By Chris Lucas
In Play on Facebook
Spitfires are the OHL Western Conference Champions!
Fans were in line at the WFCU Centre today since 6 a.m. to get the left over tickets to see this game seven of the OHL Western Conference finals. They knew they were in for a treat as the Windsor Spitfires came back from a three game deficit. They beat the Rangers today 4-1 to win the Western Conference Championship.
Adam Henrique scored the big first goal as he put in the rebound to score which sent this sold out crowd screaming and to their feet while waving their white towels. That was the only goal of the period.
Eric Wellwood kept Windsor's momentum going as he scored to give Windsor a 2-0 lead. Windsor fans felt confident, but Julian Cimadamore scored short-handed just before the end of the period to cut Windsor's lead in half.
When Scott Timmins scored in the third, the Spits and their fans knew they were in good shape. Then, Justin Shugg scored to lock up the game and the championship. Following the game, the Spits were cheered on and gave a standing ovation by the fans as they received the Wayne Gretzky trophy.
Windsor showed once again they can come back from any deficit as long as they play like they can. In a series like this where there is a comeback, usually there is a turning point.
Steve Spott, Head Coach of the Kitchener Rangers tells In Play! what he thought the turning point of the series was.
“I have the play down in my head. We had the puck late in game four. We didn't get it deep and we couldn't get Kel (Dan Kelly) out on the ice and Elly (Ryan Ellis) popped it up to Hallsy (Taylor Hall). Hallsy got us on a bad get-up and got the game winning goal in game four in our building. We turn the puck over to one of their best players and to me that was the turning point.”
A big part to their come back though was definitely the fan support. They never gave up on the team and the team never gave up on themselves and that really helped the Spits with their come back.
Taylor Hall talks to In Play! about their come back.
“When you're down 3-0 our team didn't really look at it as a deficit. We looked at it as a mountain to climb. We took it one step at a time and we knew that we had a chance to do something really special. We took it one game at a time and sure enough it disappeared pretty quickly.”
Bob Boughner tells In Play! how tough it was to dig themselves out of the hole.
“We made it really hard on ourselves early. It was a tough hole to dig ourselves out of and I don't know if we overlooked it a little bit or if we were just maybe a layoff early but you got to give these kids all the credit. They never gave up and the positive attitude and the energy in the room. The Rangers have a heck of a hockey team and their tough to defend against. It was just a tough series and tonight was no different they scored that short-handed goal at the end of the period and that took a little wind out of our sails and we had to re-group real quick. But it's a good dressing room in there and it was a heck of a series.”
Today's In Play! Magazine player of the game is Philipp Grubauer. For the fourth straight game, Grubauer has come up big in helping Windsor win. He recorded 26 saves and only allowed one goal.
Windsor's next series for the OHL Championship is against the Barrie Colts. A team who they have yet to beat this year in the two games they faced each other.
The series will begin on Tuesday in Barrie.
Spitfires’ Game Notes – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series, Game Six
- With tonight’s 6-4 win over the Rangers in Kitchener, Windsor has won three consecutive games in the series after being down 0-3 in the series. Windsor has forced a game seven in the series, to be played on Sunday at the WFCU Centre at 2:05 pm. The Spitfires and Rangers are tied at three games apiece in the Rogers Western Conference Championships. The Spitfires are now 7-0 with tonight’s win in elimination games over the past two seasons, as Windsor won four consecutive elimination games at last year’s MasterCard Memorial Cup Championship.
- If Windsor wins on Sunday, they would become the third team in league history to come back from an 0-3 deficit and the second time in Spitfire history that this has occurred, as the 2005 Windsor Spitfires squad defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after the Spitfires were down three games to none. The Ottawa 67’s duplicated this feat, defeating the Oshawa Generals in 1988 after Ottawa lost the first three games of the series.
- The winner of Sunday’s game seven matchup will face the Barrie Colts, Champions of the Eastern Conference in the Rogers League Championship Series.
- Windsor outshot Kitchener 46-42 in the game. Windsor has outshot Kitchener in all six games of the series and 293-204 overall to this point in the series.
- Forward Scott Timmins scored a natural hat-trick against his former team in the second period tonight, including the game winning goal at the 9:37 mark of the middle frame. He was named the First Star of the game and has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 14 games.
- Forward Taylor Hall extended his point streak to 14 consecutive playoff games tonight as he scored two goals in the contest and was selected as the game’s Third Star. He now holds the longest point streak in the league during the playoffs, which currently sits at 14 games. His two point night is the 11th time that he has registered a multi-point game in the post-season. He is also tied for second in the OHL and for the Spitfire lead with teammate Adam Henrique, scoring 14 goals and leads the Spitfires in points while being tied for second in the OHL with 27 points in the playoffs. Hall is also tied for third in the OHL with a +13 plus-minus rating in the playoffs and he is tied for fifth in the league with 13 assists.
- Forward Adam Henrique scored one goal tonight and registered one assist in the win. He has scored at least one goal in five consecutive games, which is tied for the third longest streak in the OHL post-season and in eight of his past nine playoff games. Henrique is tied for first on the Spitfires and second in the OHL in goals scored with 14. He is also ranked third on the team and is tied for ninth in the league with 19 points in 14 playoff games.
- Goaltender Philipp Grubauer won his third consecutive game of the series, stopping 38 of 42 shots faced. He is also ranked first in the OHL with two shutouts and is tied for the league lead with 11 wins in 14 playoff games.
- Defenceman Ryan Ellis registered two assists in the contest, recording at least one point in all but one of the Spitfires’ playoff games. Ellis is ranked first amongst all OHL defencemen, and is second on the Spitfires in scoring with 26 points in 14 playoff games. He also leads all defencemen and is ranked first in the league with 24 assists.
- Neither team scored a power play goal for the second consecutive game, with Windsor being blanked on four opportunities and Kitchener on five chances.
Spitfires’ Series Recap
2010 Windsor Spitfires “CODE RED” Playoff Run – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series
#1 Windsor vs. #3 Kitchener – Rogers Western Conference Championship Series (Round Three), 2010 OHL Playoffs (Both Teams Tied at 3-3)
Game 1 – Thursday April 15 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor (Kitchener wins 7-6 in overtime)
Game 2 – Saturday April 17 at 7:00 pm – Windsor at Kitchener (Kitchener wins 5-2)
Game 3 – Sunday April 18 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor (Kitchener wins 5-3)
Game 4- Tuesday April 20 at 7:00 pm – Windsor at Kitchener (Windsor wins 7-5)
Game 5 – Thursday April 22 at 7:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor (Windsor wins 3-0)
Game 6 – Friday April 23 at 7:30 pm – Windsor at Kitchener (Windsor wins 6-4)
Game 7 – Sunday April 25 at 2:05 pm – Kitchener at Windsor (Windsor wins 4-1)
