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January 15, 2012
The sports report Sarnia - Lambton County Sports Newspaper
2011 YEAR IN REVIEW
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January 15, 2012 | Vol. 1 | Iss. 3
January 23rd, 2011 - Drew DeRidder makes a glove save to keep his Midland Northstars in the Atom AA Silver Stick finals. The Northstars would fall just short with a 1-0 loss.
Inside this Issue
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Twenty Four Years Later
February: St. Clair Colts return to top of LSSAA boy’s hockey
The Next Big Prospect April: Yakupov wins Rookie of the Year
40 Years of Hockey September: Flags enjoy four decades in Mooretown
The Beavers are Back Sarnia has a ‘new’ senior lacrosse team
11 A Trade Frenzy
Sarnia Sting gear up for their push towards an OHL Championship
On the Cover: Seth Hellinga with the Lambton Cup
Did You Know? This years Sarnia Boy’s Silver Stick will feature United States teams from Pittsburgh and New Jersey, as well as Canadian teams from London, Windsor, Mississauga and Toronto. Sarnia will be represented in the Midget A and Atom A divisions. Mooretown will be represented in the Atom A. The Lambton Jr. Sting AAA team will also compete in the Atom division
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The number of teams coming to Sarnia for the Girl’s Silver Stick Tournament held in February. The girls divison features four midgets divisons and four peewee divisions.
Andrew Brethauer Editor in Chief Pat Brethauer Publisher The Sports Report is a division of Sarniasports.com and may not be reproduced without written consent. For advertising opportunities or to request a copy, please email info@sarniasports.com. Copyright © 2011 website: www.sarniasports.com
TSR The
Sp or t s
R ep or t
3 January
Twenty Four Years Later
February
St. Clair’s Lambton Cup run not only ended their drought, but ended a decade of dominance in LSSAA Boys Hockey.
Double Overtime January 23, 2011
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t took a little longer than they would have hoped, but the end result was just as sweet. Jace Dupuis didn’t think he was the right person to be on the ice during the second overtime of the Boys Midget A Silver Stick Championship game. But the Petrolia Oilers captain would be the one to end what was a very a long day of hockey, taking a shot just inside the blue line and putting it into the right corner past Whitby’s Dave Podesta. “I am not the most skilled player on the team, but I do my best,” said Dupuis after the game. “The feed came over and I wanted to get a shot on net. And it went in. I felt pretty great after.” The goal capped off a perfect 5-0 tournament for the Petrolia Midget A Oilers, who went 3-0 in the round robin stages, and had to play the Brantford Bulldogs at 7:00am on Sunday morning to advance to the Championship game that would start a 12:10pm. Through five games the Oilers scored 19 goals and allowed only 4, shutting out the
Howard Huskies 5-0 in their second round robin game, and the Bulldogs 4-0 in the semifinals, while also defeating the Bulldogs the day before 4-2 in their final round robin game. 12 seconds into the Championship game the Wildcats had a 1-0 lead after a rebound goal caught the Oilers off guard. But the Oilers response came a minute later as Jonathan Wagenaar found Cullen Hunter from behind the net to tie the game at 1-1. The game would remain scoreless till there was a minute and fifty one seconds remaining in the second overtime where Dupuis finished off the tournament. “I think we earned it. We came out, played hard every game and I think we were the team to win,” Dupuis said. “There is just no better feeling then winning Silver Stick.” Goalies Spencer Krall and Jamie Morreau were both named to the Midget A All-Star team following the tournament, and joined forward Clint Rose who was also selected.
January 9, 2011
In the House
Twenty teams from across Ontario converged in Sarnia to take part in the 2011 Junior Men’s and Women’s Ontario Curling Championships. The Women’s final went to an 11th end where Clancy Grandy’s rink from KitchenerWaterloo defeated Jasmine Thurston’s rink, also from Kitchener-Waterloo 6-5, sending two members of the Grandy rink back to the Canadian Nationals for a second straight year, while Grandy herself would make her first appearance. In the men’s final, Matthew Camm’s rink from
Ottawa would finish off a perfect tournament with a 7-5 victory over Michael Bryson’s rink from Annandale. Camm’s team went 8-0 in the tournament, including seven wins in the round robin.
February 23, 2011
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hen the Lambton Cup was brought over from Europe in 1987, the St. Clair Colts were the first team to hoist it. Twentyfour years later after a turn around season, they got to hoist it for only the second time in school history, and in doing so, snapped a nine year run of LCCVI vs Northern in the LSSAA Boys Hockey finals. In a case of worst to first, St. Clair finished 10th out of 10 teams in the annual Shamrock Tournament before the start of the regular season. When the calendar flipped to 2011, the Colts season did as well. Additions such as Seth Hellinga solidified St. Clair’s goaltending situation, and the Colts turned into one of the leagues top teams with a 5-2-1 heading into the exam week break in January. With the team set to play a grit style game, dumping the puck in deep and closing the gaps, the Colts stayed in the playoff pictured and moved into second place behind the scoring juggernaut of St. Christopher’s. And after the Vikings upset the Cyclones in overtime in their semi-final match up, the Colts went into the Lambton Cup final as the favourites. Matt Brandon would be the first to score in the Finals, as the Colts defencemen put a low wrist shot on net that beat a screened Brandon Johnson, and leading 1-0 after the first period.
Luck of the Irish
In a high school athletics system that heavily favours larger schools, it was a breath of fresh air to see the St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish win three championships in the winter season. It turned out to be a sweep for the Irish, who won all three finals they made it to, including the senior girl’s volleyball, as well as junior and midget boy’s basketball. So how well did the big schools fair? St. Chris competed in both senior and junior volleyball finals and lost both, were defeated by St. Patrick’s in junior basketball and lost to LCCVI in girl’s hockey, winning only the senior boy’s basketball finals. Northern won only the junior girl’s vol-
Northern would respond in the second period as Jeff Sit would put a wrist shot on net, mirroring the Colts goal as it beat Hellinga who was screened to tie the game. St. Clair would not walk out of the period without the lead, as Dan Lumley would push through a faceoff victory to the right of Johnson and find Ryan Smith at the side of the net for what would be the eventual game winner. “It is unbelievable home much these guys have brought hockey spirit back to our school,” said head coach Craig Griffiths. “It was a great game, Northern played really hard,” said Denver Spearman. “They played us, they were better then what we thought but we came out with the win and I think we deserved it.”
leyball despite making four finals, coming up short in midget and senior boy’s basketball, and as mentioned above, lost to St. Clair in boy’s hockey.
4 April
March
Young Gun April 7, 2011
Close finishes for House League Tournament March 20, 2011
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arnia Hockey’s annual March Break Tournament ended with four exceptional games of hockey. Three of the four games were decided by a single goal, two of which needed extra time to decide a champion, and the fourth would be decided in the third period. Red Wings 4 - Maple Leafs 3 The Instructional division needed overtime after Adam Elsoth scored the game tying goal for the Maple Leafs. Red Wings forward Coltin Mitchell would only need 1:45 into the extra frame, picking up a loose puck in front of the Maple Leafs net and deking past the goalie for his second of the game and Championship winner, as the Red Wings won 4-3. Chatham Vipers 3 - Mooretown Storm 2 The Atom final needed even more time, as the Chatham Vipers and Mooretown Storm went to double overtime to decide a winner. Chatham already held a victory over the Storm in round robin play, and after a move through the defence, Jacon Cuthburt would give the
Vipers their second victory over Mooretown, this time for the Atom Championship. Green Machine 2 - White Sabres 1 Mason Milne and Alex Dafoe put the Green Machine a head 2-0 in the Novice final in what would ultimately be a 2-1 victory and Championship win for them, but it was the play of White Sabres goalie Nicholas Axani that would play the largest factor in the game, keeping the Sabres one goal away after the Sabres cut the lead in half in the third period. The White Sabres couldn’t find the back of the net to tie, but because of the play of their goalie, they were in it the entire game. Paul Davis Systems 4 - Tim Horton’s 2 Donny Stephenson would score twice for Paul Davis System’s in their 4-2 victory over Tim Horton’s, despite Tim Horton’s rallying back twice to tie the game. But in the late third, Dustin Creasor would put Paul Davis System’s in front, and Stephenson would seal the Peewee Championship victory, putting Paul Davis System’s up by two.
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ith 49 goals, 52 assists and 101 points, 17-year-old Nail Yakupov was named the 2010-11 OHL Rookie of the Year. Selected second overall in the 2010 CHL Import Draft, Yakupov lead the Sarnia Sting and all rookies in scoring, finishing tied for fourth overall in the OHL in points. He is just the fifth rookie in the last 15 years in OHL history to reach 100 points in his rookie season, with Patrick Kane of the London Knights being the last to do so in 2006-07. He produced an impressive 28 multi-point games including five four-point games plus a season-high five-point game in the Sting’s final home game of the season where he scored a goal and four assists as first star despite a 7-6 loss to the Erie Otters on March 17. Along with winning the award, Yakupov was named to the 2010-11 OHL All-Rookie Team, and received first team honours along side line mate Alex Galchenyuk, who trailed Yakupov with 83 points for the Sting. Yakupov becomes the first member of the Sting organization to win this award in the 39 years it has been presented.
5 June
May
The Inductees to the 2011 Hall of Fame
The New Front Man
The Sarnia Sting’s best signing over the Summer wasn’t a player, but would change the landscape of hockey in Sarnia. May 7, 2011
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ith the signing of Jacques Beaulieu as the new Head Coach of the Sarnia Sting, the hockey environment in Sarnia took a dramatic turn for the better. The Sting needed a new coach after Dave MacQueen was let go in February, and they looked to their biggest rivals in London to fill the void. “I never thought I’d see black, gold and white colours,” Beaulieu said, “especially with the rivalry between Sarnia and London.” With Beaulieu the Sting got Memorial Cup winning experience, and also got a General Manager who helped turn the Saint John’s Sea Dogs of the QMJHL into one of the leagues top teams and current Memorial Cup champions. But more importantly for Sarnia fans, he would orchestrate a frenzy of trades and signings, building his version of the Sarnia Sting, while giving the fans something to look forward to for the start of the new season. Over the course of the next two months Beaulieu would make six trades, sign 2011 draft picks Ryan Kujawinski, Ludvig Rensfeldt
Sarnia Lambton Sports Hall of Fame class of 2011 welcomed a former NHLer and a world class squash player into its history.
and Anthony DeAngelo, and also brought in former draft picks Reid Boucher and Connor Murphy, creating a problem of having too much depth to select from. “It’s a great problem for a coach to try and have kids compete for a position,” said Beaulieu. “Where as in years past you were getting in by default.” His effect did not end there, as commitments from Justice Dundas, Nathan Mater and Louie Rowe would have an effect on the Sarnia Legionnaires as well. It was all about change this offseason for the Sting, and they brought in a coach and general manager who didn’t just make a splash in the Sarnia hockey scene, but rather a tidal wave. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, I plan on being here for a long time, and with the support of the management group, we are going to make some exciting things happen in the city of Sarnia.”
Player of the Year
Jason Teschke named Junior C Player of the Year with the Mooretown Flags, leading his team and the league in scoring. May 13, 2011
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ith 35 goals, 27 assists and 72 points in 39 games, Jason Teschke of the Mooretown Flags won the Ontario Hockey Associations Player of the Year award for 2011. Teschke, helped push the Flags into the second round of the playoffs scoring 8 goals, thirteen assists for 21 points in 10 playoff games for Mooretown who defeated the Alvinston Flyers 4-1 in their first series before falling to eventual champions Belle River 4-1 in the semi-finals. In two seasons with the Flags, Teschke had 56 goals, 60 assists and 116points. He currently plays with the Sarnia Legionnaires Junior B hockey club.
Pat Verbeek
– Hockey erbeek was selected 43rd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He helped the Devils to their first playoff berth in the 1987–88 season, when he scored a club record 46 goals during the regular season. After the 1988–89 season, the Devils traded him to the Hartford Whalers. In his first season, he led the team in goal scoring and in his second he was named team MVP. In 1991, he made the All-Star team for the first time and in the following season, Verbeek was named the Whalers captain. After a short stint with the Rangers, he signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent, where he won his first Stanley Cup in 1999. During the 1999–2000 season, he signed with the Detroit Red Wings. In Detroit, he passed the 1,000-point mark, scored his 500th goal, and moved into the top 25 in career goal scoring before returning to Dallas for his final NHL season in 2001–02.
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Gary Waite
– Squash orn Sept 9, 1966 in Quebec, Gary moved with his family to Sarnia and attended Northern High School. After having being exposed to squash by his parents Lewis and Janet at the age of 12, Gary became part of a burgeoning junior squash movement in the area inundating courts at Pinsonneault’s and the Sarnia Riding Club for years to come. Gary garnered more titles than any other junior squash player in the history of Canadian squash. He would continue this trend into the professional ranks to become one of the most decorated professional squash players in the history of the game worldwide. In 1993, while attending Harvard University, Gary could lay claim to being the #1 hardball singles player, #2 hardball doubles player and #12 softball singles player in the World, a feat in combined rankings not achieved by any player in the history of any of the three disciplines.
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6 August
July
The ‘Almost’ Perfect Season
Winning the Pennant August 21, 2011
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he Sarnia Senior Braves captured the 2011 WCBL pennant with a 9-5 victory over the Maple City Brewers, With a line up full of talent, the Sarnia Sturgeon embarked on an incredcapping off an impressive winning ible run to the Championship finals, but came up just short. season in their second year of AAA baseball. “This has been a great year for our club and winning the WCBL pennant with three July 25, 2011 games remaining on the schedule proves that reams of an undefeated season and Sturgeon went to the OFC Championship game we are moving in the right direction as an a Provincial Championship ended at Laurier University, and this year, all three organization,” said Coach Brad Wright. “We for the Sarnia Sturgeon PeeWees at Sturgeon teams came away with winning re- took our lumps in our inaugural season last St.Michael’s College in Toronto, as the cords. year in order to get to this point and it is just 8-0 Sturgeon lost their first of the season at Keyshaun Jordan completed 5 of 9 passes such a good feeling to know that our hard the worst time, falling 27-6 to the Forest City for 113 yards and scampered for another 33 work paid off.” Thunderbirds. yards on 5 carries in the Championship game Sarnia finished with a 41-9 record and Trailing 14-0 heading into the second half, for the PeeWee Sturgeon, while Jamie CampSarnia would get their first score of the game bell ran 15 times for 42 yards and Joey Ferrera from Joey Ferrera with a one yard. But it would carried the ball on 12 occasions for 36 yards. prove to be the only score the Thunderbirds In their regular season meeting the Sturdefence would let in, as they would score two geon overwhelmed the Thunderbirds with a more touchdowns themselves, and hold the 40-13 victory, lead by three touchdown runs Sturgeon back with a powerful defence, claim- by Campbell. ing the Provincial Championship. It wasn’t the end the Sturgeon wanted but August 21, 2011 it is a continued step in the right direction for ver 250 athletes came to Sarnia to the Sarnia Sturgeon football organization that participate in the 2011 ParaSport has now seen Championship games the last Summer Games, marking the third two seasons after bumping up their program time in eight years Sarnia has hosted to offer three teams. Last season the Bantam the event. A hundred years from now Sarnia offered six events of competition it will not matter what my bank including Track and Field, Boccia, Goalball, account was, the sort of house I lived Lawn bowling, Wheelchair Tennis and Parain, or the kind of car I drove...but the Equestrian. world will be different because I was Local athlete Mitchel Blondin, 19, competimportant in the life of a child. ed in 100, 200 and 400 meter races. He completed the 100m in 15.87 seconds where he Be a Sports Buddy to a boy finished in first place in his class, the 200m in Call today (519) 336-0460 32.92 seconds where he came in second place www.sarniabigbrothers.org in his class, and the 400m in 1:15.26. He finished in first place in his class. However combined overall totals in each race eliminated him from the medals. All three races were personal bests for Blondin, who will continue to work towards 2012’s National level event at York University.
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Sarnia Summer Games
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took part in the Ontario ‘AAA’ Eliminations, and finished the year as the Western Counties Baseball League and Thames Valley Tournament Champions. When we began our 2nd season of operation in 2011, we had some specific goals in mind, and we have achieved each and every one of them to this point,” said Coach Scott Finnie. “We hit the gym on January 2nd and will be playing for the Michigan Cup title exactly nine months later. That is the type of program we wanted to bring back to the city. There is a strong baseball tradition in Sarnia and I know I speak for the entire squad when I say that we are proud to be able to add to it.”
7 October
September
Dave Schieman, a member of the ‘71-72 Mooretown Flags drops the opening faceoff to start the Mooretown Flags 40th season.
40 Years in Mooretown
With four decades of hockey in Mooretown, the Flags still continue to develop local talent and future Legionnaires. September 17, 2011
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Mooretown defeated the Port Perry Mon September 17th, the opening puck jacks 4-games-to-1 for the Clarence Schmalz drop between the Mooretown Flags Cup in 1987-88. and Belle River Canadiens marked the start of the 40th year for Junior C hockey in Mooretown. A 5-3 loss to the Canadiens may have spoiled the night, but the Flags were able to compete with the reigning champions, and would spend the majority of 2011 on top of the North Division, putting themselves in the driver seat to possibly claim their second league championship, something they have only done once back in 1987-88. “I’m real happy we were able to compete with Belle River,” said Flags Head Coach Bruce Aberhart. “We got some work to do. We got to get partners playing together. It’s going to take a wee bit of time.” It didn’t take to long for things to start to go the Flags way, as after their second loss in as many games to start the season, Mooretown would go on a six game winning streak, and have since never played below .500 hockey, while only giving up their spot in first place once. Before the game against Belle River, former Mooretown Flag Dave Schieman dropped the puck at the ceremonial faceoff. Schieman, whose nephew Aaron plays for the current Flags, was a member of the 1971-72 Mooretown Flags 40 years ago. The Flags finished 1119-6 in their opening year, but found success in their third season going 28-11-3.
Streaking through October
The most exciting month of hockey in Sarnia in years was lead by the Legionnaires and their perfect fall month. October 27, 2011
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n eight games through the month of October the Sarnia Legionnaires picked up eight victories. It was the meat of their 11 game winning streak that ran from September 28th till November 6th. But while the Legionnaires enjoyed success through the month of October, Head Coach Dan Rose never got ahead of himself. “A pretty solid effort,” said Rose after a 4-1 victory over St. Thomas, the Legionnaires 10th win in a row. “Again we’re not where we want to be. We broke down in our zone a few times, but that was a pretty solid effort.” Rose never strayed from the path of keeping his players accountable, and while the Legionnaires enjoyed a lengthy stint of winning hockey, Rose kept plugging into his players
that winning came from their work, and losing would come from their wrong doings. “They’re figuring out that we have success when they do the little things right and the other team only gets success when we make mistakes or hand them opportunities,” said Rose. “As long as we compete hard, keep the game simple, keep the game north and south, we are going to be a tough team to beat.” Sarnia scored 45 goals in eight games and allowed only 15. It came at a time when local hockey was winning at all levels and the Legionnaires were the driving force. Winning became all that Sarnia knew, and all the players wanted. “When they come to the rink they want to win,” said Rose. “And they expect to win.”
8 December
november game, a costly fumble on their own 14 yard line would end the Force’s season, as the quarterback would take a knee and end out the season for the Championship.
SMAA Bantam Final - Tiger Sharks 18 vs Toros 8
Super Saturday November 5, 2011
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Defence kept the Toros in the Bantam finals, coming up with two critical turnovers in the second quarter as the Tiger Sharks threatened to score inside their twenty yard line on both drives. But the running game for the Tiger Sharks would prove to be to much, as three different runners would break free for the Tiger Sharks. Kobe Cox would open the scoring with a 11 yard touchdown run. Jamie Campbell would score the Toros only points of the game on a quarterback keeper, giving them a 8-6 lead, putting the game on the defence. Brandon Shanks would call his own number and keep for 50 yard touchdown run, and Nicholas Day would cap off with a 40 yard run for an 18-8 victory.
The Big Show
LSSAA Junior Final – Northern 35 vs St. Clair 18 December 3, 2011
ne day in November marked the end Junior footballs first season with 8v8 footfor five football seasons, as the grid- ball saw the Vikings remain on top and defend iron played host to a days worth of their championship from last season. Championship games from house Kobe Lundy would score twice in the first league to high school. half on quarterback keepers to put the Vikings SMAA Atom Final – Inferno 44 vs ahead 14-6 after the Colts snuck in a touchdown before the half time whistle. Iron Hides 8 In the second half, Lundy would add anEthan Kirby and Hudson Laur ran for two touchdowns each as the Inferno would hold other score and Mitchell Smiley would find the Iron Hides to only a single score in the SMAA endzone twice, as the Colts could only find an answer twice in the loss. Atom football finals. Laur would rush for 70 yards between LSSAA Senior Final – Northern his two touchdown runs, while Kirby would 50 vs St. Chris 7 spring for a 25 yard run on his first touchIt was a fifth straight senior finals victory down, while breaking through multiple tackles for the Vikings, who ran up a big lead on the for his second. It was an offensive showcase by Cyclones before Anthony Petrucci would find the Inferno who went a perfect 9-0 during the his way into the endzone for St. Christopher’s regular season. first score of the game. Avery Smiley would punch in a two yard Eliot Handy would score three touchtouchdown run before half-time for the Iron downs for the Vikings, whose defence helped Hides, but it would not be enough to cool off keep the Cyclones on their own side of the 55 the Inferno. yard line. John Ravenhorst would sneak in two
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ohn Fraser applied a rear naked choke at 2:54 of the first round and got Travis Reddinger to tap out in the Main Event of Sarnia’s first ever MMA event, Meltdown in the Valley, held Saturday night at the RBC Centre. It was the perfected ending to a high energized night, as the Sarnia native Fraser won his 10th professional fight in front of his friends, family and hometown crowd. It may have only lasted just over two minutes, but once Fraser got Reddinger against the cage and turned over, the Sarnia crowd knew the end was near. “I expected it to be a little longer fight,” said Fraser after the match. “I got it done quick and that’s the best thing.” Fraser felt the crowd coming to the ring, and enjoyed the support and the chance to fight in front of his hometown. Fraser planned to stay on his feet in the fight, but once Reddinger hit the cage, he moved in for the tap out. SMAA Peewee Final – Storm 21 touchdowns while also connecting with Jawon “Once it’s on the ground I’m just going to Burns for a 1 yard touchdown throw in the lopvs Force 14 On the third play of their first possession, sided victory. “I am surprised by the score,” said Vikings the Storm’s Matthew Paquette would break a tackle and find open field, rushing for 80 yards coach Craig Davies. “I think things went out for his first of three touchdowns in a one score way today. I thought that was as physical and fast as we have ever played.” championship final. “They out-physicalled us all day long,” said Paquette would rush for a 35 yard and a 54 yard touchdown for his second and third Cyclones coach Dave Greenwood. “They’re scores, while also piling up over 200 yards on quick and disciplined and that is what you have to be. We seemed to be step behind all the ground in the victory. The game remained close the entire way day long. Championship day you got to bring to the end, as the Storm lead 7-6 at half time, it, and they did.” and 13-6 heading into the third quarter. Kurtis Hill would score two touchdowns for the Force including a 35 yard touchdown run to give the Force their first lead in the fourth quarter, 1413. But after Paquette third touchdown of the
finish it there.” Fraser’s victory capped off Sarnia’s first MMA win, but it took a little longer for the crowd to witness a hometown victory. Earlier in the preliminary fights, local fighter Joel Paquette made his professional MMA debut against Jason Meisel. Paquette spent most of the fight on his back and would tap out to a choke by Meisel at 4:16 in the first round. It wasn’t the debut he was looking for, especially in front of the local crowd where he caught some nerves. “It didn’t go as planned obviously,” Paquette said. “As soon as the fight started I just felt the nerves take over. I have never had that feeling before. I didn’t stick to the game plan. I was suppose to stand and box, I ended up shooting. All I know is, that wasn’t me.” Paquette would love a mulligan and a chance to do it again, and though it is discouraging, he wants to get back into the cage as soon as possible. But he loved the experience fighting in front of the locals. “I loved it. The energy from the crowd was amazing,” he said. “I’ve never had that before. The whole stadium erupting. I loved the support from all the Sarnia fans.” The 2175 paid attendees watched nine fights that spanned four hours and were up and ready for every single match.
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Hockey in His Spare Time Having fun is the only goal Jonathan Taylor has for his Elementary School Hockey League gong into its eighth season.
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or the past 23 years, Jonathan Taylor has been behind the bench of local travel teams helping to develop the next wave of local hockey players. This season Taylor coaches the Sarnia AA Jr. Sting Minor Midget team, as well as operates the Elementary School Exhibition Hockey League. The co-ed league is designed to be a fun league for students grade six through eight, playing with their friends from school outside of their own hockey teams. “There is no winners or losers, they all play the same amount of games, they all get the same trophy at the end of the year,” said Taylor. “It’s all about fun. There is enough pressure on kids who play hockey competitively and this league was set up for them to have fun.” Taylor, a father of three, got involved after all his boy’s participated in the league, and now years later, his youngest Stephen is helping to referee the leagues games at the RBC Centre. The league does not have prerequisites for the number of male or female players, but tries to aim for five players per grade, with only one
AAA player per grade as Taylor tries to balance out all the teams to make them even. Teams involved include Sacred Heart, St. FrancoisXavier and Rosedale. Taylor also runs two hockey schools, as well as an adult hockey schools for adults to learn to play the game. “That’s what I do in my spare time,” said Taylor. “Run hockey schools.” As the service manager at Bayview Chrysler, Taylor has been given encouragement to be out in the community and giving back with the operation of the elementary league and also coaching. Taylor has three sons, oldest Richard, middle Christopher who plays for the Wallaceburg Lakers Jr. C team, youngest Stephen who he coaches on the Minor Midget team. His wife Shawn supports his community activities and coaching, and played an important role in her kids hockey lives when all three sons played travel hockey.
This feature brought to you by Barill & Company who proudly supports youth sports and volunteers.
Pictured are Brad Holbrough, Pete Davey, Joe Yorkovsky, Gord Neely Jr., Tom Wright and Kevin Times.
Bringing Back the Beavers
Professional high-caliber lacrosse talent is returning to Sarnia with formation of historic lacrosse team. By Andrew Brethauer
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enior B lacrosse will be returning to Sarnia this April, as a press conference held January 7th announced the Sarnia Kel-Gor Beavers would join the Ontario Lacrosse League. “The interest again is amazing,” said Gord Neely Jr. who was announced at the press conference as the teams Head Coach. “We are going to have four to six pro’s or ex-pro’s. The competition level is going to be excellent.” Sarnia had a former Senior B lacrosse team in the St. Clair Storm, but will now resurrect the Beavers, which previously won the Ontario Lacrosse League Championship back in 1953. The team will primarily be made up of local players, but with Sarnia being distant from their closest competitors, the Beavers will be able to bring in talent from Wallaceburg, Windsor and London. Neely Jr. already has remarked that this team will be totally different game then what is happening with the juniors, with players playing both sides of the floor on offence and defence rather then being a specialist on one side. This style of play is common with the Sarnia Pacers, Sarnia’s Junior B lacrosse team. “I like our guys to play both ends of the floor,” said Neely Jr. “The secret to the game is still pass-run-catch. You still have to look after your own end first and the offence will take care of itself. You got to keep people off the score sheet and it starts with the goaltender.” With pro’s and ex-pro’s joining the team
early, Neely Jr. expects a high level of competition coming from Sarnia, and on paper the team looks to be solid from top to bottom. But he stresses that this is a Senior level team and the competition to make this team will be just as tough as the competition in the rest of the league. “This is not a teaching league,” said Neely Jr. “This is a league where you got to get results. It is more or less now try to get the chemistry together where everybody can react with each other.” The Beavers will be apart of the Ontario Lacrosse League and be featured in the West division along with Oakville, Six Nations and St. Catherine’s. Tryouts begin in April with the season starting at the end of the month. Sarnia will play 16 games, eight home and away games.
The St. Clair storm were a founding member of the OLA Senior B Lacrosse League with their opening season back in 2000. Prior to the start of the 2007 season the Storm folded.
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A Trade Frenzy
JP Anderson, and found a top defencemen to help bolster his blue line in Adrian Robertson. And all it cost him was his 2011 first overall draft pick Ryan Kujawinski, defencemen Jack Nevins, forward Brett Ritchie and goalie Brandon Maxwell. Well, on the player’s side of things. Draft picks is an entirely different story. In play over those three days were nine draft picks, and of the nine, only one remained with the Sting once the trade frenzy was over, a 2013 5th round pick from Niagara coming over in the Ritchie deal, as well as three other 2nd round picks. All the second round picks would be packaged with Maxwell to bring in Anderson. Also heading out was the Sting’s 2nd round picks in 2016 and 2017, as well as their 3rd round picks in 2012 and 2016, and a 5th round pick in 2014. All of this to put the best hockey club on the ice which is still missing its top centre in Alex Galchenyuk and now missing Nail Yakupov for three to four weeks with a knee injury. Beaulieu has not been shy about making trades this season, making 17 deals and providing a complete overhaul of the entire Sting team top to bottom. Of the 19 players dressed for the Sting against the Plymouth Whalers on January 8th, Sarnia’s first home game after the latest frenzy of trades, only Craig Hottot, Nathan Chiarlitti, Nick Latta and Brandon Hope
suited up for the Sting last season. The rest are all a mix of Beaulieu’s trades and signed draft picks. So has the farm been sold for age instead of youth? Players such as Brett Thompson, Alex Basso and Charlie Sarault were all brought in using draft picks, but Thompson and newly acquired Robertson are both overage players. And within the next two months, Ryan Spooner, Ludvig Rensfeldt, Craig Hottot, Nathan Chiarlitti, and Charlie Sarault will all turn 20-years-old, as will Dominic Alberga in the summer. Of last years draft picks, Ryan Kujawinski is gone, Anthony DeAngelo will be a staple on the blue line, and Justice Dundas has been a call up from the Legionnaires, while Nathan Mater remains on the junior B team and Davis Brown is in Strathroy. And in the year of trades, Beaulieu has moved 15 Sarnia draft picks including 2nd round picks in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and in return has a handful of 2012 3rd round picks. With the trade deadline now past, the onus is on the players to do what they were brought in here to do. Win hockey games. And if anything else, the Sting front office got Sarnia talking about the team again. If isn’t done this season, Beaulieu wil sure head back to the market next season.
A slew of prospects and draft picks are heading out of Sarnia and in return, elite players nearing the end of their OHL career are coming to make the Sarnia Sting a winning team this season.
W
hen the Sarnia Sting hired Jacques Beaulieu in May, one of the first things he said at his press conference was he didn’t have a three year plan to rebuild the organization, but rather it would be on a daily basis. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you I have a three year plan, a two year plan or a one year plan. To me it’s a daily plan to be successful on a daily basis,” said Beaulieu. “We are trying to put the best team on the ice.”
So when the Sarnia Sting fell into a rut in late December to early January, winning only five of their last 15, and hurt by injuries and players leaving to the World Junior’s, Beaulieu got to work making trade after trade, shaking up the team, and digging into his bag of draft picks as he acquired the players he believed would right the ship. In three days, Beaulieu found his new number one centre, Ryan Spooner, and his line mate Tyler Brown, found his new starting goalie in
Ryan Spooner
JP Anderson
Who Came
Sarnia is Spooner’s third OHL team and it took him no time at all to make an impression, scoring three goals in his first two games. With the loss of Alex Galchenyuk, Sarnia needed an elite centre and the price tag was their 16-year-old first round pick Ryan Kujawinski. A high price for a player who has over 200 points in his OHL career.
Anderson helped guide the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors to the Memorial Cup final last season and will be the Sting’s number one for the remainder of the year. Sarnia sent Brandon Maxwell and the draft picks acquired in the Ritchie deal back, and in return get an elite goalie. Anderson had a 38-10-0-1 record last season with six shutouts and a 2.36 GAA.
Who Went
Ryan Kujawinski
The Sarnia Sting’s 2011 first round draft pick had a tough start in the OHL, scoring only once in 29 games while in Sarnia, while contributing with five assists. Kujawinski was traded to Kingston for Ryan Spooner. In his first two games as a Frontenac, Kujawinsku had a goal and three assists.
Brett Ritchie
Ritchie had spent two seasons prior to this years with the Sarnia Sting and was good enough to be drafted 44th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2011 NHL draft. But with only eight goals and seven assists through 23 games, Ritchie was sent to Niagara for a handful of draft picks.
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In this Issue Oilers Colts Yakupov Beaulieu Verbeek Sturgeon Braves Flags Beavers Spooner Anderson
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O
Hall of Fame The Sarnia Lambton Sports Hall of Fame is now accepting nominations for theOilers 2012Beaulieu Induction. Beavers Spooner Colts Flags Sturgeon
Braves Anderson
Proposed candidates for enshrinement shallVerbeek be accepted from the general membership, Board of Directors and the public at large. (All nominations should be signed by a bonafide member) Category of Nominations: Amateur Athlete Professional Athlete Builder or Executive Copyright Š2012 WorksheetWorks.com Special Achievement Bud Haveling Award Bud Morrison Earl MacKenzie Team Rose Hodgson Memorial Award
Information and Nomination forms can be found on www.sarniasports.com Click on the Hall of Fame logo.
Last Year January 17, 2011 Midget A Sarnia Sting vs Whitby Wildcats
Chris Ferrera (Sarnia Sting) comes in on Dave Podesta (Whitby Wildcats) during their firts game of the 2011 Sarnia Silver Stick Hockey Tournament. Sarnia would allow a goal with two seconds remaining in the third to drop their first game 3-2.
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