The tears flowing down the cheeks of Sarnia Sting associate coach Greg Walters said it all.
The Sting gave Walters a royal send-off as they pounded the Windsor Spitfires 8-3, Saturday night before a season-high crowd of 5,027 fans at the RBC Centre.

The game was the final one of the season for both the Sting and Walters this season in the Ontario Hockey League.
Sarnia finished last overall with a 17-46-3-2. They will miss post-season play for the first time in three seasons.
The game marked the end of an eight-year career for Walters, who is moving back to Toronto.

During pre-game ceremonies Walters received a standing ovation. He also received a number of gifts including a $1,500 travel voucher from the team, a $300 gift certificate to Bob Martin’s Golf from the players, a golf bag from Lambton Ford and a Sting jersey signed by all the players.

And for good measure a fan tossed a pair of boxing gloves on the ice during the ceremonies.
“It was a special night for me and my family,” said Walters, fighting back the tears. “I can’t say enough about the Sting, the City of Sarnia and the fans. It was a great day that will last forever.”

In the final minute, fans chanted “Thank you Wally.”

Walters got a special hug from head coach Dave MacQueen seconds after the final buzzer sounded.
“He just said thanks for everything. We worked together for four years and he is a true friend,” said Walters.
MacQueen says Walters is going to hard to replace.

“It was a nice ceremony before the game, but it is bittersweet for me. I’m losing both a good hockey person and a good friend.”

So how did the Sting beat a team that came into the game 79 points ahead of Sarnia in the standings?
“We knew they would be shorthanded, but they still had some good players out there,” said MacQueen. “All I wanted was our team to play hard, keep things under control and don’t do any stupid stuff. We got some nice goals and deserved to win. It was nice to see us execute.”

Windsor played without several regulars including Taylor Hall, Ryan Ellis, Adam Henrique, Mark Cundari, Harry Young, Scott Timmins, Greg Nemisz and Eric Wellwood.

Walters was happy the Sting got the win.

“Our guys played very well and it’s nice to go out on a high note. I know we didn’t have the kind of season we wanted, but for the most part the guys kept working hard most nights. It’s only going to benefit them in the future. I enjoyed working with them all.”

J.C. Campagna led the Sting offence with two goals and one assist and was named the game’s first star. He finished with seven goals for the season. Single goals went to Daniel Broussard, (2nd), Braden Kavaratzis (3rd), Nathan Chiarlitti (7th), Peter Stevens (2nd), Miroslav Preisinger (11th) and Kale Kerbashian, with his team-high 26th goal. Kerbashian and Brett Ritchie had two assists each.

Zack Kassian had two goals and Dale Mitchell one for the Spitfires, who went over the 100-point plateau for the second year in a row.

The game was the last for two Sting overagers, Kyle Neuber and Stevens. Stevens, who came to the team at the trade deadline from Ottawa, played five years in the OHL. He was very emotional after the game.

“I remember my first year and when we got beat out, the OA’s were crying and I didn’t quite understand why. I figured I had a ton of time left in the league. But it goes by so fast. It sucks right now. I would like to be a rookie again.”

He added, “scoring tonight was nice as I’m not a great scorer. This might sound a little odd, but I had the chance to play in a bunch of great cities for some great coaches. I came into this league at 15 and became a man. I had the opportunity to play in the greatest development league in the world.”

Shayne Campbell got the win in goal for the Sting. In a nice gesture from the coaching staff, Campbell was lifted in favour of Jordan Gladwish with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. Gladwish stopped all six shots he faced.
Sarnia held a 47-33 edge in shots on goal.

The teams were tied 1-1 after one period before the Sting scored five of the seven goals scored in the second period to take a commanding 6-3 lead after 40 minutes.


- Campagna was first star with Kerbashian second star and Kavaratzis third star.
- Sarnia’s home record was 10-22-1-1.
- MacQueen says he will have exit meetings with the players over the next couple of days before heading for the OHL Cup Tournament in Toronto beginning on Wednesday.
“We just want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row for the draft.” The OHL draft is May 1. Sarnia also has the second overall pick in the CHL Import Draft in late June.
- Other than Stevens and Neuber, everyone else on the roster is eligible to return next season.
-  All 11 goals scored in the game were at even strength.