SANVIDO SALUTES THE SPITFIRES
Ex-captain says former mates will be ‘all right over there’ after win over Sudbury
Overage defenceman Patrick Sanvido thinks his old team will be just fine.
A former captain of the Windsor Spitfires, the 20-year-old Sanvido was traded to the Sudbury Wolves in late December for two draft picks and made his first and final trip to the WFCU Centre as a visitor on Sunday.
For a weary Wolves team playing its third game in three days, there was little to smile about after the Spitfires tied a season high in goals in a 7-1 win over Sudbury before a crowd of 5,659 for Windsor’s third straight win.
“I think they’ll be all right over there,” said Sanvido, who was a three-year captain in Windsor. “They went through a little spell where they weren’t doing so well and were underachieving, but I think they’re starting to turn a page. They have a really good team.”
Sunday’s win did little to get the Spitfires out of the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but after back-to-back wins over the nationally ranked London Knights and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, it was an important game for the Spitfires to continue to play at a high level and not down to an opposing Wolves team fighting for a playoff spot.
“I’m almost happy to be out of the Western Conference now,” Sanvido said. “It’s unbelievable, the top five teams. It’s crazy how stacked the Western Conference is compared to the Eastern Conference.
“The Eastern Conference has some good teams, but nothing compared to the Western Conference. They’re definitely in a dogfight just to get home ice in the first round.”
But playoff hockey is different than the regular season. One win on the road in the playoffs steals home-ice advantage in a series and often it’s the hot team in the playoffs that makes the run.
“Talking to some of the guys, they believe in themselves and they know they have a team that can do some damage,” Sanvido said.
Slow out of the gate on Sunday, the Spitfires took the wind out of Sudbury with Jeremy Bracco’s goal late in the opening period to open the scoring.
Gabriel Vilardi added two goals in the second period and the Spitfires began to roll while up 3-0 after 40 minutes.
“I always said it was probably the closest group of guys I’ve been with before I left,” Sanvido said. “When you have that and the skill, it’s a good blend of attributes.
“When you face adversity, that’s the biggest thing, is you can lean on (how close a team is).”
Julius Nattinen, Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Brown and
Vilardi scored in the third period to offset one by Ryan Valentini as the Spitfires finished the regular season with a 16-2-1-1 record against the Eastern Conference.
“We have a lot of good memories and good laughs and some great friendships,” Sanvido said of his time in Windsor.
There were plenty of handshakes and hugs for Sanvido and his former teammates after the final buzzer as he left the WFCU Centre ice for the last time, but he promises to keep a watchful eye on a team he was a member of for parts of five seasons.
“He was such a big part of our room and is still part of our team group chat,” Brown said. “He’s still a big part of our team.”