The Saginaw Spirit found themselves in action twice last week (March 11-17), splitting their games while having a couple of players reach career milestones.
Weekly Results
- March 15 at Guelph: 5-4 OTW (47-15-1-1)
- March 16 at Erie: 5-4 L (47-16-1-1)
Late Game Heroics Work Only Once
In both games the Spirit played this last week, they found themselves trailing late in the game. Against the Guelph Storm, they broke through and tied the game with five seconds remaining in regulation and eventually won in overtime. But in losing to the Erie Otters, they found their late-game comeback falling short.
As they head toward the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs and eventually the Memorial Cup, the team will need to get themselves in a better position not to have to come with late-game heroics to bail out a “slower” start to their game. While it has worked throughout the regular season, they will be playing tougher competition in both the playoffs and the Memorial Cup and will find it harder to get themselves out of a deficit. With the skillset the team has with trade deadline acquisitions Owen Beck and Zayne Parekh, among others, the team should be able to find themselves in a better position earlier in games.
Misa, Parekh, and Christopoulus Reach Milestones
While led by a strong core of players, including Michael Misa, Parekh, and Alex Christopoulos, the 2023-24 regular season has seen plenty of milestones. This trend continued over the last week as each of these three players reached either career milestones or set franchise records.
Related: Catching Up with Saginaw Spirit Defenseman Zayne Parekh
As one of a select few who has earned exceptional status from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Misa has had eyes on him from the beginning after being selected by the Spirit first overall in the 2022 OHL Draft. While Parekh has gained plenty of attention with his historic season in his draft year, Misa has had a strong season that has mainly flown under the radar. Over the weekend, he reached the 50-goal mark in his career in his 108th game. He became the fourth fastest to do so as an exceptional status player. He ranks ahead of Connor McDavid (116 games) and sits behind the Seattle Kraken’s Shane Wright, John Tavares, and Connor Bedard on the list. With his play becoming more prevalent lately (three points in the two games over the weekend) and his continued development, Misa continues to find himself being talked about as one of the top prospects for the 2025 NHL Draft.
With the 2024 Draft just a few short months away, Parekh has continued to wow fans and people around the hockey world with his play. He has set several franchise defenseman records this season and did just that once again over the weekend when he tallied his 57th assist, setting a franchise record for assists by a defenseman in a single season. Parekh is another player on the Spirit roster that has garnered attention and has seen their draft stock rise throughout the season. He finds himself supplanted in the top 10 of the NHL Central Scouting rankings currently as well.
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After acquiring Christopoulos from the Windsor Spitfires, he has fit right in with the Spirit while sliding up and down the lineup and filling different roles when asked by head coach Chris Lazary to do so. In the Spirit’s overtime win against the Storm, he earned his 100th career goal in his OHL career and continues to prove to be one of the team’s most valuable players. Whether scoring goals or being a consistent pest on the ice, Christopoulos has been everything the team had hoped he would be when they acquired him.
Spirit’s Big Guns Show Up Big Time
Along with Misa having a solid weekend, Vegas Golden Knights prospect Matyas Sapovaliv, Vancouver Canucks prospect Josh Bloom, and Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck all had big weekends for the team once again. Between the four players, they combined for a total of 14 points in two games. Sapovaliv had been quiet offensively for the most part since his return from the 2024 World Junior Championship but was able to get himself on the scoresheet in a big way in both Spirit games.
Bloom has continued to showcase a strong two-way game while being strong in both the offensive game and on the forecheck and backcheck for the Spirit since returning to the team. Meanwhile, Beck has been an offensive force for the Spirit since arriving and is another player who has been exactly what the team had hoped he would be when they traded for him before the trade deadline.
With the strong play from these four players, among others, the Spirit should be able to get themselves in a good position with the regular season wrapping up this weekend (week of March 18-March 24).
What’s on Tap for the Spirit
The Spirit wrap up the regular season with three games this week. They will face off against the Sarnia Sting in Sarnia on March 22, then come home for their final home game of the season against the Windsor Spitfires (March 23) and finish their regular season in Sault. Ste. Marie against the Greyhounds.
