Worst to first for Spitfires?
Back in the ’89-90 season, the Soo Greyhounds missed the Ontario Hockey League playoffs with a record of 18-42-6. A year later, in ’90-91, they rebounded with a 42-21-3 record en route to winning the OHL championship. Windsor Spitfires missed the OHL playoffs in ’23-24 with a record of 18-42-8. Can the Spitfires of ’24-25 perform a turnaround similar to the Greyhounds of ’90-91?
Windsor general manager Billy Bowler isn’t predicting any such reversal for the Spitfires from ’23-24 to ’24-25. But, in an impromptu sit down with Hockey News Windsor during this off season, Bowler more than hinted that he sees major improvement ahead for the Spitfires in ’24-25. In fact, he openly mused how it “might be possible” to go from last place in the Western Conference in ’23-24 to first place in ’24-25. “Who knows? We’ll see,” he said, in answering his own question.
A rather astute person, the soon to be 50-year old Bowler showed his smarts as a skilled centre for the Spitfires over a four year OHL playing career. An afterthought as a 13th round pick by Windsor at the 1991 OHL draft, Bowler would develop to the extent that he would finish his playing career as the franchise’s all time points leader with 467, including 149 goals and 318 assists.
Decades later, Bowler has showed the same type of relentless approach and intelligence as the team’s GM. In four full seasons as the GM in Windsor, Bowler’s Spitfire teams reeled off successive records of 34-20-8, 44-17-7 and 44-18-6 — which two included two first place finishes in the Western Conference — before last season’s fall off to 18-42-8.
Looking ahead to the looming ’24-25 OHL season, there is reason to believe that Bowler has the Spitfires positioned to begin an ascent back up the standings of the Western Conference. And it can only help that Windsor has a new head coach in Greg Walters, who never had a losing record in four prior seasons as an OHL bench boss — two with the Oshawa Generals and two more with the Owen Sound Attack.
For starters, Windsor already has its three overage (2004 birth year) players in place ahead of the ’24-25 season. With two of the overage spots already taken by holdover forwards Ryan Abraham and Noah Morneau, Bowler during this off season addressed a need to add more experience to the Windsor blue line. And the Spitfires’ GM not only did that by obtaining defenseman Tnias Mathurin from the North Bay Battalion for future draft picks but he solidified the third overage position in fine fashion.
Abraham. Morneau. Mathurin. A tried, tested and true trio of 2004 birth year skaters that are poised to help the Spitfires ascend from their last place finish of ’23-24 to an elevated Western Conference position in ’24-25. Interestingly, Abraham and Morneau are bookends from the Spitfires priority selections draft class of 2020. Abraham was a first round pick, 14th overall. Morneau, meanwhile, went 294th overall in the 15th and final round.
The 5 foot 8, 170 pound Abraham was second on the Spitfire scoring slate in ’23-24 with 31 goals, 35 assists, 66 points in 64 games. Hailing from the Detroit suburb of Livonia, the former first round pick has played in 182 career games — regular season and playoffs included — for Windsor and has totalled 162 points while becoming an all around dependable player.
As for the 6 foot, 170 pound Morneau who is a local product, he has exceeded any and all expectations for a player taken in the 15th round of the 2020 OHL draft from the Under 16 Windsor Jr. Spitfires of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario.
After spending the ’21-22 season with the LaSalle Vipers of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League — the Spitfires’ affiliate team — and clicking for 16 goals, 29 assists, 45 points in 39 games, Morneau has since taken his game to the OHL level and a player worthy of a coveted overage spot.
Following a ’22-23 rookie season in the OHL in which he netted seven goals, 18 assists, 25 points in 65 games, Morneau upped those numbers to 13-21-34 in ’23-24. Already known for his defensive skills, Morneau was also one of the Spitfires better offensive producers over the final quarter of the ’23-24 campaign.
Bowler, as the Spitfires GM, told Hockey News Windsor that Morneau “exemplifies what it is to be a Spitfire. Not only is he a great kid but he is a great ambassador for our program and for his hometown of Windsor.”
Over to the 6 foot 3, 190 pound Mathurin who is now a Spitfire by way of North Bay, he was a third round pick of the Battalion at the 2020 OHL priority selections draft. He was then chosen by the Detroit Red Wings in the fifth round of the 2022 National Hockey League draft. Mathurin, who did not sign with Detroit, will instead attend the main NHL camp of the Chicago Blackhawks in September. The book on Mathurin is that he is a smooth skater with size and presence and with the character to be a perfect fit in Windsor for the Spitfires and aforementioned new head coach Greg Walters.
As of now, the Spitfires have six defensemen with OHL experience, albeit some with more than others. Besides Mathurin and his 2004 birth date, there are Tanner Winegard and Josef Eichler who were both born in 2005, and a troika with 2006 birth dates — Anthony Cristoforo, Conor Walton and Carson Woodall.
Meanwhile, five players from the Spitfires’ priority selections draft class of 2022 have already established themselves as bona fide OHL performers with more expected this season and next. Windsor’s first four picks from the ’22 draft have all developed into top players with 2006 birth dates. They are first rounder Anthony Cristoforo, second rounder Liam Greentree, third rounder A.J. Spellacy and fourth rounder Cole Davis — along with 10th round steal Carson Woodall.
Cristoforo and Woodall are defensemen while Greentree, Spellacy and Davis are all forwards. Greentree (first round, Los Angeles Kings) and Spellacy (third round, Chicago Blackhawks) were both selected at this year’s 2024 National Hockey League draft as was the Spitfires incoming import draft pick Ilya Protas, who went in the third round to the Washington Capitals.
Cristoforo and Woodall are regulars on the Windsor defense with offensive sides to them. In 134 games over two seasons, Cristoforo has put up 14 goals, 67 assists, 81 points. Meanwhile, as a rookie in ’23-24, Woodall wound up for six goals, 23 assists, 29 points in 57 games.
Meantime, Greentree has become one of the youngest captains in the Spitfires’ OHL history. And his numbers through two full OHL seasons to date define productivity, particularly the ’23-24 campaign.
Greentree led the Spitfires in scoring during the ’23-24 season while Davis was third and Spellacy was fourth. And Greentree (36 goals, 54 assists, 90 points), Davis (20-21-41) and Spellacy (21-17-38) can rightfully be expected to elevate their respective games even further in ’24-25.
As well , there is a sixth player from the ’22 draft who the Spitfires have signed, namely goalie Carter Froggett. Froggett, who apprenticed in two games for Windsor in ’23-24 while standing tall for the London Nationals of the Greater Ontario Jr. Hockey League, is the Spitfires’ presumptive second goalie in ’24-25 alongside holdover veteran Joey Costanzo.
About that goaltending that holds its own key to any success in Windsor in ’24-25.
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 OHL 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, Bowler as the Spitfires’ GM 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 Windsor. “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. He 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.”
All in all, it is set up to be a season of turnaround for the Spitfires in ’24-25. Can they possibly do what the Greyhounds of ’90-91 did in going from outhouse to penthouse in the space of a single season? Hmmmm.