Sarnia Sting 47-17-4-1
Head Coach
Darien Hatcher
Team Leaders
Jordan Kyrou picked up 39 goals and 70 assists this year and pushed his career point total to 290. He broke numerous Sarnia career records and at times was the most dominant player in the OHL as he averaged 1.95 points per game. He will be hard to contain for Windsor in round 1.
Cam Dineen picked up 28 points in 26 games with the Sting adding a strong puck moving defenceman to their back end and really adding to their team speed just with his ability to kick start the break out. Everytime he is on the Ice it feels like the Sting are a threat to score.
Adam Ruzicka picked up 72 points in 63 games. It was a big year for the hyped import who really blossomed in his 2nd year in the OHL. His PPG jumped from .75 to 1.14 and if Sarnia is going to go far they need Ruzicka to be a driver not a passenger.
Playoff Experience
The Sting have 146 games of playoff experience under their belt and leading the way is former Petes forward Jonathan Ang with 24 games. The bulk of which game last year as the Petes marked to the Eastern Conference Finals. On the back end Cam Dineen leads the way with 11 career playoff games.
Scoring Leaders vs
Anthony Salinitri 8G 1A
Jordan Kyrou 5G 4A
Drake Rymsha 1G 4A
Sean Josling 2G 3A
Team Averages
Goals Per Game 299 (2nd in West) 4.39
Goals Allowed Per game 213 (3rd in West) 3.13
Power Play 24.2%
Penalty Kill 88.5%
Special Teams Plus Minus
Age 18.52(4th)
Height 184cm (11th)
Weight 84.52 (5th)
What to Watch for
The Sting exceeded expectations this year but when you look at the depth this team has down the middle maybe we all truly underestimated them. That said their defence has developed fantasticly and Justin Fazio has been stellar in goal.
Windsor Spitfires 32-30-4-2
Head Coach
Trevor Letowski
Team Leaders
Michael DiPietro is the only thing keeping the Spits from being the worst team in the West. He has the ability to steal games that Windsor has no business being in. At times since the big sell off he has looked quite ordinary but I would expect him to bring his A game into this one.
Cole Purboo picked up 49 points in 68 games as the burgeoning power forward took a big leap in his production. IMO Purboo may be the most under appreciated player in the OHL and wll be a key component for the Spits over the next 2 seasons.
Curtis Douglas contributed 28 points in 38 games with the Spits a slight jump over his production with Barrie as he continued a quantum leap in his development. The hulking forward has great potential and this will be another opportunity for the Spits to guide his development
Playoff Experience
43 games of playoff experience for the Spits as Luke Boka and Zach Shankar lead the way with 12 and 11 games each. This is the 2nd youngest roster in the OHL so it makes sense that this series is a starting off point for a lot of the young talent.
Scoring Leaders vs Sarnia
Curtis Douglas 1G 3A
Cole Purboo 1G 2A
Chris Playfair 1G 2A
Team Averages
Goals Per Game 214 (8th in West) 3.14
Goals Allowed Per game 224 (5th in West) 3.29
Power Play 18.1%
Penalty Kill 81.2%
Special Teams Plus Minus -14
Age 17.80 (19th)
Height 183.32cm (16th)
Weight 80.20kg (18th)
What to Watch for
This is the 2nd youngest team in the OHL and one of the smallest. Their best player happens to be the best goalie in the league and while they have some intriguing pieces they just aren't ready for prime time. Games involving Windsor this year averaged the fewest power plays in the leauge. Is that a trend that will continue into this round?
Season Series
Sarnia 5-1-0-0
Windsor 1-5-0-0
Oct 15
SAR 3 @ WSR 2
Nov 17
WSR 3 @ SAR 6
Dec 28
WSR 5 @ SAR 0
Jan 11
SAR 5 @ WSR 3
Jan 12
WSR 1 @ SAR 6
Feb 1
SAR 5 @ WSR 3
Playoff History
Ive been sticking with the 20 team era when looking at playoff histories with teams but for Windsor Sarnia I will go back to 94-95 when the Sting got their start.
These teams have met 4 times all in the 1st round and they have split their playoff history 2-2. In fact the Sting have only won 3 playoff series in their whole history and 2 of them have come against Windsor. (96-97) and (07-08). Interestingly enough both times they beat Windsor they lost to Kitchener in round two.
Series Schedule
Game 1, Fri., March 23 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m.
Game 2, Sat., March 24 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m.
Game 3, Tues., March 27 at Windsor – 7:05 p.m.
Game 4, Thurs., March 29 at Windsor – 7:05 p.m.
Game 5, Fri., March 30 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m.
Game 6, Sun., April 1 at Windsor – 2:05 p.m.
Game 7, Tues., April 3 at Sarnia – 7:05 p.m.
Prediction
I dont think Sarnia can Sarnia their way out of this one. They are just too powerful and IMO Windsor is the worst team in the Western Conference. I would even put them below Erie and Flint.
Sarnia in 4
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