The Sarnia Legionnaires are going into the history books for all the wrong reasons. A loss in Elmira on Sunday finished a dreadful season for the young GOHL club, becoming the only team to go winless in the GOHL. With a roster featuring 18 rookie players, they were just outmatched by teams featuring more experienced rosters. Several veterans were traded last year, and then in the off-season more departed. They even lost their coach in the summer, so it was a complete overhaul in a short period of time. “We come out and work as hard as possible and hopefully we can come out on top,” said captain Owen Hey to CTV News earlier this season. Despite losing every night, they continued to battle and show up. “Hockey is not just winning games,” said Hey. “It’s kind of building character and building people. It’s an honour to wear the ‘C’ [as team captain], so I try and mentor a lot of the younger guys and try and help them build each other as players, but also people.” Head Coach Mike Bondy was moved to the bench from player development after former coach Brian Irwin left for a new job. He got a late start recruiting. “It’s a work in progress and we knew it was going to take time,” Bondy said earlier this season in an interview with the GOHL. “Young players are learning on the fly and while the results aren’t exactly where we’d like them to be, we’re seeing progress each and every day through practice and learning the junior hockey game.” He was proud of the players for showing up and playing hard despite not winning. They go into the record books as the worst team in Jr. B hockey history. The 2012-13 Buffalo Blades and 2015-16 Pelham Panthers each won one game during the GOHL season. In the former Midwestern Jr. B League, Ohsweken went 0-47-1 in 1997-98. The playoffs will begin in the GOHL later this week. The London Nationals will face the Stratford Warriors, the St. Marys Lincolns will meet the Strathroy Rockets, while the St. Thomas Stars will meet either Chatham or Elmira.
