Expectations high in Windsor as a core nucleus looks to lead them to an OHL title
Photo credit: Natalie Shaver
Expectations are high in Windsor this year.
Why wouldn’t they be? After an 18-win season in 2023-24, the team stunned the OHL last season with a 45-win campaign that saw them claim the West Division.
They breezed past Sault Ste. Marie in five games in the first round of the OHL Playoffs. They then held a 3-0 series lead over Kitchener in Round 2.
Then it all unravelled. The Spits dropped four straight to become the 14th team in CHL history and sixth in OHL history to see a 3-0 series lead evaporate. A bright season ended in utter disappointment.
But now, that’s in the past. But those who were part of it – and a lot of them have stuck around – have some serious motivation.
Thus far, it’s been a good start to the 2025-26 season. The Spits are 3-0-0 after they outscored Sarnia, London and Sudbury 16-2 over its first three games and sit at no. 2 in the CHL Top 10 rankings presented by Delta Hotels by Marriott.
“Right now players are stepping up and some players are better than what they were last year,” said Jean-Christoph Lemieux who has four points (2G, 2A) this season.
The core of the team remains intact. While the club patiently awaits the hopeful return of NHL prospects Liam Greentree (LA), Jack Nesbitt (PHI), Ilya Protas (WSH) and AJ Spellacy (CHI), 2026 NHL Draft prospects Lemieux and Ethan Belchetz, alongside 19-year-olds Cole Davis and Carson Woodall, are all back. Between the pipes, Joey Costanzo – who won 34 games a year ago – returns for his fourth season.
The club has added too and they’ve done so with an eye on the future in a trio of 2026 NHL Draft prospects in Ethan Garden, Caden Harvey and Beksultan Makysh as well as 2025 OHL first round pick John McLaughlin who scored his first two career goals Thursday in a 4-0 win over Sudbury.
“When [those NHL guys] come back they’ll just bring more to our team and we’ll be even stronger,” Lemieux said. “Our chemistry will be even better. Those are just really good teammates and good people to be around.”
A year ago, the club’s four NHL prospects combined for 142 goals while both Greentree and Protas cruised past the 100-point plateau.
While the disappointment of last season is gone, but certainly not forgotten, two words sprung to mind for Lemieux when it comes to managing the day-to-day this season where the sole goal is an OHL championship: focus and trust.
“We’ve got to focus on the details,” he said. “Trust our coaches, trust the people on the ice.”
