OHL Flint Firebirds

In-State Rivalry Reunites on Buy One, Get One Wednesday in Flint

Published on December 15, 2021 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


Flint, Mich. - The Firebirds complete their four-game homestand with another installment of the I-75 Divide Cup, presented by Coors Light. The Saginaw Spirit are in town for Buy One, Get One Wednesday, where fans can purchase one ticket and get a second ticket of equal value for free. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at the Dort Financial Center. Tickets are available here: ETIX.

These teams have played six times so far this season. The Spirit came out on top of the first three meetings. The Firebirds won the most recent two tilts. Gavin Hayes had a dominant outing on November 24 in Flint, netting two goals and earning 'First Star' accolades. Then on December 2, Ian Michelone made 32 saves to become the first rookie netminder in the OHL to post a 3-0 shutout over the Spirit in Saginaw. The Birds' top rookie Coulson Pitre led the offensive charge that night with a two-point (1 G, 1 A) performance.

The Firebirds enter Friday's contest in third place in the West Division with a record of 12-10-0-1. The Spirit currently rank fifth in the West, with an 11-11-1-0 record. On home ice this year, the Firebirds have gone 6-8-0-0 compared to Saginaw's road record of 7-5-1-0. The Birds have picked up 11 points in their past ten games with a 5-4-0-1 record. The Spirit earned eight points in the last ten, going 4-6-0-0 in that span.

All-time, Flint carries a record of 16-26-0-2 against Saginaw, with a home record of 8-12-0-2. In the shortened 2019-20 season, Saginaw won four of seven meetings. Wednesday marks the sixth of 12 total meetings between the clubs, and the fourth of six to be played in Flint. Thus far, the Spirit have won three of five meetings. After winning the I-75 Divide Cup their first two seasons in the OHL, Flint has now surrendered the trophy to Saginaw for three straight campaigns. The first team to win seven games in the series this season will win the coveted trophy.

On special teams, Flint now ranks 11th on the power play, converting at a 20.8% rate. The Spirit rank 18th, scoring at a 15.2% clip. The Birds continue to hold the league's best penalty kill (PK), holding their opposition scoreless 86.7% of the time. Saginaw's PK ranks second with an 84.7% success rate.

Players to Watch:

Flint Firebirds (12-8-0-1, 2nd West Division):

Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers) remains red hot for Flint, now with 36 points (19 G, 17 A) in 23 games. He's tied for fourth in goals-scored in the OHL, and he's tied for eighth in total points in the league. Othmann rides a five-game points streak, having scored five goals plus four assists in that span. Second in points for Flint is rearguard Tyler Deline with three goals and a team-high 18 assists. Deline is tied for third in the league with 13 power-play assists, and his 0.95 points-per-game average is fourth among OHL blue-liners. Riley Piercey now sits third in points with eight goals and nine helpers in only 18 contests. Piercey enters Wednesday's contest on a ten-game point streak (8 G, 7 A) and owns the longest-active goal streak in the OHL at six games. Zacharie Giroux has points in five-straight games, the longest active point streak in the league, with a goal and seven assists in that time.

Flint's top rookie on the scoresheet is Coulson Pitre with eight goals and nine assists in only 17 games. Pitre sits atop the list of OHL rookies with a 1.00 points-per-game average, and he's tied for seventh in the league's freshman class for goals. Fellow rookie Luca D'Amato is tied for eighth among defensemen with five goals this season. He's also tied for first among all rearguards with 13 power-play assists this season.

In net, Luke Cavallin has appeared in 15 games thus far. He carries a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.40. His save percentage (SV%) is .900. Cavallin has earned eight wins this season and is the all-time winningest goaltender in Firebirds' franchise history with 34 total victories between the pipes. Rookie netminder Ian Michelone has now played in eight games and has four victories. He carries a GAA of 4.03 and a SV% of .889. To date, Michelone is the only OHL rookie goaltender with a shutout this season. Nathaniel Day has played 18 minutes of OHL action and made four saves on four shots.

NHL: The Firebirds have three players with NHL ties consisting of Braeden Kressler (Toronto Maple Leafs), Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), and Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers). Also, Gavin Hayes was recently named to the 2021 NHL Central Scouting November Players to Watch List.

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.

Saginaw Spirit (11-11-1-0, 5th West Division):

Josh Bloom (Buffalo Sabres) sits atop the leaderboard for the Spirit with 28 points (15 G, 13 A) through 18 games. Bloom sits way atop the leaderboard in shorthanded goals, with six this season. He's also tied for the league lead with five game-winning tallies.

Saginaw's top rookie on the scoresheet is Matyas Sapovaliv, who is tied for second overall on the club in total points with 19 (7 G, 12 A) through 23 contests. He's tied for third among all rookies with four power-play goals, and he ranks fourth among the league's freshman class with a 0.83 points-per-game average. Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has lit the lamp six times and added 13 assists to sit tied for second with Sapovaliv.

Between the pipes, Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders) has appeared in 12 games and earned five victories. He carries a 2.71 goals-against average (GAA) and a save-percentage (SV%) of .895. Shelby Township, Mich. native Andrew Oke has played in 11 contests, also picking up five victories. Oke carries a 4.51 GAA with a SV% of .840.

NHL: The Spirit have two players with NHL ties, consisting of Josh Bloom (Buffalo Sabres) and Tristan Lennox (New York Islanders). Additionally, forward Matyas Sapovaliv and rearguard Pavel Mintyukov were named to the 2021 NHL Central Scouting November Players to Watch List.

12 notable Spirit alumni to play in the NHL are Cody Bass, Paul Bissonnette, T.J. Brodie, Matt Corrente, Filip Hronek, Jan Mursak, Jamie Oleksiak, Dalton Prout, Tom Pyatt, Brandon Saad, Chris Thorburn and Vincent Trocheck.

Broadcast Coverage:

Wednesday evening's contest against the Saginaw Spirit 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) Wednesday evening.

The game will also be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on channel 466 (4466 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 Home Game: The Firebirds will play a pair of road games this weekend in Sarnia and then Saginaw before returning home to host the Spirit again on Wednesday, December 29. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at the Dort Financial Center. Tickets are on sale NOW here: ETIX.

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2021


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