Journal staff
Bill Abercrombie will step away from the day-to-day responsibilities as Sarnia Sting President, as he transitions into an advisory role, the hockey club announced Friday.
“Bill was instrumental in a successful transition when we took over the team in 2015,” owner David Legwand said in a news release.
“His business and hockey experience, connections and passion for this community laid the building blocks for our growth over the past seven seasons and I can’t thank him enough for his dedication.
“He has given this team, city and its sports community so much over his career and has positively impacted so many along the way. I want to congratulate Bill on his success and extend my appreciation for all he has done.”
Abercrombie first joined the hockey club in 1994 — when the Newmarket Royals relocated to Sarnia to become the Sting — serving as an assistant coach until 2002.
In that time, he helped develop many of the organization’s early stars including Jon Sim and Trevor Letowski, who were both recognized as inaugural inductees in the Sting’s Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Following his first tenure with the Sting, Abercrombie had a successful stint coaching in Junior B; he led the Sarnia Blast to a finals appearance in 2007 and was named Coach of the Year before being inducted into the Lindsay District Sports Hall of Fame that spring.
Abercrombie then became head coach of the Sarnia Legionnaires, capturing a Western Junior B Championship in 2009.
In 2010, he made his return to the Sting as Vice President of Hockey Operations before being named the Club’s President in 2014.
“As President, Abercrombie played pivotal roles in many of the Sting’s off-ice accomplishments,” the Sting added. “He was instrumental in completing the 2018 LED videoboard upgrade at Progressive Auto Sales Arena (PASA).
"Most recently, he led efforts that saw the Sting make significant investments into PASA that included renovations to the luxury suite level as well as the recent completion of the Sting’s dressing room project which created a new room in the south end of the rink for the team, freeing up space for three new community rooms in the Club’s old space between PASA’s two ice pads.
“Throughout his tenure with the Sting, Abercrombie also played a pivotal role in ensuring the Sting remain both visible and embedded in the Sarnia-Lambton community through his leadership and support of several of the Hockey Club’s outreach initiatives.”