Soaring Spitfires no surprise
From this corner, the only thing surprising about the Windsor Spitfires being off to a 2-0 start at the 2017 Memorial Cup tournament is that so many people are surprised.
To be sure, the Memorial Cup hosts from Windsor are no ordinary fifth-place team that lost to the London Knights in seven games in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
For starters, Windsor racked up 90 points from a regular-season record of 41-19-8. And while those 90 points may have only been good for fifth place in the Western Conference, they are numbers that would have put the Spitfires in first place in the Eastern Conference.
Also consider that with those 90 regular-season points, Windsor became the first team in OHL history to not have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Then there is the fact that the Spitfires are playing the Memorial Cup tournament at Windsor’s WFCU Center where they enjoyed a regular-season record of 27-6-1.
And if that is not conviction enough of how talented this team Windsor is, let it be noted that the Spitfires boast 10 National Hockey League draft picks on their roster including three first-rounders and three second-rounders.
Still surprised that the Spitfires have a 2-0 record thus far at the four-team Memorial Cup?
Well, for what it may be worth, before the 2017 Memorial Cup tournament began, I picked Windsor to win.
Not to say that a 2-0 record thus far contains a guarantee of winning the Memorial Cup.
But it is to say that the Spitfires success through two games does not surprise me in the least.
Certainly agree with assessment! Perhaps avoiding all those weeks of gruelling battles, the mental drain and wars of attrition is the ticket to Memorial Cup supremacy! We will know in a week’s time if this was a great but inadvertent game plan!
Good points you make as well, Chris.
We’re seeing a healthy team who are gaining confidence by the period. Very impressive thus far. Great coaching job to have them going like this after such a long lay off. Going to be at Wed’s game should be game of tournament!
B-I-N-G-O!
You are right on Randy. Could not agree with you more on this.
The long layoff worked out for the Cobourg Cougars winning the RBC . Congrats to Brennan Roy and Brenden Locke two former Eskimos. They have done Iroquois Falls proud.
I thought you were crazy predicting a Windsor Memorial Cup but now I’m not so sure!