Dave Paul
In the world of junior hockey, summers are short.
Even before September arrived, the Sarnia Sting were on the ice, preparing for the upcoming OHL season.
The club also introduced five of its newest players during a press conference at Lambton Mall on Aug. 26.
Both import draft players – Filip Helt and Adam Ruzicka – have been signed, as have a pair of 2015 draftees, Kelton Hatcher and Louis Latta, along with free agent U.S.-born defenseman Jordan Ernst.
Like his brother (former Sting captain Nick Latta), Louis Latta was drafted as an import but has now been classified as a non-import.
The German-born forward said he’d been to Sarnia a few times to watch his brother play.
“I kind of know the league and I know Sarnia is a nice town,” said Latta.
Helt, of the Czech Republic, speaks little English, but the Sting have high hopes for the tall forward, their first choice in this year’s import draft and a St. Louis Blues 7th round draft pick.
Sarnia is equally high on Ruzicka, an equally tall forward. The strapping Slovak can play center or wing and says he models his game after his favourite player.
“I try to play like (Evgeni) Malkin – big and strong along the boards, with a heavy shot,” says Ruzicka, adding his goals for this year are, “to help the Sting win” and become a first round NHL draft pick.
American-born blueliners Ernst and Hatcher both expect the OHL game to be fast, but say they’re ready.
Sting general manager Nick Sinclair said it’s a bit early to assess the team’s roster.
“There are still question marks, and we expect to start the season with question marks,” he said.
The Sting will likely start the campaign without a trio of standouts from last year – Jakob Chychrun, Travis Konecny and Pavel Zacha – who will attend NHL team camps.
How many and which of those players return could determine how good the Sting are this year.
“We want to be a contending team. We want to battle for a division title again this year,” Sinclair said.
“We’ll see where we are a couple of months into the season and continue to evaluate from that point on.”
Sting training camp continues this week before Sarnia kicks off the pre-season with a home-and-home set against the London Knights on Sept. 2 and 3.
The Sting regular season home opener, also vs. London, is Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7:05 p.m.