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OHL Flint Firebirds

Preview: Firebirds Face-Off vs. Sarnia Sting Thursday in Flint

November 17, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Flint Firebirds return back to action in Flint Thursday night as the club hosts the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at the newly renovated Dort Federal Event Center.

The Firebirds have won four of their past five games after earning a 4-3 overtime victory over the seventh-ranked Windsor Spitfires last Saturday afternoon in Flint. The win recorded Flint's third triumph over top-1o opponents this season. After the victory over Windsor in overtime, the Firebirds improved their record to 4-1 in the extra frame and remain hot on home ice where they hold an impressive 8-3-0-0 record. Flint has also lit-the-lamp an impressive 21 times in their past five games, averaging just over four goals scored per game.

In the most recent game between the two clubs, the Firebirds racked up seven goals over the Sting en-route to a 7-4 victory in Flint on Oct. 1. Nicholas Caamano (Dallas Stars) led the way recorded five points, scoring twice and adding three assists including a plus-three rating.

After losing Jakob Chychrun (Arizona Coyotes), Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers) and Pavel Zacha (New Jersey Devils) to the NHL this fall, the Sarnia Sting are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference. Sarnia is coming off a 5-4 loss to the Kingston Frontenacs last Saturday. The Sting have a road record of 4-4-0-1 when they're away from the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.

Join us for our second "College Night" of the season featuring $2 beers and $2 hot dogs for all fans in attendance. All college students with valid identification will also receive $2 off admission. New this season, fans have a chance to win $10,000 at every Flint Firebirds' home game during the second intermission shootout! Fans can also take advantage of the 'Firebirds 4 Pack' for both games this week, featuring four silver level tickets, four hot dogs, four medium sodas, four game programs and four pom poms. A value of $106 for $64.

Single game tickets for the Flint Firebirds 2016-17 season are $12 for Bronze, $15 for Silver, $19 for Gold and $25 for VIP seating. Prices are unchanged from last season and all seats are reserved / assigned seating. Fans can purchase tickets at the Dort Federal Event Center Box Office or online by clicking ticketmaster.com seo_bc_name&mc_cidcb5e5fe03a&mc_eid[UNIQID]) .

Players to Watch:

Flint Firebirds (11-8-0-1, 7th Western Conference): Defenseman Jalen Smereck's (Arizona Coyotes) overtime goal sealed the game against the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday where he scored his first goal of the season in a Firebirds' uniform. Smereck has one goal and 11 assists in 17 games played. Ryan Moore is the teams' leading scorer with 30 points (15G, 15A) and recorded two more in his previous game against the Spitfires. Moore is seventh among all OHL players in points and is in a three-way tie for the most shorthanded goals scored in the OHL with three. Caamano (Dallas Stars) is second on the Firebirds' roster with nine goals and 15 assists in 20 games played. Mathieu Henderson, who was tabbed as the OHL's Defenseman of the Month for October, leads all defenseman in points and is third on the team in scoring with six goals and 16 assists. Henderson put-up two assists in his last game against Windsor and is tied for second in game-winning-goals for defenseman. Kole Sherwood (Columbus Blue Jackets) scored once and tallied an assist in his last game. Sherwood has seven goals and 13 assists in 16 games played. Luke Kirwan is second on the team in goals with 13 after scoring 18 seconds into his previous game, and now has 18 points in 17 games.

Rookie forward Ty Dellandrea is expected to make his debut back with the Firebirds after missing five games representing Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. from Oct.27-Nov.5. Despite playing eight less games than the OHL's leading rookie in points, Greg Miereles (Kitchener) with 18 in 19 games played, Dellandrea is still ranked 12th among all OHL rookies with 9 points (5G, 4A) in 11 games played.

Samuel Duchesne, Jake Durham, Fedor Gordeev and Jack Phibbs are first-time eligible players to be selected in the NHL Draft in June 2017.

In net, Garrett Forrest is 6-4-0-0 on the season and is currently the OHL's sixth best goaltender with a 2.72 GAA and a .912 SAV%. Connor Hicks is 4-3-0-1 and played in the Firebirds last game. Hicks made 22 saves on 25 shots, and has a 4.13 GAA, along with a .851 SAV%.

NHL: The Firebirds currently have two players that have signed contracts with NHL clubs. Forward Kole Sherwood signed a three-year NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets (July 2015) and defenseman Jalen Smereck signed a three-year NHL contract with the Arizona Coyotes (October 2016). Flint's Nicholas Caamano was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the most recent NHL Draft in June 2016. Along with Caamano, Sherwood and Smereck, four more Flint Firebirds competed in NHL training camps this fall: Everett Clark (St. Louis Blues), Connor Hicks (Detroit Red Wings), Luke Kirwan (Detroit Red Wings) and Alex Peters (Carolina Hurricanes).

Sarnia Sting (12-6-2-0, 5th Western Conference): Nikita Korostelev (Toronto Maple Leafs) is the leading point-getting on the Sting after he recorded an assist last game against the Kingston Frontenacs. Korostelev is riding a seven-game point-streak (4G, 8A) and has 28 points in 18 games played. Second on the Sarnia's roster is Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues), who extended his point streak to nine games (5G, 8A) after racking-up two assists against the Frontenacs. Kyrou has seven goals and 20 assists in 18 games played. Korostelev and Kyrou are currently the ninth and 10th most point-getters in the OHL. Third on the teams' scoring list is Anthony Salinitri who has nine goals and 12 assists in 18 games.

Between-the-pipes, Justin Fazio carries most of the work load, starting in 18 of 20 games for the Sting. Fazio made 21 saves on 26 shots last game against Kingston and has an impressive 12-3-2-0 record. Fazio is the currently the OHL's 11th best netminder with a 3.30 GAA and a .902 SAV %. Rookie Aidan Hughes is 0-2-0-0 with a 5.92 GAA and a .841 SAV%.

NHL: After losing three players to the NHL this fall, Sarnia now has five players on their roster that have been drafted in the NHL consisting of Fillip Helt (St. Louis Blues), Nikita Korostelev (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues), Jaden Lindo (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Anthony Salinitri (Philadelphia Flyers). The Sting have six first-time eligible players to be selected in the NHL Draft in June 2017: Curtis Egert, Sean Josling, Ryan McGregor, Adam Ruzicka, Kelton Hatcher and Aidan Hughes.

Broadcast Coverage: Thursday evening's contest against the Sting can be heard live on 1330 AM WTRX Sports Radio ]) in Flint & Mid-Michigan and around the world online on the Sports Xtra 1330 Radio app here e5fe03a&mc_eid[UNIQID]) . Pregame coverage will begin 30 minutes prior to puck drop at 6:30 p.m. Additionally, the game will be televised live in Sarnia on channel 6 / 700 (HD) for Cogeco TV cable subscribers and throughout the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 439 for cable TV subscribers. Fans can also watch the game live online at www.ohllive.com (http://ohl.neulion.com/ohl/?mc_cidcb5e5fe03a&mc_eid[UNIQID]) or on the OHL Live App.

Flint Firebirds Hockey Club Member of the Ontario Hockey League 3501 Lapeer Road, Flint, Michigan 48503 www.flintfirebirds.com

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2016


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