No rest in the OHL West
A glance ahead to the looming ’26-27 Ontario Hockey League season suggests that parity might be an operative word when zooming in on the five teams of the West Division.
With so much off season movement — players who still have OHL eligibility leaving for the National Collegiate Athletic Association ranks and a host of incoming newcomers from here and there signed up ahead of the ’26-27 campaign — there does not seem to be a presumptive pet among the five West side outfits.
To be sure, there is no snap answer if one were to be asked for a projected order of finish in ’26-27 from among the (alphabetically) Flint Firebirds, Saginaw Spirit, Sarnia Sting, Soo Greyhounds and Windsor Spitfires of the wild West.
Meanwhile, the five member faction of the West has collectively had little time for an extended summer vacation with player signings and staff shuffle, not to mention the priority selections, under 18 supplemental, and import drafts.
In particular, Sarnia, the Soo and Windsor have been the subject of major headlines.
Sting Operation. Sarnia general manager Dylan Seca orchestrated three major summer time moves, trading for young gun defenseman Cole Emerton, making since-signed, prize defender Adrian Sgro (in photo above) the first at his position to be picked at the OHL priority selections draft, and then using a first round pick to take 6 foot 3 goalie Ivan Tkach-Tkachenkoat the Canadian Hockey League import draft. Emerton, who has a 2008 birth date, was second in scoring among all rookie defensemen in the OHL in ’25-26 while playing for the Barrie Colts. Meanwhile, the 6 foot 2 Sgro was taken by Sarnia with the fourth pick in the first round from the vaunted Vaughan Kings program. And Tkach-Tkachenko is a National Hockey League draft pick of the Utah Mammoth who has already played two seasons of pro hockey in Russia. Sarnia has missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. But the Sting ownership group was reshaped about a year ago and among those now at the top is former London Knights defenseman Mark Guy. A reputable individual and former high powered player agent, the 56-year old Guy played three full OHL seasons on the Knight shift before going on to be a five year student athlete at the University of Western Ontario, graduating with a degree from the prestigious Ivey School of Business.
High End Coach To The Hounds. Sault Ste. Marie general manager Kyle Raftis scored big when he lured Grade A coach Drew Bannister (in photo at left) back to the OHL to replace the ousted John Dean. Bannister never had a losing record in three earlier OHL seasons with the Greyhounds. And come playoff time, Bannister’s Greyhounds won no less than five series in three successive trips to the post season. Without question, the Hounds have a winner as their new on ice leader in the 52-year old Bannister. His coaching record with the Hounds and beyond speaks sufficiently of his successes. Bannister previously coached the Greyhounds — who he won a Memorial Cup with as a defenseman in 1993 — from 2015 to 2018 and complied a standout record of 136-50-18. The Hounds won a round of the playoffs in each of Bannister’s first two seasons and made it all the way to the OHL finals in his third before losing to the Hamilton (now Brantford) Bulldogs. After leaving the Hounds, Bannister had several successful seasons as a head coach in the American Hockey League before making it to the NHL with St. Louis and coaching the Blues for parts of two seasons. Bannister more than he showed that he was capable of coaching in the NHL as he compiled a record of 39-31-6 with the Blues.
Spitfires Signing Spree. Windsor general manager Billy Bowler has been a busy fella, signing several players who were drafted in previous years. Leading the way is forward Michal Svrcek, who was selected 53rd overall by the Spitfires at the 2025 CHL import draft. He hails from Žilina, Slovakia. Svrcek was taken by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Other summer signings by the Spitfires include a trio of American born skaters in 2009 birth year forward Ty Bergeron (in photo at left) and 2008 birth year defenders Sam Wathier and Drake Gram. A 6 foot 2 center, Bergeron has opted to play with Windsor and the OHL after spending the ’25-26 season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks as one of the youngest players in the United States Hockey League. The Spitfires originally drafted Bergeron after a spectacular ’24-25 season with Detroit HoneyBaked in which he tallied 62 goals, 78 assists, 140 points in 90 games. As for Wathier, who was taken by Windsor in the fifth round of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft, the towering 6 foot 4 defenseman has spent the past two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program. Meanwhile, the Spitfires got Gram in the eighth round of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft from the Detroit Little Caesars program. He has since played in both the North American Hockey League and the United States Hockey League.
