Hounds, Sting or Rangers in Round 1
Playoff bound squad looking to move up the ladder to avoid top seed in first round
Regardless of where the Windsor Spitfires end up in the standings, the club is going to draw a nationally ranked team in the first round of the playoffs.
Such is the reward for playing in the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference. The club has three games left on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to avoid a first-round clash with the No. 1-ranked Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds as the conference’s eighth seed. The Spitfires could climb as high as the sixth seed, which would pit them against the No. 5 ranked Sarnia Sting. Heading into Thursday’s game against the Owen Sound Attack at the WFCU Centre, the Spitfires are the seventh seed. Tied in points with Saginaw, but holding the tiebreaker and a game in hand, the Spitfires would face the No. 6 Kitchener Rangers if the standings go unchanged. “Who knows who we’re going to play in the first round?” Spitfires centre Tyler Angle said. “Whoever it is, we’ll be ready. I don’t think we’re worried. We just have to play our game.” The Guelph Storm’s overtime win over Kitchener on Tuesday pushed the club one-point up on Windsor with a game Friday in Kitchener and a game Saturday in Erie left to play. The Spitfires have a game in hand on the Storm.
After Thursday’s game with Owen Sound, the Spitfires will finish with a road game Saturday against Flint and a Sunday home contest against Saginaw. Saginaw, which lost 8-1 to Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday, plays its final home game on Saturday against London and then heads to Windsor on Sunday to close out the season. “We want to move up in the standings and give ourselves the best chance to be successful come playoff time,” Spitfires goalie Michael DiPietro said. “At the end of the day, it does matter to us. We play for pride. “We’re playing to ramp up for playoffs. We want to play our best hockey come playoff time. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. These are elite teams, but we’re not going to roll over for anyone.”
Since ending a seven-game losing streak, the Spitfires have adapted to a much younger lineup following the trade deadline and are a respectable 7-5-2-0 over the last 14 games. “We’re happy with where we’re at,” Spitfires head coach Trevor Letowski said. “I think we’re ahead of where we thought we would be, for sure, and especially after some deadline deals. “What we’re going through is just so valuable for these players. The 16-year-olds aren’t just in our lineup, they’re key pieces and playing a lot. It only bodes well for the future for them to get that experience playing hard minutes against good teams and older players.”
The fact the team is in the playoffs after trading veterans Logan Stanley, Aaron Luchuk, Gabriel Vilardi, Sean Day, Austin McEneny and Logan Brown in a rebuilding effort is impressive on its own.
After Sunday, the Spitfires will know where they will head for the first round of the playoffs, but the focus remains on how they play, rather than who they play. “We know we can’t be content with that,” Spitfires forward Luke Boka said of being in the playoffs. “We have to keep growing our game.”
Who knows who we’re going to play in the first round? Whoever it is, we’ll be ready. I don’t think we’re worried.