Starting Off With a Bang!

Photo sourced from Getty Images.

On Sept. 25, the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season kicked off with a thriller game.

The underdog Windsor Spitfires faced off against the CHL’s reigning Memorial Cup champions, the Saginaw Spirit. The Spirit celebrated their championship Wednesday night by raising their banners to the rafters for winning the West Division of the OHL and the CHL’s most prized possession, the Memorial Cup. This game between the OHL’s last two Memorial Cup champions consisted of many penalty minutes and high-flying offence.  

Noah Morneau of the Windsor Spitfires opened, scoring early in the game to make it one-nothing Windsor. The lead didn’t last long as Michael Misa, a player labelled exceptional status by Hockey Canada, scored to tie the game on the power play. The goal was almost immediately considered controversial as Joey Willis of the Saginaw Spirit slid into Spits defenceman Anthony Cristoforo, taking Cristoforo out of the play and forcing the assist on the Misa goal.

Not long after, Misa capitalized on another beautiful scoring chance, making the game two-to-one Saginaw. The game would continue to play leapfrog as Cole Davis of the Windsor Spitfires struck on the power play with a diving effort, putting the game back at square one to finish off the first period. Rookie Jean-Cristoph (JC) Lemieux got his first OHL point in the first period, making him the first Spitfire and OHL rookie to do so. 

The second period continued to put on a show as Windsor’s veteran and overage player Ryan Abraham slapped one home on the power play to regain the Spitfires’ lead, making it three-to-two Windsor. Like last time, the lead did not last long. 38 seconds after Abraham’s power play goal, Saginaw’s Will Bishop went on to score the game-tying goal to immediately shift the tone once again. Windsor wouldn’t go down without a fight, though. A sweet set play from the OHL’s 2024 first overall pick, Ethan Belchetz, found its way to Cristoforo to regain the lead again, making it four-to-three Windsor. This play would not only finish the period but would also give Belchetz the honour of the OHL’s first play of the night in the 2024 – 25’ season. 

The third period looked more defensive than the others, but would also turn out to be Saginaw’s best period. Around six minutes into the period, the Saginaw Spirit would capitalize on the power play once again with a goal from Jacob Cloutier, tying the game at four. The momentum would swing heavily to Saginaw, but Windsor was able to hang on defensively and keep chances minimal. Windsor would get multiple good looks on the power play, but Saginaw’s goaltender, Andrew Oke, would stand on his head to prevent chance after chance. This stalemate would end regulation time with a tie game, leading into overtime. 

The three-on-three overtime would not last long, but for the fans, minutes felt like hours. Saginaw gained possession early in the overtime period, but with the efforts of Joey Costanzo and the Spitfires defence, they were able to keep the puck out of their net. Ultimately, a faceoff in the Spitfires zone would lead to the winning play. Jack Nesbitt chased the puck into the corner of the offensive zone. Nesbitt centred the puck to Tnias Mathurin, causing a scrambl-y play in front of Oke. Oke attempted to cover the puck, but it slipped to Nesbitt, who ended up netting the game winning goal, spoiling Saginaw’s celebration with a five-to-four overtime win. With the effort of the Spitfires’ offence and the backing of Costanzo’s 29 saves, the Spitfires ended up victorious, gaining their first regular season win since Feb. 23 of last OHL season.