Thank you, Sarnia
With the 2016-17 season coming to a close last week, we have now had a few days to reflect on the campaign. It goes without saying that we are not satisfied with the end result of being eliminated in the first round; but at the same time we are able to draw a lot of positives out of our second full season as owners of the Sarnia Sting and members of the Sarnia-Lambton Community.
In terms of individual accomplishments, we were happy to see former second round draft pick, Jordan Kyrou have a career-year with 94 points including 30 goals and 64 assists in just 66 games played. The 18-year-old enjoyed an OHL best 30 game point streak in the second half of the season. The St. Louis Blues’ prospect saw a spike in his offensive output after the acquisition of centreman and line-mate, Drake Rymsha. In 28 games with the club, Rymsha registered 20 goals and 13 assists; helping him reach the 35 goal plateau for the first time in his career.
Our second round import draft-pick, Adam Ruzicka was able to post 25 goals in his first season with the club – second to only Frontenacs forward Linus Nyman who led all OHL rookies in that category. Ruzicka also represented his home country of Slovakia at the World Juniors in Toronto and is expected to return to the Sting for the 2017-18 campaign.
Adam, along with Ryan McGregor, Nick Grima, and Aidan Hughes are all expected to be chosen in the upcoming NHL Entry draft taking place on June 22/23 at the United Center in Chicago. This is an exciting time for them as players and an exciting time for us as an organization and we get to see their goals and dreams come to fruition.
As a team, we scored the fifth most goals in the entire league with a forward group that are all set to return to the league aside from overager, Jaden Lindo. In total, we saw 11 skaters appear in their first career OHL game last season; which certainly speaks volumes to the future of our hockey club and the plethora of young talent we have in our system.
That being said, we would also like to acknowledge and congratulate three players who will not be returning to the organization – Jeff King, Kevin Spinozzi & Jaden Lindo – on outstanding Ontario Hockey League careers. These players were integral members of not only our locker room, but also the Sarnia-Lambton Community.
With this year’s season in the rear-view, we are now setting our sights on an exciting off-season of planning and preparation for the upcoming campaign. For the hockey side, this all begins with the 2017 OHL Priority selection on Saturday when we select 9th overall. With an abundance of picks in this year’s draft and a number of highly-skilled prospects already in our system, we can’t help but get excited about the future of Sting Hockey in Sarnia. On the business side, our staff is already working diligently on preparing some exciting new initiatives to be launched next season. Please watch for details to be released in the coming months.
To our fans – we thank you for your outstanding support each and every night. We’ve enjoyed some electric crowds this season and want to make note that your dedication and loyalty does not go un-noticed. As a hockey club we promise to continue to strive for excellence because this fan-base deserves an OHL Championship.
Until next season,
Derian Hatcher & David Legwand
