Costanzo and Froggett
As the Spitfires zoom in on the start of a training camp that is about three weeks away it is Joey Costanzo and Carter Froggett who are the presumptive front runners in what is a crowded crease of Windsor goalies.
The 6 foot 1, 180 pound Costanzo, who has a 2005 birth date, has already appeared in 98 OHL games — 81 of them with Windsor. He had a good first season in Windsor in ’22-23 when he posted a record of 26-6-0 with a 3.03 goals against average and .901 save percentage. But as Windsor toppled from top spot in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League in ’22-23 all the way to the bottom in ’23-24, Costanzo also went in reverse with a record of 10-23-3, 5.09 goals against average and .855 save percentage. (The Spitfires had acquired the former second round pick of the rag tag Niagara Ice Dogs at the 2021 OHL priority selections draft just ahead of the ’22-23 season.)
While Costanzo struggled mightily in ’23-24, Spitfires general manager Billy Bowler has not given up on a goalie who was the first net minder drafted at the 2021 OHL priority selections.
“He has shown that he can be a good goalie in our league,” Bowler relayed to Hockey News North. “We’ll see if he can turn it around this season. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Then there is Froggett, who has a 2006 birth date. A sixth round pick by Windsor at the 2022 OHL priority selections draft, Froggett has since played for the London Jr. Knights of the Under 18 level Hockey Alliance and the London Nationals of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League. He also got into two OHL games with the Spitfires in ’23-24.
Froggett put up good numbers in the GOJHL for London during the ’23-24 season. Regular season and playoffs included for the Nationals, the big goalie fashioned a record of 19-6-0 with a 2.64 goals against average and .913 save percentage.
Froggett, who is listed as 6 foot 3, has a couple of inches height advantage on Costanzo and is known for his athleticism, something that both Bowler and Spitfires’ director of goaltending in charge of scouting and development Bill Dark touched on.
“We like him,” Bowler said of Froggett. “He is big and athletic and he will get his chance with us. Like anything else, we’ll see how it plays out.”
Dark, meanwhile, told Hockey News Windsor that Froggett is “probably the best raw athlete I have ever worked with … and he has really come along over the past few years. I thought he was the best goalie in the GOJHL last season.”
ET AL
Windsor also took a goalie at the 2023 priority selections draft, opting for Gabe Donohue in the 10th round. Donohue has a 2007 birth date.
And the Spitfires took two goalies at the 2024 OHL priority selections draft, getting Chicago native Jake Windbiel in the seventh round before snagging northern Ontario lad Cam Ingram in the 13th. Windbiel — who has since been signed by the Spitfires — and Ingram both have 2008 birth dates. Then, at the subsequent 2024 OHL supplemental draft, Windsor added yet another goalie when it made Michael Newlove the first overall pick. Newlove has a 2007 birth date.
To be sure, in addition to Costanzo and Froggett, the Spitfires have assembled a plethora of puck stoppers for aforementioned director of goaltending Bill Dark and recently hired goalie coach Stan Matwijiw to choose from as part of Windsor’s present and future net plan.