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.
As of this writing, the Firebirds are holding down the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference of the OHL. Flint has 29 points in 29 games from a record of 13-13-3. Windsor is last among the 10 teams of the Western world with 19 points from a record of 9-19-1. But the Spitfires are 5-3-0 under interim head coach Casey Torres, including a 6-3 win over the Firebirds.
Looking ahead, the five remaining matches between Flint and Windsor loom large. The series of showdowns begins on January 3 and the others follow on February 17, February 29, March 1 and March 16. Notably, the last four matches between the Firebirds and Spitfires will be less than 30 days apart.
Talk about a potential playoff atmosphere before the playoffs even begin. Prepare to fasten your seatbelts in the New Year if you have an association of any sort with the Firebirds and/or Spitfires.
Meantime, currently standing between no. 8 seed Flint and no. 10 seed Windsor is the ninth place Sarnia Sting, which has 22 points from a record of 11-19-0.