Pressure on Spitfires to contend


By
May 9, 2016

Windsor Spitfires are proof positive that it is difficult to sustain status as a consistent contender in the Ontario Hockey League.

Since winning back-to-back Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010 and making it to the Western Conference finals in 2011, the Spitfires have been in a tailspin.

In the five years since 2011, the Spitfires have missed the playoffs twice and lost in the first round the other three times. In fact, the Spitfires have won only one playoff game over the past five years.

And while the Spitfires are coming off a solid 2015-2016 campaign in which they produced 40 regular-season wins and 87 points before being swept in the first round of the playoffs, the pressure is on general manager Warren Rychel to ice a legitimate contender for 2016-2017.

That’s because Windsor has automatic entry into the 2017 Memorial Cup Tournament as host entry and Rychel is on record as saying he wants the Spitfires to be a team that can at least contend for the OHL championship.

To be sure, the Spitfires do have some good parts in place ahead of the 2016-2017 season.

They will return their top two scoring forwards in Arizona Coyotes prospect Christian Fischer and young phenom Logan Brown, who combined for 61 goals and 164 points last season.

Among others slated to return to Windsor for 2016-2017 are 57-point defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, fellow blueliner Logan Stanley and goalies Mario Culina and Michael DiPietro.

And as Brown, Sergachev and Stanley are all pegged as first-round picks at next month’s National Hockey League draft, the Spitfires could have another NHL first-rounder on board for 2016-2017.

He is forward Clayton Keller of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program — and a Spitfires draft pick from last year. Keller has committed to Boston University but the word is he could instead opt to go the OHL route and play for the Spitfires next season.

Without question, the Spitfires have assembled some top young talent as evidenced by the three potential first-rounders at this year’s NHL draft.

But as GM, look for Rychel to not only go all out to get Keller into a Spitfire uniform but to add some high-end veteran talent through the trade route as the 2016-2017 season unfolds.

PHOTO: Windsor forward Logan Brown is a top OHL player and top NHL prospect. (Photo by Yahoo.com.)


What you think about “Pressure on Spitfires to contend”

  1. Just wondering how in hell the Hounds missed out on Mario Culina. They coulda even had him for FREE. WTF???

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