Four from the Wild West
August is leaning towards September. Up first are training camps. Then exhibition games. Followed by a schedule of names, games, checkers and chess; not to mention all of the intrigue and anxiety that goes with debatably being the best development league on the hockey planet.
The Ontario Hockey League officially begins a new modern day chapter come the ’24-25 season with Bryan Crawford as the recently appointed commissioner. Crawford has big shoes to fill — literally — as he follows in the footsteps of the legendary David Branch. Branch ruled the OHL for 45 years and oversaw countless innovations and improvements including expansion that eventually increased the league’s membership from 12 to 20 teams, including three based in the United States.
At any rate, the ’24-25 season awaits. And being that my OHL focus lies with the Western Conference, it is thus my point of convergence. An early glance this may be, but so be it. Following are who I see as four teams — all from the West Division — among the 10 members of the OHL’s Western Conference who are of particular fascination and be of interest to at this stage ahead of the ’24-25 season. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Flint. Bench boss Paul Flache of the Firebirds is one of the OHL’s up and coming young coaches. He took over from Ted Dent early in the ’23-24 season and steered Flint into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Flache-led Firebirds then played the eventual OHL champion London Knights tough — really tough — in the first round of the playoffs, losing in four straight games, albeit by the narrowest of margins … Flint is somewhat of a bipolar team heading into the ’24-25 season. Some folks who I talk to within the OHL who know it — and know it well — really like the Firebirds. But some don’t see the Firebirds as any better than a sixth or seventh place team … Personally, I like what Flint general manager Dave McParlan has done on the trade front since moving into his current position just over a year ago. Some of his moves have been rather peculiar but I especially like the acquisitions of forwards Connor Clattenburg from the Soo Greyhounds, Evan Konyen from the Sudbury Wolves and Chris Thibodeau via the Kingston Frontenacs plus defensemen Matthew Mania and Noah Collins, both by way of Sudbury. I am liking Flint as a top four team in the Western Conference this coming season especially if 2005 birth year goalie Nathan Day continues to elevate his game as he has thus far from season to season … Of note, both of the above mentioned Connor Clattenburg and Nathan Day are National Hockey League draft picks of the Edmonton Oilers.
Saginaw. The Spirit didn’t make it out of the Western Conference playoffs last spring, losing to the London Knights, who then went on to win the OHL championship. But the Spirit took advantage of its free pass into the Memorial Cup tournament as host entry and when it came down to a one game winner take all for the national championship, Saginaw scored a paper thin, one goal win over London. Building the team to play host to — and ultimately win — the Memorial Cup championship did come at quite the price for Saginaw, however. General manager Dave Drinkill mortgaged the future — and sometimes over paid — by trading off a whack of future draft picks to solidify the strength of the Spirit for what would become Memorial Cup glory … Still, there is a lot to like about Saginaw, for ’24-25 led superstar defenseman Zayne Parekh, star in waiting forward Michael Misa and a pair of plum overages in forward Calem Mangone and goalie Andrew Oke … A Sault Ste. Marie product and a rare major find from the OHL supplemental draft, Mangone personifies character, perseverance and heart. He has also gained a reputation as a big game player. Proof in the pudding of that goes back to last spring’s Western Conference semi-finals when Mangone scored no less than three game winning goals against his hometown Soo Greyhounds … This season could well tell if Saginaw head coach Chris Lazary is really among the best in the league or is someone who only achieves with a stacked team. Some jury members may be out on Lazary but where it counts, he certainly has the full and unwavering support of GM Dave Drinkill.
Sault Ste. Marie. If Charlie Schenkel stays the season as an overager to team with the younger Landon Miller — who is a an NHL draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings — then the Greyhounds will have a 1-2 duo of big goalies that could be the best in the entire OHL … Despite faced with losing a lot of offensive firepower and defense dependability to graduation the Greyhounds have the capabilities to be a middle of the pack crew in the OHL’s Western world in ’24-25. Returning skaters of high note include NHL draft pick defenseman Andrew Gibson, fellow defender Caeden Carlisle and forwards Justin Cloutier, Marco Mignosa, Travis Hayes and Brady Martin. World class players in their age group, both Hayes and Martin could well be on the verge of stardom as younger players with 2007 birth dates … Is veteran bench boss John Dean a better than average OHL coach or a mere middle of the road headmaster? Dean, to be sure, does not have overwhelming support from Hound Nation.
Windsor. After a ’23-24 season of questionable coaching, Spitfires general manager Billy Bowler went out and got his man in the no-nonsense Greg Walters. Walters has four full seasons of OHL coaching experience — two with the Oshawa Generals and two more with the Owen Sound Attack — and has never finished with a losing record. Bet on Walters piloting the Spitfires back into the high altitude of the Western Conference in ’24-25 … As the Spitfires are poised to soar from the bottom of the Western Conference to possibly as high as first or second in ’24-25, Windsor has the ability to dominate up front led by three 2006 birth year forwards who were all taken within the first three rounds of this year’s NHL draft. They are 6 foot 2 Liam Greentree (first round, Los Angeles Kings), 6 foot 3 A.J. Spellacy (third round, Chicago Blackhawks) and 6 foot 5 Ilya Protas (third round, Washington Capitals.) … Then there is 6 foot 4 forward Jack Nesbitt, who Windsor took in the first round of the 2023 OHL priority selections draft and who has all sorts of potential. The most intriguing of them all though just might be 6 foot 5 forward Ethan Belchetz, who was taken by Windsor with the first overall pick of the 2024 OHL priority selections draft.
