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OHL Flint Firebirds

Firebirds Host Sting on Teddy Bear Toss Night in Flint

November 26, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Firebirds will have the Sarnia Sting in town for the second time this season tonight. The game is the annual Teddy Bear Toss Game, where fans are encouraged to bring new and gently used Teddy Bears to be donated to local non-profits and charities such as Whaley Children's Center, Hurley Children's Hospital, Ennis Center for Children, the YWCA and many more. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Dort Financial Center. Tickets for Saturday's home game are available now from ETIX.

Flint enters tonight's game with a record of 12-8-2-1, placing them fourth in the West Division. They've gone 5-2-2-1 in their past ten contests, earning points in eight of the games. Sarnia comes to town with a 12-7-3-1 mark, placing third in the West Division and only one point ahead of the Firebirds. They've posted a mark of 5-3-2-0 in their past ten.

Tonight marks the fourth of eight contests versus the Sting this season and the second of four scheduled in Flint. The Birds have gone 2-0-1-0 this season in the three previous meetings with the Bees and won the only prior matchup at the Dort Financial Center 4-1 back on October 19. All time, the Firebirds are 29-20-2-0 versus Sarnia, with a home record of 17-7-1-0.

On special teams, the Firebirds have converted on 20.9% of their power-play chances, ranking them tenth in the league. The Sting have found success 19.5% of the time, which is currently 16th-best in the OHL. Flint has killed off 77.5% of their penalties, the 12th-best rate in the league. Sarnia has the 11th-ranked penalty kill at 77.9% efficiency.

Players to Watch

Flint Firebirds (12-8-2-1, 4th West Division):

Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings) leads the Firebirds in assists (16) and points (25) through 23 games played. Riley Piercey ranks second with 23 points (10 G, 13 A). Coulson Pitre and Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) are tied for third with 21 points a piece. Pitre has nine tallies and 12 assists and Hayes has eight markers plus 13 helpers.

The defensive unit is led by Dmitry Kuzmin's 19 points, stemming from four tallies and 15 helpers. Luca D'Amato is tied for first in the OHL with a plus/minus rating of +18.

In goal, Flint's netminders are led by overage veteran Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues), who's played in 18 games this season. He's posted a 3.28 goals-against average (GAA), and his .903 save percentage (SV%) is fourth-best in the league. Cranley is credited with seven victories. Nathan Day now has five wins across eight appearances and carries a GAA of 4.46 with a .837 SV%.

NHL: The Firebirds have six players with NHL ties consisting of Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues), Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings), Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitri Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Artem Guryev (San Jose Sharks). Additionally, Coulson Pitre, Tristan Bertucci, Ethan Hay, and goaltender Nathan Day were listed on NHL Central Scouting's 2023 Preliminary Draft Rankings.

Despite Flint playing in just seven OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit), Kole Sherwood (Columbus), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), and Tyler Tucker (St. Louis) are four former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Riley Piercey (Detroit) and Gavin Hayes (Chicago) played in NHL preseason contests this year, joining Firebirds' alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit), and Jalen Smereck (Arizona). In total, the team has produced 24 signed or drafted players into the NHL.

Sarnia Sting (12-7-3-1, 3rd West Division):

Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) continues to pace the field for the OHL in points (40) and assists (34). His 1.74 points-per-game average is currently the second-best in the league. Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks) sits second with 27 points (14 G, 13 A). Nolan Burke (Nashville Predators) has the most goals on the club (15) and the fourth-most goals in the league, and he ranks third overall with 26 total points through 18 games. Burke also tops the league in power-play goals (8). Ethan Ritchie tops the blue-line crew with five goals and ten assists on the season.

Sarnia's starting goaltender is Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks), who's appeared in 20 contests. He has nine wins along with a 3.31 goals-against average (GAA) and a .876 save percentage (SV%). Backup Nicholas Surzycia has three victories in seven appearances, posting a 3.55 GAA and an SV% of .856.

NHL: The Sting carry seven players with NHL ties, including forwards Sandis Vilmanis (Florida), Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim), Nolan Burke (Nashville), and Ty Voit (Toronto), defensemen Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins) and Chandler Romeo (Ottawa Senators), and netminder Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks).

Notable Sting alumni to play in the NHL include Steven Stamkos, Daniel Carcillo, Jakob Chychrun, Alex Galchenyuk, Matt Martin, Brett Ritchie, Ryan Spooner, Nail Yakupov and Pavel Zacha.

Broadcast Coverage:

This evening's contest against the Sarnia Sting can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com or by downloading the US 103 app here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN), starting with the pre-game show at 6:40 p.m. (ET).

The game will be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 468. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home or away all season long.

All Flint Firebirds' home and away games throughout the 2022-23 regular season can be watched anywhere in the world online on https://watch.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league's new and improved video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost is $7.99 for 24-hour access, $29.99 for monthly access, $119.99 for all-access to the 2022-23 Firebirds and OHL season, or $179.99 for all-access to the entire 2022-23 CHL season.

Next Up: After tonight's game, the Firebirds will embark on their longest road-trip of the season so far, beginning with a Thursday night tilt in Peterborough versus the Petes. They'll also make stops in Ottawa, Kingston, and then Sarnia for game one of a home-and-and-away series with the Sting on Friday. Flint's next home game will be against Sarnia again on Saturday, December 10. Tickets for next Saturday's contest are available from ETIX.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2022


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