Windsor Spitfires 2024 25 Season Thread Part Iv

Solid first, can't complain with what Ive seen thru one period. Hope to see it continue for the next 40 minutes, would be nice to pot a couple more goals early In this second and put some more insurance on this current lead.

Happy the refs our letting the boys play, couple of penalties they closed their eyes for on both sides but will see if that continues the rest of this game or if they pull the whistle out more the rest of this game.

Strong start to the second needed.
Let's get er done!!,
Go Spits!!!
 
Cristoforo pissed me off when he came from the opposite side of the ice to take the puck from rookie Robinson then proceeds to flip it over the glass with zero pressure and the Soo scored on the PP, Robinson was benched for the rest of the game after that even though it was all Cristoforo
We also gave up a breakaway on that PK. Dumb penalty, he flicked the puck because he was afraid he’d get hit. But we also can’t be giving up breakaways on the PK.

I hope our guys can safely take hits. I was worried about Protas knee early. Would’ve been had he absorbed the hit, tried to get out of the way and they caught his leg
 
However, I’m happy with the result. Joey looked solid in his slight testing. That first goal can’t happen down the line, but no sweat here. At least he saw it, had he been back 6 inches, would’ve fluttered over. And No fault on the breakaway.

All dressed forwards besides Gaymes and Costello registered a point. Add in Woodall with a goal, Christoforo with an assist, great production all around.

Lalonde played a solid game for the Soo. Thought they were well coached. Wise timeout after the first two, settled it down, and the goalie pull early was needed for them to have a chance that late.

Glad to have playoff hockey back in Windsor.

Before tonight, only McNamara, Kennedy and Abraham have won a OHL playoff game, Abraham the only with Windsor.

Costello, Spellacy, Protas, Gaymes, Nesbitt, Eichler, all played their first OHL Playoff game tonight and of course Garden, Robinson, Hicks. Half our roster.

Excited for Game 2. Wonder if Froggett gets a start this series? Or if he’s the true ‘back up when needed’ role.

Side Note: what hell happened in Saginaw’s 2nd Period?
 
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However, I’m happy with the result. Joey looked solid in his slight testing. That first goal can’t happen down the line, but no sweat here. At least he saw it, had he been back 6 inches, would’ve fluttered over. And No fault on the breakaway.

All dressed forwards besides Gaymes and Costello registered a point. Add in Woodall with a goal, Christoforo with an assist, great production all around.

Lalonde played a solid game for the Soo. Thought they were well coached. Wise timeout after the first two, settled it down, and the goalie pull early was needed for them to have a chance that late.

Glad to have playoff hockey back in Windsor.

Before tonight, only McNamara, Kennedy and Abraham have won a OHL playoff game, Abraham the only with Windsor.

Costello, Spellacy, Protas, Gaymes, Nesbitt, Eichler, all played their first OHL Playoff game tonight and of course Garden, Robinson, Hicks. Half our roster.

Excited for Game 2. Wonder if Froggett gets a start this series? Or if he’s the true ‘back up when needed’ role.

Side Note: what hell happened in Saginaw’s 2nd Period?
Was Spellacy injured for the playoffs 2 years aho?
 
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Obviously a solid win. 1st goal was a bit shaky on Constanzo but he was solid for the most part. The defense was outstanding, keeping the SOO to only 16 shots.

This game was more physical than I expected. Eichler was throwing the body, he is greatly improved. Cristo made some great shot blocks. Noticed they blocked a ton of shots.

A few injury scares with Abraham and Protas. Both only missed a shift or so. They seemed to really be targeting Protas physically. If that continues might be time to send a message at some point? Speaking of Protas, he now has 28 points in his past 8 games!

Nice touch with the red banners around the rink and the new red lights in the corridor leading up to the seats. I think the big thing here is not to get complacent. Won this one in a blowout, but can't expect just to show up and record another blowout, need to play with the same intensity. If they play with that determination for 60 minutes this will be a quick series.
 
I was very impressed with Hicks tonight. He just gets better and better. He does not look like a 16yo rookie. He is anything but soft and rarely gets caught out of position. He delivered some solid checks tonight, stood up for a teammate and pulled McNamara out of getting himself a stupid penalty near the end of the game. Definately will be wearing a letter in the future. Could be Greentree's successor as Captain
 
I was very impressed with Hicks tonight. He just gets better and better. He does not look like a 16yo rookie. He is anything but soft and rarely gets caught out of position. He delivered some solid checks tonight, stood up for a teammate and pulled McNamara out of getting himself a stupid penalty near the end of the game. Definately will be wearing a letter in the future. Could be Greentree's successor as Captain
Agreed with Hicks. Also got stapled to the boards, got up and played on. Seems like a hrs worker on the ice and has great speed and even a bit of offensive potential because of it.

Honestly, he seems better every game. He’s got physicality, hockey IQ, great awareness, some offensive upside, good speed. Lots of those little things, are all adding up really early on in his OHL career.

If Mathurin returns, I think we keep 11/7, because I can’t justify Hicks sitting out for Gaymes/Costello/Winegard. Maybe it was just a couple shifts with heavy forechecking or special teams, or was Hicks playing some extra minutes up front minutes the last couple games?
 
A few thoughts...

- I loved the energy from the crowd. The canadian flag was a nice touch!
- A couple of early goals really did wonders for the energy. The third goal kind of sealed it a bit.
- You can't have that first goal against. The windmill save, misses, and it goes behind you? Nope. Joey's gotta be smarter than that.
- The second goal against was just getting behind the D, who were both on the glove wing. Odd-man rush and this happens.
- 10 points for the top line, but all three lines contributed. Protas makes the game look so easy. Greentree could have had a couple of more goals if it wasn't for Lalonde making major stops.
- Lalonde kept it from being 10-2.
- Morneau... still shocked he was a 15th rounder. I'm sad he's gone after this season; he could have had 40 next year. Great kid, too, real character.
- A physical affair, plenty of hits on both sides. Everyone got into the act, which was nice to see.
- Glad Abraham's not hurt, took a bad fall along the boards, looked like his knee buckled under him a bit. Limped off but, fortunately, returned.
- I appreciated Hicks pulling McNamara back during a scrum. Mc wanted to go someone but Hicks knew better. Hicks is going to be a leader some day, maybe once Greentree is gone. The kid shows good potential there.
- As for the Cristoforo penalty - stupid move, didn't need to happen, don't think it was on purpose. Looked like he wanted to bank it off the boards to help Robinson out but, clearly, missed. Life happens.
- I wasn't a big fan of the officiating. It felt like they were letting everything go in the first, no matter what, but then started calling everything in the second. It was bad both ways. You shouldn't notice the officials and fans were all over them. It just didn't make sense.

- I AM curious about one thing - are officials supposed to blow the play dead if a goaltender loses that much equipment? Costanzo's glove and stick were several feet from his net, the official watched, and nothing happened. Is there an OHL rule about that?

- Looks like ticket sales are going well for Saturday. Could see another 6k+ crowd.
 
Pleased for sure. The targeting of Protus is concerning, might need to be addressed. Joey was ok, but that first one…. Refs were very frustrating. Felt like a playoff game. Hearing Belch might need surgery, done for the season.
 
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A few thoughts...

- I loved the energy from the crowd. The canadian flag was a nice touch!
- A couple of early goals really did wonders for the energy. The third goal kind of sealed it a bit.
- You can't have that first goal against. The windmill save, misses, and it goes behind you? Nope. Joey's gotta be smarter than that.
- The second goal against was just getting behind the D, who were both on the glove wing. Odd-man rush and this happens.
- 10 points for the top line, but all three lines contributed. Protas makes the game look so easy. Greentree could have had a couple of more goals if it wasn't for Lalonde making major stops.
- Lalonde kept it from being 10-2.
- Morneau... still shocked he was a 15th rounder. I'm sad he's gone after this season; he could have had 40 next year. Great kid, too, real character.
- A physical affair, plenty of hits on both sides. Everyone got into the act, which was nice to see.
- Glad Abraham's not hurt, took a bad fall along the boards, looked like his knee buckled under him a bit. Limped off but, fortunately, returned.
- I appreciated Hicks pulling McNamara back during a scrum. Mc wanted to go someone but Hicks knew better. Hicks is going to be a leader some day, maybe once Greentree is gone. The kid shows good potential there.
- As for the Cristoforo penalty - stupid move, didn't need to happen, don't think it was on purpose. Looked like he wanted to bank it off the boards to help Robinson out but, clearly, missed. Life happens.
- I wasn't a big fan of the officiating. It felt like they were letting everything go in the first, no matter what, but then started calling everything in the second. It was bad both ways. You shouldn't notice the officials and fans were all over them. It just didn't make sense.

- I AM curious about one thing - are officials supposed to blow the play dead if a goaltender loses that much equipment? Costanzo's glove and stick were several feet from his net, the official watched, and nothing happened. Is there an OHL rule about that?

- Looks like ticket sales are going well for Saturday. Could see another 6k+ crowd.
 

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Solid effort by most last night,by far the better team,great to get scoring from all 3 lines,1 bad goal allowed by Costanzo not severely tested only faced 16 shots all night,Protas and Greentree pretty unstoppable during most of the night,physical game,keep up the good work no foot off the pedal,no taking things for granted moving forward, do wish guys like Winegard and Belchetz would have played in this one.
On to game 2,Go Spits Go.
 
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Windsor with a solid win.
Scoring from the usual players.
Decent crowd.
Joey played average.
Only reason soo was close for awhile was their goalie.
Lots of pinching. Needs to be reigned in a lot.
 
Was at the game and was wondering why the Spitfire trainer running the forward bench door kept grabbing our players and pushing them back on the bench after chirping the other teams players bench. Emotions are high and i wouldnt think its the trainers job to keep peace.
 
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Joey actually had to put his hand behind his back like a catcher when his stick and blocker was knocked off. While the ref just let play continue. That was another injury waiting to happen.

This is what I was trying to figure out. If the helmet comes off, it's almost always blown down immediately. No glove, they wait? I wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen or the officials were being weird.
 
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