Sarnia Sting vs Sault Ste Marie Grehounds
January 15, 2010
By DAVE BORODY
special to
“Turnovers just killed us.”
Those were the words of
Sarnia Sting head coach Dave
MacQueen after watching his
team drop an 8-4 decision to
the Sault Ste. Marie
Greyhounds, Friday night
before 3,596 fans at the RBC
Centre.
The teams battled to a 1-1
draw after the first period
before the Greyhounds scored
three unanswered goals in
period two to take a 4-1
advantage. Twice the Sting
pulled to within two goals,
4-2 and 5-3, before the
Greyhounds pulled away.
“We didn’t have that same
jump or energy level we’ve
showed over the past couple
of weeks,” said MacQueen.
“In the first period
turnovers just killed us. We
gave the puck away and then
are chasing after it for 30
or 40 seconds in our own
end.
“We aren’t a team that can
play like that. We have to
get pucks in and establish a
good forecheck. I think some
of our defencemen thought
they were Bobby Orr
tonight.”
He added, “we had a good
week of practice, but we get
to the game and have no
energy level. After their
fourth goal, you could see
the heads drop on our bench.
We make it 5-3 and have a
little life, but they come
right back and score. It
took the wind out of our
sails.”
One of the bright spots for
the Sting this season has
been the play of rookie
right-winger Brandon
Alderson. A sixth round
draft pick in 2008, Alderson
was a long shot to even make
the Sting roster this
season.
Alderson had a goal and an
assist in last night’s game
and leads all rookies on the
team with 11 goals and is
second overall to Kale
Kerbashian who has 14.
Earlier this week Alderson
got some surprising news
when he was ranked 167th for
North American skaters for
the 2010 National Hockey
League draft.
“I didn’t even know I was
ranked until the guys told
me at practice this week,”
said Alderson. “It feels
good, but I’m really not
thinking out that right now.
My focus is helping the team
win games.”
Alderson says the key to his
success this year has been
confidence.
“The coaches showed some
confidence in me right from
training camp. They were
patient with me and now my
linemates trust me with the
puck. Playing with
confidence means you can’t
take any nights off no
matter what the score is.”
MacQueen says the key to
Alderson was bringing him
along slowly.
“We saw what we liked in
training camp, but we didn’t
want to rush him. He’s got
good size, good skill and
can skate. He’s come along
to he’s now playing on our
top line.”
MacQueen added, “the only
knock is his consistency. If
he continues to bring it the
remainder of the season, he
will improve even more. He’s
got a chance to be a pro
someday if he keeps
improving.”
Vern Cooper and Tomas
Rachunek led the Greyhounds
with two goals each while
Brett Thompson, Brian Shaw,
Carson Dubchak and Jordan
Nolan added singles.
Besides Alderson, Kale
Kerbashian (14th), Zack
MacQueen (7th) and Ron
Soucie (2nd) scored the
other Sting goals.
Sault Ste. Marie held a
36-25 edge in shots on goal
with Robin Lehner the
winning goalie while Shayne
Campbell took the loss.
“In the opening five
minutes, Shayne made four or
five bellringer saves,” said
MacQueen. “I don’t know if
the pressure of being the
top guy got to him, but he
seemed to be deep in his net
and going down early. That’s
a confidence thing. But he’s
our guy right now and going
right back at it in Erie.
He’s got 20 or so games to
show he can be a consistent
goalie.”
MacQueen says that is true
for the remainder of his
players as well.
“The goal is not to take
four our five steps back .We
need to be more consistent.
We need our young guys to
keep moving forward. Right
now some are and some
aren’t. Those that aren’t
need to step up to the
plate.”
The Sting has a pair of road
games upcoming in the
Ontario Hockey League as
they travel to Erie tonight
to face the Otters at 7 p.m.
while Sunday afternoon they
make their one and only stop
of the season in Brampton to
take on the Battalion at 2
p.m.
Sarnia has two home games
next week as they host the
Guelph Storm on Thursday
night and take on the
Niagara IceDogs Friday
night. Both games begin at
7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
- Each team had only one
power play goal.
- Cooper was first star with
Thompson second star and
Alderson third star.
- The 50-50 draw was $1,770
with the Sting turning over
their portion to the Red
Cross for the Haiti Relief
Fund.
- Sarnia played with just
five defencemen with Joe
Rogalski and Daniel
Broussard out of the lineup.
- Sarnia is now 7-14-1-0 on
home ice.
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