Sting looks to bring it back
Sarnia Sting is on a losing skid in the Ontario Hockey League by having missed the playoffs in three successive seasons. But there are right signs of bright ahead of the ’26-27 season as Sting general manager Dylan Seca has been busy as a bee in trying to put the buzz back in Sarnia.
To be sure, Seca swung several key summer time moves, trading for young gun defenseman Cole Emerton, making since-signed, prize defender Adrian Sgro the first at his position to be picked at the 2026 OHL priority selections draft, and using a first round pick to take hulking goalie Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko at the Canadian Hockey League import draft.
Cole Emerton. The smooth, skilled blue liner, who has a 2008 birth date, was second in scoring among all rookie defensemen in the OHL in ’25-26 while playing for the Barrie Colts with 31 points in 66 games. “He is a huge piece for us,” relayed Sting general manager Dylan Seca after trading for Emerton. “I think his ability to create offence, to help the power play, to make clean exits is a welcome addition. If you watched the Barrie Colts in the playoffs and all the way through to the league championship, he was a major piece of their D corps.”
Adrian Sgro. The 6 foot 2 Sgro (in photo below by David Pickering) was taken by Sarnia with the fourth pick in the first round from the vaunted Vaughan Kings of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Sgro is the first blue-liner drafted by the Sting in the first round since No. 1 overall pick Jakob Chychrun — now an established National Hockey League star with the Washington Capitals.
Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko. The big puck stopper is an NHL draft pick of the Utah Mammoth who has already played two seasons of pro hockey in Russia. To be sure, the Sting has high hopes for the 6 foot 3, 185 pound Tkach-Tkachenko. Sarnia has not had a true top flight tender since Ben Gaudreau led the Sting on a memorable three round playoff run back in 2023.
Early Outlook. The West Division is giving the appearance of being a wide open race in ’26-27 between all five teams — the Sting, Windsor Spitfires, Saginaw Spirit, Flint Firebirds and Soo Greyhounds.
