Spitfires win with new players

By Angelica Haggert

New player Cody Morgan, acquired early last week, scored his first goal as a Spitfire on their Eastern Ontario road trip on the weekend.

Morgan is not the only new player on the roster for the Spitfires. It has been a busy few weeks of games and player trades.

General Manager Warran Rychel considers this to a be a “rebuilding” season for the Spitfires.

“This deal [Morgan] helps put us on track to focus on developing young players and to be strong year after year,” said Rychel.

Forward Logan Brown and defenceman Austin McEneny were traded to the Kitchener Rangers on Jan. 7. In return, the Spits gained Grayson Ladd, a defenceman from Chatham who was Kitchener’s first-round pick in 2017. On Jan. 2, defenceman Zach Shankar was traded from the Niagara IceDogs.

“As great as last year’s Memorial Cup title was, it’s time to move forward,” said Rychel.

After three games on the road, the Windsor Spitfires are coming home undefeated.

The sweep gave goalie Michael DiPietro his 20th win of the season. Daniel D’Amico scored the game-winning goal on Sunday against the Ottawa 67s. The overtime goal brought the score to 4-3 for the comeback win.

The beginning of the Eastern Ontario road trip held a 2-1 win over the Peterborough Petes, with Jake Smith scoring the game-winner and DiPietro’s 32 saves. 

Friday evening the Spits took on the Kingston Frontenacs, where Morgan scored the final goal against his old team.

 

The Spitfires currently sit 22-13 for the season. Their next game is Jan. 11 against the Sarnia Sting.