GAME DAY: Game 1, Firebirds at Knights – 7 p.m.
GAME 1 – Firebirds at Knights
Budweiser Gardens
London, Ontario
7 p.m.
Watch | Listen | Game Center
IT BEGINS: The Firebirds kick off their 10th Anniversary season on Friday in London, celebrating 10 years of OHL hockey in Flint. The Birds will wear a special 10th Anniversary logo patch on their jerseys and will celebrate the franchise’s history throughout the 2024-25 season.
MAKING MOVES: The Firebirds executed four trades during the 2024 offseason, moves that brought in Chris Thibodeau, Artem Frolov, Urban Podrekar, Matthew Mania, Nolan Collins, Evan Konyen and Josh Colosimo. There are nine players on the Firebirds roster who were on the 2023-24 opening night roster and 11 who finished the 2023-24 season on Flint’s roster.
WE MEET AGAIN: Flint’s season ended against London in the 2024 OHL Playoffs as the Knights beat the Firebirds in the first round, 4-0. London went on to win the Robertson Cup as OHL champions and later fell to the Saginaw Spirit in the Memorial Cup final. The Firebirds went 1-3-0-0 against London in the 2023-24 regular season, including a 1-1-0-0 mark at Budweiser Gardens
NHL TALENT: Three Firebirds were selected at the 2024 NHL Draft. Nathan Aspinall was taken in the fifth round by the New York Rangers, Connor Clattenburg went to the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round and Kaden Pitre was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round. Flint opens the season with six NHL draft picks on its roster; the three ‘24 selections are joined by Matthew Mania (Los Angeles Kings, 5th round, ‘23), Nathan Day (Edmonton, 6th round, ‘23) and Nolan Collins (Pittsburgh Penguins, 6th round, ‘22). Seven Firebirds attended NHL camps; Aspinall, Clattenburg, Pitre, Mania and Day, attended the camps of the team that drafted them, Collins went to Columbus Blue Jackets camp as a free agent and Blake Smith attended Detroit Red Wings camp as a free agent.
ODDS AND ENDS: Flint has six players on its opening night roster whose next game will be their first in the OHL. Cole Zurawski, Xavier Tessier, Ryland Cunningham, Karlis Flugins, Josh Colosimo and Christian Colosimo are each set to make their OHL debuts…this is the first time in franchise history the Firebirds have opened the season against London.
UP NEXT: Flint and London will meet again on Saturday night in Flint, completing the season-opening home-and-home set. Puck drop for the Firebirds 2024 home opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center.
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