Playoff Picture: Spirit, Firebirds join postseason mix
The Saginaw Spirit and Flint Firebirds are the latest CHL teams to soar into the playoff picture.
Saginaw Spirit
Locking up a spot following Sunday’s 6-3 victory over the North Bay Battalion, the Saginaw Spirit improved to 36-16-3-2 on the season, good for 77 points and a third consecutive playoff berth.
Headlined by 2020 NHL Draft hopeful Cole Perfetti – whose 102 points on the season makes him the first Spirit skater to reach the triple-digit plateau since the 2007-08 campaign – Saginaw’s roster also counts six players whose rights are held by NHL clubs, including Carolina Hurricanes first-round Ryan Suzuki, a dynamic forward who has posted 28 points in 18 games since joining the Spirit in mid-January.
In returning to the postseason, the Spirit will look to build on last year’s showing that saw the team exit following a hard-battled seven-game series in the OHL’s Western Conference Final versus the eventual J. Ross Robertson Cup champion Guelph Storm.
Flint Firebirds
For the second time in franchise history, the Flint Firebirds have punched their ticket to the postseason, earning a berth Sunday after the Soo Greyhounds fell in defeat to the Sarnia Sting.
Sitting second in the OHL’s West Division with a 37-18-1-1 showing and 76 points, the Firebirds are led by veteran talents like captain and Dallas Stars first-round pick Ty Dellandrea, who earlier this season became the franchise’s all-time leader in all major offensive categories. Joining Dellandrea up front is left-wing Evgeniy Oksentyuk, a projected 2020 NHL Draft selection who trails Dellandrea in team scoring by a single point.
The Firebirds return to the postseason for the first time since 2017, a year in which the squad pushed the Greyhounds to five games in the quarterfinals.
Playoff Picture Clinching Timeline
Feb. 2 – Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
Feb. 3 – Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Feb. 4 – Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Feb. 11 – Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Feb. 12 – Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
Feb. 13 – Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL), Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
Feb. 14 – Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Feb. 15 – Cape Breton Eagles (QMJHL), Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Feb. 16 – Peterborough Petes (OHL)
Feb. 17 – Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Feb. 19 – Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Feb. 20 – London Knights (OHL), Oshawa Generals (OHL)
Feb. 21 – Kitchener Rangers (OHL), Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL), Prince Albert Raiders (WHL
Feb. 22 – Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Feb. 23 – Saginaw Spirit (OHL), Flint Firebirds (OHL)