The Windsor Spitfires are preparing for their biggest game of the year, and for some players, their biggest game ever.
With a victory over the Erie Otters in Memorial Cup round-robin action Wednesday night before an enthusiastic hometown crowd, the Spitfires are a perfect 3-0 in round-robin play, and have earned an automatic berth in the Memorial Cup Finals Sunday night in front of what is expected to be another big partisan crowd.
The Spits' achievement aside, head coach Rocky Thompson believes that the people of Windsor are seeing the best hockey ever played here.
"A lot of these players are going to be playing in the NHL one day," says Thompson. "You can see the execution. You don't score that many goals and have records set like that because of a lack of talent. This is a special event and we're seeing special moments right now."
The Spitfires have overcome a period during the regular season in which the team was not producing well offensively, key players were suspended, and other key players missed a lot of ice time due to injuries. Defenceman Logan Stanley sat out much of the second half with an injury, but now that he is healthy, Stanley says they've all bounced back as a group and are ready for the final.
"With this team we've had to overcome adversity all year," says Stanley. "Brownie [Logan Brown] had a few injuries that were unfortunate, a few suspensions and then obviously with my injury, you don't wish that upon anyone. We're doing good right now and we're happy and we're having fun with a healthy lineup."
Jeremiah Addison is the co-leader in goals for the Memorial Cup with five, including a hat trick Wednesday night. In goal, Michael DiPietro has been burning up the pipes with a 1.67 goals-against-average and a tournament-leading 77 saves.
Wednesday was the first time this season the Spitfires beat the OHL Robertson Cup champion Otters, after losing all four regular season games.
Forward Gabriel Vilardi says it feels good to turn the corner.
"It's huge. I feel like we're a different team now than we were three months ago," says Vilardi, a likely pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. "They're [Erie] still a great hockey team. You saw yesterday they took it to us in the second period and then most of the third. We'll correct a few things here and be ready for Sunday, whoever we're playing."
Before the Spitfires play for the Memorial Cup Sunday, they must wait until Friday night before they learn their opponent. They will face the winner of the Cup semifinal game between Erie and the QMJHL champion Saint John Sea Dogs.
Memorial Cup week is building to a climax for local fans with the last two games. There is also the CHL All-Star Game set for Saturday afternoon at the WFCU Centre.
A few tickets are left for Sunday's final, but plenty of seats remain for the semifinal Friday night. Puck drop both nights is at 7pm. Visit the Mastercard Memorial Cup website for details.