Windsor Spitfires 2023-24 Offseason Thread (Part 3)

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hockeylegend11

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Promised yesterday I would talk about the D and goaltending .
I will start with the goaltending with 3 tenders signed Costanzo, Froggett and Windbiel, I see Costanzo and Froggett starting out as the tandem,Costanzo needs to perform like he did most of his 1st year here not last even though the D was the youngest in the league after the season started,and Froggett who has been the best goalie on camp the last 2 years needs to be given the chance to win the starting position and if he does I can see Windsor moving Costanzo and then bring in Windbiel up from the US, and signing either Newlove or Donahue both 17 year olds, all goalies are 6'2 or more except Costanzo who barely hits 6'1.
Will be interesting to see how things occur especially tomorrow and Blue and White game.
 
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hockeylegend11

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Next up the Defense,with 10 dmen already signed I can see maybe 1 more dman Grady Spicer(16) making a bid,though I do think a year of JR B would be better.
For me the top 6 at this time would be Christoforo/Mathurin, Eichler/Woodall,Manzo/Walton,Winegard, Hjelhot,Hicks,Lavigne in that order .
Now could Spicer crack thru I hope so,time will tell,next couple of days very important to see if the order changes,I do think Hicks and Spicer have nice upside and 1 or both could upset the scheme of things.
Outside of Mathurin, Winegard and Eichler,the other 8 are 16-18 years old.
The other 4 in camp,Laevens, Evans,Caswell and Ostrovski I don't think will move the needle at this time,despite being 17,18,17,and 16 respectively, will be keeping a close eye on those 4 as well as rest of D.
 

northwest

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Promised yesterday I would talk about the D and goaltending .
I will start with the goaltending with 3 tenders signed Costanzo, Froggett and Windbiel, I see Costanzo and Froggett starting out as the tandem,Costanzo needs to perform like he did most of his 1st year here not last even though the D was the youngest in the league after the season started,and Froggett who has been the best goalie on camp the last 2 years needs to be given the chance to win the starting position and if he does I can see Windsor moving Costanzo and then bring in Windbiel up from the US, and signing either Newlove or Donahue both 17 year olds, all goalies are 6'2 or more except Costanzo who barely hits 6'1.
Will be interesting to see how things occur especially tomorrow and Blue and White game.
Looking at this year's draft, Windbiel has the height but seems slow. Newlove was better today and even though Ingram doesn't have the height he was faster. Windbiel has some work to put in if he wants to be a franchise goalie.
 

hockeylegend11

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Looking at this year's draft, Windbiel has the height but seems slow. Newlove was better today and even though Ingram doesn't have the height he was faster. Windbiel has some work to put in if he wants to be a franchise goalie.
Thankfully Windbiel is only 16,alot of time to improve deficiencies, Newlove is definitely intriguing while Ingram is smaller then most,he was rated in the 3rd-6th round range Windsor got him alot later then that, time will tell on him moving only 16 too,young group of goalies outside of Costanzo, and I like their potential upsides.
 

windsor7

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It's tough to give many thoughts on today because it was only practice. But, here are a few things...

- Walters comes across as the guy who is direct but personable. You could clearly hear him all over the ice but he was doing one-on-one with players, showing them specific things, and laughing a lot, too. It left a good impression, despite being just one evening of work.

- Either Ethan Martin lost a lot of weight or Protas is bigger than his listed 197... or both. Nesbitt looks like he's bulked up, too.

- Torres seemed to be focused on the defence, at least at the start. Who knows if that continues into the season or not.

Again, personal player improvements and stuff like that is tough in a practice. I'll have more after the scrimmages tomorrow evening once we see them in semi-game action.
It's all practice practically..
 

thespitslurker

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Went to the 10 and 11 o'clock games and have some thoughts on those games

5-2 RED
-Abraham had some good rushes
-Newlove looked pretty good and made some good saves
-Belchetz had a good rebound goal and was very physical
-Spellacy looked good offensively
-Spicer had a couple dangles at one point but was a little slower than others and catching up to the ppl rushing him. LaSalle would be a good fit for him I think
-Ingram and Costanzo are not good at moving the puck and had a turnover each that could’ve been bad
-Eichler surprisingly had a decent rebound goal
-Outwater (I think) scored shortly after that
-Gaymes played good I like how he plays
-Davis rushed in and scored and accidentally crashed into Windbiel. He scored a lil later too from a decent shot
-Butt scored I’m pretty sure as well but I just missed it
-Windbiel didn’t look great I think he and Brocklehurst should stay down this year and we should run Belchetz, Lemieux, Hicks and Garden as our 16s. This game kinda confirmed it for me
-Greenwell had a goal on Bertolin from around the blue line

5-3 RED
-Morneau had a good goal on Costanzo where he held and dragged the puck until he fell over. Smart goal
-Blues team was very fast and pretty well coordinated initially then Red adapted well
-Like yesterday Froggett was the best goalie with Newlove and Ingram also doing good
-Yearwood and Outwater cherrypicked a lot and almost scored at one point but Froggett made a pretty good save or he just missed
-Outwater had a good goal from a nice pass from Yearwood around the net
-Gignac did good in this game and had good effort
-Protas was faster in this game than I expected and had some finesse too
-Walton was aggressive today with a penalty, a big hit and a couple shoving matches
-Belchetz had a nice breakaway goal on Donohue
-Hicks, Hjelholt and Manzo were solid on D for both teams
-Protas scored earlier but I think I missed it
-Lemieux batted the puck out of the air from a ricochet and scored which is neat
-Evans and Hjelholt got into a friendly fight and Evans rocked him lol
-Protas had a decent effort in a funny bounce goal
-Woodall had a good shot from the point that I thought Lemieux tipped
-Lemieux had a good passing play later from up front and scored

Overall pretty good from what I saw. Curious to hear how the later games go and I can't make it to those :/
 

spitsfan24

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Morning scrimmages in the books. I'm sure someone will post the statistics from them, but I'll be focusing on impressions more than anything. My apologies if I bounce around without much organization to my thoughts.

- Conor Walton looked fantastic in my opinion. It seems to me that he's really worked on his skating, at least the straight-line speed aspect of it. The four-way mobility could still be improved upon, but I feel like that's almost always the case for a guy of his size. Oh, and he absolutely pasted two guys with bone-crunching hits. He caught Morneau driving to the net, and then later in the game, stood up Gignac (I think it was him, not 100% sure though) at the blueline.

- Mathurin really looks to be everything we needed. Seemingly good skater, calm under pressure, and defensively responsible. If he returns from Blackhawks camp, he'll be a staple of this team.

- I'd like to spotlight Jack Greenwell. Not the sexiest name around here based on last year's performance, but he was one of the more noticeable players out there for team white. Is it enough to make the team as a 19 year old? Probably not. But he played about as well as you could have hoped through 2 games.

- Hicks vs. Manzo: still up in the air. There's realistically only one spot for the two of them in our everyday lineup. Being 16 hurts Hicks because of how crowded our rookies are right now, but he did play well today. Made a big hit pinching in the offensive zone, and hustled back to stop a chance for the opposing team in his zone at one point. Manzo was also very solid. I believe he's regarded as an offensive rearguard, but I think there's definite defensive potential there from what I saw today, and the limited action we saw last year. He seems to be in the right place all the time. I don't think he's ever going to be very physical, but he's incredibly positionally sound.

- Protas looks to be a good one. You'd certainly hope so with his draft positioning. He's a big guy, maybe not the fastest, but decent enough for his size I think. He made a couple of plays in the first game where he would drive wide on the defender, and once he got past them, cut to the net. He hit the scoresheet quite often, and at least twice, it was because of this.

- Quick thoughts on rookies: Belchetz had a couple goals. Pretty noticeable throughout. He played with Spellacy for the most part, but I remember him taking a few shifts at centre at one point. Garden is small, but fast and extremely shifty. He also got into a shoving match with someone, so it seems like he doesn't back down.

- I'd still like to see more out of Outwater, to be honest. It would be really nice if he could build some momentum during camp, and bring it with him into the season. That hasn't happened as of yet.

Those are my main takeaways off the top of my head. I'm sure I forgot something though, so if you've got a question about a player or cluster of players, I'm happy to answer it.
 

hockeylegend11

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I agree with about everything that u wrote especially re Greenwell,Protas,Mathurin.
Disagree about Outwater, thought considering he is coming off shoulder surgery that he played well,even more physical then what have seen,scored al couple of goals over 2 games,curious to see how does going forward.
For me most notable was Greenwell,really noticed him out there.
Thought most of the goalies played well,especially Froggett who only allowed 2 goals in his 2 appearances.
 
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OHLTG

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If Greenwell plays better, that will be good for his trade stock. I can't see them keeping him on, does nobody any good right now.

Outwater is going to take time to get back into the pace. I have faith he can do it but it won't likely happen on day one.
-Evans and Hjelholt got into a friendly fight and Evans rocked him lol

I'm curious to what's meant by "friendly fight"... like a planned fight between two buddies where they didn't take it seriously or ?
 
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Knownothing

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I agree with about everything that u wrote especially re Greenwell,Protas,Mathurin.
Disagree about Outwater, thought considering he is coming off shoulder surgery that he played well,even more physical then what have seen,scored al couple of goals over 2 games,curious to see how does going forward.
For me most notable was Greenwell,really noticed him out there.
Thought most of the goalies played well,especially Froggett who only allowed 2 goals in his 2 appearances.
Froggett is the best goalie in camp. Better than Costanzo and can play the puck.

Froggett is the best goalie in camp. Better than Costanzo and can play the puck.
This is a step year, no need to keep Winegard.
 
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RayzorIsDull

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If Greenwell plays better, that will be good for his trade stock. I can't see them keeping him on, does nobody any good right now.

Outwater is going to take time to get back into the pace. I have faith he can do it but it won't likely happen on day one.


I'm curious to what's meant by "friendly fight"... like a planned fight between two buddies where they didn't take it seriously or ?

What are you trying to say or sell about Greenwell?

What trade stock? He's 19 played a very small role and didn't do much. You say you can't see the Spits keeping him but another team would? I can bet you 19 other OHL teams have a similar type player.
 
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OHL4Life

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If Greenwell plays better, that will be good for his trade stock. I can't see them keeping him on, does nobody any good right now.

Outwater is going to take time to get back into the pace. I have faith he can do it but it won't likely happen on day one.


I'm curious to what's meant by "friendly fight"... like a planned fight between two buddies where they didn't take it seriously or ?
lol who is trading for green wall. he’ll be in the q before the ohl
 
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windsor7

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What are you trying to say or sell about Greenwell?

What trade stock? He's 19 played a very small role and didn't do much. You say you can't see the Spits keeping him but another team would? I can bet you 19 other OHL teams have a similar type player.
Indeed.
Mixed messages..
 

DetSpitsFan

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I could see Greenwell making the team if he’s much improved and noticeable. I questioned a bit the amount he played last year based on production, but it makes me think the organization is high on him, as either a person and/or player.

With the quantity of young guys… they can’t all make it, and if he looks good, bring him on and let’s see what he can do. Trade stock now? Non existent. 30 games in if he’s improved… we may have something.

Yeah, he’s 19, but he’s also an 05. And I’m not saying we need more 05’s on the roster, but we don’t have many with all 3 slots apparently up for grabs next season, especially if Costanzo gets surpassed in the depth chart by Froggett. I like Joey, he had a good first year, so we know it’s there, but if he can’t get back into that form this year, hard to justify him in an OA spot next year, if there’s a heavy time share.

He needs to be the clear cut #1 this year, to lock in a spot next.

On the bright side… we’ll likely have one goalie we can move for something.
 

OHLTG

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What are you trying to say or sell about Greenwell?

What trade stock? He's 19 played a very small role and didn't do much. You say you can't see the Spits keeping him but another team would? I can bet you 19 other OHL teams have a similar type player.

Sorry, didn't see you at camp today or yesterday? If I had said "Yep, Greenwell has been awful and shouldn't be in camp", I'd be lying. I'm giving credit where it's due, which is fair, no?

A couple of quick thoughts on today... (I'll have more later)

- Belchetz isn't going to wow you with his speed but, around the net, he's lights out. Unfortunately, Froggett found that out the hard way, allowing 3 goals. Froggett played very well otherwise, probably even better than Costanzo, if I'm being realistic.

- Protas is another who's not the quickest but really gets the job done around the net.

- Mathurin is steady back there and was helping the younger guys on occasion. I'm liking what I've seen from him.

- Walton has added physicality to his game, which was sorely needed.

Again, I'll have more later once I have the rosters in front of me to jog the memory a bit.
 

spitsfan24

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Evening scrimmages now in the books.

- Huge games from both Belchetz and Protas (not against each other though). They each had a hat-trick, and I'm pretty sure Protas had an assist or two. Perhaps defenders are sleeping on his speed, because again, he was driving wide on them and then cutting to the middle of the net. He doesn't look like a speedster to my eyes, but there's clearly something deceptive about his movement while lugging the puck into the zone. Going off of memory, he set up at least one of Gignac's two goals doing this, and even got some "ooh's" and "aah's" from the crowd when finishing at the net on a different play. And Belchetz can absolutely rip it. I think Froggett might be seeing him in his nightmares tonight, as all 3 of his goals were scored against him in the first period. Promising signs from two key components of the future.

- Others were saying they liked Outwater's game in the morning scrimmages. Personally, I didn't see it, but I made sure to keep a close eye on him tonight. He was very noticeable. HL's comments about his physicality were particularly true. He looks very engaged, and he put up some points too. Good to see.

- Spicer had a rough day. I didn't want to overreact to the two games in the morning, but that continued in the next two. He found himself out of position a ton, and his turnovers led to a few goals against. It's not like there was room for him anyway, though, and he's obviously still super young. I think he now knows what to work on for next year's camp.

- Same sentiments as earlier today regarding Walton and Mathurin. Walton was hitting everything that moved, and even contributed to a give-and-go in the offensive zone. You can tell he's much more confident this year. Mathurin is going to be great for Cristoforo.

- More rookie thoughts: Garden vs. Brocklehurst and Hicks vs. Manzo (not really a rookie, but let's go with it) are interesting conversations. At this point, Garden and Brocklehurst are relatively similar players; undersized and skilled. I think Garden is the better skater and playmaker, while Brocklehurst has a better shot, and maybe a touch more physicality. In our specific situation, I still think it makes sense for Brocklehurst to start in Jr. B. I really like both Hicks and Manzo. If I had to guess, Manzo might have the inside track for the #6 D spot, but it's incredibly close. I was impressed with their games. Lemieux seemed to be having success with Belchetz out there. It wasn't dazzling enough to have me say they'll play together in the regular season, but I think he's a lock for the team (if he wasn't already).

Again, I'm happy to answer any questions about players I didn't mention, or to clarify something I said.
 

windsor7

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Sorry, didn't see you at camp today or yesterday? If I had said "Yep, Greenwell has been awful and shouldn't be in camp", I'd be lying. I'm giving credit where it's due, which is fair, no?

A couple of quick thoughts on today... (I'll have more later)

- Belchetz isn't going to wow you with his speed but, around the net, he's lights out. Unfortunately, Froggett found that out the hard way, allowing 3 goals. Froggett played very well otherwise, probably even better than Costanzo, if I'm being realistic.

- Protas is another who's not the quickest but really gets the job done around the net.

- Mathurin is steady back there and was helping the younger guys on occasion. I'm liking what I've seen from him.

- Walton has added physicality to his game, which was sorely needed.

Again, I'll have more later once I have the rosters in front of me to jog the memory a bit.
Stretch...
 

RayzorIsDull

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Sorry, didn't see you at camp today or yesterday? If I had said "Yep, Greenwell has been awful and shouldn't be in camp", I'd be lying. I'm giving credit where it's due, which is fair, no?

A couple of quick thoughts on today... (I'll have more later)

- Belchetz isn't going to wow you with his speed but, around the net, he's lights out. Unfortunately, Froggett found that out the hard way, allowing 3 goals. Froggett played very well otherwise, probably even better than Costanzo, if I'm being realistic.

- Protas is another who's not the quickest but really gets the job done around the net.

- Mathurin is steady back there and was helping the younger guys on occasion. I'm liking what I've seen from him.

- Walton has added physicality to his game, which was sorely needed.

Again, I'll have more later once I have the rosters in front of me to jog the memory a bit.
Good stuff. It's training camp scrimmage against some guys who may never play an OHL game. If Greenwell played poorly it wouldn't matter either. His 41 games last year is much more important and should be used as a barometer of his play as compared to what happens in a scrimmage. After this I'm going to start calling you Ralphie from A Christmas Story. Just as he loved that Red Ryder gun you love those scrimmages.
 
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OHLTG

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Some more thoughts on the Fri eve scrimmages...

- Cristoforo looks more confident in his own end. He even stopped a pair of EN chances. He likely has a long way to go but baby steps.
- Froggett looked strong, aside from the whole Belchetz hat-trick thing. He looks like he's ready to get in some pre-season time to challenge for a spot.
- Protas is a beast. Again, not the fastest guy but finds a way to put up the points.
- Brocklehurst has solid speed and a good shot. Just missed high on a couple of occasions. He looked a bit frustrated at times but adjustment is to be expected.
- As mentioned earlier, Walton has become much more physical and hasn't backed down. It's a bit of a 180, and very welcomed.
- Manzo plays a simple but confident game.
- Davis has added an extra level to his speed and seems very comfortable.
- Outwater was more physical but I still want to see more offensively.
- Yearwood is going to challenge for an OA spot.
- Lavigne is another one I want to see more from... and I'm not sold that he's 6'5.
- Winegard feels like he's on the bubble. I'm just not convinced he's there yet.
- Gaymes is going to be a good one with opportunity. He's gritty, creative, and, as mentioned earlier, has gained size.
- Greenwell is showing much better than anticipated. He's likely making it tough on management. With that said, I'd rather a younger guy get his spot.
- Garden has the speed and shot, just needs time. You notice him but then he disappears; adjustment is there.
- Costanzo is still struggling glove side. I'm not seeing that confident goaltender we had a couple of seasons ago.

I know there was a cut-down tonight but I haven't heard who was cut. IF I was a guessing guy, the cuts would be...

G - Donohue, Bertolin, and Ingram.
D - Laevens, Ostrovski, Caswell
F - Gignac, Tissier, WArd, Lagana, Butt, Matsos, Tonin, Morin, Cranny, Vilardi, Rosati.
 
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hockeylegend11

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Pretty sure there were few if any cuts made last night,didn't see 1 player leave with his hockey bag,and at least 5 or 6 players on your possible cut list are playing today in the Blue and White game.
Know for sure Abraham is not suiting up and it's not injury related.
Protas and Belchetz were absolute beasts yesterday, Protas with 3G,2A in the his last scrimmage,while Belchetz had 3G,1A in his last appearance.
Been very impressed with Walton 's play to date has upped his game and finally is using his size to advantage
Agree with assessment about Mathurin
As for Yearwood,the 4 OA here,while I like him and I expect him for the exhibition schedule to play I don't see him as 1 of the OAs when said and done.
Have been pretty impressed with the play of Manzo and Hicks,puts the situation on Winegard as eventually the 6th dman,and I like Winegard personally
I do think Hjelholt and Lavigne will be sent to B,post exhibition however,and hopefully Spicer finds a spot with a B team.
More to come later with comments,
Pre and post Blue/White game.
 
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