The Sarnia Legionnaires will return to the ice Thursday night for their first game in over a month.
The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) was forced to pause its season following the holiday break due to provincial COVID-19 restrictions.
Now that restrictions for indoor settings have eased, the Legionnaires will host St. Marys on Thursday.
“We’re all very excited!” said Sarnia Head Coach Derek DiMuzio. “We have all this energy and it’s just great to get back and see everybody and be around the team.”
The Legionnaires last played on December 19, 2021, against the Leamington Flyers.
Since the shutdown, DiMuzio said the team has held several virtual meetings.
“We did a forward meeting every week, a [defense] meeting every week, and then a team meeting every week and we focused on a specific area of on-ice, so what could be defensive zone coverage or forecheck,” he said. “We also involved the older groups from the Lambton AAA Association. It was very well received and those players had an opportunity to come on and listen to what we do and be influenced by our players and staff.”
As discussed during virtual meetings and practices held this week, DiMuzio said the players will head into Thursday’s game with a positive mindset.
“We’re in a battle for a playoff spot. We know we’re the underdog and so we just want to make sure we keep it even keel and not let the highs get too high and the lows get too low,” he said. “We’re just going to be really positive about our approach to everything and have a lot of positive energy — that’s how we’re going to get there and reach our goal.”
Puck drops at Sarnia Arena at 7:10 p.m. The game can be heard on CHOK (1070AM/103.9FM).
