It’s official – the Windsor Spitfires are preparing for a long off-season. Despite their best efforts, a 5-2 loss to the Soo Greyhounds on Saturday has officially eliminated them from playoff contention in the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Western Conference.
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The Spitfires came into the season having won back-to-back regular season conference titles. However, with heavy roster turnover and a new coach, a rebuild seemed likely with a target of home ice in the first round. It didn’t go anything like they anticipated, though. With just four wins in their first 21 games, they were swimming upstream from opening night. While coaching changes and multiple trades from general manager Bill Bowler helped the organization, it simply wasn’t enough. Now, the club has to figure out their next steps as they play out the remainder of the season.
Greyhounds End Spitfires’ Contention
The club came into their final nine games as the tenth seed, 15 points back of the eighth-seeded Flint Firebirds. On Thursday, they hit the road for their Northern swing to face the North Bay Battalion (Thursday), Sudbury Wolves (Friday), and Soo Greyhounds (Saturday).
Unfortunately, it started rough on Thursday night with a 7-2 loss to the Battalion, and that continued on Friday with a 9-8 loss to Quentin Musty and the Wolves. Fortunately, thanks to overtime, the Spitfires earned a single point and kept their playoff hopes alive by a thread. It set up the must-win situation on Saturday against the Greyhounds.
Saturday became a frustrating battle. While Spitfires’ captain Liam Greentree opened the scoring, his team simply didn’t have enough left in the tank to keep pace with the Greyhounds, who are in contention for the conference title. The home side hit them hard, hit them often, out-shot the visitors 47-19 overall, and grabbed a 5-2 win. Spitfires’ goaltender Joey Costanzo stood on his head with an impressive 42 saves, despite the loss.
Unfortunately, the loss also came with two concerns. Spitfires’ defenceman Carson Woodall was given a major and game misconduct for a head check late in the game and the league will review the hit. Also, defenceman Anthony Cristoforo missed the third period due to a “medical emergency.” He was evaluated by arena medical staff, released to the team, and the club told the Windsor Star that it was “dehydration.” (from ‘Once race ends as another begins for Spitfires after elimination from playoff contention, Windsor Star, 3/10/24)
Related: OHL: Windsor Spitfires Name Liam Greentree as New Captain
With the loss, the Spitfires were officially eliminated from playoff contention in the conference. It’s a disappointing situation for a team that had higher hopes to start the season.
Spitfires Use Final Games to Prepare For Next Season
With the club officially eliminated, what happens next? They’ve still got six games remaining, including three at home, and there is plenty to get done.
First, it’s a chance for interim head coach Casey Torres to prepare the players for next season. After their last home game, on Sun., March 3 against the Mississauga Steelheads, he said they can work on good habits and see who’s ready for the future.
“… There are still … games left to work on habits and setting a standard and trying to figure out who wants to be here and who is going to take on a contributing role,” Torres said. “You just have to focus on the elements of their game, individually, that could help them get better. Then use these … games as experience in those critical situations and find out who can play and who’s paddling upstream.”
The Spitfires will also be preparing for the 2024 OHL Draft, which takes place on Fri., April 12 (rounds one through three) and Sat., April 13 (rounds four through 15). Since they’re missing the playoffs, Bowler and his staff will have one of the top four picks in the draft. Those picks are determined by a lottery to be held later in March. The last-place club has a 40 percent chance at the top pick, while the second-last has a 30 percent chance, and so on. They currently sit second-last. The last time Bowler was picked in the top four was in 2021 when he selected forward Ethan Miedema fourth overall. The league held an overall draft lottery that season due to COVID-19 (no 2020-21 season).
Missing the playoffs is new territory for the Spitfires. They haven’t been in this spot since 2014-15. However, now it’s a chance to test out ideas and prepare for the future.
