The Sarnia Legionnaires will begin the GOJHL regular season Saturday by hosting the St. Thomas Stars.
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The Sarnia Legionnaires are going to be in a hurry this season.
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They want to hit the ground running after using the pre-season to establish an identity as a fast team.
“We’re going to be quick,” head coach Derek Di Muzio said. “We’re going to come at you with four lines. We’re going to roll the lines and come at teams with speed and come at them in waves.”
The Legionnaires will begin the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season Saturday by hosting the St. Thomas Stars at Sarnia Arena at 7:10 p.m.
They have six players back from the 2019-20 team that placed eighth in the Western Conference and lost in the first playoff round. The 2020-21 season was cancelled.
Hockey’s back, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic still throws up roadblocks when assembling a roster, Di Muzio said.
“(General manager) Tom Norris has done a great job of trying to put a team together in the midst of this challenge,” he said. “We’re excited because I think as a staff our strength is development and we’ve got a young group. We can see them already getting better and faster in our practice sessions. We just hope that continues.”
The Legionnaires’ defenceman will be asked to keep the pace up tempo.
“We just want our D to make quick decisions and we want to play through the neutral zone quickly,” Di Muzio said. “We’ve been establishing those as habits that we want our D to have so they’re going to play fast by moving the puck quickly.”
Returnees Reed Stauffer and Bradley Slegers are joined on the blue-line by rookies Carter Barron, Jake MacLean, Owen MacDonald and Wes Brooks. MacDonald has been playing in the Ontario Hockey League pre-season with the Sarnia Sting.
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The forward corps includes veterans Wil O’Leary-DiLosa, Jett Morningstar and Brayden Krueger, along with Austin Harper, Bradyn Santavy, Brayden DeGelas, Cam Lightfoot, Dylan Dupuis, Jaxon Priddle, Joel Verspeeten, Ryan Richardson, Ryder Nienhuis and Ty Moffatt.
The Legionnaires should have one of the most experienced goalie combos in the conference. Nolan DeKoning is starting his third season on the team, while newcomer Tiago Rocha has played with the Chatham Maroons and Pelham Panthers.
“We’re expecting our goaltending to be a strength for us,” Di Muzio said. “Both of them are pushing each other in practice. We expect them to win some games for us.”
Di Muzio liked what he saw in the pre-season from the Legionnaires, who went 1-2-1 in exhibition play.
“We’re ready to go,” he said. “Our practices have been really good. … Guys want to be coached and they’re willing to be vulnerable and learn. You can see their attention to detail and their practice habits are getting better and better. I can see that translating into game success.”
The Legionnaires were hoping to have defenceman Josh Hoover and forward Landen Hookey on the roster this season, but the 2020 OHL draft picks from Sarnia have moved on to the Sudbury Wolves and Soo Greyhounds, respectively.
“Those guys worked very hard and I think they’re there to stay,” Di Muzio said. “They’re talented players. We’re just glad we had a chance to have them around our group for a little bit.”
Legionnaires want to take fast track to success - The Beacon Herald
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