By Dan McCaffery
The Sarnia Legionnaires will unveil a lineup
filled with veterans
when they open their
regular season
tonight. No less
than 15 players have
Jr. 'B' hockey
experience.
They include goalie Hunter Johnson, defencemen
Tyler Prong, Brad
Campbell and P. J.
Vandervaart.
Up front, returning forwards include Bob King,
Nathan Mater, Cody
Trowell, Riley
Roberts, Davis
Boyer, Brandon
Layman, Riley
Babkirk and Jordan
Fogarty, all of whom
wore Legionnaire
colours last winter.
The other vets are Ryan Trottier and Kyler
Keating, both
obtained this past
week in trades with
the Lambton Shores
Predators.
Trottier, (left photo) the number two
point-getter for the
Preds last season,
was picked up for
what the
Legionnaires are
calling 'future
considerations.'
"He's a big, strong, power forward who adds some
size up front, head
coach Dan Rose said.
Trottier, a 19-year-old going into his fourth
junior campaign,
picked up 29 points
in 34 games with the
Preds last winter.
Included in his
totals were 16
powerplay points. He
also amassed 60
minutes in
penalties.
The Petrolia native stands 6'1 and weighs in at
190 pounds.
Trottier, a draft pick of the OHL's Barrie Colts,
said he hopes to
become a more
prolific scorer with
the Legionnaires. A
point a game would
be nice, that's what
I'll strive for.
Asked to describe his style, the Lambton Central
Collegiate graduate
said, I'm a big
body forward who can
get the puck in deep
and grind and bang.
I also like to
contribute
offensively when I
can.
Trottier usually collects three times as many
assists as goals,
something he says
doesn't bother him
in the least. It
doesn't matter who
scores, as long as
we win.
And he expects to do plenty of winning with the
Legionnaires because
they have so much
experience. We
should make a
Sutherland Cup run
here in Sarnia, he
said.
Four of those vets were assigned leadership roles
Monday. They include
captain Nathan Mater
and assistant
captains Kyler
Keating, Jay Clarke
and Tyler Prong.
The Legionnaires open their schedule tonight when
they host the
defending champion
Leamington Flyers.
Game time at Sarnia
Arena is set for
7:10 p.m.
Other players who are expected to dress tonight
include newcomers
Sam McCormack, Tyler
Longo, Cameron
Clarke and Cornel
Felder.
A couple more players could be added to the
lineup next week
when the Sarnia
Sting OHL team trims
its roster size.