OHL Saginaw Spirit

Eagles Nest Notes

Published on March 10, 2008 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Welcome to Eagles Nest Notes, the Saginaw Spirit weekly recap and preview. The Spirit enter the week with three games remaining in a hotly contested Western Conference - the Spirit, the Guelph Storm, the Sarnia Sting and the Plymouth Whalers are fighting for dominance in the lower half of the conference.

The Spirit now have 72 points and a record of 32-25-6-2. The Guelph Storm (73 points) advanced into a two-way tie for 5th place with the Plymouth Whalers (73 points) courtesy a win yesterday over the London Knights. The Sarnia Sting (72 points) are currently tied with the Spirit in 7th place.

The Guelph Storm host the Kitchener Rangers Wednesday night and the Owen Sound Attack Friday night. The Storm wrap up the regular season in Erie with a game against the Otters.

The Plymouth Whalers are on the road for two match-ups, against the Windsor Spitfires Tuesday night and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Friday night. The Whalers host the Sarnia Sting Saturday then cap off the regular season with a Sunday matinee game in Saginaw.

The Sarnia Sting will host the Erie Otters on Thursday night then wrap up the regular season on the road. The team will facing the Kitchener Rangers Friday night and the Plymouth Whalers Saturday night.

If the playoffs where to start today, then the Spirit would be facing the first place Kitchener Rangers in the first round. The Sting have more wins than the Spirit this season, so would get the seventh place seed and a first round match-up against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Storm would take on the Windsor Spitfires and the Whalers would face off against the London Knights.

Week Wrap Up

The Spirit fell 6-3 to the Sarnia Sting last Wednesday but rebounded for a 4-3 victory over the Owen Sound Attack Saturday night. The team battled from a one goal deficit to push their Sunday contest against the Kitchener Rangers into overtime. The Spirit lost the game 4-3, but picked up a point with the effort.

100 Points?

Jack Combs is 3 points away from hitting the 100 point mark this season. He will be the first Spirit player in team history to accomplish this feat. Jack recently beat the team's single season record of 88 points, previously set by Ryan McDonough in the 2005-06 season. The franchise single season point record of 161 points was set by Brian Cullen of the St. Catharines Teepees in the 1953-54 season.

Power Play Leaders

Ryan McDonough and Jack Combs have tallied 18 power play goals apiece - the previous team record of power play goals scored in a single season was Michal Birner, how notched 17 in the 2005-06 season.

Saginaw has the 8th best power play unit in the Ontario Hockey League with a 0.197 percentage. On average the Spirit score one in every five power plays. The team's power play unit is even more potent on the road, currently ranked the 5th best in the league with a 0.201 percent.

Record Breaking

Ryan McDonough has posted 43 goals this season, tying the team's single season record of 43 goals set by Tom Pyatt during the 2006-07 season. Jack Combs is also pushing the record, having notched 42 goals this season.

The single season assists record of 60 assists set by Tyler Haskins in the 2006-07 season is in jeopardy of being broken by Combs, who has notched 55 assists this season.

Both McDonough (plus-30) and Combs (plus-28) are on track to challenge the single season record of plus-33 set by Tom Pyatt in the 2006-07 season.

Spirit d-man Chris Breen enters the week with a plus-25 in 52 games. The current single season defenseman plus/minus record of plus-24 was set by Patrick McNeill in the 2005-2006 season.

Spirit underage rookie Jordan Szwarz has tallied 33 points this season. The 1991-born forward could challenge the underage rookie single season points record of 37 points set by Zack Torquato in the 2005-06 season.

OHL Leader Board

Jack Combs is ranked 7th and Ryan McDonough is ranked 12th in the OHL top scorers category. McDonough is ranked 5th and Combs 6th in the goal scoring category. In the assists category Combs is ranked 10th.

Tyler Murovich and Jordan Szwarz continue to be a constant presence on the OHL top rookie scorers rankings, being ranked 14th and 16th respectively.

Windsor Spitfires March 14th, 2008; 7:11 PM TheDow Event Center, Saginaw

The Windsor Spitfires enter the week sitting at third place in the OHL Western Conference with 86 points. The team is currently nipping at the heels of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who are in second place with 90 points. The Spirit have matched-up well against the Spitfires this season, only suffering two losses to their division rival. Both loses came following regulation, giving the Spirit a record of 3-0-1-1 against the Spitfires this season. Ryan McDonough, Jack Combs and Tomas Zaborsky have each tallied 3 goals against Windsor this season. Goalie Ryan Daniels has posted a 2.14 goals against average and 0.938 save percentage in 5 Spirit-Spitfires games this season.

The Spitfires are the second highest scoring team in the conference with 258 goals in 64 games this season thanks to center Joshua Bailey (27-61-88), winger Bradley Snetsinger (35-51-86), winger Taylor Hall (41-36-77), and winger Greg Nemisz (32-31-63). Snetsinger continues to be a constant thorn in Saginaw's side, posting 5 goals and 4 assists against the Spirit this season. Defensemen Ryan Ellis (13-45-58) and Elgin Reid (8-32-40) lead from the blue line while Andrew Engelage anchors the net. Engelage has posted a 2.59 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage in 39 games this season.

The Spitfires haven't lost a game in regulation for the past 8 games and are 17-10-4-2 when playing on the road.

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds March 15th, 2008; 7:30 PM Steelback Centre, Sault Ste. Marie

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have accumulated 90 points in 66 games this season, good for second place in the OHL Western Conference. The Spirit are 3-3-1-1 against the Hounds this season and won their last match-up 2-1 via a shootout. Jack Combs, Ryan McDonough, Tomas Zaborsky and Tyler Murovich have each notched 4 goals against the Hounds this season.

Center Dustin Jeffrey (35-56-91), winger Wayne Simmonds (31-38-69), center Matthew Lyall (20-36-56), center Matt Caria (22-30-52) and winger Brandon MacLean (21-30-51) power a potent offense. The Hounds have one of the best defenses in the league, having allowed only 169 goals this season. Defenseman Josh Godfrey (17-34-51) leads the team with a plus-29 and has continued to live up to his reputation as a ‘Spirit Killer'. The Washington Capitals pick has notched 6 goals against the Spirit this season. Veteran netminder Kyle Gejewski is a staple in net, having posted a 2.46 goals against average and 0.912 save percentage in 58 games.

The Hounds are 7-3-0-0 in the past ten games and 23-6-0-3 at home.

Plymouth Whalers March 16th, 2008; 4:00 PM TheDow Event Center, Saginaw

The Plymouth Whalers continue to be a factor in the OHL Western Conference with 73 points. The Spirit, who have a record of 2-4-0-1 against the Whalers this season, will look to Jack Combs for his offensive touch. He has tallied 6 goals and 6 assists against the Whalers this season.

The Whalers offense boasts center Chris Terry (44-55-99), center Andrew Fournier (34-37-71), winger A.J. Jenks, (25-26-51), and winger Kaine Geldart (11-25-36). Former Spirit winger Joe McCann (12-19-31) has posted 3 goals and 4 assists against the Spirit this season. Defenseman Wes Cunningham (6-43-49) often chips in from the blue line while defenseman Jozef Sladok (0-4-4) leads the team with a plus-16. Goalie Jeremy Smith has tallied a 2.60 goals against average and 0.921 save percentage in 40 games.

The Whalers are 5-4-0-1 in the past ten games and 13-4-2-2 when playing on the road.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2008


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