Jonathan Maillet For the Journal
The Sarnia Sting have signed defenceman Casey Bridgewater to an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement, the club announced this week.
After spending the 2022-23 season with the Halton Hurricanes U16 AAA team, the 5’10”, 174-pound London, Ontario native was selected by the Sting with the 97th overall pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection on April 21.
Bridgewater tallied 11 goals and 19 assists through 31 regular season games played in the South Central Triple-A Hockey League U16 this season.He also appeared in the OHL Cup with Halton, scoring twice and adding two assists in three games.
“Casey is a player our group was excited to work with through development and main camp,” said Sting general manager Dylan Seca in a news release. “He arrives in terrific condition, and carried himself extremely well.
“We see a mobile defender who is just scratching the surface offensively,” he added. “He’s committed to put the work in, we’re confident he will be an effective OHL defenceman in our league.”
Bridgewater is expected to play this season in Jr. B with the Stratford Warriors in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Midwest conference, though he will see at least one preseason game with the Sting, according to Seca.
The Sarnia Sting will kick off the pre-season on Sept. 9 in London to face the Knight’s in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals.
The battle of the 402 returns to Sarnia Sunday Sept. 10 for a 2 p.m. puck drop.
Regular season will begin September 29 when the Sting host the Spitfires at 7:05 p.m.
Tickets are on sale at the box office and sarniasting.,com.