Jon Maillet For the Journal
Anthony Tudino scored twice and Jack Martin made 35 saves but the Legionnaires would fall in a shootout to the Strathroy Rockets during the annual Turkey Toss game at the Pat Stapleton Arena Thursday night.
Martin got his second straight start in as many games, coming off a win in London Wednesday night. The rookie goalie came up big and often for the Legionnaires, including some great saves in overtime as they took home a single point in the shootout loss.
“I thought Jack was good,” said head coach Brian Irwin. “He had a really good night last night in London, and I thought he was really good again tonight; real confident in both of our goalies and getting out of them what we expect.”
That confidence was also on display Wednesday night as the Sarnia Sting faced the Barrie Colts, when Legionnaires goalie Logan Phillips was brought in to replace Nick Surzycia 16 seconds into the third period when the Colts took a 6-4 lead. Phillips stopped all 10 shots he faced, as the Sting came back to win 7-6.
Phillips described the experience as being unreal, and everything he had dreamed of.
“It was awesome to get the two points and come back from being down,” the Corunna native told the Journal. “I wasn’t expecting to go in, honestly I was just hoping to get that first save, and everything just worked out.”
While the Strathroy Rockets left with the two points, it was the Inn of the Good Shepherd that took home a win at the annual Turkey Toss game, where fans bring can goods for a chance to toss a turkey during the first intermission.
Executive Director Myles Vanni says with the increase in the cost of living since the pandemic, the Inn has seen a large increase in people needing access to the food bank.
“We are seeing about a 25% increase in people using the food bank from before COVID,” Vanni told the Journal. “So now we're over 2,200 people a month accessing it, and at the same time our food donations are down just because the cost of food.”
Vanni acknowledges it is a struggle both ways with the high cost of food, and is very thankful for community partners like the Legionnaires and others.
“It is critical — every month we need 55,000lbs of food to serve those 2,200 people. It doesn’t come all in one. It’s everyone doing a little bit”
The Inn continues its food drive Friday at Home Depot, and will be celebrating Christmas at the Hive Sunday, capping off the Sarnia Sting’s “Season of Giving.”
Sting fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the game to be donated to our local Inn of the Good Shepherd. The team will also don special Christmas themed jerseys for the game. Select jerseys will be auctioned off live on-ice following the game, with the remainder available for bidding online.
For those unable to attend, Vanni says if you want to give a donation and help out, you can always do so through various barrels at grocery stores or online at their website https://www.theinnsarnia.ca/.
“You can make a financial donation,” says Vanni. “That helps us when we are buying food, to help us buy the things we were short on, but also the stores are good at giving us some good value and we can stretch that donation further.”