OHL Notebook: New owners in Sarnia

Pending Ontario Hockey League approval, the Sarnia Sting have been sold.

The team, which has been up for sale for some time, has been sold to former NHL defenceman Derian Hatcher and current Ottawa Senators forward David Legwand by now-former owners Larry and Rob Ciccarelli.

“This is an exciting day for both David and myself,” Hatcher said in a release. “We know this area extremely well and look forward to building something special in Sarnia. We are committed to this community and are excited to get started once we have approval from the OHL and its Board of Governors.”

The sale needs the approval from the OHL Board of Governors and that’s expected to happen sometime in February.

“It is a bittersweet day for both Larry and myself,” Rob Ciccarelli said in a release. “This hockey club has been a major part of our life for twenty years and we have so many fond memories of being the owners of it.”

Last July, the Sting entered into a new lease with the city of Sarnia. The team had a previous agreement with the city that saw the team running the RBC Centre, which is city-owned, in Sarnia but that obligation is no longer.

One of the conditions of the deal is the team remaining in Sarnia and the organization will do so as the team has a 20-year lease with the city.