The 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) season is one of transition for the Sarnia Sting Hockey Club.
The team looks to claw its way back into the postseason picture with a new ownership group, new-look coaching staff, and 11 fresh faces on the roster.
Ryan Finch and Mark Guy have joined David Legwand as part owners of the club. The announcement was made at a news conference in June.
The Sting also brought in Mason Baptista and Brayden Guy as assistant coaches, and made a number of other staffing changes.
Sarnia missed the playoffs by just two points in 2024-25.
General Manager Dylan Seca said the team is feeling positive, with lots of energy, as we enter a new campaign.
"We saw all kinds of progress (during the preseason) with lots of new faces that were able to get adjusted to the league," said Seca. "The new staff were able to get a good read on the players. We've had a great week of practice and I can tell you that they're chomping to get after it on Friday night."
Seca isn't concerned about team chemistry.
"The compete level is the big thing, we want to make sure we start from that perspective," he said. "We want to be a team that's really hard to play against regardless of who is playing and who is out. So far, we've actually seen some pretty good chemistry from the guys. That's something that will take time throughout the course of a really long season."
Seca said they've built the team to be bigger, stronger and harder to play against.
"Generally speaking, you'll see that over the coming years," said Seca. "That can't be turned over in the offseason but there's some progress. You'll see us draft, sign, and trade a little differently. The Florida Panthers have been really successful as of late with hard skill and size. We're trying our best to get there."
Seca is looking forward to seeing how first round pick Brenner Lammens fares this year.
"With a guy taken fourth overall, there's typically some expectations maybe that people might have of him," he said. "We like what we've seen out of Brenner. He had a bit of an injury that held him out of the lineup for a bit, but otherwise good. He'll acclimatize to the league. We're not in a rush for him to pop off. But, if he does that's great."
The Sting open their season on Friday night, at home to the Windsor Spitfires at Progressive Auto Sales Arena (PASA).
They'll be without Alessandro Di Iorio for the first portion of the year as he deals with an injury sustained in the preseason.
The annual School Day Game against the Owen Sound Attack is on Wednesday, November 5 at 11 a.m.
The club has a stretch of 10 of 12 games away from home, between November 13 and December 13. During that time, they'll head out on a couple of long road trips. One will take them to Peterborough, Ottawa and Kingston, and the other will see them head to North Bay, Sudbury and Sault St. Marie.
The Sting's traditional New Year's home and home series with the London Knights will look a bit different. The Knights will be in town on December 28 and, after going to Saginaw the following night, the Sting will head to London on New Year's Eve.
A list of the Sting's roster changes can be found below:
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New players this year:
Easton Walos (Salmon Arm Silverbacks)
Jack Van Volsen (Brampton Steelheads)
Ryder Simpson (Cambridge Redhawks)
Kase Kamzik (Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16U)
Jordan Bax (Cowichan Valley Capitals)
Chase Gaughan (Strathroy Rockets)
Brenner Lammens (Toronto Red Wings U16 AAA)
Cameron Aucoin (Fargo Force)
Kaden Aucoin (Chicago Mission 15U AAA)
Jacob Reese (Rochester Jr. Americans)
Patrick Quinlan (USNTDP Juniors)
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Departing players from last season:
Zach Filak (University of Vermont)
Easton Wainwright (Colgate University)
JJ Franceschetti
Ryan Chamberlain (Brantford Titans)
Daylen Moses
Tyson Doucette (Colgate University)
Jack O'Brien (Dubuque Fighting Saints)
Jack Bodin (Mora IK U20)
Casey Bridgewater (Powell River Kings)
Nathan Omeri (Collingwood Blues)
Nick Surzycia (University of Toronto)
