Game Preview: Spitfires take on Divisional Rival Saginaw Tonight in OHL Opener
Windsor, ON – The Spitfires come into the 2024-25 season with a lot more confidence than the last thirteen games of last season. A 0-13 skid turned into a big 5-0 preseason as the Spitfires youth came up big. The Spirit on the other hand are defending Memorial Cup Champions as the hosts and will be looking to continue their recent success.
Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm tonight at the DOW Event Center. Keep in mind the Spirit will be hoisting their Memorial Cup Banner and the game may not start on time.
- TV: YourTV Windsor
- Video Stream: OHL Live on CHL TV
- Radio: AM800
- Live Stats
- Live Tweets
Head-to-Head:
The Spitfires and Spirit head into Wednesday’s game with a clean slate as it is the first game of the season. The Spirit went 3-1-0-1 in the preseason meanwhile the Spitfires were 5-0-0-0.
Wednesday’s contest will be the first of eight meetings this season between the two clubs (divisional matchup). Over the past five seasons, the Spitfires are 15-9-5-0 overall against the Spirit and 7-5-2-0 at the DOW.
During the 2023-24 season, the Spirit had the Spitfires number with Saginaw winning 7 of the 8 games.
Scouting the Spitfires:
Liam Greentree (LA Kings) led the Spitfires in points, goals, and assists last season. Greentree is still in LA at the Kings main camp and will not be available for the Spitfires tonight.
AJ Spellacy (Chicago Blackhawks) was fifth in team scoring with 38 points. He is currently away at the Blackhawks camp and is expected to play tonight vs Detroit in NHL exhibition play.
Ryan Abraham was second on the team in scoring last year with 66 points. He is expected to be in the lineup tonight.
Ilya Protas the CHL Import Draft pick and Washington Capitals third round pick is still up with the big club at their main camp and will not be available to the Spitfires this evening.
Cole Davis has returned from the LA Kings development and main camp and is expected to play tonight. He was fourth in team scoring last season.
Anthony Cristoforo has returned from the Ottawa Senators development camp. He led the Spitfires defense with 38 points last season (7 goals, 31 assists) and is expected to play tonight.
The first game of the season brings some new OHL debuts. 1st overall pick Ethan Belchetz will make his highly anticipated debut after a stellar preseason leading the league in goals. J.C Lemieux, Ethan Garden as well as defenceman Carter Hicks will also make their OHL regular season debuts!
Scouting the Spirit:
Their last time out, the Spirit defeated the London Knights in the Memorial Cup Final back in May with just 22 seconds left. Josh Bloom recorded the game winning goal and first Memorial Cup in Saginaw Spirit history.
Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames) led the Spirit from the backend with 96 points (33G, 63A). He has been at the Flames development and main camp and will be unavailable for the Spirit this evening.
Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens) was second in points with 81, he had 34 goals and 47 assists last season. He is eligible to be an overager for the Spirit but will likely end up in the NHL/AHL and unavailable for the Spirit for the time being.
Michael Misa (NHL Draft eligible) was the 1st overall pick a few seasons ago as an exceptional status player. He was third in points on the Spirit with 29 goals and 46 assists in 67 games. He will be looking forward to putting another solid season in the OHL and hearing his name called next June in the 1st round of the NHL Draft.
The Spirit have 3 NHL picks (not including Parekh) Joey Willis (NSH), Igor Chernyshov (SJS), and Ethan Hay (TB), who have been returned from NHL camps and are expected to play tonight.
Looking at the tenders, they have three currently on the roster, Andrew Oke who carried the bulk of the load with now Kingston Frontenac Nolan LaLonde. They also have Kaleb Papineau and rookie Sammy DiBlasi.
Next Up:
The Windsor Spitfires will head home before going to Sarnia for their season opener on Friday evening at 7:05pm. On Saturday, the Spitfires welcome the Kitchener Rangers for their home opener. The patio party begins at 4:30 and it will be a 7:05pm puck drop.
