The Sarnia Legionnaires have snapped their 67-game losing streak after beating the St. Thomas Stars 4-1 Thursday night.
The win ended the longest losing streak in organized hockey history. Before Thursday’s game, the Legionnaires went 619 days in the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) without a win.
People celebrating Sarnia’s first win on Facebook (Credit: Edric Eiermann //Facebook)
“We got the monkey off our back and we’ve got some confidence now,” said Ryan Foster Head coach of the Legionnaires.
Foster said he was proud how his team played including Evan Bannister (forward) and David Healy (goalie).
“Everyone has a role,” he said. “Bannister is scoring right now and we are looking for secondary scoring as well and our goaltending hasn’t been a problem this year.”
Bannister scored a hattrick including the game winning goal and Healy stopped 54 of 55 shots on net including an assist.
Heading into the final minutes the Legionnaires were up 2-1. Then with just over a minute left in the game, Ethan Glavin scored to make it 3-1.
“A lot can happen in one minute especially when you’re playing St. Thomas a offensively talented team,” said Foster.
‘We have to win’
The players were focused right down to the last minutes of the game, said defender Aiden Israel, who played his second game with the Legionnaires Thursday.
“I was really amped up, but I knew anything could happen in a few minutes of game time and we just had bear down and play smart,” he said, attributing the victory to the team’s determination.
“‘We have to win.’ That was our goal and our mentality,” he said
The venue attracted around 380 spectators and as the buzzer sounded the fans erupted.
Fans celebrate on Facebook
GOHL-watchers, including St. Thomas fans, celebrated the victory on Facebook Thursday and Friday.
“I think it’s fantastic, obviously fans have their loyalty to who they support. But at the same time we lost 67 games in a row and a lot of fans are pulling free to get that first win.”
“Against St. Mary’s we were down 6-0 after 22 minutes, than the final 38 minutes we played 0-0 hockey. We get down early a lot and we’re chasing games,” Foster said.
Foster said he always reminds his team that every game starts 0-0 and anything in the past doesn’t matter.
The streak started back on February 20, 2025, losing the final six games of the 2024-25 season, then went 0-50-0-0 in the 2025-26 season and started this season 0-11-0-0 totaling 67 straight regulation loses.
Throughout the 25/26 regular season the Legionnaires lost an average by 5 goals a game.
Thomas Jane is a defenseman for the Legionnaires and is the only returning player from that 25/26 team.
This is Foster’s first season back in Canada to coach after playing and coaching in in Austria and Germany for 27 years. He also played for the Canadian National team program in 1998-99 and travelled all over Europe playing in multiple tournaments.
Here are the Final seconds of the Sarnia Legionnaires win.
