The Windsor Spitfires continue to build their confidence. Following a dominant win over the Kitchener Rangers in their 2024-25 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) home opener, the club took two more points at home on Thursday, this time over a division rival.
Coming into the season, expectations for the club were being kept modest. They finished last in the Western Conference last season so, despite the offseason drafting and trades from general manager Bill Bowler, there was no need to shoot for the moon right away. However, following three points in two road games to start the season, a 12-2 home opener win over the Rangers on Sat., Sept. 28 had the team and its fans buzzing. Could they be turning a corner? On Thursday, the club welcomed their West Division rivals, the Soo Greyhounds, to the WFCU Centre. Unfortunately for the visitors, the story didn’t change. The Spitfires scored early, scored often, and came away with an impressive 5-0 win. Here are three takeaways from a busy game.
Costanzo Finding His Form
A major piece to the Spitfires’ puzzle is goaltending. Last season, veteran Joey Costanzo struggled to find consistency. After a 3.03 goals-against average (GAA) and .901 save percentage (SV%) in 2022-23, he fell to a 5.09 GAA and .855 SV% last season. It was a combination of an inexperienced defence and him having too many off nights.
However, something has changed this season. Coming into Thursday, he had an impressive 2.98 GAA and .913 SV% in two games. It’s clearly a small sample size but it’s also hard to ignore two goals allowed on 36 shots in the home opener. That was the Costanzo the Spitfires needed and it continued against the Greyhounds.
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He made 13 first-period saves as his team took a 3-0 lead. While they added one more in the second and a final goal in the third, he made 14 saves the rest of the way for a 27-save shutout. It earned him the second star of the night. After the game, head coach Greg Walters said that the team didn’t have a great start because they gave up chances and lost their structure a bit but Costanzo kept them in it. The question is – what’s changed for Costanzo from last season? The 19-year-old said it’s been rebound control and team swagger.
“(Rebounds are) something I worked on this summer,” Costanzo said. “It’s a key part of goaltending; if you do that, you make the game so much easier … The overall team swagger has been so great, too. Our team energy has been there. It’s another season together with this group and we are so much closer than we were last season.”
This was the Costanzo that the club has needed since 2022-23. If he can keep it up, that’s a huge bonus for the team.
Spellacy’s Return Fuels Club
The club saw two big NHL returns on Thursday as forward Ilya Protas returned from the Washington Capitals and forward A.J. Spellacy came back from the Chicago Blackhawks. While Protas had a slick first-period goal, Spellacy’s energy set the table for the team.
The 6-foot-3, 204-pounder was the Blackhawks’ third-round pick in June. He impressed them enough to stick around for preseason action before being reassigned to the Spitfires prior to Thursday’s game. There was no adjustment needed as Spellacy scored the first goal of the game, assisted on the third goal, and then completed the Gordie Howe hat-trick in the third period with an altercation.
A.J. Spellacy had a two-point night on Thursday while Joey Costanzo had a 27-save shutout as the Windsor #Spitfires take a 5-0 win over the Soo Greyhounds at the WFCU Centre. #OHL pic.twitter.com/TKTOebhNR8
— Dave Jewell (@DaveJewellOHL) October 4, 2024
Spellacy returns to the Spitfires with next-level knowledge. He said one thing that he’s looking forward to is teaching the younger guys what he knows.
“There are a lot of veterans and coaches, staff that have helped me the past three weeks,” he said. “Just being out there with those guys, I learned a ton and I can bring that back here and teach the young guys here. Hopefully, just change the culture here. I think my game has really taken off the past couple of weeks, just learning a lot, and taking that information and translating it to the ice … (I learned) how everyone is so dialed in and everyone goes to work with a great mentality. Everyone’s a hard worker. If your team wants to win, you have to have everyone doing that.”
Walters was thrilled to have Spellacy back. He said the kid is just fun to coach.
“He’s a pro,” Walters said “… It’s his habits. He’s so good away from the puck, skates so well, cares about defence, team-first guy. You see his hits and he’s fighting tonight, scored a huge goal for us. He’s a treat to coach.”
Spitfires’ Depth Is Vital
Another weapon for the Spitfires has been their depth. Last season, when they had injuries and/or suspensions, they were forced to call up borderline OHL talent to fill their fourth line. Some nights, those players even played on the third line and they ran with 10 forwards. It wasn’t the best situation for anyone.
This season has been different. In the offseason, Bowler went out and made sure to add plenty of OHL-ready young talent so that, should something happen, they weren’t in the same position. It’s paid off in spades so far. With forward Jean-Christoph Lemieux out Thursday due to a two-game suspension, they inserted Spellacy and Protas, giving them 12 forwards and four lines to roll out.
The result was eight players having points from Spellacy to captain Liam Greentree and rookies Ethan Garden and Nathan Gaymes. From the first line to the fourth, everyone chipped in. On Saturday, forward Ethan Belchetz (first overall pick, 2024 OHL Draft) had a six-point night. On Thursday, he went pointless despite many chances, but they still picked him up. Spellacy called this group “special” because of their depth.
“You go back to my first season (2022-23), we had a lot of depth and we were the one seed,” he said. “Last season was a lot different. This season, (director of scouting) Frank (Evola) and Bill have done a great job drafting some young players. We have a lot of talent here. It goes back to the depth; if one line isn’t going, we have three others that can score.”
When you can put out any line and expect production, that’s a great thing for any club. The Spitfires will need that confidence and depth this weekend as they head to Brantford to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday.
