What’s wrong with Windsor?

By Kenton Wolfe
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
With 14 games remaining in the OHL regular season, the Windsor Spitfires sit seven points behind the Saginaw Spirit – and more importantly, a playoff spot.
Emerging from the trade deadline Jan. 10, the Spits were surrounded by sanguinity. Returning from Russia on a white steed was Alexander Khokhlachev, the diminutive centreman who was supposedly the answer to the offensive woes of the Spitfires. Struggling core-pieces Michael Clark and captain Saverio Posa were shipped out and replaced with the likes of Alex Aleardi and Remy Giftopoulos.
Soon after however, the optimists disappeared and the Spitfires are left with a mediocre 9-7 record since the deadline. The cheers have been replaced with boos, the capacity crowds begin to empty out with a dozen minutes remaining in the third period and the health of the roster continues to dwindle.
Not only is it a recurring event, it has become a habit for the Spits to dress much less than the regular 20-man roster. Stars Brady Vail and Kerby Rychel regularly play upwards of 30 minutes a night. Despite being rare bright spots on a roster that hasn’t seen enough, it has become more and more apparent that the duo is losing steam and burning out.
Perhaps the most perplexing part of their personnel issue is the misuse of Joshua Ho-Sang, who continues to see his ice time shrink. Not only is Ho-Sang used sparingly on the power play, he is not playing in the top-six forward group. With the number of injuries the Spitfires face it is not only unusual but utterly bewildering how they’ve treated Ho-Sang. As a player who may eventually be selected first overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft he fills a niche the Spits have lacked since the departure of Taylor Hall in 2010. You would think head coach Bob Boughner would be giving Ho-Sang every chance to prove himself.
The easiest way to justify their lackluster play is the same thing that seems to plague every struggling team – injuries. The list of players put in the infirmary every game day continues to grow – Slater Koekkoek, Patrick Sieloff, Ty Bilcke, Chris Marchese and most recently Aleardi. Key contributors continue to drop like flies and the Spitfires don’t possess the reserve list needed to replace the mounting crowd.
How the Spits close the season will be up to them. Should the group band together and answer the rallying cry of their fans, it will be in no small part due to a combination of spectacular play from their stars. If this team is the same one that hopes to compete in the Memorial Cup next season, improvement will be needed on all fronts.
That’s what’s wrong with Windsor.
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