Colton Incze getting chance to start in Windsor
Former IceDogs backup fills void created by Michael Di Pietro trade
Colton Incze is one of the newest Spitfires to land in Windsor.
Incze, who turns 20 in January, was into his third season in the Ontario Hockey League as a backup goaltender with the Niagara IceDogs when he was traded to the Spitfires.
In return, Niagara will get Windsor’s fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft.
Rather than keeping three goaltenders on the roster, the IceDogs opted to go forward with third-year starter Stephen Dhillon, 20, and rookie Christian Sbragalia, 17, between the pipes.
Niagara general manager Joey Burke feels the move to Windsor, where Incze will have the chance to become the starter, is what’s best for Incze’s development.
“It’s always tough to move a guy like Colton, but at the end of the day this is the best for everybody,” Burke said in a news release issued Tuesday. “It gives him the opportunity to be a starter.
“With the emergence of Christian Sbragalia, it allowed us to provide Colton this opportunity.”
In Windsor, a void in net was created earlier this week when the Spitfires dealt over-ager Michael DiPietro to the Ottawa 67’s.
The Vancouver Canucks prospect from Amhertsburg, Ont., near Windsor, backstopped his hometown team to a Memorial Cup championship in 2017 as the host team. The trade to Ottawa gives him the chance to close out his OHL career with another championship run.
With the Spitfires, Incze will form a goaltending tandem with rookie Kari Piiroinen, a 17-yearold import from Finland.
Incze had a 2-2 record, 3.29 goals-against average, .901 save percentage in five games with the IceDogs at the time of the trade. In his OHL career in Niagara, Incze, the team’s fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft, compiled a record of 11-15-5 in 41 games with a 3.78 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.