to all road games at watch.chl.ca or listen on Sauga960.
Battle of the Brothers
On the second night of the road trip, the Steelheads continue west to face the Sagina Spirit (13-9-1-0). Much like against Sarnia, the Steelheads and Spirit split last season’s series, before the visiting Spirit took the first game of this year’s contest. The pattern does not stop there though, as yet again this Saturday’s game against the Spirit will be extra meaningful for one of the Steelheads.
This time around it is Luke Misa who will have a little bit of extra motivation, as he will be facing off against his little brother Michael. With Luke already being a draft pick of the Calgary Flames and Michael being a projected top-three pick in this year’s draft, it may be the last time the Misa brothers get to faceoff in the OHL. The Trout will hope for Luke to lead the way, as he tries to earn family bragging rights one last time.
Additionally, this Saturday’s matchup will prove to be a glimpse into the future of hockey, with a combined 10 NHL-drafted prospects, as well as multiple top prospects in this upcoming draft. Headlining the matchup will be the clash of the previously mentioned Michael Misa and Porter Martone. Misa currently leads the league in points with Martone not far behind in second, while Martone took over the top spot in TSN’s pre-draft rankings. With it being the last regular season contest between the two sides, a victory could prove to be pivotal in the race for the first overall selection.
It will be an important game for many reasons so you will not want to miss out. You can tune in to all road games at watch.chl.ca or listen on Sauga960.
