Windsor Spitfires Season Recap

The Windsor Spitfires of the OHL saw their season end early Thursday night when the London Knights completed the series sweep with a 8-3 win. The Spitfires were in rebuilding mode all season and were not expected to win the series, but the first three games had been closer in score. London, ranked second best among the 60 teams of the CHL, dominated the Spits all night and at points appeared Globetrotter like with their passes and speed. Spitfire coach Bob Boughner summed the game up best when he said "We lost to a better team". 


With the recent success the Spitfires have had; two Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010 as well as a third round finish last year, the team was due to have a rebuilding year. With so many star players moving to the NHL, including Zack Kassian, Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique, the team was filled mostly with young and inexperienced kids. Many people didn't expect the Spits to make the playoffs this season, which Bob Boughner also addressed during his post game interview. "I congratulated them and thanked them for giving me their all; and emptying their tanks to get into the playoffs" he said, "I think that was important and a huge goal of ours". 


The Spitfires did play very hard in the final month in order to secure a playoff spot.  "A lot of people wrote us off at the trade deadline" Boughner told reporters. And rightfully so. The young players were forced to take a bigger role on the team after the trade deadline when Craig Duininck, Jack Campbell, Tom Kuhnhackl and Adrian Robbinson were all traded away for draft picks and prospects. But they responded well and in the end beat Jack Campbell and his new team, the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds out of the playoffs. The final three weeks were also a struggle when star player Alex Khokhlachev went down with a kidney injury which will see him miss a few months of hockey. This big hole in the line up couldn't be filled by Zack MacQueen and Brady Vail. After the game Vail told the press "I thought we fought hard, but the bounces didn't go our way". 


Vail and a few other of his team mates now have the NHL draft on June 22-23 in Pittsburgh to look forward to. Nick Ebert, Mike Clarke, Brandon Devlin, Chris Marchese, Ty Bilcke, Ben Johnson and Jaroslav Pavelka all have been ranked by the NHL Central Scouting Agency and could be taken in June. If all of these players are drafted and get to spend some time in NHL rookie camps, they should be back next season in the best shape of their lives. Regarding his own summer all Vail had to say was "You have to let your body rest, but we got five months here to kick it into gear". Boughner continued that by saying, "These guys have got a ton of work to do in the off season. In the next couple days we will give each player strict programs and we will be running some camps during the summer to get them ready". 


Moving forward the Spitfires have a solid core of players that should one day return them to championship form. Boughner said, "not only will the players have work to do this summer, we as management will too". According to Boughner, they are going to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in the next few days and get ready for the OHL draft where they are expected to pick in one of the top ten spots. "We need to have a good draft" added Boughner. From there they are looking to acquire a couple more talented players to surround the core of Vail, Kerby Rychel, Nick Ebert and Adam Bateman. This addition may not require them to make any trades. A young player expected to go in the first round of the NHL draft this summer is Phillip Di Giuseppe of the University of Michigan. The Spitfires acquired his OHL rights in the trade for Tom Kuhnhackl and if he decides to come to the team, he would be a major offensive addition on the top line. The Spitfires appear poised to have a better season next year, and though it won't be until September until they play again, the Spits fans have a lot to be excited about.


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