OHL Flint Firebirds

First-Place Firebirds Look to Settle the Score with Windsor on 'Youth Sports Night'

February 19, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Firebirds have picked up points in seven straight games, and look to carry the momentum into the win column on home ice Saturday. Game two of the home-and-away series with the Windsor Spitfires will be played at the Dort Financial Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Flint.

Promotion: Saturday's contest is themed 'Youth Sports Night.' Kids 18 & under who wear their youth or school team jersey get in FREE with any purchase of an adult ticket. Tickets for Saturday's game are available at the Dort Financial Center Box Office or online at ETIX.com HERE. Jersey tickets are available at the Box Office ONLY on Saturday, with the Box Office opening at Noon. Group tickets including the free jersey tickets may be purchased ahead of time by contacting Dominic Gutierrez (domg@flintfirebirds.com) or Kyle Warzybok (kyle@flintfirebirds.com).

Earlier this week the 60-team Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced their Kia CHL Top 10 list, and Flint was just outside looking in with 'Honorable Mention.' Luke Cavallin has been stellar in his senior season, now tied for the second-most wins of any OHL netminder. Captain Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) was the first player in the league to score 30 goals, and Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks) has put up 22 points in 19 games since rejoining his club mid-season. Coulson Pitre, the leading rookie on the squad, recently surpassed the rookie numbers of former Flint captain Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) and current captain Brennan Othmann to become the all-time points leader among first-year players in Firebirds' history. Pitre is also tied for the most goals by a rookie in franchise history.

Flint enters Friday's tilt atop the West Division and first in the 10-team Western Conference. The Firebirds have a 27-14-1-3 record. They're 7-1-1-1 in their past ten and have picked up points in seven-straight tilts. The Spits carry an overall record of 24-13-2-2 and rank third in the West Division. They've won three consecutive games and are 7-3-0-0 in their past 10. On home ice this season, the Firebirds are 10-9-0-1 and Windsor is 10-6-1-1 on the road.

Friday marks the sixth of eight meetings between these clubs this season, and the third of four to be played in Flint. All-time, Flint is 12-20-1-1 against the Spitfires and are knotted up at 8-8-0-0 at the Dort Financial Center. Windsor is one of only two teams in the Western Conference that have posted a winning record against the Firebirds this season. Flint has gone 0-3-1-1 in the five meetings, and are 0-2-0-0 on home ice in the series.

These teams played at the WFCU Centre in Windsor last night. Windsor scored three straight to start the contest before the Firebirds rallied back and scored four-consecutive goals to take a late lead. One goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation and another at 2:45 of overtime gave the Spits the home-ice victory. For Flint, Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) scored his 33rd of the year, and Gavin Hayes, Tag Bertuzzi, and Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks) all found twine for the 11th time this season. For Windsor, Will Cuylle (New York Rangers) and Wyatt Johnston (Dallas Stars) each scored their 27th goal of the season, and Ethan Miedema netted his tenth and Pasquale Zito (Detroit Red Wings) logged his 15th. It was Michael Renwick's sixth of the season in overtime that made all the difference. In goal, Detroit, Mich. native Xavier Medina came up big for his club again, making 20 saves on 24 shots to pick up his 15th victory of the campaign. Across the ice, Luke Cavallin stopped 35 of 40 in a busy night between the pipes.

On special teams this season Flint's penalty-kill ranks third in the league, finding success at a rate of 83.4%. Windsor's penalty-killers are ranked tenth at 79.2%. With the man-advantage, the Spitfires rank second in the league, converting at a rate of 26.5%, and the Firebirds are 14th scoring at an 18.8% clip.

Saturday night's contest will be another huge matchup for the playoff push in the Western Conference. Flint currently sits in First Place in the Western Conference, with the Spitfires hot on their tails sitting just seven points back and with four fewer games played. The Firebirds are currently 0-3-1-1 vs. Windsor this year, the only team they have failed to beat this season.

Players to Watch:

Flint Firebirds (27-14-1-3, 1st West Division):

Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) ranks first on the team and ranks second in the league with 33 goals. Othmann also has 31 assists for 64 total points in 43 games. He's tied for third in shorthanded goals (3) and has the seventh-most points. He's currently on a seven-game point streak (4 G, 6 A). Veteran forward Riley Piercey sits second in scoring and now has 20 goals and 26 helpers through 40 games. He is tied for the sixth-most game-winning tallies this season with five and has 12 multi-point games as well. Amadeus Lombardi is third in scoring with 16 tallies and 25 helpers through 44 contests.

Flint's top rookie on the scoresheet is Coulson Pitre with 17 goals and 17 assists through 36 games. Pitre ranks second among all OHL rookies with a 0.94 points-per-game average, and he's scored the third-most goals of all first-year players in the OHL. He's also eighth-best in plus/minus ranking at '+12,' and he's fifth in total points in the freshman class.

The Birds' top-scoring rearguard is Tyler Deline, with 29 points (4 G, 25 A) in 44 contests. His 16 power-play assists are tied for fourth-most among OHL defenders. Fellow rearguard Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets) has eight points in his last seven games, consisting of five goals and three assists. Rookie defender Tristan Bertucci is tied for seventh among OHL defensemen and second among OHL rookies with a plus/minus rating of '+19.'

In net, Luke Cavallin has appeared in 36 games this season, which is tied for second-most by any netminder in the OHL. He has 21 wins and two shutouts, which are tied for the second-most victories and the fourth-most shutouts in the league to date. He carries a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.33 and his save percentage (SV%) .904. His save percentage is sixth-best among netminders with 20 or more games played in the campaign. Rookie netminder Ian Michelone has appeared in eight games and picked up four victories. He carries a GAA of 4.03 and a SV% of .889. To date, Michelone is the only active OHL rookie goaltender with a shutout this season. Nathaniel Day has two victories in four games with a 2.28 GAA and a .915 SV%.

NHL: The Firebirds have four players on their roster with NHL ties consisting of Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers). Also, Gavin Hayes and Simon Slavicek were named to the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings.

Despite Flint playing in just five OHL seasons thus far, Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes / Detroit Red Wings), Kole Sherwood (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Ty Dellandrea (Dallas Stars) are three former Firebirds to play in the NHL. Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) and Firebirds' alumni Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit Red Wings) and Jalen Smereck (Arizona Coyotes) have all played in NHL pre-season contests. In total, the team has produced 21 signed or drafted players into the NHL.

Windsor Spitfires (24-13-2-2, 3rd West Division):

Wyatt Johnston (Dallas Stars) leads the Spits with 78 total points (27 G, 51 A) through 41 games. He has the second-most assists in the league and is tied with the OHL's most points. He also carries the second-highest points-per-game average in the league. Will Cuylle (New York Rangers) ranks second for Windsor in scoring with 27 tallies and 20 helpers for 47 points in 40 contests. Cuylle has scored the third most power-play tallies (11), netted the sixth-most game-winning goals (5), and is tied for the fourth-most first goals in a game (6). Matthew Maggio sits third with 47 points (22 G, 25 A) in 40 tilts.

Defenseman Andrew Perrot has the most points among rearguards on his club, having found twine three times and chipping in 34 assists through 37 games. He's currently tied for the second-most helpers among defenders, the fifth-most points, and he has the fourth-highest points-per-game average among rearguards at 1.00. Fellow blue-liner Loukus Henault ranks inside the top ten defensemen in the league with 0.92 points-per-game (7th), 29 helpers (7th), 35 points (9th), and 15 power-play assists (6th). Ethan Miedema tops the freshman class for the Spits, now with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 38 games.

Detroit, Mich. native Xavier Medina has appeared in 23 contests for the Spitfires, earning 15 victories. The second-year goaltender carries a 2.88 goals-against average (GAA), which ranks sixth in the OHL. His save percentage (SV%) is .897. Mathias Onuska joined the Spits mid-season and has a 3.39 GAA and a SV% of .876 with two wins in eight appearances.

NHL: Windsor's roster features four players with NHL ties, consisting of Will Cuylle (New York Rangers), Wyatt Johnston (Dallas Stars), Pasquale Zito (Detroit Red Wings), and Daniil Sobolev (Montreal Canadiens). Additionally, Livonia, Michigan native Ryan Abraham was listed on the 2022 NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings.

Notable Windsor alumni to play in the NHL include Ed Jovanovski, Matt Cooke, Cory Stillman, Jason Spezza, Steve Ott, Jason York, Josh Bailey, Tim Gleason, Mike Rupp, Cam Fowler, Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Kyle Wellwood, Eric Wellwood, Todd Warriner, Steve Downie, Jamie Allison, and Ryan Ellis.

Broadcast Coverage:

Saturday evening's contest against the Windsor Spitfires can be heard live on the radio throughout Flint & Mid-Michigan on US 103.1 FM, online at www.us103.com, or by downloading the US 103 app here. Jack Sznewajs will call the play-by-play action on the Firebirds Hockey Network (FHN). Pregame coverage will begin prior to puck drop at 6:45 p.m. (ET) Saturday evening.

The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 469 (4469 HD) for both Rogers TV and Cogeco TV cable subscribers. OHL fans with cable television in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home or away all season long.

Also, all Flint Firebirds' home and away games throughout the 2021-22 regular season can be watched anywhere in the world online on https://watch.chl.ca/ohl. CHL TV is the league's new and improved video streaming platform that delivers high-quality live and on-demand coverage of all regular season and playoff games annually. The cost is $6.99 for 24-hour access, $24.99 for monthly access, $109.99 for all-access to the 2021-22 Firebirds and OHL season, or $159.99 for all-access to the entire 2021-22 CHL season.

Next Up: The Firebirds will travel to Sarnia, Ont. for a pair of road games Monday afternoon and Friday evening before returning home next Saturday to host the Sting in game three of three consecutive meetings. It will be Flint Generals Night at the Dort Financial Center with more information coming out early next week. Tickets are on sale NOW here: ETIX.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central