with seven players away at nhl camps, spitfires will have chance to sort out roster
the windsor spitfires are ready to shift gears. the clu...
sep 9 2024
3 minute read
windsor spitfires' goalie carter froggett makes an acrobatic stop to turn away a scoring chance by flint firebirds' forward cole zurawski during sunday's exhibition at flint iceland arena. (photo courtesy - natalie shaver/ohl images)
win
the windsor spitfires are ready to shift gears.
the club opened exhibition play with back-to-back wins. sunday’s 7-2 road win over the flint firebirds followed a 6-3 win over the sarnia sting at the wfcu centre on friday.
while the spitfires have 31 players still on the roster, but the club has seven headed out to nhl camps.
liam greentree and cole davis are off to camp with the los angeles kings, a.j. spellacy and tnias mathurin with the chicago blackhawks, conor walton with the columbus blue jackets, anthony cristoforo with the ottawa senators and ilya protas with the washington capitals.
“the seven guys are very, very important to our team,” spitfires’ head coach greg walters said.
but in his first season with the spitfires, walters was happy to see some of the foundational pillars of his system fall into place before players left.
“we focus on three things here at camp,” walters said. “our (defensive) zone, our breakouts and our tracking and rush coverage.”
while the games don’t matter at this point, the results were a positive for a team that allowed the most goals in the league last season.
“that’s why it was so important to get our structure in,” walters said of preparing for seven key players heading out. “it’s just hammering it home for them because we might not see those seven guys until two days before our first game in saginaw.
advertisement
advertisement
“so, it’s very important we hit the most important thing so, when they come back, what it’s going to take to play here.”
the spitfires have eight days off before the club plays its next exhibition game and that will give walters and general manager bill bowler a chance to evaluate players looking to secure a roster spot.
“it’s great for the guys on the bubble and those still trying to make the team,” walters said. “their practices are so important. they’re still trying to fight to find a spot on this team.
“we’re just trying to find the 23-25 best players for the team. we’ll just keep hammering stuff home.”
veteran joey costanzo has yet to play a minute in goal thus far with carter froggett making 27 saves in sunday’s win. rookies michael newlove and jake windbiel split time in friday’s win.
offence hasn’t been a problem in either game. overager noah morneau had two goals and two assists on sunday while rookie ethan garden finished with a goal and four points. owen outwater, jack nesbitt, ethan martin and first-overall pick ethan belchetz added single goals.
protas had three goals in his debut on friday with cole davis, belchetz and second-round pick j.c. lemieux adding single goals.
“we’re going to be missing bodies, but all these players have played for us or we envision them playing for us,” bowler said. “so, we want to make sure they get an exhibition game in and they’ll sort themselves.
advertisement
advertisement
“we’ve tried to sign players and create depth, so i have no problem with having lots of capable ohl players (still in camp). the players always determine how this will look on game days. there’s no exact roster. there’s nothing in my head for a (roster) number. we know we have to shorten the roster. there’s a lot going on still and we just have to wait and see. that’s why we have five exhibition games to put together a hockey team.”
jpparker@postmedia.com
twitter.com/winstarparker
share story
