Advertisement 1

Sting’s veterans encouraged to take bigger leadership role

The Sarnia Sting have fewer captains than at the start of the season, but there’s no shortage of leaders, says head coach Alan Letang.

Article content

The Sarnia Sting have fewer captains than at the start of the season, but there’s no shortage of leaders, says head coach Alan Letang.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

The team is down to three alternate captains – Ryan Mast, Nolan Dillingham and Nolan DeGurse – after trading away three letter-wearers.

“We evaluate every day,” Letang said. “I’m sure there’ll be a few more given out. We’re just seeing who wants to step up and take on that extra role and that extra bit of leadership.”

Article content

The Sting began a home-and-home series against the Attack on Friday with a 4-3 shootout loss at Progressive Auto Sales Arena. They’ll face off again Sunday in Owen Sound.

Ty Voit scored two goals in regulation and Nolan Burke had one as the Sting rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead they couldn’t hold.

“It was a good game,” Dillingham said. “It was one of those games that we battled hard, we played hard. They’re a hard team to play against. They always finish their checks and they have a good forecheck.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

“I think we did what we needed to do. Sometimes you play well and you just don’t get the result you want.”

No one has been given the Sting’s ‘C’ following the deal that sent captain Brayden Guy and alternate captain Ashton Reesor to the Guelph Storm at the overager trade deadline recently.

Cameron Supryka was another alternate captain traded to Guelph in November.

“We have lots of candidates,” Letang said about the captaincy. “It’ll just be a process to give them some time to feel their way around. We’ll know once it starts who steps up and takes that initiative and wants it.”

Letang is no rush to award the ‘C’, although he’s happy with the Sting’s leaders. That group includes goalie Ben Gaudreau, who’s starting to have a bigger voice in the dressing room, he said.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

“You have Nolan (DeGurse), yeah, he’s 20 but inexperienced in the league, so he needs to just continue to do what he’s done,” Letang said. “Ty Voit, I think, can take a bigger role for us, not only on the ice but a little bit off the ice because the guys look up to him. You lean on Benny a little bit more.

“Ryan Mast can take those extra steps to be that go-to guy. He’s 18 now; when he hits 19 he needs to be that dominant defenceman in the league that we know he can be.”

Burke, Theo Hill and Nolan Dann also have a chance to take on larger leadership roles in the second half, Letang said.

“Burkie’s had a great season and he’s worked hard to come back from a nagging injury early on in the season,” he said. “His presence on the ice is important. Now we need that presence in the dressing room a little bit more. Dilly (Dillingham) can get up and be a little bit more vocal.”

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

Recently acquired Marko Sikic and Chandler Romeo have the character to be leaders as well, the Sting head coach said.

“They just need to come in, get comfortable with the group and then, that group right there with Burke and Dann and Hill, they have to just take the team on and take the personality,” Letang said. “The team becomes their personality now instead of when it was Ash and Guysie and some of those guys.

“It’s got to take on their personality. The dressing room needs to believe in those guys now.”

On Friday, Voit began the comeback with a short-handed breakaway goal 5:46 into the second period.

Voit scored again 5:24 into the third, then Burke fought off a check on the rush to put the Sting ahead at 7:51.

Cedrick Guindon of the Attack banged in a rebound for the tying goal at 12:01.

Advertisement 6
Story continues below
Article content

Gaudreau sent the game to a shootout with skate save on Nicholas Porco with 1:20 left in the five-minute overtime.

The Attack won the shootout 2-1 on goals by Servac Petrovsky and Stepan Machacek. Voit had the Sting’s lone goal on Nick Chenard.

Gaudreau finished with 25 saves and Chenard made 28.

Petrovsky and Guindon staked the Attack to the 2-0 lead.

The Attack (15-13-1-2) are sixth in the OHL’s Western Conference with 33 points. The Sting (13-13-3-1) are tied with the Kitchener Rangers for seventh with 30 points.

NOTES: The Attack have won three of four in the season series. … Dann served the first game of his two-game suspension Friday. He’s sitting out for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of a Jan. 16 game in London after Landon Sim ran into Gaudreau. … DeGurse is the Sting’s scholastic player of the month for December. … Chris Chimenti of Brooklyn, N.Y., has joined the Sting’s U.S. scouting team. He has three years of experience as an amateur scout with International Scouting Services.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    News Near Tillsonburg
      This Week in Flyers