The Windsor Spitfires say they have no regrets after losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Players gathered at the WFCU Centre Monday, a day after they were eliminated from the OHL playoffs by the Sarnia Sting in six games. They collected their equipment, cleaned out their lockers, and sat down with coaches and management for end-of-season interviews. Despite the disappointing end to the year for last season's Memorial Cup champions, players say there are no hard feelings over how they carried themselves, or how they performed in the playoffs.
The Spits defied commentators who predicted they would be swept by the Sting in the first round. Goalie Michael DiPietro, who played despite suffering an injury late in the Sarnia series, says he's flattered by the praise he got from the Sting on his goaltending and is happy with his teammates and himself.
"Obviously we didn't come out on the right end of things, but for me personally, I really like how I'm progressing, how I'm growing in my game," says DiPietro, who broke a franchise record this season with seven shutouts. "I guess there's always room for improvements, but I'm proud of the series. Not only how I did, but of the team."
General Manager Warren Rychel says he heard from the naysayers midway through the season when he decided to pull the trigger on a semi-rebuild, trading away scoring favourites like Logan Brown, Aaron Luchuk, and Gabriel Vilardi. But he says he couldn't be prouder of the way the team carried itself the rest of the season.
"Taking it right back to where we traded everybody, we had three [born in 2001] players out there playing against Sarnia, actually five if you count the forwards. It's just incredible to where we got," says Rychel.
Left-winger Chris Playfair says the team has what it takes to step up its game next year and take things farther in the playoffs.
"I think it definitely raises the expectations for next year," says Playfair. "We've proven more than what a lot of people thought. I think we've all got to find an edge this offseason and want to improve more than everyone else in this league, so we come into next season even better than what people expect."
The Spitfires have already begun their preparation for the 2018 OHL Entry Draft, set to begin Saturday morning.