Wild Western Conference
It is like playoff time, seven weeks early. Every outing means that much more in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League where the Kitchener Rangers, Windsor Spitfires, Flint Firebirds and Soo Greyhounds are locked in a lusty lap for the top four levels.
For what it is worth, here is my five cents worth on the four team race. (And keep in mind that five cents aren’t worth much these days.)
Kitchener. The Rangers have been on a rampage over their last 10 games that include two successive wins over Windsor. Dating back to last spring’s playoffs, the Rangers have won six straight games over the Spitfires. Excuses can be made for Windsor, which was riddled with injuries in the 2025 playoff series with Kitchener, allowing the Rangers to rebound from a 3-0 series deficit to stun the Spitfires in the second round of the playoffs. But to me, there are no excuses for the way certain Rangers over celebrate a goal when playing the Spitfires, examples being a show boat display that was up front and personal in a recent, resounding 7-2 home ice win by Kitchener over Windsor. In short, the Rangers have a team that has been well assembled by general manager Mike McKenzie. But there is no hiding the smug arrogance of Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas. To be sure, luck has been on the side of the Rangers for a good while now. And an old saying suggests that a team has to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. Kitchener has been, and is, both. But luck has a way of running out.
Windsor. It has been up and down and back and forth for the Spitfires as of late. Injuries and illness have affected the flow of a Windsor lineup that went all out at the OHL trade deadline and dealt away some of the future to bring in a pair of highly regarded National Hockey League draft picks in forward Nathan Villeneuve and defenseman Jakob Fibigr. His recent struggles against Kitchener aside, the Spitfires have no issue in net with overage goalie Joey Costanzo. But the Spitfires need their best players to be the straws that stir the drinks — the likes of forwards Liam Greentree, A.J. Spellacy, Jack Nesbitt, Ethan Belchetz and Cole Davis as well as defensemen Wyatt Kennedy and Carson Woodall and dual threat forward-defensemen Anthony Cristoforo. General manager Billy Bowler and head coach Greg Walters are known to be on the same page. There are still chapters to write before this season is done. And the story is there for the Spitfires to author a good finish.
Flint. A dark horse they remain in the eyes of some. But there is very little not to like about this team when one takes a close look at it — as I have — and takes input from trusted souls and sources. While general manager Dave McParlan and his lieutenants that include head scout Mike Oliverio made a few head scratching player moves both last season and the one before, they have been rolling dandy dice ahead of and into this ’25-26 campaign. Positioning aside, once the playoffs begin, an advantage for Flint is that it plays just as well on the road as it does at home under head coach Paul Flache. As for the on ice product, forwards Nathan Aspinall, Alex Kostov, Jimmy Lombardi, Kevin He, Jacob Battaglia and Chris Thibodeau match up well with the other contending teams. And at the back end, in front of resurgent goalie Mason Vaccari are a pair of plum syllables in Urban Podrekar and Darels Uljanskis.
Sault Ste. Marie. Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis gets a rave review for reeling in Team Canada bronze medal winning goalie Carter George and ace defenseman Lukas Fischer via the OHL trade route. Both of them add to a lineup that already had a 2025 National Hockey League first round performer in world class forward Brady Martin and a presumptive 2026 NHL Draft Top 5 pick in dandy defenseman Chase Reid. Mix them in with a good group of stalwarts such as front line skaters Marco Mignosa, Christoper Brown, Jordan Charron, Jeremy Martin, Justin Cloutier and Quinn McKenzie and Hounds head coach John Dean has plenty of buttons to push. I truly, honestly like the Greyhounds as much as I do Windsor and Flint. And I have them ahead of Kitchener. This is a team that Coach Dean needs to click with. No excuses this time around.