Firebirds Look to Bounce Back on Home Ice, Host Sting Tonight on Dort Financial Member Night
October 19, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Flint Firebirds News Release
Flint, Mich. – The Firebirds host the visiting Sarnia Sting tonight for game one of a home-and-away series. Both teams are looking to stop a two-game skid and climb the West Division standings. Puck drop for tonight’s tilt is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Dort Financial Center.
Over the weekend, the Firebirds played three games in the span of three days. First, they routed the Otters in Erie, Penn. by a final score of 8-1. Then they fell to the IceDogs in St. Catherine’s, Ont. 7-3 on Saturday, and again came up short 6-3 in Kitchener against the Rangers Sunday afternoon. The Sting dropped a 6-3 decision to the Spitfires on home ice Friday, then traveled to Mississauga and skated to a 3-2 defeat Sunday.
Tonight’s game is the first of eight regular-season meetings scheduled versus Sarnia, and the first of four to be played in Flint. Last season, the Firebirds earned six victories in the eight games, including wins in three of four games in Flint. All-time, the Firebirds, and Sting have battled 48 times. Flint’s record in the series stands at 27-20-1-0. On home ice, the Firebirds’ record versus Sarnia is 16-7-1-0.
Noteworthy is the fact that five Michigan-born players are expected to be on the ice in Flint this evening. The Firebirds’ Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) is from Westland, Mich. and teammate Owen Pitters hails from Chesterfield in the mitten state. Sarnia carries three Michigan natives on their roster, including Zach Filak from Northville, Max Namestnikov from Wolverine Lake, and Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins) who hails from Bloomfield Hills.
On special teams, the Firebirds have converted on 17.2% of their power-play chances, ranking 12th in the league. The Sting have found success 20.6% of the time, which is currently seventh-best. Flint has killed off 72.7% of their penalties, the 18th-best rate in the OHL. Sarnia has the tenth-ranked penalty kill at a 82.8% efficiency.
Ticket Information & Promotions
The game is Dort Financial Credit Union Members Night. Members of Dort Financial Credit Union can get up to four tickets for free to Wednesday’s game with proof of membership only at the Dort Financial Center Box Office. Additional tickets are available now from Etix HERE. The first 2500 fans in attendance receive a FREE Firebirds hat courtesy of Dort Financial Credit Union.
Players to Watch
Flint Firebirds (3-4-0-0, 5th West Division):
Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) leads the Birds on the scoresheet with seven goals and six assists for 13 points in seven games. He’s in a three-way tie for first in the OHL in points, and he’s all alone in first place in goals to date. Riley Piercey sits second on the club with nine points (4 G, 5 A) thus far in the season. Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings) ranks third with a pair of tallies and five helpers. Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) tops the blue-line crew with four points from four assists.
Flint carries a trio of netminders, led by overage veteran Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues). Cranley comes in with a 3.54 goals-against average (GAA) and a .905 save percentage (SV%) with two wins so far. Second-year goalie Nathaniel Day has appeared in two games this season, posting a 4.74 GAA and .855 SV% with one victory. Boe Piroski made 10 saves on 11 shots in a 20-minute relief effort over the weekend.
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 Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers).
Despite Flint playing in just seven OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit), Kole Sherwood (Columbus), and Ty Dellandrea (Dallas) are three former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Brennan Othmann (NY Rangers), Riley Piercey (Detroit), and Gavin Hayes (Chicago) all 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 (4-3-0-0, 3rd West Division):
Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs) is tied with Othmann with 13 points through 7 games, sharing the current lead in the OHL. Nolan Burke and Marcus Limpar-Lantz are tied for second with nine points each. Burke has four goals and five assists, and Limpar-Lantz has three goals with six helpers. Behind them are a pair of rearguards with six points each in Ethan Ritchie and Ryan Mast (Boston Bruins). Ritchie has scored twice and pitched in four assists, and Mast’s six points are all helpers.
Benjamin Gaudreau (San Jose Sharks) has played in all seven games this season, earning three victories and posting a 3.37 GAA with a SV% of .857%. Nicholas Surzycia has one win in two appearances, and sports a GAA of 2.98 with a .889 SV%.
NHL: The Sting carry five players with NHL ties, including forwards Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) and Ty Voit (Toronto Maple Leafs), 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 are Steven Stamkos, Daniel Carcillo, Jakob Chychrun, Alex Galchenyuk, Matt Martin, Brett Ritchie, Ryan Spooner, Nail Yakupov and Pavel Zacha.
Broadcast Coverage:
Tonight’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 6:45 p.m. (ET).
The game will air live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 466 for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. 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 2021-22 Firebirds and OHL season, or $179.99 for all-access to the entire 2021-22 CHL season.
Next Up: The Firebirds will travel to Sarnia to complete the home-and-away series at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena Friday evening at 7:05 p.m. (ET). The Birds return to home ice this Saturday to host the Windsor Spitfires for the first time since surrendering the Western Conference Finals in game seven to conclude last year’s record-breaking campaign. Saturday’s game will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night, benefitting the McLaren Flint Foundation. The 50/50 proceeds will also go to the McLaren Flint Foundation. The Firebirds will wear lavender-colored jerseys recognizing all cancers with different colored ribbons in the numbers. A live jersey auction will follow the conclusion of the game. Tickets for Saturday’s 7:00 p.m. (ET) rivalry battle are available now from Etix.
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