Windsor Spitfires 2024-25 Season Thread, Part II

tomschman

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Oct 29, 2015
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The issue with going for it in 2026-27 is you're going to lose significant talent before then. This summer, they lose (right now) Abraham, Mathurin, Morneau, likely Outwater (if not healthy), definitely Winegard, maybe Protas, and maybe Martin. The summer after, you could see Greentree, Spellacy, definitely Protas, and maybe even Belchetz added to that list. That's when you start the rebuild. I'm all for making a small run this season, aiming for 2nd or 3rd round and getting the players some experience, then going all-in next season.
Every team will lose their OAs. I don't consider that a significant loss since every team has to replace their OAs. Protas would be a huge loss. As far as Outwater, Winegard and Martin, they are marginal OA at best. Eicher will also be gone, and you can probably add Froggett.

Assuming Protas is back, the Spits will have 9F, 5D and 1G. I would see on next year's team, Brocklehurst, Windbiel, a 1st and 2nd round picks plus a Euro pick. I feel that there may be another player or 2 that in the system that could make the team. They also a have valuable trade chip in Newlove if he continues to excel at Georgetown, plus he is on Central Scouting's radar. Manzo and a pick or two may bring in a solid OA D.

Scout the USHL and BCHL for possible FAs. On that note, Andrew Robinson is an intriguing case. 3rd round pick of the Spits and committed to Providence College. Providence might be interested in waiting 2 years as he gains experience with the Spits. With the new NCAA rules, nobody knows what will happen. The only thing for sure is that London will figure it out and get the maximum benefit from it.
 

spits

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Right, forgive me if I'm not writing the obituary for the London Knights 25-26 season.
Not saying they're gonna be a bad team but there is no denying they won't be nearly as good as this season.

They just dealt Jenken for Allen, so another player who won't be returning next season. Could be looking at 11 players gone from their roster.

I am stating this because a poster, (whose opinion I respect) said not to go for it next year because of the Knights. I am just pointing out they are losing a ridiculous amount of talent and it could be a 'reshuffling' year for them. Next year has to be the year the Spits go for it.

Regarding my earlier post re. trades. The difference between dealing Nesbitt this year for Luchanko or next year for Sennecke would be you could deal your '09 1st round pick + picks for Sennecke next season instead of Nesbitt. This year they obviously can't deal their '08 1st round pick.
 

spitsfan24

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Haven't posted here in a bit, but I have watched every game this year (with the exception of the game in Guelph that Froggett started, I guess I didn't miss much).

Just to throw some thoughts out there on recent topics, I don't think I'd even consider moving Nesbitt. I've liked his chemistry with Belchetz all season, and he's clearly developing this season. Even if Luchanko was the return, I still wouldn't feel good about it, especially since there's no guarantee that Jett is back with us next year.

I'm surprised that Bowler seems to be a finalist for Konnor Smith. Don't get me wrong, he's exactly what this team needs in terms of skillset, but I just don't love the idea of spending too big on what amounts to a rental this season. With Brampton being the other team zeroed in on him, I'd imagine he won't come cheap considering the draft ammo that Brampton possesses.

I've been thrilled with Cristoforo's progress this year. I do understand the concerns that some have regarding the offensive nature of our blueline, but quite simply, I think it becomes significantly worse without Cristoforo. I've seen some question his compete level, and I don't see that at all. To add to that, I think Woodall played his best game as a Spitfire last Saturday against London. He genuinely might have been the best player on the ice that night. He was everywhere. Both have a place on this team in my opinion.

Personally, I think if Smith is brought in, that signals it's a go-for-it year. We can argue about how smart that is all day with London's wagon looming over us, but that's what that move would tell me. It also creates a ripple effect. Smith coming in means Abraham has to go, leaving a potential hole at forward. If Smith is in the lineup and we're trying to compete with London, I feel you have to think long and hard about upgrading the other import spot. Perhaps someone like Nordh from the Soo if that's the direction they choose?

Either way, I'm sure something we can all agree on is that having these types of discussions are a whole lot better than last year's.
 

hockeylegend11

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Prior to any trades this week stats wise I did all 20 teams goals and assists for the D and F.
Here are findings
1st area
All the goals and assists from the D on each team
Here are top 5 teams in the league.
Windsor despite top 2 teams in the league standings and goals for actually finished 11 th overall but 5th in the Western Conference
Windsor - 14G,58A,72Pts.
Top 5 teams
1-London- 30G,79A-109 Pts
2-Saginaw-21G,73A- 94 Pts.
3-Oshawa- 29G,64A-93 Pts
4-Ottawa- 17G,74A- 91 Pts
5-Barrie- 10G,68A- 78 Pts.
 
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hockeylegend11

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2nd area goals and assists from the forwards

1- Windsor- 120G,163A- 283 Pts
2-Niagara- 121G,148A- 269 Pts
3-Saginaw- 116G,152A-268 Pts
4-Kingsto- 114G,149A-263 Pts
5-Brampton-120G,140A- 260Pts

For info purposes
1st place overall London was 7th
102G,134A-236 Pts
Brantford was 6th-101G,144A-245 Pts.
 

hockeylegend11

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3rd and final area points wise F and D combined

1- Saginaw-137G,225A-362 Pts
2-Windsor- 134G,221A-355 Pts
3-Kingston-130G,222A-352 Pts
4-London- 131G,213A-344 Pts
5-Niagara- 133G,209A-342 Pts.
 
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leafs4life94

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Jan 15, 2014
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Prior to any trades this week stats wise I did all 20 teams goals and assists for the D and F.
Here are findings
1st area
All the goals and assists from the D on each team
Here are top 5 teams in the league.
Windsor despite top 2 teams in the league standings and goals for actually finished 11 th overall but 5th in the Western Conference
Windsor - 14G,58A,72Pts.
Top 5 teams
1-London- 30G,79A-109 Pts
2-Saginaw-21G,73A- 94 Pts.
3-Oshawa- 29G,64A-93 Pts
4-Ottawa- 17G,74A- 91 Pts
5-Barrie- 10G,68A- 78 Pts.
It'd be interesting to see based on averages since I think other than Barrie all of these teams have one elite point-producing D carrying most of the weight - Dickinson, Parekh, Marrelli, Mews
 

Cherrydon

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Jan 4, 2019
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Prior to any trades this week stats wise I did all 20 teams goals and assists for the D and F.
Here are findings
1st area
All the goals and assists from the D on each time
Here are top 5 teams in the league.
Windsor despite top 2 teams in the league standings and goals for actually finished 11 th overall but 5th in the Western Conference
Windsor - 14G,58A,72Pts.
Top 5 teams
1-London- 30G,79A-109 Pts
2-Saginaw-21G,73A- 94 Pts.
3-Oshawa- 29G,64A-93 Pts
4-Ottawa- 17G,74A- 91 Pts
5-Barrie- 10G,68A- 78 Pts.
Excellent work!! I mentioned this week that only 1 team in the Western conference had less goals from the D combined than the Spits currently. Crickets. A couple of teams were tied with the Spits at the time. I only tallied goals. This next statement is not directed at you Legend. The thoughts by some who defend and praise the play of our grand offensive, risk taking, untimely play by our core defenseman is worth the risk. The stats don't add up. Dickinson who is special, no doubt has more goals himself than all of our D combined. We have no hard shot from the D. Hicks maybe, Mathurin maybe but they don't see much PP time at all.
 
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hockeylegend11

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Despite the numbers from the D,should note the Spits are 4th in the league on the PP,tied with Oshawa and despite complaints about the D,they are 3rd best in the league on the PK.
Guess it helps to have the 3rd best average goalie in Joey Costanzo, though noting he had an average of 5.09 last year.
 
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Cherrydon

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Despite the numbers from the D,should note the Spits are 4th in the league on the PP,tied with Oshawa and despite complaints about the D,they are 3rd best in the league on the PK.
Guess it helps to have the 3rd best average goalie in Joey Costanzo, though noting he had an average of 5.09 last year.
You are absolutely correct. The potency of our forwards are scary and Joey has been fantastic. Rarely a soft goal this year, and if he does letc a softy he seems to buckle down and hold tight for the team to comeback. Imagine if it was the same Joey as last year? where would we be placed currently?
 
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ohloutsider

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Excellent work!! I mentioned this week that only 1 team in the Western conference had less goals from the D combined than the Spits currently. Crickets. A couple of teams were tied with the Spits at the time. I only tallied goals. This next statement is not directed at you Legend. The thoughts by some who defend and praise the play of our grand offensive, risk taking, untimely play by our core defenseman is worth the risk. The stats don't add up. Dickinson who is special, no doubt has more goals himself than all of our D combined. We have no hard shot from the D. Hicks maybe, Mathurin maybe but they don't see much PP time at all.
Well I'm sure this is directed at me but head back to my posts and tell me where I praised the offensive numbers by the D???!
Reread my posts where I talk about the defensive improvement by our D this year.
Talk about taking something out of context and try to prove your dislike for some of the D.
The reason why Dickinson gets lots of points is he constantly pinches. That is heavily criticised here. You can't belittle a player for doing it and then praise another for doing it? Enough rant for now. Be safe.
 

hockeylegend11

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Sep 11, 2010
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You are absolutely correct. The potency of our forwards are scary and Joey has been fantastic. Rarely a soft goal this year, and if he does letc a softy he seems to buckle down and hold tight for the team to comeback. Imagine if it was the same Joey as last year? where would we be placed currently?
You are correct re Joey,though interestingly he has allowed 4 or more goals in a game 7 times in 26 games played but only 2 at home.
Interestingly he won 1 of the 2 at home.
Also he went in once which happened on the road in London as an injury replacement for Froggett and allowed 4 goals and took the loss as Froggett didn't allow a goal before getting hurt and having to be replaced.
Myself I gave Costanzo a mulligan that night.
 
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Cherrydon

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Well I'm sure this is directed at me but head back to my posts and tell me where I praised the offensive numbers by the D???!
Reread my posts where I talk about the defensive improvement by our D this year.
Talk about taking something out of context and try to prove your dislike for some of the D.
The reason why Dickinson gets lots of points is he constantly pinches. That is heavily criticised here. You can't belittle a player for doing it and then praise another for doing it? Enough rant for now. Be safe.
Honestly my post was not directed at anyone in particular or you directly. My point all along has been there is room for 1 offensive, risk taking D on a team. Currently we have 2 plus Manzo who is neither over offensive nor tough enough to clear the crease. Add in Eichler and 4 too small for playoff hockey D. Eichler tries to play bigger but ends up in taking an unneeded penalty. Mathurin is gone at years end unless traded. That leaves us with Walton as the lone big man. Walton has improved but is still not a 1-2 D.
 
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Cherrydon

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You are correct re Joey,though interestingly he has allowed 4 or more goals in a game 7 times in 26 games played but only 2 at home.
Interestingly he won 1 of the 2 at home.
Also he went in once which happened on the road in London as an injury replacement for Froggett and allowed 4 goals and took the loss as Froggett didn't allow a goal before getting hurt and having to be replaced.
Myself I gave Costanzo a mulligan that night.
Yep Joey is allowed to have an off night here and there. Wasn't mentally prepared or expecting to play that game. Maybe he was in the mindset as we as rest of the team in a pasta or steak comma. Only Belts and Froggett seemed to had it going until last Friday until both were hurt.
 

ohloutsider

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Honestly my post was not directed at anyone in particular or you directly. My point all along has been there is room for 1 offensive, risk taking D on a team. Currently we have 2 plus Manzo who is neither over offensive nor tough enough to clear the crease. Add in Eichler and 4 too small for playoff hockey D. Eichler tries to play bigger but ends up in taking an unneeded penalty. Mathurin is gone at years end unless traded. That leaves us with Walton as the lone big man. Walton has improved but is still not a 1-2 D.
Be patient, defensive ( bigger) help is on its way. Bowler sees what we see so I'm sure it will happen.
I was all in last year at the end of the year to look at offers for Christforo. I now see much improvement. Not interested in moving him or Woodall they are fine and you would have to spend to much to replace them. Maybe in their last year to restock but not now.
Eichler is one that seems stagnant. He is the one that is too small for his role . We need size in that role and it's not him or Winegard. Walton if he could step up would help . Martin plays that role up front . Not against strategic moves and you are likely going to see that.
I'm confident they should win the division and end up in second. But they still need to play the games. Be safe.
 

Cherrydon

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I like our player's and I"m loyal to them individually, but at the end of the day, it is about best chances to win. I ask any Leafs fans on here that if they traded Mathews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Reilly or Detroit fans trade Larkin, Raymond, Seider, Kane to go and win the cup?? Any takers. Me. Leafs 3 coaches now, Detroit will be on 3 coaches soon with the same core. At some point it is the core that needs changing. The GM has to take responsibility eventually. Just my opinion. I truly believe our 06 core needs a major shake up on the back end to set up next year.
 
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rve24

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The reason why Dickinson gets lots of points is he constantly pinches. That is heavily criticised here. You can't belittle a player for doing it and then praise another for doing it? Enough rant for now. Be safe.
I'd say constantly jumps in the play on rushes or leads the rush as opposed to just "pinching". LK system encourages D to be part of a 5 player Nuetralzone/OZone attack and many of the D ( over the last 10 years) often end up under the hash marks be it pn a PP, a rush, a cycle....a style they started after Chicago was successful activating their D during their successful years. They've done it for years and yes some get more rope than others but all are encouraged to support the Fs in the O zone or in the nuetral zone on rushes. Works well when the 5 skaters support each other. If they don't that's when odd number rushes against can happen obviously. If the team as a whole in Windsor is in sync and supporting the offensive ad in activating it's no big issue. ( no idea if they are here)
Not sure how many of his goals/points are a result of "pinching" as opposed to cycling in a system, blasting away from the point on a PP or leading supporting a rush but it would be interesting to see.

Windsor is winning games. So someone is doing something well often enough :) But we all know the 2nd half of a season presents different challenges. Spits set up very well thou. Well done.
 
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OHLTG

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Be patient, defensive ( bigger) help is on its way. Bowler sees what we see so I'm sure it will happen.

If there's one thing I've learned over the last few seasons it's that Bowler might be quiet, but he's watching. I've finally gotten used to it.
Eichler is one that seems stagnant. He is the one that is too small for his role . We need size in that role and it's not him or Winegard. Walton if he could step up would help .

Eichler tries but he's still a bit too undisciplined. I like his game, I just wish he'd time things better. Abraham has done much better this season in that same situation. Walton has done better, too, but not to the point where we go "okay, we're set. Next..."
I ask any Leafs fans on here

I've been pro "fix the core" for a couple of seasons now. It's not the Leafs' board but something has to change because doing great in the regular season has become too "okay, now what?" It feels like a borderline 82-game preseason.
The reason why Dickinson gets lots of points is he constantly pinches. That is heavily criticised here. You can't belittle a player for doing it and then praise another for doing it?

I'll use Cristofo here as an example because he pinches the most... Ive lost count to how many times Cristoforo pinches, I hear "stay on D!", but when literally any other D pinches, people support or go silent. You can't have it both ways, unless you just want to hate Cristoforo... then say that. That said, Cristo has the speed to get back and, more times than not, he's back there defending. You don't improve 70+ points without it.

For whatever it's worth, I'm 100% on the "get us a big, physical D" wagon. If it doesn't happen tomorrow, we see Santa, family, friends, chill a bit, then onto the chaotic two-weeks of pre-deadline weeks.
 

ohloutsider

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I'd say constantly jumps in the play on rushes or leads the rush as opposed to just "pinching". LK system encourages D to be part of a 5 player Nuetralzone/OZone attack and many of the D ( over the last 10 years) often end up under the hash marks be it pn a PP, a rush, a cycle....a style they started after Chicago was successful activating their D during their successful years. They've done it for years and yes some get more rope than others but all are encouraged to support the Fs in the O zone or in the nuetral zone on rushes. Works well when the 5 skaters support each other. If they don't that's when odd number rushes against can happen obviously. If the team as a whole in Windsor is in sync and supporting the offensive ad in activating it's no big issue. ( no idea if they are here)
Not sure how many of his goals/points are a result of "pinching" as opposed to cycling in a system, blasting away from the point on a PP or leading supporting a rush but it would be interesting to see.

Windsor is winning games. So someone is doing something well often enough :) But we all know the 2nd half of a season presents different challenges. Spits set up very well thou. Well done.
Pinching is being used as a generic term because that is what all us old guys call it, lol.
 
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