Sidebars & snippets
It was just a tad under two months ago that the host Saginaw Spirit scored a razor thin win over the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights in what was an all OHL showdown for the 2024 Memorial Cup crown. But the restless hands of time are already ticking towards a new season and the projections and prognosis that go with it.
Coaches Corner. The hiring of Greg Walters by the Windsor Spitfires highlighted an off season of head coach developments in the OHL. A hockey lifer, Walters more than paid his dues as a long time assistant coach with the Sarnia Sting followed by a lengthy run in the Junior A ranks before becoming an OHL bench boss, first with the Oshawa Generals and then at the helm of the Owen Sound Attack. In four full seasons as an OHL head coach — two in Oshawa and two more with Owen Sound — Walters never had a losing record. The soon to be 54 year old Walters had a two season record of 75-40-15 in Oshawa and was 71-56-16 behind the Owen Sound bench. Look for Walters to take his winning ways as an OHL coach to Windsor in ’24-25. The Spitfires in ’24-25 are expected to return to their prominence of the ’21-22 and ’22-23 seasons that preceded a nosedive all the way to the bottom of the Western Conference standings in ’23-24. Walters is known as a fair but demanding coach who relates well to his players. Get ready for Wally World in Windsor.
Spitting Fire. As straightforwardly one of the top three or four general managers among the 20 teams of the OHL, Billy Bowler has the Spitfires set up for present and future flight in the Western Conference. To be sure, this could well be one of the more exciting teams in the OHL in ’24-25, one that combines skill and size. The Spitfires have the ability to dominate up front led by three 2006 birth year forwards who were all taken within the first three rounds of this year’s National Hockey League draft. They are 6 foot 2 Liam Greentree (first round, Los Angeles Kings), 6 foot 3 A.J. Spellacy (third round, Chicago Blackhawks) and 6 foot 5 Ilya Protas (third round, Washington Capitals.) Then there is 6 foot 4 forward Jack Nesbitt, who Windsor took in the first round of the 2023 OHL priority selections draft and who has all sorts of potential. The most intriguing of them all though just might be 6 foot 5 forward Ethan Belchetz, who was taken by Windsor with the first overall pick of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft. There are some who have compared Belchetz to an Eric Lindros type of impact power forward.
Martin & Martin. They were both taken in the first round of the 2023 OHL priority selections draft. They are both 2007 birth year forwards. They also share the same last name. They are Brady Martin of the Soo Greyhounds and Jeremy Martin of the Flint Firebirds and both could be ready for takeoff in ’24-25 after fairly impressive rookie seasons in ’23-24. Lanky at 6 foot 1, 175 pounds, Brady Martin managed 10 goals, 18 assists, 28 points in 52 regular season games and then tacked on a goal and an assist in 11 playoffs outings for the Greyhounds while giving the appearance of having a high hockey IQ. As for the 6 foot, 180 pound Jeremy Martin, he flashed some flare for Flint in ’23-24 with 13 goals, one assist, 14 points in 64 games while playing some meaningful minutes for up and coming young coach Paul Flache.
Hound Pound Duo. The Greyhounds are in an enviable situation when it comes to the goalie position. If as expected, Charlie Schenkel returns as an overage to team with the younger Landon Miller then the Soo will have a 1-2 duo of big goalies that could be the best in the entire OHL. And if the Greyhounds opt to go with Miller — who was a fourth round pick by the Detroit Red Wings at this year’s NHL draft — as their clear cut starting goalie, general manager Kyle Raftis will be in a good spot to get a couple of high draft picks and more in return for Schenkel who, regular season and playoffs included in ’23-24, posted a record of 34-15-4.
Day time in Flint. Flint has plenty of returning skill and depth in place led by a number of NHL draft picks that include goalie Nathan Day, star defenseman Tristan Bertucci and forwards Kaden Pitre, Nathan Aspinall and ex Greyhound Connor Clattenburg. Tall and lanky at 6 foot 3, 185 pounds, Day has already played two full OHL seasons for Flint. He was a workhorse starter for the Firebirds during the ’23-24 season. Regular season and playoffs included for Flint in ’23-24, Day saw close to 3,400 minutes of action between the pipes for the Firebirds, who finished in eighth place in the Western Conference before losing to no. 1 seed London in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Firebirds’ general manager Dave McParlan went on an off season shopping spree and peddled a boat load full of draft picks — many that were stockpiled from previous trades — to bring in seasoned, dependable skaters such as forward Chris Thibodeau from the Kingston Frontenacs and forward Evan Konyen and defensemen Matthew Mania and Nolan Collins from the Sudbury Wolves. Look for the Firebirds to fly as high as third place in the Western Conference in ’24-25.
State of the Spirit. Saginaw didn’t make it out of the Western Conference playoffs last spring, losing to the London Knights, who then went on to win the OHL championship. But the Spirit took advantage of its free pass into the Memorial Cup tournament as host entry and when it came down to a one game winner take all for the national championship, Saginaw scored a one goal win over London. Building the team to play host to — and ultimately win — the Memorial Cup championship did come at quite the price for Saginaw, however. General manager Dave Drinkill mortgaged the future — and sometimes over paid — by trading off a whack of future draft picks to solidify the strength of the Spirit for what would become Memorial Cup glory. Now, heading into the ’24-25 OHL season, Saginaw still has some key parts in place, including superstar defenseman Zayne Parekh and forward Michael Misa, who is a star in waiting. The Spirit also stands to return a pair of overages in big game goal scorer Calem Mangone and Memorial Cup championship goalie Andrew Oke. But there are a couple of questions that will at some point have to be answered. With Drinkill as the GM staring at an emptied draft cupboard, does he recoup some of the traded picks by dealing one or two or more of his star players? Does he do the unthinkable and trade the still young Parekh — as a defenseman, he has 62 goals, 91 assists, 153 points in 140 OHL games with Saginaw, playoffs included — who was a first round pick, ninth overall, by the Calgary Flames at this year’s NHL Draft? Does he trade Mangone and Oke, his two overage plums? This much is about 99 per cent certain: Saginaw will not repeat its 50 regular season wins and is highly unlikely to contend for the OHL championship let alone make it to the Memorial Cup, where its free ticket has expired.
