The Sarnia Sting were expected to turn a corner this year. But after an ugly 9-3 loss on the road against the Ottawa 67’s on Friday night, the Sting organization has decided to fire Head Coach Alan Letang.

Sarnia’s loss on Friday was their 14th of the season. They have only six wins in their opening 20 games of the season. According to the organization’s press release, they believe a new voice behind the bench is needed to guide their young team and help them overcome their disappointing start to the year. 

Letang was named Sarnia’s Head Coach during the summer of 2021. He played for the Sting for one season during the 1994-95 season, so he had some familiarity with the organization. During his tenure as head coach for four seasons, he got Sarnia into the playoffs twice in 2022 and 2023, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2023. 

Letang’s record as head coach was 121-136-35. His only winning season came in 2022-23, led by Ty Voit, Nolan Burke, and Sasha Pastujov. The team loaded up at the deadline for their playoff run, trading away Porter Martone in a massive package deal for Ethan Del Mastro and Luca Del Bel Belluz. 

During Letang’s tenure, his Sarnia team consistently had issues in the goals against department. The Sting allowed 270+ goals against in three out of its four seasons. In the last four seasons, the Sting haven’t had a goaltender finish the season with a save percentage of .900 or better. Even during their best season in 2022-23, Benjamin Gaudreau finished the year with a .889 in 44 games, and Nicholas Surzycia had an .879 in 29 games. 

The last two seasons have been rebuilding years for the Sting, and the expectations were a lot lower. Regardless, their goaltending has been amongst the league’s worst over the last two seasons. 

This season, Sarnia started with 2007-born rookie Patrick Quinlan and second-year goaltender Evan Maillet. They traded for Charlie Larocque from North Bay early in October to strengthen their depth in the crease, but goaltending continues to be an issue. 

Is it goaltending woes that have plagued the Sting? Or did Letang deploy a defensive system that did not aid his keepers of the crease? 

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