WINDS OF CHANGE

The Spitfires never imagined they’d be picking first overall in the 2024 OHL draft, but adding Ethan Belchetz to the organization was a perfect consolation prize after a trying year

BY TONY FERRARI

WHEN THE WINDSOR Spitfires began their 2023-24 OHL season, they were coming off incredible back-to-back campaigns, having followed up a trip to the league final in 2022 with a finish atop the Western Conference standings the next season. Those within the Spits organization understood there would be an inevitable decline, with some key veterans aging out, but no one expected the club to implode immediately. But so it was, as Windsor won just six of its first 25 games while suffering several embarrassing blowouts and playing generally uninspired hockey. Entering December with the season already seemingly lost, GM Bill Bowler altered course. “We had to make an adjustment when we realized where we were just before Christmas,” he said. “We knew we weren’t as bad as our record, but we knew…

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The Hockey News (Digital) - 1 Issue, Meet The New Guys 2024

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