Wins are important in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). They’re even better when you get help against a big rival from an unexpected source, as the Windsor Spitfires found out on Thursday night.
Coming into the 2025-26 OHL season, the Spitfires knew they had a chance to repeat as the West Division champions and maybe even grab the first seed in the Western Conference. However, despite living near the top for much of the season, they’ve found two other teams – the Soo Greyhounds and Flint Firebirds – aren’t going away without a serious fight. Entering Thursday night’s game against the Greyhounds, the Firebirds were two points up for tops in the division while the Greyhounds were two points back. In other words, this was a crucial final game before the Christmas break. Here are three takeaways from the WFCU Centre.
Defenceman Cristoforo Fits at Forward
The Spitfires have never complained about players being out of the lineup. It’s the “next man up” philosophy. With captain forward Liam Greentree (Los Angeles Kings) and forward A.J. Spellacy (Chicago Blackhawks) gone to Team Canada and Team USA, respectively, for the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship, Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters tried something bold. He put offensive defenceman Anthony Cristoforo on the top line with forwards Ethan Belchetz and Jack Nesbitt (Philadelphia Flyers). It was worth a shot, right?
It worked like a charm. In the first period, Cristoforo assisted on Nesbitt’s opening goal. After the Greyhounds tied it, he scored back-to-back tallies around the net in just over two minutes for a 4-1 lead. The visitors added another one to make it interesting before the veteran completed his first career hat-trick into the empty cage. Cole Davis added another empty-netter for a 6-2 win.
Cristoforo loves offensive creativity. Over two seasons, he’s often bugged Walters about playing up front, and they’ve tried him on the power play. After the game, he said the coach gave in this week and offered him a bigger opportunity.
“We’ve tried it before for a couple of shifts, but Walters came up to me on Tuesday and we had a conversation about it,” Cristoforo said. “He asked me if I wanted to do it and I said, sure, I’ll try it. It’s one game before break, let’s see what happens. In practice, with Belchetz and Nesbitt, we clicked and we’re pretty excited.”
Defenceman-turned-forward Anthony Cristoforo had a hat-trick as the Windsor #Spitfires took a 6-2 win over the Soo #Greyhounds at the WFCU Centre on Thursday night. #OHL pic.twitter.com/Pb6yz6uQAy
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) December 19, 2025
Walters said with Spellacy and Greentree out, this was an opportunity to create more offence, and now they’ll play it all by ear.
“Those are just coachable moments,” he said, laughing. “It just worked out. We’re down Greentree and Spellacy, I talked to (Cristoforo) about it just because we’re so young up front so trying to create some offence … For two seasons now, he’s been saying ‘if you ever need anyone’, so I went to him with the guys out. We’ll see what happens now. It’ll be tough to take him away.”
Will this be a long-term thing? Neither Walters nor Cristoforo knew the answer. However, the youngster said if he could play both positions, “I’d love to do that.”
Costanzo Sets Club Record
While Cristoforo’s lineup movement and hat-trick were important in the win, nobody was going to forget that a major milestone was hit. With the win, Spitfires’ goaltender Joey Costanzo earned his 87th win with the Spitfires, breaking their all-time franchise record previously set by Michael DiPietro (2015-18).
Related: Revisiting OHL’s Spitfires/67’s 2018 Michael DiPietro Trade
After going 26-6-0-2 in 2022-23, he fell to just 10 wins in 39 games in a rebuilding 2023-24. However, he rebounded nicely last season with 34 wins and continues that impressive play this season with a stellar 17-4-2-0 record through 24 games.
When the final buzzer sounded last night, his teammates mobbed him behind his goal, celebrating the Toronto native. This is his final season, so it’s a big accomplishment. After the game, a humble Costanzo immediately pointed to everyone else for this record.
“I said in the room earlier, a win is a team stat, so I want to give a piece of that to all 20 guys in the room, staff included,” he said. “Thank the Lord for some good health over the years. There are so many people behind the scenes that made this possible. It’s not just me.”
Thursday night's win over the Soo #Greyhound gave Windsor #Spitfires' goaltender Joey Costanzo 87 career OHL wins, setting a new club record previously set by Michael DiPietro. #OHL pic.twitter.com/M78uxo7WJ2
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) December 19, 2025
Was he nervous? Did he do anything different? No. He said goaltending coach Stan Matwijiw told him to prepare like every game is your biggest, so it’s going to feel normal when it comes to that big game. Go for the win just like the previous 86.
Walters was all smiles when asked about Costanzo. He gave the youngster praise and said they wouldn’t be where they are without him.
“He was awesome,” Walters said. “He made some huge saves and our guys battled for him. Just so proud of that kid. What he’s gone through, he’s the best goalie in the league right now, numbers-wise. We definitely wouldn’t be here without him. Hats off to Joey.”
Costanzo has seen the league’s basement and the league’s peak. It’s the full junior hockey experience. Now that he’s gone through both with the Spitfires, including Greentree, Spellacy, and Cristoforo, who have been here his entire time, it’s a matter of how far they can take this.
Greyhounds Not Going Away
While Cristoforo’s unique situation and Costanzo’s record took the spotlight on Thursday, the Greyhounds weren’t a team you could just push aside. For much of the game, they gave the Spitfires everything they had.
The Greyhounds came into the game just two points back of the Spitfires and just acquired veteran defenceman Lukas Fischer (St. Louis Blues) from the Sarnia Sting, along with forward Colin Fitzgerald from the Peterborough Petes. They had won six straight, seven-of-eight, and scored 10 goals in their previous two games. This is a team that will outwork you unless you give a full effort from start to finish.
From the onset, they gave the Spitfires a fight. They forechecked, made life hard on Costanzo in the first period, and didn’t allow the Spitfires to get much in the slot. It was as solid a road start as you’re going to find.
It took the Spitfires getting creative around goaltender Landon Miller for anything to get by him. Cristoforo scored on a wrap-around and a rebound that the Greyhounds’ defence couldn’t get to in either case. Going into the third period, the home side was only up 2-1 and, with the way the visitors were playing, you couldn’t count them out.
Fortunately, Walters’ club found its offence in the third, and he credited his defence with a strong overall performance when they needed it. He said that, despite the Greyhounds having key veterans out of the lineup, they’re still a solid club.
“That’s a real good team over there,” he said. “(They came in having) won six in a row.”
“They had no (captain Brady) Martin, (Chase) Reid, and no (Travis) Hayes. They’re a good team. They scored eight last night without those guys. (I’m) really proud of our defensive game.”
The trade deadline is on Sat., Jan. 10, and there’s little doubt the Greyhounds are going to add more talent, just like the Spitfires will. That’s a club that works hard, doesn’t quit, and will have the talent to press for a division title. They showed what they could do on Thursday and, if it’s a sign of things to come, the second half is going to be a battle worth watching.
