OHL turnabout in Windsor
The Spitfires of ’24-25 have officially passed their win total of ’23-24. And it took them just 27 games to do so. Windsor’s recent 6-3 victory over the Owen Sound Attack lifted the Spitfires record this season to 19-6-2.
Last season, in finishing in 19th place among the 20 teams of the Ontario Hockey League, the Spitfires had a woeful record of 18-42-8. But it has been a different story in the Motor City this season as Windsor general manager Billy Bowler has managed to engineer an efficient turnaround that has the Spitfires among the top teams of the Western Conference.
Known for his smarts as a cerebral centre when he starred for the Spitfires from 1991 until 1995 en route to becoming their all time points leader in OHL franchise history, the now 50-year old Bowler is showing the same sort of feel for the game as the hockey boss in Windsor.
As the Spitfires sputtered through the ’23-24 OHL season, Bowler didn’t panic. He resisted the notion to add rather than subtract just to sneak into the seventh or eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Instead he went young, which gave valuable ice time and experience to players who became blossoming leaders.
And along the way, Bowler restocked a draft cupboard that had become bare from dealing the future for the present when the Spitfires finished atop the Western Conference in both ’21-22 and ’22-23.
Now, after the growing pains of ’23-24, Bowler’s vision and plans have the Spitfires back in contender status with the noticeable turnaround thus far into ’24-25.
Aside from team drafted overage (2004 birth year) forwards Ryan Abraham and Noah Morneau, the Spitfires of ’24-25 feature a younger group of 2006 birth year front liners led by captain Liam Greentree, A.J. Spellacy and high scoring import Ilya Protas — who were all National Hockey League draft picks in 2024 — not to mention 2007 birth year standout Jack Nesbitt, who is ticketed to have his name called by an NHL team in 2025.
And aside from overager Tnias Mathurin, by way of a Bowler trade with the North Bay Battalion this past summer, the Spitfire back end is young and loaded with 2006 defenders such as Anthony Cristoforo, Conor Walton and Carson Woodall while also employing 2008 birth year rookie Carter Hicks. And to solidify the group of able forwards and defenseman is 2005 birth year goalie Joey Costanzo, who struggled with a record of 10-23-3 in ’23-24 but is one of the league’s best thus far this season with a record of 16-4-1.
And as Bowler has more than done his job as the Spitfires veteran GM, so too has his hand picked head coach Greg Walters. Bowler hired Walters during the past off season and the new bench boss has certainly done a dandy job for the Spitfires thus far. Which, should come as no surprise when considering that in four previous seasons as an OHL head coach — two with the Oshawa Generals and two more with the Owen Sound Attack — Walters led his teams to winning records on each and every occasion.
To be sure, high end OHL hockey is back in Windsor in ’24-25 after a brief, one year hiatus. And the Spitfires are in a position to potentially replicate some of what the ’23-24 edition of the Soo Greyhounds did. That is, the Hounds of ’23-24 fashioned their own turnaround story when they rang up 95 points from a regular season record of 45-18-5 after missing the playoffs in ’22-23 with 55 points from a record of 20-33-15.