Spitfires await the Storm
A pair of first round National Hockey League draft picks are among those who the Windsor Spitfires are counting on to continue their high performance play when the Ontario Hockey League playoffs begin.
To be sure, the Spitfires are much more than Liam Greentree and Jack Nesbitt, the NHL first rounders who led the Windsor resurgence in the wake of late season injuries to fellow forwards Ethan Belchetz, Nathan Villeneuve, A.J. Spellacy and Cole Davis.
Greentree, who led the Spitfires in scoring with 38 goals, 36 assists, 74 points despite missing 16 games, saved some of his best for the latter part of the regular season. The Windsor captain scored points in 10 of his last 11 games that included 11 goals and eight assists.
So too did Nesbitt flourish when he needed to step up. Nesbitt had points in seven straight games to conclude the regular season including seven goals and six assists.
But again as previously noted, the Spitfires are way more than just their two NHL first round forwards.
Thanks to under-rated general manager Billy Bowler, it was the depth of the Windsor roster that stood out over the course of the regular season and allowed the Spitfires to win their fourth West Division title in the past five years — all with Bowler as the GM.
Even with all of the injuries, the Spitfires stepped up as a team from overage goalie Joey Costanzo through to a deep — and versatile — defense corps featuring Carson Woodall, Anthony Cristoforo, Conor Walton, Wyatt Kennedy, Jakub Fibigr and rookie Andrew Robinson to a fleet of forwards fired up by Greentree, Nesbitt and a host of others that include Ethan Garden and rookies Beksultan Makysh, Caden Harvey and John McLaughlin.
Quite clearly, not even the absence of the several top forwards could halt the Spitfires as they overtook the Flint Firebirds down the stretch to finish first in the West Division and second in the Western Conference of the OHL.
Spitfires v. Guelph Storm. The best of seven Western Conference playoff series between no. 2 seed Windsor and no. 7 seed Guelph gets underway this week with 7:05 p.m. games on Thursday and Saturday at the WFCU Centre.
Guelph’s Windsor connection. The Storm boasts a couple of Windsor area products in workhorse goalie Zachary Jovanovski and rookie forward star Jaako Wycisk (in photo at left.) Jovanovski was in net for 25 of Guelph’s 28 regular season wins. Meanwhile, Wycisk, who was Guelph’s first round pick at the 2025 OHL priority selections draft, had 17 goals, 26 assists, 43 points in 60 regular season outings. Jovanovski and Wycisk both hail from Tecumseh … Then there is Guelph head coach Cory Stillman, a former Spitfire star during his playing days who Windsor took in the second round of the 1990 OHL priority selections draft.
feature photos of Jack Nesbitt/Liam Greentree (above) and Joey Costanzo (below) by Bob Davies.
