Sensational Hall leads Windsor to back-to-back Memorial Cup titles
By Will MacLaren
It took a long time – 34 seasons, to be exact – for the Windsor Spitfires to reach the summit of the CHL. Once they got there, however, they made sure their stay at the top lasted as long as possible.
With a number of impressive teams and future NHLers passing through the organization, the Spits weren’t strangers to winning but, with a lone OHL title to their credit back in 1988, the trophy case in Windsor wasn’t exactly overflowing, either. The 2008-09 campaign would usher in a change in that regard. In a monumental year that saw the club move out of the 84-year-old Windsor Arena and into the sparling new WFCU Center, the Spitfires set team records for wins (57) and points (115). Led by Taylor Hall and Ryan Ellis, Windsor blitzed through the postseason with a 16-4 record. Then came the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec, where the Spits earned both a CHL title and a reputation for doing things the hard way.
An overtime loss to the QMJHL Champion Drummondville Voltigeurs and another defeat at the hands of the host Oceanic left the Spitfires in a must-win situation against the WHL Kelowna Rockets to close out their round-robin schedule. A late second period tally by Hall and an early third period marker by Ellis earned Windsor a 2-1 win and a berth in the tie-breaker game. The Oceanic were waiting and more than ready in that contest, leading 4-2 after 40 minutes. By the end of the game, Spitfires winger Dale Mitchell had notched a third period natural hat trick, fellow forward Greg Nemisz fired home a powerplay marker and Windsor was off to the Semi-Final. Facing the Voltigeurs once again, it was the ‘Q’ title holders who would flip the script, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime. However, Adam Henrique, showing the skills that would earn him over 1000 NHL games, ended matters 4:31 into the extra frame, sending Windsor to the Memorial Cup Final.
There, they would come out flying with three first period goals, including the eventual game winner from Mitchell, earning a 4-1 triumph over Kelowna. Hall took home the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP and the Spitfires celebrated their first Memorial Cup, becoming the first team to claim the title after starting the tournament 0-2.
With numerous key returnees, the Spitfires were poised to make an appearance at the 2010 Memorial Cup in Brandon, Manitoba. Another 50-win season did nothing to quell those expectations, nor did an 8-0 start to their postseason run. The Kitchener Rangers would give them a significant scare in the OHL Semi-Finals, however, taking a 3-0 series lead on the defending champs. A game winner from Hall with less than two minutes remaining in a back-and-forth Game 4 kept the Spitfires’ season alive. It would be the start of another eight-game postseason win streak that culminated in a Final triumph over the Barrie Colts, a second consecutive OHL title and one of the most memorable – and bizarre – playoff runs in CHL history.
There would be far less drama at the 2010 Memorial Cup. After posting lopsided victories over the host Wheat Kings and WHL Champion Calgary Hitmen, an overtime triumph over the QMJHL representative Moncton Wildcats was a mere formality as the Spits had already earned a berth in the championship game. There, they left nothing to chance. Seven different Spitfires found the back of the net, including a pair from Henrique and singles from Hall, Mitchell and future NHLers Cam Fowler and Zack Kassian as Windsor made it back-to-back titles with a convincing 9-1 win of the host Wheat Kings. Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves in the clincher while Hall, days away from being selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, took home another tournament MVP award. He remains the only player in tournament history to claim the honor twice.
The Spitfires have since tacked on a third CHL title, winning the 2017 Memorial Cup as the host club. But it’s the history making squads of 2009 and 2010, to date the last club to earn the title in back-to-back seasons, that paved the way for a new tradition of winning for an franchise now steeped in half a century of tradition.
