Sleeper of the Spitfires?
Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League have two defensemen rated on the current rankings ahead of the 2024 National Hockey League draft. But more than one individual who is connected to an NHL team has relayed to Hockey News North that they are of the notion that it is an un-rated Spitfire who is the best pro prospect of any Windsor defenseman.
…[read more]Frantic race for eighth place
Sarnia Sting, Flint Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires are in a three way race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. And with the regular season in the final third of the schedule, the three teams are gearing up for a frantic push at a playoff position.
…[read more]Fellinger a find for Firebirds
Of the 11 players from the Great North Under 18 Hockey League who were picked at the 2023 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft, Rylan Fellinger is an anomaly. Not only is the big defenseman the only one of the 11 to become a full time performer in the OHL this season as a 2007 birth year player but he made the Flint Firebirds as a 13th round draft pick.
…[read more]OHL drafted goalies in Timmins
For the second successive season a 16-year old goalie who was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League is developing with the Timmins Rock of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Last season it was Jacob Brown, now with the Flint Firebirds of the OHL. This season it is Erie Otters draft pick Dryden Riley.
…[read more]OHL shutout for NOJHL grad
A season of development with the Blind River Beavers of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has led to 2006 birth year goalie Charlie Burns taking advantage of a good opportunity to tend twine for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Spits down two forwards
From 13 forwards to 11. Chasing the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League, the Windsor Spitfires will be minus two veteran forwards for the balance of the season.
…[read more]OHL ice chips and dips
Here and there in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League with about one third of the 2023-2024 regular season schedule still on the slate:
…[read more]Spitfires are young on the D
Rebuilding as a team after back to back Western Conference crowns, the Windsor Spitfires have one of the youngest defensive corps in the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Glory days of Gavin Hayes
Soo Greyhounds head coach John Dean is of the notion that prize Ontario Hockey League trade deadline acquisition Gavin Hayes is even better than what was expected.
…[read more]Spitfires d-man is a big deal
WINDSOR — It has been said — as it has been written — that any scout of ordinary repute can identify and rate a blue chip hockey player of plain to see, pronounced skill. Then there are the acute, astute scouts and talent judgers who can zero in on a player who is not on the radar or lighthouse. One such far fetched prospect is Tanner Winegard, a hulking defenseman with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Western ways of the OHL
Okay, so the Sudbury Wolves are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League with 47 points. But if the Wolves were in the Western Conference of the OHL, those 47 points would have them in sixth place. Yes, sixth place. Such is the balance of power difference between the Western world and the Eastern block.
…[read more]George is the top OHL goalie
Five goalies from the Ontario Hockey League have made the mid season rankings list of the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Bureau ahead of the June 28-29 NHL Entry Draft. And at the top of the chart is Carter George of the Owen Sound Attack, a Thunder Bay product who has Sault Ste. Marie roots from his mother’s side.
…[read more]NHL scouts like three Hounds
Three members of the Soo Greyhounds are among 53 players from the Ontario Hockey League who have made the mid season rankings list of the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Bureau.
…[read more]NHL scouts eyeing Spitfires
Windsor Spitfires are frantically chasing a playoff spot in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League in what is a rebuilding season. But while the Spitfires may be near the bottom of the OHL standings, a number of their players are being eyed by National Hockey League scouts.
…[read more]Hear, hear, Oliver Peer!
Flint Firebirds are in control of their playoff destiny in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. And a veteran player who Flint paid big to get at the OHL trade deadline with hopes of advancing to this spring’s playoffs is overage forward Oliver Peer.
…[read more]Sudbury Cubs add firepower
Two forwards with Ontario Hockey League experience have joined the pace setting Sudbury Cubs of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]OHL trade deadline recap
It was an Ontario Hockey League frenzied flurry for the books as close to 40 separate transactions were completed in the days leading up to the January 10 trade deadline. And Western Conference teams such as the contending Soo Greyhounds and Saginaw Spirit along with the playoff chasing Flint Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires all made multiple moves that included major exchanges of veteran players and future draft picks.
…[read more]RIP, Paul Theriault
This is a tough one to write. A really sad one. Paul Theriault, the smart, ahead of his time, former Ontario Hockey League coach with the Soo Greyhounds, Oshawa Generals and Erie Otters as well as the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League, passed away recently at the age of 73.
…[read more]Spitfires boost net worth
On a day in which they made multiple transactions ahead of this week’s Ontario Hockey League trade deadline the Windsor Spitfires upgraded their goalie position.
…[read more]Firebirds deal with Spitfires
Flint Firebirds have flipped their own script. After dealing away some high-end veteran talent in recent days for future draft picks, the Firebirds have obtained overage defenseman Roberto Mancini from their Ontario Hockey League Western Conference rival Windsor Spitfires for future second and third round draft picks.
…[read more]Hounds add Team USA champ
Soo Greyhounds are clearly all in as they chase an Ontario Hockey League championship. The Greyhounds have traded for 19-year old forward Gavin Hayes, acquiring the Team USA World Junior Hockey gold medal champion from the Flint Firebirds for two players and a house full of draft picks.
…[read more]Flint flips overage forward
Flint Firebirds have parted ways with one of their top players ahead of the looming Ontario Hockey League trade deadline. The Firebirds have dealt overage forward Braeden Kressler and two draft picks to the Ottawa 67’s for five draft picks.
…[read more]Spitfires via Paper Kings
Espanola Paper Kings of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League played a season long role in the development of hulking defenseman Conor Walton of the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Spitfires chasing Firebirds
It is the midway point of the 2023-2024 Ontario Hockey League regular season. And five head to head matches between the Flint Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires could be major factors in deciding the eighth and final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.
…[read more]Trade deadline is looming
D-Day is approaching in both the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League. As in January 10 being the trade deadline in both the NOJHL and the OHL.
…[read more]Hounds, Spitfires stay hot
Soo Greyhounds and Windsor Spitfires both returned from the Ontario Hockey League’s Christmas holiday recess on Thursday and picked up where they left off with impressive road victories.
…[read more]Assistance for the Spitfires
Twenty years after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League as a high scoring forward with the Sarnia Sting, Kris Newbury is back in the OHL as a newly hired assistant coach of the Windsor Spitfires.
…[read more]Test of the OHL West
Hounds. Spirit. Firebirds. Sting. Spitfires. There is bark and there is a motivating force and there is combustion and there is buzz and there is a fiery temperament that lies within the West Division of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Overcoming the odds
Seattle Kraken scout Mike Dawson has a plain, simple and uncomplicated message for aspiring young players who were late round draft picks to the Ontario Hockey League or who were not drafted at all. “Keep working. Every one has setbacks. It’s how you deal with adversity,” Dawson relayed while home visiting family in Sault Ste. Marie and stopping by to make a guest appearance on a recent edition of the Hockey North Show podcast.
…[read more]Best and rest of OHL West
Soo Greyhounds are in first place in the West Division — and just three points back of the Kitchener Rangers for first overall in the Western Conference — with the Ontario Hockey League on the Christmas break. And while the Windsor Spitfires are at the bottom of the Western stage, they are within clear range of the eighth and final playoff spot.
…[read more]Gage on the GOJHL stage
WINDSOR — Sault Ste. Marie product Gage Evans is officially among the elite young players in the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League while patrolling the blue line here for the Windsor LaSalle Vipers.
…[read more]Sault boys in OHL West
Four of the five teams in the West Division of the Ontario Hockey League have Sault Ste. Marie products on their respective rosters. Ironically, it is the Soo Greyhounds who do not have a single local lad on their team.
…[read more]Firebirds and Spitfires
They are scheduled to face off against one another no less than five times in the 2024 segment of this Ontario Hockey League regular season. And those five matchups could go a long way towards deciding playoff spots for the Flint Firebirds and Windsor Spitfires.
…[read more]Torres and the Spitfires
Windsor Spitfires are still at the bottom of the standings among the 10 teams of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. But the Spitfires have now won more games with interim head coach Casey Torres at the helm than they did under his fired predecessor Jerrod Smith.
…[read more]Hudson and Hudson
They are the two youngest players — impact ones at that — for the Sudbury Cubs of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. Both are 2023 Ontario Hockey League draft picks of the Sudbury Wolves. And both have connections to not only the Wolves but to Sault Ste. Marie.
…[read more]Spitfires continue ascent
The recharged Windsor Spitfires are becoming a pretty good story in the making. After starting the 2023-2024 Ontario Hockey League season with a 4-16-1 record that led to the firing of first year head coach Jerrod Smith, the Spitfires have since gone 4-2-0 under interim bench boss Casey Torres.
…[read more]Local lad in Windsor LaSalle
Sault Ste. Marie product Gage Evans is continuing his development with the Windsor LaSalle Vipers of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League.
…[read more]Spitfires are taking flight
A change in head coaches has thus far led to a well timed turnaround for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Ways of the Wild West
Soo Greyhounds have maintained first place despite a record-setting win streak by the Saginaw Spirit. Flint Firebirds are holding serve in the middle of the court while fourth seed Sarnia Sting is on a skid and the last place Windsor Spitfires have responded well to a coaching change.
…[read more]Spitfires alter flight plan
WINDSOR — There has been some topsy turvy turbulence that has grounded the Windsor Spitfires this season following back to back first place regular season finishes atop the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Spitfires fire head coach
Long-time assistant coach Jerrod Smith has lasted just 21 games as the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]Fearsome OHL fighters
Like it or not, fighting has a secure place in hockey history. There are fighters who were as popular — maybe more popular — than many of the star players. These days, fighting is virtually non existent in the game. But that does not change the fact that some of the most fearsome fighters in the history of — in this case — the Ontario Hockey League are still held in reverence by many with a nostalgic attachment to the game.
…[read more]Lambert has come full circle
Denny Lambert skated in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons before eventually making it to the National Hockey League where he toughed it out for more than 500 games as a battling left winger. But the 53-year old Lambert, who recently stepped in to take over as head coach of the AAA Under 18 Soo Jr. Greyhounds, says it was his time with the program as a player in the Great North Under 18 Hockey League that went a long way to shape him for what was ahead.
…[read more]Spitfires are sputtering
Windsor Spitfires are in a nosedive that requires imminent attention. Since scoring a big victory over the Western Conference-leading Kitchener Rangers, the Spitfires have dropped five straight games and are now in last place among the 20 teams of the Ontario Hockey League with a record of 4-13-1.
…[read more]Retentions of Windsor Arena
Sault Ste. Marie is home. Windsor is my acquired home, initially through Croatian family on my mother’s side. As a journalist who has been writing about hockey for a living since 1975, my main passion is now with the various minor and junior teams of northern Ontario. But the Windsor Spitfiires of the Ontario Hockey League and its Windsor Arena home of 1975 to 2008 remain high on my chosen and close to one’s heart list of all time fondness and partiality.
…[read more]Sault Ste. Marie Spitfires
Recently acquired defenseman Connor Toms has become the latest in a long line of players from Sault Ste. Marie who have suited up for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League over the years. Indeed, the number of Sault boys who have become Spitfires is rather notable.
…[read more]Spitfires are high on Toms
WINDSOR — Connor Toms has a good opportunity to go from being a fringe defenseman with the Soo Greyhounds to a stabilizing presence with the Windsor Spitfires. The 19-year old Sault Ste. Marie product is now a seasoned member of a rookie laden Spitfires blue line brigade after being obtained from the Greyhounds for a 12th round pick at the 2025 Ontario Hockey League priority selections draft.
…[read more]Red Wings radio legend
Paul Woods was certainly no slouch as a hockey player. He captained the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League and once scored 119 points in a season. And before Steve Yzerman came along, Woods was the youngest captain in the National Hockey League history of the storied Detroit Red Wings. But it is as a Red Wings radio broadcaster that Woods has become an unlikely legend.
…[read more]Prime prospect Chitaroni
He has moved up from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds of the Great North Under 18 Hockey League to the Sudbury Cubs of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League. And he is doing so as a coveted prospect of the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.
…[read more]