Spirit to meet Firebirds in September 20th home opener
Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) announced Thursday morning each member team’s home opening dates for the 2025-2026 season. The Saginaw Spirit will open play at the Dow Event Center against their in-state rival Flint Firebirds on Saturday, September 20th at 7:05pm.
As the first of eight meetings between the two teams, Saginaw’s home opener will also serve as the opening game of the tenth Coors Light I-75 Divide Cup series. The Spirit have written their name on the cup in six of the nine previous seasons it’s been handed out. A 5-3-0-0 record against Flint in 2024-2025 ensured a third consecutive series victory.
Season tickets for the 2025-2026 campaign are on sale now.
Saginaw opened last season at home with the first game on the OHL schedule– an OT-thriller against the Windsor Spitfires that followed the first championship banner raising in the team’s history. The Spirit have points in three consecutive home openers (2-0-1-0) against Windsor (5-4 OTL, 2024), the Sarnia Sting (2-1 W, 2023), and Guelph (10-6 W, 2022). This season will be just the third time the Spirit draw the Firebirds for their home opener, and the first since 2019.
The OHL’s two Michigan clubs have done battle 78 times in the regular season since the Firebirds arrived in Flint for the 2015-2016 season. Saginaw holds the historical edge in the series with a 47-25-5-1 record over their neighbors down I-75.
A full release of Saginaw’s 2025-2026 schedule will follow later this month.
