Another exciting year of Sarnia Sting hockey is upon us.
The club kicks off its Ontario Hockey League preseason schedule at 4 p.m. Saturday with a stop in London to face the Knights.
They'll host London Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
Sarnia will have a new-look squad this year with a number of rookies looking to crack the lineup.
Nolan Burke, Nolan Dillingham, Ethan Ritchie, are all too old to return this year.
Burke signed a contract with Nashville, Dillingham will be playing with the Toronto Marlies, and Ritchie will be suiting up for the Providence Bruins.
A number of veterans haven't been at training camp, and could be moving on to either the American Hockey League or National Hockey League.
They include Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins), Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs), Luca Del Bel Belluz (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Blackhawks), Christian Kyrou (Dallas Stars), and Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks).
Those rosters have not been finalized just yet.
Newly signed players include 2023 draft picks Ryan Brown, James Barr, Lane Sim, and Hughston Hurt.
Slovakian forward Roman Kukumberg, 2022 8th round pick Nathan Omeri, and free agent Dennis Lominac are also in the mix.
Sting Head Coach Alan Letang said the team is coming off a few tough days of practice to iron out the details of how they want to play.
"I talked to most of the guys and I told them that this weekend is more about those little details," said Letang. "Our habits on pucks, and tracking and our habits and compete. I expect it to be a bit up and down. We have a young group, but I've been real impressed with how hard they work and much they compete in practice."
Letang called London's Budweiser Gardens a perfect place for the young guys to play their first exhibition contest.
"It's probably the best building to play your first preseason game in," he said. "Then, we get them here back to back. I'm excited about our group. Hopefully the older guys lead the way for the rookies and settle them down."
Letang said there are still some roster spots up for grabs, and he's looking forward to seeing where certain players fit into the system.
The Sting are coming off their most successful season in franchise history.
They advanced all the way to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Knights in six games.
CHOK will once again be the voice of the Sarnia Sting this season.
You can hear every regular season and playoff game starting on September 29 when the Sting open the campaign against the Windsor Spitfires at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.