Team made good use of time off after early playoff exit
Well-rested team now in position to win Memorial Cup on Sunday
A 44-day layoff between games was supposed to put an end to any hopes of a Memorial Cup title for the Windsor Spitfires.
Instead, the time helped the team rest and actually served as a catalyst for the team’s run to Sunday’s final.
“It was hard, but I wouldn’t change it,” Spitfires co-captain Jeremiah Addison said. “During that time, we all got time to take a moment and look in the mirror.
“It’s always good to take a moment to reflect on yourself and what’s going on. All of us coming together and saying, ‘I can do better here. I can be better here.’ ”
It’s no secret the club’s firstround exit to London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs was the last thing the team wanted and Spitfires head coach Rocky Thompson knew there would be plenty of non-believers of his club.
“There’s nobody writing positive things about you,” Thompson said. “It’s only how you’re not going to succeed.”
But the layoff did allow the Spitfires a few opportunities the other tournament teams weren’t getting as each faced a fourround grind to their respective league title.
It allowed the Spitfires to get healthy with the most notable person in that group being defenceman Logan Stanley, who is back playing heavy minutes after missing the second half of the season.
As well, it allowed players who were overplayed when the team was dealing with injury problems during the regular season to get rested and revitalized.
Finally, it allowed Thompson and his staff to implement a long-term plan to have the club in position for success when the puck dropped at the tournament.
“They came together as a group, first, saying we want to win,” Thompson said. “Then, they were willing to do what had to be done and they were willing to learn. What’s it going to take? Here’s what we’re going to do. Here’s our plan. It’s worked before and it’s going to work for us.”
There were laborious times and monotonous days for players, but the program also helped each player keep his teammate accountable and grow closer with one another.
“In Russia, in the summer, Russian teams train together every summer,” Spitfires defenceman Mikhail Sergachev said. “You know who’s going to cheat and who’s not cheating and is trying hard. You see all those things and our team’s not cheaters.”
Sergachev admits pushing each other on and off the ice every day was gruelling at times.
“Those 44 days were extremely hard,” Sergachev said. “I feel like we got through so many things and so much in those 44 days.
“It’s hard, you have to play hard against your teammates in scrimmages, you have to try hard and sometimes your teammates don’t like it because you’re going too hard. Sometimes you get in a little fight and we kind of opened a new side of each other.”
If one guy fell down under the challenge, a teammate was there to pick him up.
“This is a real fun team,” Stanley said. “We’ve gelled pretty tight. We battled together and pushed through together and I think whenever you have to do that, it strengthens a room. Guys are tired, worn down and you try to be positive.”
They’ve cheered each other on every check and blocked shot as much as a goal or a great setup in going unbeaten in the round robin.
“Everyone’s rallying and getting excited for each other and you can feel that on the bench,” Addison said.
“It’s just, more than anything, guys want to stick together, hold each other accountable and just keep moving forward step by step.
“We knew the talent we had and what we could do (and) now it’s just showing it on the ice what we can do as a team.”
We battled together and pushed through together and I think whenever you have to do that, it strengthens a room.