Spits soaring into semis
It was a tiring road trip to Sault Ste. Marie on the final day of regular season — through two ports of entry as well as having to cross the menacing Mackinac Bridge — that ultimately gave the Windsor Spitfires home ice advantage for the second round of these Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
A clutch win by the Spitfires over the Soo Greyhounds in the regular season finale gave Windsor second place in the Western Conference standings over the Flint Firebirds by a mere two points. And as Windsor and Flint are now facing off against each other in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs after both teams swept their respective opening round sets, it is the Spitfires who hold the home ice advantage over the Firebirds.
Who says a late March road trip to Sault Ste. Marie through 17 feet of snow isn’t worth it?
At any rate, the Spitfires capped off a regular season record of 44-15-9 with a four game sweep of the Guelph Storm. And now it looms as a see saw series for Windsor against Flint, which almost matched the regular record of its second round playoff foes by posting a mark of 44-17-7 to end up as the no. 3 seed.
To be sure, it is a shame that one of the Spitfires or Firebirds will have to lose their head to head, best of seven playoff showdown and be done for the season.
From a Windsor view point, this is a team that is very well built by general manager Billy Bowler, who is one of the very best in business. What stands out about the Spitfires is the depth of quality players — and the ability to overcome a season ending, major injury to impact forward Ethan Belchetz.
As much as the Spitfires would love to have Belchetz — a 2008 birth year youngster who has size and a splendid scoring touch and is a projected first round pick at this year’s National Hockey League Draft — they managed to win without the big kid down the stretch of the regular season and through the first round of the playoffs against Guelph.
Yes, it is the aforementioned depth that is a Spitfire strength.
The offense has and is led by veteran forward and highly regarded captain Liam Greentree. Regular season and playoffs included, Greentree is already past the 40 goal mark. And through his four year OHL career, Greentree has 166 goals — regular season and playoffs included — headed into the Flint series.
Still, the Windsor attack is way more than about Greentree. There are the likes of fellow NHL first rounder Jack Nesbitt, defenseman turned forward Anthony Cristoforo, as well as A.J. Spellacy, Cole Davis, Ethan Garden, Nathan Villeneuve, rookie sensation John McLaughlin et al.
Villeneuve, acquired from the Sudbury Wolves at the January 9 OHL trade deadline, is a player of intrigue as a big, strong Seattle Kraken prospect who is built for the playoffs. Villeneuve has yet to score for Windsor the way he did for Sudbury but he plays a pro-style game and figures to only get stronger as he moves on from the effects of a late season knee injury.
The Spitfires are also as solid as they come back of the blue line with a six pack of defenders featuring veterans Wyatt Kennedy, Jakub Fibigr, Carson Woodall and Conor Walton and rookies Andrew Robinson and Jonathan Brown.
And between the pipes, overage goalie Joey Costanzo is a good one. A really good one.
As for the coaching staff, head honcho Greg Walters has never had a losing record in six seasons as an OHL bench boss — two apiece with the Oshawa Generals, Owen Sound Attack and the Spitfires. And the Spitfires have an assistant coach tandem that is second to none in Casey Torres and Kris Newbury.
photo by Bob Davies
