[{"id":79726,"date":"2026-04-12T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79726"},"modified":"2026-04-11T16:50:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T20:50:34","slug":"game-day-round-2-game-2-firebirds-at-spitfires-405-p-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/game-day-round-2-game-2-firebirds-at-spitfires-405-p-m","title":{"rendered":"GAME DAY, Round 2, Game 2, Firebirds at Spitfires – 4:05 p.m."},"content":{"rendered":"

ROUND 2, GAME 2 – Firebirds at Spitfires<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

WFCU Centre<\/p>\n

Windsor, Ontario<\/p>\n

4:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

Watch<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Listen<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Game Center<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

LAST TIME OUT: Brady Smith <\/b>scored to tie the game at two in the third period but Jack Nesbitt <\/b>struck for a power play goal and added an empty-netter as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Firebirds, 4-2 in Game 1 on Friday night at the WFCU Centre. Joey Costanzo <\/b>made 22 saves for Windsor while Mason Vaccari <\/b>had 18 saves on 21 shots faced for the Firebirds.<\/p>\n

FACING ADVERSITY: <\/b>When the Firebirds fell behind in the first period it was the first time they trailed in a game in the 2026 OHL Playoffs. Flint struck first in all four games of their first round sweep over Owen Sound and never trailed for the duration of the series. The Firebirds allowed a total of three goals in the first round series against the Attack.<\/p>\n

ANDERSON’S EXPLOITS: Darian Anderson <\/b>scored on the power play in the first period of Game 1, his fifth goal of the postseason. Anderson has scored in four of the five playoff games for the Firebirds and his five goals are tied for second on the team. He is tied for third on the Firebirds with eight points thus far this postseason.<\/p>\n

IN THE REGULAR SEASON: <\/b>Flint and Windsor met six times during the regular season and split the series, 3-3-0-0. The Firebirds were 2-1-0-0 at the WFCU Centre and 1-2-0-0 at home at the Dort Financial Center. Flint won three of the final four meetings between the two after dropping each of the first two games against Windsor.<\/p>\n

STRENGTH vs STRENGTH: <\/b>The Firebirds went 1-for-4 on the power play on Friday night and are now 14-for-25 thus far this postseason. Darian Anderson<\/b>‘s goal in the first period of Game 1 was the first power play goal the Spitfires have allowed this postseason. Windsor is now 17-for-18 on the penalty kill in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

ODDS AND ENDS: <\/b>When Flint and Windsor last met in the postseason in the 2022 Western Conference Finals, the Firebirds won Game 1, 4-3. Windsor won that series in seven games…Windsor’s Max Brocklehurst <\/b>leads the OHL Playoffs in shooting percentage, with two goals on three shots. Darian Anderson <\/b>is second (5 G, 45.5%) and Brady Smith <\/b>is tied for third (3 G, 42.9%).<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: <\/b>The series will shift back to Flint for Game 3 on Tuesday night. Puck drop at the Dort Financial Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROUND 2, GAME 2 – Firebirds at Spitfires WFCU Centre Windsor, Ontario 4:05 p.m. Watch\u00a0|\u00a0Listen\u00a0|\u00a0Game Center   LAST TIME OUT: Brady Smith scored to tie the game at two in the third period but Jack Nesbitt struck for a power play goal and added an empty-netter as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Firebirds, 4-2 in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/11165011\/4.12-1920-at-wsr-.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28957,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79724,"date":"2026-04-10T22:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T02:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79724"},"modified":"2026-04-10T22:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T02:07:02","slug":"firebirds-tie-things-late-but-fall-to-spitfires-in-game-1-4-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/firebirds-tie-things-late-but-fall-to-spitfires-in-game-1-4-2","title":{"rendered":"Firebirds Tie Things Late But Fall to Spitfires in Game 1, 4-2"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINDSOR, Ont. \u2013 <\/strong>Brady Smith scored to tie the game in the third period, but Jack Nesbitt answered with a power play goal to put the Windsor Spitfires on top for good as they beat the Flint Firebirds, 4-2, in Game 1 on Friday night at the WFCU Centre. Windsor took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with the win.<\/p>\n

HOW IT HAPPENED:<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Flint trailing, 2-1 more than halfway through the third period, the Firebirds successfully killed off a Windsor power play and pushed the puck out of their zone. Smith, fresh out of the box, carried into the attacking zone and snapped it cross ice to Kevin He. He found Urban Podrekar who hit Smith crashing the net. Smith guided a shot past Joey Costanzo, and the game was tied at two.<\/p>\n

But Windsor grabbed the lead back when the Firebirds were called for a penalty less than one minute later. Anthony Cristoforo found Nesbitt camped in the slot. He blasted a one-timer past Mason Vaccari and the Spitfires went ahead, 3-2.<\/p>\n

Flint would pull Vaccari for an extra attacker in the final minutes of the third period and threaten but it was Windsor who would strike again. Nesbitt fired a puck into the open net for his second goal of the period to cement things at 4-2.<\/p>\n

The Spitfires opened the scoring early in the first period with a power play goal from Ethan Garden. Three and a half minutes later, Andrew Robinson fired a shot from just inside the blue line that Vaccari stopped. Max Brocklehurst swept the rebound home though and it was 2-0 Spitfires.<\/p>\n

Flint responded with a power play goal late in the opening period. Alex Kostov swooped from the left circle to the point and flicked a wrist shot through traffic. Darian Anderson deflected it from his net front screen, and the puck bounced past Costanzo and in to cut the deficit to 2-1.<\/p>\n

The Firebirds now trail the Spitfires in the best-of-seven series, 1-0.<\/p>\n

POSTGAME NOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flint went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill\u2026Darian Anderson\u2019s goal was his fifth of the postseason\u2026Mason Vaccari made 18 saves on 21 shots faced…Joey Costanzo had 22 saves on 24 shots in the Windsor net.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Firebirds and Spitfires will meet for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon in Windsor. Puck drop is set for 4:05 p.m. at the WFCU Centre.<\/p>\n

Photo: Natalie Shaver, OHL Images<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINDSOR, Ont. \u2013 Brady Smith scored to tie the game in the third period, but Jack Nesbitt answered with a power play goal to put the Windsor Spitfires on top for good as they beat the Flint Firebirds, 4-2, in Game 1 on Friday night at the WFCU Centre. Windsor took a 1-0 lead in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/10220654\/4dc724c9-e48d-47ba-a55a-1dbdddd707e8IMG_5344-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28956,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79721,"date":"2026-04-10T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79721"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T20:28:10","slug":"game-day-round-2-game-1-firebirds-at-spitfires-705-p-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/game-day-round-2-game-1-firebirds-at-spitfires-705-p-m","title":{"rendered":"GAME DAY, Round 2, Game 1, Firebirds at Spitfires – 7:05 p.m."},"content":{"rendered":"

ROUND 2, GAME 1 – Firebirds at Spitfires<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

WFCU Centre<\/p>\n

Windsor, Ontario<\/p>\n

7:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

Watch<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Listen<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Game Center<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

LAST TIME OUT: Jacob Battaglia <\/b>had two goals and three assists and Nathan Aspinall <\/b>recorded two goals and two assists as the Firebirds cruised past the Owen Sound Attack, 6-1, in Game 4 on April 1 at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, completing the opening round sweep.<\/p>\n

35-3: <\/b>Flint set a new OHL record for the most lopsided playoff series victory by outscoring the Owen Sound Attack a combined 35-3 across the four games. The Firebirds broke the record that had been held by the Belleville Bulls since 1998, when they swept the Peterborough Petes and outscored them 30-5 in the four games.<\/p>\n

ALSO LOPSIDED: <\/b>The Spitfires also dominated in the opening round as they swept the Guelph Storm and finished with a bang as they beat the Storm, 11-3 in the decisive Game 4. Windsor scored the second-most goals-per-game in the first round (5.25) and allowed the second fewest (1.25).<\/p>\n

IN THE REGULAR SEASON: <\/b>Flint and Windsor met six times during the regular season and split the series, 3-3-0-0. The Firebirds were 2-1-0-0 at the WFCU Centre and 1-2-0-0 at home at the Dort Financial Center. Flint won three of the final four meetings between the two after dropping each of the first two games against Windsor.<\/p>\n

ALL OVER THE LEADERBOARD: Jacob Battaglia <\/b>leads the OHL Playoffs with 15 points, leads the league with 10 assists and is tied for third with five goals. Nathan Aspinall <\/b>is second with 13 points, second with six goals and tied for second with seven assists.<\/p>\n

PLAYOFF HISTORY: <\/b>The Firebirds and Spitfires have played once in the playoffs in the past. Windsor beat Flint in seven games in the 2022 Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n

ODDS AND ENDS: <\/b>Flint went 13-for-21 on the power play in the first round…Windsor was 14-for-14 in the penalty kill in the first round…the Firebirds swept a playoff series fir the first time in franchise history…Mason Vaccari <\/b>leads the OHL Playoffs in both GAA (0.75) and save percentage (.974). Joey Costanzo <\/b>is second in both categories with a 1.25 GAA and a .952 save percentage.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: <\/b>Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is on Sunday afternoon in Windsor. Puck drop at the WFCU Centre is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROUND 2, GAME 1 – Firebirds at Spitfires WFCU Centre Windsor, Ontario 7:05 p.m. Watch\u00a0|\u00a0Listen\u00a0|\u00a0Game Center   LAST TIME OUT: Jacob Battaglia had two goals and three assists and Nathan Aspinall recorded two goals and two assists as the Firebirds cruised past the Owen Sound Attack, 6-1, in Game 4 on April 1 at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/09162748\/4.-10-1920-away-at-wsr.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28956,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79718,"date":"2026-04-08T13:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79718"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:03:54","slug":"paul-flache-named-a-finalist-for-matt-leyden-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/paul-flache-named-a-finalist-for-matt-leyden-trophy","title":{"rendered":"Paul Flache Named a Finalist for Matt Leyden Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 <\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League announced on Wednesday that Firebirds Head Coach Paul Flache has been named a finalist for the Matt Leyden Trophy, awarded annually to the OHL Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

Flache guided the Firebirds to their most successful regular season in franchise history during the 2025-26 season. Flint finished with a record of 44-17-4-3 and set records for the most wins and points (95) in franchise history. Flache also became the winningest coach in Firebirds history and the first to surpass 100 head coaching wins, as he has been behind the bench for 103 wins.<\/p>\n

The additional finalists for the Matt Leyden Trophy are Dylan Smoskowitz of the Barrie Colts, Jussi Ahokas of the Kitchener Rangers, Dave Cameron of the Ottawa 67’s and Greg Walters of the Windsor Spitfires<\/p>\n

Flache and the Firebirds have advanced to the second round of the OHL Playoffs by virtue of a four-game sweep over the Owen Sound Attack. Flint outscored Owen Sound, 35-3 in the first round, which was the most lopsided playoff series in OHL history.<\/p>\n

The Firebirds are set to face the Windsor Spitfires in the second round, with Game 1 scheduled for Friday at 7:05 p.m. in Windsor. Flint will be at home at the Dort Financial Center for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday, April 14 and Thursday, April 16. Puck drop for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. and tickets are on sale now at the Dort Financial Center box office and online via ETIX.com.<\/p>\n

Photo: Todd Boone<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 The Ontario Hockey League announced on Wednesday that Firebirds Head Coach Paul Flache has been named a finalist for the Matt Leyden Trophy, awarded annually to the OHL Coach of the Year. Flache guided the Firebirds to their most successful regular season in franchise history during the 2025-26 season. Flint finished with a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/08123334\/DSC_1903.jpg",2100,1500,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79716,"date":"2026-04-08T10:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79716"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:40:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:40:56","slug":"previewing-the-firebirds-second-round-playoff-series-with-the-windsor-spitfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/previewing-the-firebirds-second-round-playoff-series-with-the-windsor-spitfires","title":{"rendered":"Previewing the Firebirds’ Second Round Playoff Series With the Windsor Spitfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT FIREBIRDS:<\/strong> 44-17-4-3, 95 points, 2nd West Division, 3rd Western Conference, swept Owen Sound in first round<\/span><\/p>\n

Regular season leading scorer: <\/span><\/i>Nathan Aspinall, 94 points (33 G, 61 A)<\/span><\/p>\n

Postseason leading scorer:\u00a0<\/em>Jacob Battaglia, 15 points (5 G, 10 A)<\/p>\n

Top goaltender: <\/span><\/i>Mason Vaccari, 51 GP, 36-9-3-2, 2.70 GAA, .907 SV%<\/span><\/p>\n

Postseason top goaltender:\u00a0<\/em>Mason Vaccari, 4 GP, 4-0, 0.75 GAA, .974 SV%<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GPG: <\/span><\/i>\u00a03.84 (T-4th regular season) | 8.75 (1st postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

GAPG: 2.93<\/span><\/i> (6th regular season) | 0.75 (1st postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

PP%: <\/span><\/i>23.5% (7th regular season) | 61.9% (1st postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

PK%: <\/span><\/i>78.9% (9th regular season) | 85.7% (T-4th postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

Head Coach: <\/span><\/i>Paul Flache (3rd season)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WINDSOR SPITFIRES:<\/strong> 44-15-6-3, 97 pts, 1st West Division, 2nd Western Conference, swept Guelph in first round<\/span><\/p>\n

Regular season leading scorer: <\/span><\/i>Liam Greentree, 74 points (38 G, 36 A)<\/span><\/p>\n

Postseason leading scorer:\u00a0<\/em>Liam Greentree, 7 points (4 G, 3 A) | Jakub Fibigr, 7 points (1 G, 6 A)<\/p>\n

Regular season top goaltender: <\/span><\/i>Joey Costanzo<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> 50 GP, 32-11-4-1, 2.16 GAA, .908 SV%
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Postseason top goaltender:\u00a0<\/em>Joey Costanzo, 4 GP, 4-0, 1.25 GAA, .952 SV%<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GPG: <\/span><\/i>\u00a03.88 (3rd regular season) | 5.25 (2nd postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

GAPG: <\/span><\/i>2.54 (2nd regular season<\/span>) | 1.25 (2nd postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

PP%: <\/span><\/i>28.4% (2nd regular season) | 26.7% (7th postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

PK%: <\/span><\/i>82.8% (2nd regular season) | 100% (1st postseason)<\/span><\/p>\n

Head Coach: <\/span><\/i>Greg Walters (2nd season)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SEASON SERIES:\u00a0<\/strong>Series split, 3-3<\/p>\n

Sunday, November 2 – Windsor 5, Flint 2<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>The Firebirds travelled to Windsor for the third of a stretch of three games in four days. An undermanned Flint squad fell in a 4-0 hole before scoring twice late in the second period to bring itself within two. Liam Greentree cashed in with an empty-net goal in the third period to complete his hat trick for the Spitfires and Windsor grabbed a 5-2 lead and the first game of the regular season series. Rookie goaltender Mason Courville made 25 saves on 29 shots faced in his fourth career start.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, December 28 – Windsor 4, Flint 1<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>The Firebirds returned from the OHL’s holiday break to host the Spitfires at the Dort Financial Center. Conor Walton and Ihnat Pazii traded second period goals to square things at one apiece in the second, a score that held until Ethan Belchetz gave the Spitfires a lead with less than two minutes to play in the middle period. Windsor added two more goals in the third and took a 4-1 win along with a 2-0 lead in the season series. Joey Costanzo made 28 saves on 29 shots in the Windsor net.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday, January 23 – Flint 4, Windsor 2<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>Windsor hosted the Firebirds for the first half of a home-and-home between the two teams and the Birds found themselves in a 2-1 hole more than halfway through the third period. Alex Kostov then scored to tie the game and followed that with a go-ahead, shorthanded goal with only 91 seconds remaining in regulation. Flint then got an empty-netter from Darian Anderson to seal the comeback victory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, January 24 – Windsor 4, Flint 1<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>The Firebirds assumed the one-night-only moniker of the Flint Coneydogs as they welcomed the Spitfires for the second half of the home-and-home in front of a sold out Dort Financial Center crowd. Following a scoreless first period, the Spits grabbed the game’s first goal late in the second as Jakub Fibigr lit the lamp for the first time since being acquired at the trade deadline. Darels Uljanskis answered for the Coneydogs in the third period but Windsor rattled off three unanswered to win the game, 4-1. Joey Coztanzo made 29 saves on 30 shots faced to backstop the Spitfires to the win.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, February 22 – Flint 2, Windsor 1<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>The Firebirds made their final trip to the WFCU Centre and took the lead in what would be a tight game with a Jacob Battaglia first period power play goal. Jack Nesbitt tied things for Windsor in the second period but Jimmy Lombardi but the Birds back on top with a shorthanded goal later in the same period. Mason Vaccari shut things down the rest of the way as he made seven saves in the third and 21 in the game, helping Flint take the 2-1 win.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, March 7 – Flint 4, Windsor 2<\/p>\n

GAME CENTER<\/a> | FULL RECAP<\/a><\/p>\n

Game Summary:\u00a0<\/em>In the final game of the season series, Flint fell in a 2-0 hole on home ice after Windsor scored in the final minute of the first period and in the first minute of the second period. From that point on though it would be all Birds, who struck for four unanswered en route to a 4-2 win, evening the season series at three wins apiece. Jimmy Lombardi scored twice and Mason Vaccari made 32 saves in what was the first win on home ice over the Spitfires in the 2025-26 season. Paul Flache also earned his 100th career win as Firebirds head coach in the victory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FIREBIRDS TO WATCH:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacob Battaglia:\u00a0<\/em>Battaglia was dominant in the lopsided sweep over Owen Sound in the first round. He came out of the games with six points in Game 1, the most a Firebird has ever had in a playoff game and more points than he had recorded in a single game in his OHL career, regular season or playoffs. Battaglia did not slow down at that point and he put up five more points in Game 4, helping to bookend the most lopsided playoff series in OHL history. Battaglia leads the postseason with 15 points on five goals and 10 assists, which has to feel great for the Rangers prospect who had 26 goals and 22 assists in 64 games combined between Flint and the Kingston Frontenacs during the regular season. Those numbers were down from his 40 goals and 50 assists during the 2024-25 season for Kingston. Postseason success has been the norm for Battaglia in his OHL career as he now has 11 goals and 24 assists in 20 career OHL playoff games, including three goals and 13 assists during Kingston’s 11 playoff games in 2025.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall:\u00a0<\/em>Aspinall was every bit as impressive in the first round as his fellow Rangers prospect Battaglia as his 13 points (six goals and seven assists) are the second-most in the OHL this postseason. Aspinall had a multi-point game in all four Firebirds wins over Owen Sound and his six goals lead the league. Flint’s captain was spectacular in the regular season as he finished second in the OHL with 94 points and set a new Firebirds franchise record with 61 assists. He had three assists in six games against Windsor during the regular season. Aspinall has now advanced to the second round of the OHL Playoffs for the first time in his OHL career.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alex Kostov:\u00a0<\/em>It’s easy to overlook Kostov at this point of the season. He missed a month and a half with an upper body injury and only returned for the final four games of the regular season, but had points in three of those four and used them to round himself back into form going into the postseason. Kostov put up 24 goals and 31 assists in 47 games played during the regular season and enjoyed three multi-point games in the opening round series against Owen Sound for a total of two goals and five assists in the four games. Firebirds Head Coach Paul Flache prefers not to label his lines as the first, second, third or fourth lines but Kostov has been skating on what would traditionally be called a third line, which highlights the depth of Flint’s forward group. He is a stellar penalty killer and had and 18-game point streak during the regular season, both the longest in the OHL this year and the longest in Firebirds franchise history, all reasons he could be an X factor in this series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SPITFIRES TO WATCH:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liam Greentree:\u00a0<\/em>Windsor’s captain and leading scorer, Greentree totaled 38 goals and 36 assists in 52 games during the regular season. Those 74 points were down from 119 in the 2024-25 season, when he had 49 goals and 70 assists over 64 games. Greentree’s NHL rights were traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the New York Rangers as part of a trade that sent Artemi Panarin from New York to Los Angeles in February. He paced the Spits with four goals and three assists during their opening round sweep of the Guelph Storm, highlighted by a two-goal game in Game 2 and a three-point night in the series-ending Game 4. Greentree had five goals and three assists in four games played against the Firebirds during the season series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nathan Villeneuve:\u00a0<\/em>Villeneuve was one of the big names moved at the OHL trade deadline as the former captain of the Sudbury Wolves was shipped to Windsor in early January along with overage forward Alex Pharand. Villeneuve, a Seattle Kraken prospect, finished the regular season with 21 goals and 42 assists over 51 combined games between the Spitfires and Wolves. He had five goals and 14 assists over his 23 games for Windsor. Villeneuve scored in Game 1 of the series against Guelph and then logged a fight in both Games 2 and 3, including an instigator penalty that went along with his fight in Game 2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anthony Cristoforo:\u00a0<\/em>Cristoforo has become one of the more versatile players in the OHL, logging significant time both as a defenseman and as a forward during the regular season. He thrived in the hybrid role, finishing the season with 22 goals and 40 assists in 62 games played. Cristoforo put up three assists during the opening round series and is listed as a right wing on the Spitfires official playoff roster after being listed as a defenseman for the duration of the season, and skated as the first line right wing in all four games of the sweep over the Storm. He had one goal and three assists in five games played against the Firebirds during the regular season series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo: Todd Boone<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT FIREBIRDS: 44-17-4-3, 95 points, 2nd West Division, 3rd Western Conference, swept Owen Sound in first round Regular season leading scorer: Nathan Aspinall, 94 points (33 G, 61 A) Postseason leading scorer:\u00a0Jacob Battaglia, 15 points (5 G, 10 A) Top goaltender: Mason Vaccari, 51 GP, 36-9-3-2, 2.70 GAA, .907 SV% Postseason top goaltender:\u00a0Mason Vaccari, 4…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/08100931\/DSC_6668-1.jpg",7700,4331,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79712,"date":"2026-04-06T13:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79712"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T17:15:23","slug":"firebirds-weekly-roundup-2026-ohl-playoffs-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/firebirds-weekly-roundup-2026-ohl-playoffs-week-2","title":{"rendered":"Firebirds Weekly Roundup, 2026 OHL Playoffs, Week 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT\u00a0\u2014<\/strong> The record-setting season for the Firebirds continues to gain traction, as they\u2019ve now swept a playoff series for the first time in team history. In the four-game sweep of Owen Sound, they also set a new league-best goal differential of +32. Players set several other personal and club records along the way, as Flint moves on to the Western Conference semifinals for just the second time as a franchise (2022).<\/p>\n

The Birds started the week early, visiting Owen Sound for Game 3 of their opening-round series on Monday. After allowing only one goal against in each of the first two games in Flint, Mason Vaccari earned his first career playoff shutout with a 32-save performance. The Birds sailed to a 10-0 triumph, facing two different Attack netminders for the second-straight tilt. Flint has only scored double-digit goals twice during their tenure in the OHL, and those were the second and third games of the opening round this season.<\/p>\n

Nathan Aspinall and Darian Anderson led the way for Flint, each scoring twice and adding an assist for a three-point night. Alex Kostov scored once and had a pair of helpers for three points of his own. Ryland Cunningham (1 G, 1 A), Jimmy Lombardi (1 G, 1 A), and James Paul (2 A) also logged multiple points in the tilt. In total, all but four Firebirds recorded at least one point. Owen Sound used two netminders for the second-straight outing, including the OHL debut for 17-year-old Dylan Durno. He and New Jersey Devils prospect Trenton Bennet combined for 20 saves on 30 shots.<\/p>\n

RECAP<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0GAME CENTER<\/a><\/p>\n

In Game 4 on Wednesday, Flint led 2-0 after the first period thanks to Aspinall (5) and Battaglia (4), each scoring on a power play. Owen Sound struck first in the middle frame with their only marker of the night, before the Birds went on to score four unanswered through the balance of the contest, including another tally from both Aspinall and Battaglia. With the 6-1 victory, Flint swept the playoff series for the first time in its 11-year history. Battaglia finished the night with five points (2 G, 3 A), and Aspinall ended with four (2 G, 2 A). Lombardi (1 G, 1 A) and Kostov (2 A) each finished with a pair. Vaccari made 30 saves on 31 shots between the pipes, earning his fourth win of the 2026 postseason and fifth of all time.<\/p>\n

RECAP<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0GAME CENTER<\/a><\/p>\n

Across the four games with the Bears, Flint outscored them 35-3 and outshot them 143-114. Despite the Birds dominating in most categories, Owen Sound had a major advantage in faceoff wins, 141-90. The Firebirds scored 13 goals on 21 power-play chances for a 61.9% efficiency, currently best in the league. They allowed only two goals against in 14 shorthanded situations for the fifth-best kill rate of the opening round at 85.7%.<\/p>\n

LEADERBOARD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Battaglia leads the Birds and the OHL in helpers (10) and total points (15). Both of these figures are also new milestones for the franchise in a single playoff round. Aspinall leads the team and league with six goals, also a new single-round record for Flint. He ranks second in total postseason points this year with 13. Chris Thibodeau (3 G, 5 A) and Lombardi (4 G, 4 A) share the third spot with eight points each. Mason Vaccari recorded the second-ever shutout in the playoffs, matching Nathan Day, who posted the only prior goose egg against the Kitchener Rangers in last year\u2019s postseason. His 0.75 goals-against average and .974 save percentage lead the league this season, and are both new bests for Flint through any one playoff series. Rookie Ryland Cunningham tied Coulson Pitre for the second-most points in a single playoff series by a freshman Firebird with five (2 G, 3 A). Gavin Hayes holds the top spot with seven points (4 G, 3 A) from the second round of the 2022 Playoffs versus the Soo.<\/p>\n

COMING UP<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Windsor Spitfires have home-ice advantage for their second-round matchup with the Firebirds, after finishing first in the West Division and second in the Western Conference. Game 1 kicks off the new series on Friday at the WFCU Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. Game 2 will also be played in Windsor on Sunday, with puck drop set for 4:05 p.m. Fans can follow all the action for both games on 103.1 FM throughout Flint and mid-Michigan, or online via the\u00a0US 103.1 app<\/a>. The Dort Financial Center will host Games 3 and 4 the following week on Tuesday and Thursday. Flint\u2019s all-time record against the Spits in the postseason is 3-4-0-0 after falling out of the Playoffs to them in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in 2022.<\/p>\n

Story: Brandon Mills<\/p>\n

Photo: Todd Boone<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT\u00a0\u2014 The record-setting season for the Firebirds continues to gain traction, as they\u2019ve now swept a playoff series for the first time in team history. In the four-game sweep of Owen Sound, they also set a new league-best goal differential of +32. Players set several other personal and club records along the way, as Flint…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/06131500\/DSC_1342.jpg",2100,1500,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79709,"date":"2026-04-03T17:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T21:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79709"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:13:12","slug":"firebirds-announce-second-round-playoff-schedule-set-to-face-windsor-spitfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/firebirds-announce-second-round-playoff-schedule-set-to-face-windsor-spitfires","title":{"rendered":"Firebirds Announce Second Round Playoff Schedule, Set to Face Windsor Spitfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 <\/strong>The Flint Firebirds announced on Friday the schedule for the team\u2019s second round playoff matchup against the Windsor Spitfires. The third-seeded Firebirds will take on the number two seed Spitfires with Game 1 set to take place in Windsor on Friday, April 10. Flint\u2019s first home game will be Game 3 of the series, scheduled for Tuesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at the Dort Financial Center.<\/p>\n

The full playoff schedule is as follows, with home games in bold:<\/p>\n

GAME 1: Friday, April 10 \u2013 Flint at Windsor, 7:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

GAME 2: Sunday, April 12 \u2013 Flint at Windsor, 4:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

GAME 3: Tuesday, April 14 \u2013 Windsor at Flint, 7 p.m. (TICKETS<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

GAME 4: Thursday, April 16 \u2013 Windsor at Flint, 7 p.m. (TICKETS<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

GAME 5: Saturday, April 18 \u2013 Flint at Windsor, 7:05 p.m. *<\/p>\n

GAME 6: Sunday, April 19 \u2013 Windsor at Flint, 4:00 p.m. * (TICKETS<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

GAME 7: Tuesday, April 21 \u2013 Flint at Windsor, 7:05 p.m.*<\/p>\n

* – if necessary<\/p>\n

The Firebirds set a record for the most lopsided playoff series in OHL history in the first round as they swept the Owen Sound Attack and outscored them a combined 35-3 over the four games. Windsor also advanced with a sweep as the Spitfires beat the Guelph Storm in four. Tickets for the series are on sale now online at ETIX.com and will be available in person at the Dort Financial Center box office starting on Tuesday at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 The Flint Firebirds announced on Friday the schedule for the team\u2019s second round playoff matchup against the Windsor Spitfires. The third-seeded Firebirds will take on the number two seed Spitfires with Game 1 set to take place in Windsor on Friday, April 10. Flint\u2019s first home game will be Game 3 of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/03153439\/2026_round_2_playoffs_1920.png",1920,1350,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79704,"date":"2026-04-03T10:15:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79704"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:36:16","slug":"firebirds-to-hold-paint-the-ice-sponsored-by-kroger-on-wednesday-april-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/firebirds-to-hold-paint-the-ice-sponsored-by-kroger-on-wednesday-april-8","title":{"rendered":"Firebirds to Hold Paint the Ice, Sponsored by Kroger, on Wednesday, April 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 <\/strong>The Flint Firebirds will be holding the annual Paint the Ice event on Wednesday, April 8 at the Dort Financial Center. The event, which is sponsored by Kroger and benefits the Flint Firebirds Foundation, will allow fans to paint well wishes on the Dort Financial Center ice in advance of the second round of the OHL Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaint the Ice has become a special tradition for both our organization and our fans.\u201d said Firebirds President Jeremy Torrey. \u201cWhat began as a fun way for fans to celebrate and reflect on an outstanding season following the Firebirds’ 2022 playoff run has grown into something even more meaningful. Through our new partnership with Kroger, it has also become a powerful way to help fight hunger in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admission is free for Firebirds Season Members and just a $10 donation to the Firebirds Foundation is required for non-season ticket members who wish to attend. Proceeds will support the annual Firebirds Fight Hunger campaign during the 2026-27 season, as the Firebirds and Kroger continue a partnership aimed at feeding those in need in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaint the Ice gives the community a chance to come together, have fun, and leave a lasting mark on the ice \u2014 all while supporting an important cause off the ice,\u201d said Cam Barrett, Head of Communications and Public Affairs for the Kroger Michigan Division. \u201cAt Kroger, reducing food insecurity is a top priority, and we\u2019re proud to join forces with the Flint Firebirds to help meet a real need in the community. It\u2019s a powerful reminder that when a community rallies together, we can help put more food on the table for our neighbors who need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Season Members will get priority admission beginning at 5 p.m. while general fans can enter at 6:30 pm. The event will run until 8 p.m. Both paint and paint brushes will be provided to all attendees wishing to paint a message on the ice.<\/p>\n

The Firebirds have advanced to the second round of the OHL Playoffs by virtue of a four-game sweep over the Owen Sound Attack. Flint beat Owen Sound by a combined score of 35-3, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in a playoff series in OHL history. The Firebirds are the first team to advance in the postseason and their second round opponent and series schedule is still to be determined.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 The Flint Firebirds will be holding the annual Paint the Ice event on Wednesday, April 8 at the Dort Financial Center. The event, which is sponsored by Kroger and benefits the Flint Firebirds Foundation, will allow fans to paint well wishes on the Dort Financial Center ice in advance of the second round…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/02163521\/Paint-the-Ice-2--1.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79691,"date":"2026-04-02T13:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79691"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:10:23","slug":"jimmy-lombardi-named-finalist-for-the-william-hanley-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/jimmy-lombardi-named-finalist-for-the-william-hanley-trophy","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Lombardi Named Finalist for the William Hanley Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 <\/strong>The Ontario Hockey League announced on Thursday that Firebirds forward Jimmy Lombardi has been named a finalist for the William Hanley Trophy, presented annually to the league\u2019s most sportsmanlike player.<\/p>\n

Lombardi enjoyed a breakout season in 2025-26, his third in the OHL and third with the Firebirds. He put up 36 goals and 36 assists in 65 games and set a Firebirds franchise record with eight game-winning goals. Lombardi was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft and was signed to an NHL entry-level contract by the Kings in December.<\/p>\n

The OHL will announce the winner of the William Hanley Trophy on Thursday, April 9. The additional finalists are Cole Beaudoin of the Barrie Colts, Kieren Dervin of the Kingston Frontenacs, Adam Novotny of the Peterborough Petes and Jack Van Volsen of the Sarnia Sting.<\/p>\n

Lombardi and the Firebirds have advanced to the second round of the OHL Playoffs by virtue of a four-game sweep over the Owen Sound Attack. The Firebirds are the first team to advance in the postseason and their second round opponent and series schedule is still to be determined.<\/p>\n

Photo: Todd Boone<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLINT \u2013 The Ontario Hockey League announced on Thursday that Firebirds forward Jimmy Lombardi has been named a finalist for the William Hanley Trophy, presented annually to the league\u2019s most sportsmanlike player. Lombardi enjoyed a breakout season in 2025-26, his third in the OHL and third with the Firebirds. He put up 36 goals and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/02130950\/DSC_1864.jpg",2100,1500,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":79685,"date":"2026-04-01T22:33:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/?p=79685"},"modified":"2026-04-01T23:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:50:29","slug":"birds-cruise-in-game-4-6-1-sweep-into-second-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/article\/birds-cruise-in-game-4-6-1-sweep-into-second-round","title":{"rendered":"Birds Cruise in Game 4, 6-1, Sweep Into Second Round"},"content":{"rendered":"

OWEN SOUND, Ont. \u2013 <\/strong>The Flint Firebirds scored five power play goals and rolled past the Owen Sound Attack, 6-1, in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The Firebirds completed the sweep of the Attack and set a new OHL record for the largest goal differential in a playoff series as they outscored Owen Sound a combined 35-3 in the series.<\/p>\n

HOW IT HAPPENED:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flint struck first in the first period with a power play goal. Nathan Aspinall carried the puck into the attacking zone, loaded up and zipped a shot past Matthew Koprowski to make it 1-0. Later, with Flint on another power play, Alex Kostov fed Jacob Battaglia in front of the net. Battaglia deked to his backhand and slid the puck home to give the Birds a 2-0 advantage.<\/p>\n

The Attack responded with a power play goal of their own in the second. Nicholas Sykora teed up Pierce Mbuyi for a one-timer from the top of the right circle that got through Mason Vaccari to make the score 2-1.<\/p>\n

But the Firebirds quickly responded with another power play goal. Aspinall\u2019s one-timer was blocked but Battaglia gathered the puck and hit Jimmy Lombardi at the back side. He guided the puck into the net to extend the lead back to two. Then, just over a minute later, Chris Thibodeau won a draw to Battaglia who put a shot on net. Koprowski made the save but the rebound bounce to Ihnat Pazii who slammed it home and put the Birds up, 4-1.<\/p>\n

Flint kept it rolling in the third period as Battaglia sent a wrist shot through Koprowski\u2019s legs on another power play. Aspinall later darted a wrist shot through traffic and past Koprowski\u2019s glove for the fifth power play goal of the game, which pushed the score to 6-1.<\/p>\n

The Firebirds completed their first postseason sweep in franchise history and became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2026 OHL Playoffs.<\/p>\n

POSTGAME NOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Firebirds outscored the Attack, 35-3 in the series, which is now the most lopsided series in OHL history. It surpassed the 1998 series that saw the Belleville Bulls sweep the Peterborough Petes and outscore them 30-5\u2026Jacob Battaglia finished with five points on two goals and three assists. He leads the OHL Playoffs with 15 points\u2026Nathan Aspinall had two goals and two assists and is second in the league with 13 points.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Firebirds will await their opponent and schedule for the second round. Once set, the matchup will be announced via flintfirebirds.com and the team\u2019s social media channels.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Owen Sound Attack<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OWEN SOUND, Ont. \u2013 The Flint Firebirds scored five power play goals and rolled past the Owen Sound Attack, 6-1, in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The Firebirds completed the sweep of the Attack and set a new OHL record for the largest goal differential in a playoff…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-79685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-215","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/04\/01233507\/ba3b4561-571a-4c72-9a5b-0427cc9ec97eBoyd-3.jpg",1620,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":28910,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/ohl-firebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]