2007 - 2008 SEASON

• League Award Winners

• Fan Appreciation Night and Sidney Crosby Sweater

• League Awards - Nominations

• Poli is back!

• Team roster changes

• Turkey Toss/Ham Heave

• October player changes

• Letter for Owens

• Abercrombie Goes Into Hall of Fame

• Captain & Assistants Named

• First Annual Alumni Golf Tournament

• Main Camp

• Mini Camp

The annual Fan Appreciation Night was held and it was a busy night for those who attended.  For those who purchased 50-50 tickets the opportunity to win prizes was also made possible.  Over 50 gifts were won during the evening and for the females who attended, all were given their choice of a coloured carnation in celebration of Valentines Day.  It was a very successful evening ... except on the scoreboard as the final score of the game was a 4-1 loss for the Blast.

The league will be holding their awards banquet on Monday, February 18 and here is the list of Blast players who have been nominated by our team.

Returning to the lineup and patrolling the blue line for the Blast is Thomas Policelli.  "Poli" as he likes to be known, has played for Sarnia in previous seasons, most recently in the 06-07 campaign, playing in 44 regular season and 19 playoff games for the Blast.

Leaving:  The Sarnia Blast hockey club would like to congratulate our team captain MATT PEREIRA on his moving to play Tier 2 Junior A hockey with the Wellington Dukes.  Our best wishes and continued success to him with his new club.  We'll be on the lookout for reports about you.  That leads to the naming of our new captain Tyler Lewis who gives up his "A" to don the "C".  Congrats Lewi!!  Newly sporting an "A" will be Chris McGuffin and Matt Abercrombie who join current assistant Owen Rogers in these duties .

Added:  The team have added a young left winger by the name of Alex Avery to the roster.  Check out his photo and bio on the players page.

It was the second annual Turkey Toss and this year we added a Ham Heave to it and there was a twist to it. This year, the participants had to shoot the puck with a stick and attempt to put it into the net through a hole in our event sponsors banner that covered the net. However, many of the pucks had some "help" getting into the net. Seems the helpers (aka Tyler Lewis and Matt Abercrombie) were under order to allow pucks into the net if the shot was on net. There were 5 turkeys and 5 hams available to win and most of those went home with winning shooters. Also in attendance was the nofrills Banana who cheered on the shooters. In total, over $400 was raised for the Sunshine Foundation. In addition, all those attending the game were encouraged to bring a non-perishable item which was to be donated to the Salvation Army. All in all, it was a good night for charities.

This month saw the departure of two Blast players.  In mid October, Margo Ruggeri left the team to play in the North American Hockey League. He played in seven games for the Blast, scoring two goals (one a game winner) with two assists and picked up 10 minutes in penalties.  Nearing the end of the month saw the departure of goaltender Mark Pereira to the Chatham Maroons of the WOHL.  Mark began playing with the Blast in the 2005-2006 season, playing in 14 regulation games with a 4-7-1 record and appeared in two playoff games.  Last season, he played in 11 regulation games sporting a .905 save percentage, a GAA of 4.18 and a 7-2-0 record.  He played in four playoff games, two critical ones against the London Nationals, and finished with a 2-1-0 record, a .926 save percentage and a 2.95 GAA.  This season, Mark appeared in one game and had to leave after playing just under 22 minutes due to an injury.  We wish both players success.

Now sporting the letter "A" on his jersey is center Owen Rogers.  Owen played most of last season with the Forest Midgets last season and was called up to play with the Blast in nine regular season and eight playoff games in the 06-07 season.

On October 21st, 2007 Bill is to be inducted into his hometown Hall of Fame in Lindsay, Ontario.  He will be joining his father Gordon who is already a Hall of Fame member. Bill believes they may be the only father-son duo in the Lindsay Hall.  Abercrombie played hockey, fastball and soccer in his hometown and later came to Sarnia and helped the Petrolia Squires win an Allen Cup.  Also inducted with Bill will be NHL pro Basil McCrae.

The Sarnia Blast are pleased to announce that Matt Pereira will be donning the "C" on sweater #7 for the team this year after wearing an "A" last season.  The 2007-2008 season marks his fourth year with the team.   Wearing an "A" on their sweaters are #9 Tony Brune,  #20 Tyler Lewis and #24 Brad Hurlock.  This is Tony's first year of playing in the WOHL, coming to us from the 2006-07 Schreiber Diesels (SIJHL Champions).  Tyler Lewis is in his second year with the Blast this season. This is also the second year that  Brad Hurlock is a Blast player.  He previously played 8 games with the Petrolia Jets in the 2005-2006 season.

The Sarnia Blast Hockey Club of the WOHL hosted this tournament that took place at Huron Oakes Golf & Country Club in Bright's Grove.
Participating were players who had played Jr. B hockey in Sarnia from years gone by to the present.  It included coaching, staff and friends.  It was a 1:00 shot gun start that included 18 holes of golf, Golf Cart, Steak Dinner and was followed by an Auction.