Windsor Spitfires 2024-25 Season Thread, Part I

[SpitfireHabs1]

In the CHL top 10 but i hope these Boys dont give into the noise and early season accolades and keep steaming ahead full speed. All teams are mostly set on returning players and most teams have had a chance to gel and gain chemistry so the next few weekends will be able to see if this Spitfires squad is real.

Like Walters so far. Makes changes in game when needed and uses his bench.

Hope to see a good hockey game tonight. Two way effort and physical game, Joey has been riding a wave so far this season and confidence is a hell of a thing in sports. Hope he continues!!

Let's Get er Done,
Go spits Go.

 

[ohloutsider]

Outwater back in tonight. Joey with the start. Winegard sits as well as Lemieux.

 

[windsor7]

Outwater back in tonight. Joey with the start. Winegard sits as well as Lemieux.

Is lemieux a late scratch?

 

[ohloutsider]

Is lemieux a late scratch?

He has the ? mark beside his name so he will be scratched unless someone else can't start.

 

[windsor7]

He has the ? mark beside his name so he will be scratched unless someone else can't start.

Lemieux could interchange with Martin...

 

[ohloutsider]

Lemieux could interchange with Martin...

No, he is not going to be the " protector" at 16.

 

[windsor7]

No, he is not going to be the " protector" at 16.

Let the young kids play..

 

[windsor7]

Got to clear the front of the net. Not just stand there and screen goalie too..

 

[windsor7]

Protas going to score a ton this year.

 

[tomschman]

Good win for the Spits. Game seemed very slow to develop. Little excitement. Officiating was terrible, but evenly terrible.

Take the two points and play better tomorrow.

Greentree, Protas and Abraham scored all the goals. Hopefully, the rest of the team will stand up again.

Costanzo had another very strong game.

Random thought on Belchez. He was dominate the 1st week, but has done little since then. He may need to watch 1 game from the pressbox. Sometimes watching a game puts everything in perspective. The OHL was way too easy the 1st 3 games.

 

[StingUpdates]

Game seemed very slow to develop. Little excitement.

Typical Guelph Storm game experience. New York Islanders of the OHL. Lol

 

[windsor7]

Good win for the Spits. Game seemed very slow to develop. Little excitement. Officiating was terrible, but evenly terrible.

Take the two points and play better tomorrow.

Greentree, Protas and Abraham scored all the goals. Hopefully, the rest of the team will stand up again.

Costanzo had another very strong game.

Random thought on Belchez. He was dominate the 1st week, but has done little since then. He may need to watch 1 game from the pressbox. Sometimes watching a game puts everything in perspective. The OHL was way too easy the 1st 3 games.

Linesman were very confused all game long..

 

[Living Vicariously]

Typical Guelph Storm game experience. New York Islanders of the OHL. Lol

Interesting take - care to expand on the explanation?

 

[StingUpdates]

Interesting take - care to expand on the explanation?

As a Philadelphia Flyers fan the team i least look forward to playing every year is the Islanders.

Why? They are absolutely boring. Very little risk to their game. Cycle heavy. Not a ton of speed. Clog up the neutral zone. The games are just boring to watch. Every time. (Example yesterday they played a 1-0 overtime game, haha)

Guelph I've found for the last 3or4 years have played that kind of style. Not a ton of flash & dash. Not a ton of skill. Not a ton of speed. Just cycle heavy. Clog up the middle. Don't allow much & don't create much. I remember last yr hearing their commentary team mention it was a struggle for them to hit 25 shots in games.

It's early but they've allowed the least goals in the conference & are still sitting in last.

Not hating on them for it. Do what u gotta do. Burnett is smart GM. They just aren't a team I look forward to playing because I find myself getting bored more often than not.

 

[spits]

I was legit thinking the exact same thing, the Storm are the Islanders of the OHL! Games always seem boring against that squad. They have a great fan base, at least 4500 every game.

Anyways a solid road win. I actually thought Belchetz had one of his better games. He had a partial breakaway and 5 shots on net.

Spits have a star player in Protas. 8 goals in 6 games. He has the ability to slow the game down when the puck is on his stick, and let plays develop. Great playmaker and a great shot.

Greentree leads the OHL with 20 points in 8 games but he can still find that extra gear which we haven't seen yet. As someone alluded to above, is a scary thought. Spellacy is great on the PK.

+25 goal differential which is by far the best in the league. Kudos to everyone including the coaches. One more road game to complete one of the hardest stretches on the schedule this season.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Agree with pretty much everything that u wrote, even more impressive was learning near the end of the game that the Spits didn't arrive at the rink till 35 minutes before game time because of highway issues,wondered why Spits off to a sluggish start now we know after that I am even more impressed the team won,Protas,Greentree, Abraham line pretty I damn good 10 points between tonight,8 the last game very tough line to deal with.
Costanzo continues to impress,now 3rd in the league withva 2.14 average and a 928 save percentage and he is 7-0 so far,as mentioned before he won 10 all of last year and had a 5.08 goals against average.
Question I have who starts tomorrow, he only allowed 1 goal,he is on fire,had it been 3 or 4 against I would all in going with Froggett tomorrow at Owen Sound, but I can't wrap myself around that,go with hot hand imo.
Pretty impressive Spits now 7-1-1 after 9 games and 6 of them have been on the road.
Spits are 4-1-1 on the road and Joey is 4-0.
Changes I would make at Owen Spund tomorrow, while I know Davis is close to returning I would not play him tomorrow wait till next weekend,I would put Winegard and Lemieux back in and exchange them with Hicks and Manzo, would give Windsor 6D and 12F,and on a back to back with travel would rather go with 12F,instead of 11 like tonight's game.
Nevertheless should be interesting tomorrow
Go Spits Go
Keep up the good work.

 

[Cherrydon]

I'm not too concerned with Belchetz. Has to adapt to the grind and long road trips. He had prime ice early when players were still at camp snd showed he could play on top lines. He'll be fine. How about that Costanzo?? What a fantastic surprise. He doesn't give up when the team supports him. Something that is new this year. As much as I whined about hiring Walters the crow sandwich tastes great lol

 

[DetSpitsFan]

Joeys been great. Defense has been solid, especially for what we have. Lots of guys helping Costanzo by clogging lanes and blocking pucks. Opponents have had far less one time chances and odd man rushes this year. One goal against, on a PK, with a deflection. Not mad about that at all. 32 Saves for Costanzo… if he feels good, I too ride the hot hand tomorrow.

Protas is special, and is more visible than Greentree, but somehow Greentree is kind of quietly putting up points. Lots of secondary assists, I think he’s just attracting so much attention from other teams it’s leaving his linemates with great chances. He’s looked good, but seems to be doing too much with the puck on his stick at times. Feels like he’s trying to hard to get some goals.

Spits are 7-1-1… if Belchetz is quiet a bit I don’t mind. If we were losing, I’d want a bit more production. Currently? The less likely he has an earlier graduation, the better lol.

Notoriously tough barn, Walters return to OS, vs a team tied for 6/7/8/9 early. I think Lemeuix slots back in, and Joey gets the go. He was a deflected PP goal away from a shutout today.

I know we gotta get Froggett some reps, but I feel these points early may be very valuable down the stretch. I go Joey on the Road, give Froggett the home start vs OS, Thursday. Whoever plays the better game, give them Niagara next week. Niagara’s hot, but a game vs the Eastern Conference always feels a bit lower stakes.

 

[SpitfireHabs1]

Not to worried on Belchetz. Hasnt been putting up points like 1st week but still playing solid and doesnt look like a 16 year old. Walters gave him top line minutes first week and now has to work a little harder. Interesting to Ethan say during the 1st intermission that everyone is really starting to buy into Walters style and systems. As much as these guys want to score all the points a coach like Walters is going to have these boys playing the proper way and give them the tools/mindset needed to make it to Pro hockey.

Nice to see Joey continue his impressive start. Im sure some of it is he's a year older, also getting off to good start and gaining that early confidence. But the more defensive two way style were seeing has to be helping as well. Let Joey string together some games, he is doing his part and then some so far.

Overall happy with the win and effort, not much to complain about right now from me haha. Next up is Walters old team up in Owen Sound. Always a battle and expecting a physical match up tonight.

Let grind out another early Season W!
Go Spitfires!!!

 

[FiveHoleo]

The great play of Protas has me considering this season as the year we should take a run. He's probably not back next year, and we traditionally suck at finding great imports with lower selections so it might be worth considering building around him while we got him. Something for Bowler to take into consideration I think.

 

[Section 103]

I guess it’s understood the Spits starting a little slow in the first period. The announcers commented that the bus was stuck in traffic on the 401, and the team only arrived about 40 minutes prior to game time. That would explain the bus legs in the first. Overall I thought it was a good effort today. Team still not showing any Quit in them.
Who would have thought last year that #44 would be leading the league in +/-. Not I, but cudos for his program this year. If he continues like this, some NHL teams might want to take another look at him this draft.
Go Spits G

Good win for the Spits. Game seemed very slow to develop. Little excitement. Officiating was terrible, but evenly terrible.

Take the two points and play better tomorrow.

Greentree, Protas and Abraham scored all the goals. Hopefully, the rest of the team will stand up again.

Costanzo had another very strong game.

Random thought on Belchez. He was dominate the 1st week, but has done little since then. He may need to watch 1 game from the pressbox. Sometimes watching a game puts everything in perspective. The OHL was way too easy the 1st 3 games.

The announcers stated that the team bus was stuck in traffic on the 401, and only arrived about 40 minutes before puck drop. Could explain the poor start on bus legs. We’ll see if it is the same after the drive to Owen Sound tonight .

 

[ohloutsider]

Go Spits Go!!!

 

[windsor7]

Windsor with another solid win.
Pretty even game.
Greentree and protas and Abraham was all Windsor needed. Rest were there too i guess.
Contanzo played well.
Head coaching has made a difference.

 

[OHL 17]

Walters has instilled a strong sense of TEAM.

Winning comes with all working as one.

 

[ohloutsider]

Walters has instilled a strong sense of TEAM.

Winning comes with all working as one.

When you see the Spits centers behind our net as much as our defenseman you know team defense is a focus this year.

Nice to see Joey getting his confidence back.

The 08 rookies will be fine. They are getting the right amount of ice time now.

Also from what I've heard they like playing for Walters so that would make me assume he has approached this year in a different manner and maybe got the message?

Tough game tonight. Owen Sound will clog up the ice similar to what we saw last night. Any games I've seen of OS this year they never quit playing so Spits need to be ready and hopefully get up early.