The Windsor Spitfires are getting one of their key defencemen back in time for Thanksgiving weekend.
Defenceman Sean Day is rejoining the Spitfires after attending training camp for the NHL team that drafted him, the New York Rangers. After spending time with the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, Day was cut, and sent back to Windsor.
Day says it was all about the team wanting him to get the ice time he needs at this point in his career.
"They're [Hartford] stockpiled on 'D' there and they just said, 'Well, we don't want you playing more than ten minutes to 15 minutes a night there,'" says Day. "'We'd rather have you in junior playing 25 to 30 and being a go-to guy.'"
It also had to do with being at the lower end of the totem pole as far as experience was concerned, according to Day.
"I kind of had a feeling just because I wasn't playing a lot," says Day. "I'm a younger guy. Guys that held the "D" were 25 years old, and I'm still only 19. So I figured they'd take somebody there rather than having me be a sixth or seventh defenceman."
Day came to the Spitfires last season after a trade with the Mississauga Steelheads. A defenceman with scoring capability, he picked up 32 points with Windsor during the regular season, including 12 goals. He also had five assists during the OHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup. The Rochester, Michigan native stayed out of the penalty box as well, with just 20 penalty minutes with the Spitfires in the regular season and none in the playoffs.
Though excited to be back with many of the teammates he hoisted the Memorial Cup with, Day says his NHL training camp experience was valuable.
"I just saw how those guys work and how good they are, and I felt really comfortable, honestly, in the practices," says Day. "I felt right there with them in the drills and even the scrimmages, and even the preseason games for the Hartford team."
Having been back in Windsor a short time, Day says he does not know yet who he will be paired with on defence in the Spitfires next game, which is Thursday night at the WFCU Centre against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.