Few patrolled the blueline like Joel Quenneville.
Between 1975 and 1978, "Q" did it all for the Windsor Spitfires. And with 229 points in 197 games played, in three full seasons, he set the standard for all other defencemen to dawn the uniform.
Now in his fourth season with the Spits, Ryan Ellis has amassed a long list of accomplishments, including two Memorial Cup titles.
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| Ryan Ellis looks to make Spits history. Photo by Joe lemire / In Play! Magazine |
And tonight, he'll look to bag his 230th career point, in his 184th career game, to eclipse Quenneville's 32-year-old record.
"It's pretty exciting," Ellis told windsorspitfires.com. He's held this record for a long time. And he has accomplished a lot, both as a player and now a coach and is really well-known for what he has done in the hockey world. So it's a great honour to even have a chance at doing this."
The London Knights (9-5-1-1) come in looking to end a nasty, three-game losing streak. Coach Dale Hunter's club has given up 17 goals in those games - an unusual stretch for a team that had allowed just 39 in its first 13.
While the Knights have sputtered, the Spitfires (10-7-0-1) are among the hottest teams in the OHL, winning seven of their last 10 games. That stretch has included three road wins, none bigger than an improbable 3-2 victory in Saginaw on Saturday night.
"We came out with enthusiasm. We got pucks deep and really followed our game plan," said Spits coach Bob Jones. "Our big guys - like Kassian, Clouthier, our physical guys - needed to get physical and did. And I think we managed to back them off a little."
The Knights and Spitfires met back on October 9th - an entertaining game that ended in a 5-4 London win.
