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Sarnia Sting Minor Novice MD
Mid-Season Report
In late September, the Sarnia
Sting Minor Novice MD coaching staff, lead by Head Coach Tom
Babcock, Assistant Coaches, Dwayne Amyotte, Ken Mino, Bill
Langford, & practice coach Ian Brydges, began the unenviable
task of molding a group of seven year olds into a hockey
team. With training camp behind them & the tough decisions
made, the Sarnia Sting opened the season with two road games
in London. In their first outing as a group of future stars,
the Sting fought the North London Nationals to a 2-2 draw.
Will O’Leary-Dilosa & Blake Butler supplying the offence,
while Adam Mino & Ethan Langford split the goaltending
duties, both providing stellar defence in their road opener.
The second game of the season provided a tough opponent in
Oakridge. The Sarnia Sting lost a close one with a 5-3
decision. Nicholas Medeiros & Cole Brydges picked up their
first goals of the young campaign. The Sting also had some
major disappointment in this game. Cole Houghton was lost
for 6 weeks with a broken foot.
Mid October was not very kind to
the young group of Sarnia Sting players. 3 straight loses to
some very tough opponents on the London circuit. However,
the young Sarnia Sting learned some valuable lessons about
playing hard and never giving up. The end of October saw the
Sarnia Sting battle Oakridge to a 3-3 tie, with Blake Butler
& Wil O’Leary-Dilosa proving themselves to be the offensive
leaders of the young squad. Connor Antosiak was called up
from the ranks of Novice House League to provide some much
needed defence, with the lose of Cole and subsequently
signed by the Sting.
November saw the Sarnia Sting
get off to another slow start losing 3 straight games.
However, other stars were starting to emerge. Andrew
Lemieux, Tristen Konrad, & Logan Lake picked up their first
goals of the season. Kaden Babcock was proving to be the
muscle for the young squad. Mess with this team & Kaden will
supply the force needed. Mid November saw the Sting battle
to another 3-3 tie against West London with Lucan Hazzard
picking up his first goal of the season. After another tough
loss to the LMHA Bandit’s the Sting began a streak of 3
straight wins.
November 22, 2009 was a very
special day for this young squad. The Sarnia Sting Minor
Novice MD team fought the squad from Oakridge for 3 amazing
periods of hockey & picked up an exciting 3-2 win. The
coaches long hours of grueling practices had finally paid
off. Adam Mino was stellar in goal & took home the hardest
worker hardhat! The end of November saw the Sting beat up on
the North London squad 5-1, with Blake Butler scoring four
goals and Michael Handy & Lleyton Willams picking up three
assists each.
December began with yet another
exciting win. Tristen Konard & Lleyton Williams scored two
goals apiece in a 5-3 decision over Oakridge. Lucas
Delorenzo picked up his first point of the season. After a
minor setback against the LMHA Bandits, the Sarnia Sting
began the MD Play downs with a dramatic 3-2 win against the
North London Nationals. Wil O’Leary-Dilosa scored a
incredible goal with just 28 seconds remaining. Blake Butler
& Andrew Lemiux provided the other 2 goals.
After Christmas saw the Sarnia
Sting Minor Novice MD team head to the 40th
annual Wayne Gretkzy tournament. This was the first
tournament for the young group and with expectations high,
the team battled hard losing four games to some very tough
competition. Ethan Langford provided some exceptional
goaltending making several key glove saves. Christopher
Scott’s defensive prowess was missed by the young Sting as
he was unable to attend. In the final game of the
tournament, Danny Gratton established himself as a defensive
leader for the squad as he made two incredible saves for his
team, from his position as a defensemen, in a 3-2 lose to
the Amherst Knights from New York.
The Sarnia Sting Minor Novice MD
squad head into the new year with expectations running high.
The amazing coaching staff has provided the boys with the
tools to be successful in the upcoming MD Play downs.
GO STING GO!!!
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