Preview: Firebirds Travel to Windsor for Thursday Night Tilt
Published on October 29, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release
The Flint Firebirds (5-6-0-1) travel to Windsor, Ontario for a Thursday night game against West Division rival Windsor Spitfires (8-2-3-0). Most recently, the Spitfires topped the London Knights 6-3 on home ice and currently lead the division with 19 points in 13 games played.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (ET) Thursday evening at the WFCU Centre (capacity 6,450).
Radio & TV Coverage
Fans unable to attend the game this weekend can listen live in Flint and Mid-Michigan on 1330 AM WTRX Sports Radio and worldwide online on the iHeartRadio App. Dominic Hennig will call the play-by-play action all season long on the Flint Firebirds Hockey Radio Network. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday's game against the Spitfires will be televised live on Cogeco TV channel 11 in Windsor and across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pak on Rogers channel 436. OHL fans with Rogers Cable in Ontario can add the OHL Action Pak to their television plan to catch the Firebirds in action, home or away all season long. Along with Thursday night's game, 64 of the Firebirds' 68 games throughout the 2015-16 season are also scheduled to be televised live across the province of Ontario on the OHL Action Pack.
All Flint Firebirds home and away games throughout the 2015-16 season can be watched anywhere in the world online on OHL Live and on the OHL Live App. OHL Live is a league 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 per game, $69.99 for Flint Firebirds away games only, $179.99 for all 68 home and away Firebirds games and $279.99 for all 1,360 OHL games throughout the 2015-16 season.
Players to Watch:
Flint:
The Firebirds are lead up front in scoring by Will Bitten, who is eligible to be selected in the 2016 NHL Draft in June, with seven goals and nine assists for sixteen points in twelve games played this season. Bitten is currently tied for 8th overall in the OHL in scoring. Vili Saarijärvi (Detroit '15) has two goals and 14 assists in 12 games played and leads all OHL defenseman with 16 points. Rookie Dane Johnstone has scored two goals in his last three games with the Flint Firebirds.
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina '14) has a 2-2 record with a .855 save percentage and a 3.98 goals against average. Rookie netminder Kyle Keyser has a 1-1 record and a .923 save percentage including a 2.66 goals against average.
There are five players on the Flint Firebirds roster that are drafted in the National Hockey League. Alex Nedeljkovic and Josh Wesley were both selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2014 NHL Draft. In the same draft, the New Jersey Devils nabbed Connor Chatham while Alex Peters was chosen by the Dallas Stars. Most recently, Vili Saarijärvi was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings this past June in the 2015 NHL Draft.
In addition, Will Bitten, Nicholas Caamano, Jacob Collins, Matyáš Kantner and Håkon Nilsen are eligible to be selected in the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo in June.
Windsor:
The Windsor Spitfires enter Thursday night's game with a 3-2 record in their past five games and an 8-2-3-0 record overall. The Spitfires are also 3-2 on home ice at the WFCU Centre.
Cristiano DiGiacinto leads the Spitfires with 13 points in 13 games played. Rookie Gabriel Vilardi has seven goals and five assists totaling twelve points and is second in points by a rookie in the OHL.
In net the Spitfires have Michael Giugovaz who boasts a 4-1-3-0 record with a save percentage of .894 and a 3.35 goals against average. Also in net for Windsor is rookie Michael DiPietro with a 4-1-0-0 record. DiPietro has a .943 save percentage and a 3.35 GAA.
NHL Central Scouting has identified Windsor Spitfires' Logan Brown and Mikhail Sergachyov as players to watch this season for the 2016 NHL Draft.
The Windsor Spitfires saw nine players participate in NHL Training Camps this fall:
Jalen Chatfield (Detroit), Cristiano DiGiacinto (Tampa), Christian Fischer (Arizona), Bradley Latour (Toronto), Hayden McCool (Chicago), Trevor Murphy (Nashville), Liam Murray (St. Louis), Patrick Sanvido (Dallas) and Markus Soberg (Columbus).
Special Teams
The Firebirds' power-play is 16th out of 20 teams in the OHL converting at a 15.2% success-rate scoring seven goals on 44 opportunities. On the penalty kill, the Firebirds are also 16th in the OHL.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 29, 2015
- Spitfires Win Thursday Night Showdown in Windsor - Flint Firebirds
- Poirier Strikes in OT for 'Win We Needed' - North Bay Battalion
- MacInnis Scores Four, Bracco Nets Two Assists in OHL Debut as Rangers Down Petes 7-2 - Kitchener Rangers
- Overtime Loss for 67's to Start Road Trip - Ottawa 67's
- DeBrincat's late goal gives Otters 4-3 win - Erie Otters
- IceDogs Drown Steelheads 4-2 - Niagara IceDogs
- Weekend Preview - Sarnia Sting
- OHL this Week - OHL
- A Heart Like Mine - Saginaw Spirit
- Sault Airport "Connecting Our Community" Through Partnership with Hounds - Soo Greyhounds
- Aidan McFarland Commits to the Steelheads - Brampton Steelheads
- Kingston Frontenacs Set to Go Pink for Game vs. Peterborough on Friday - Kingston Frontenacs
- Sharipzyanov Named to Russian Squad - Owen Sound Attack
- Team Russia Roster Announced for 2015 CHL Canada Russia Series - OHL
- Preview: Firebirds Travel to Windsor for Thursday Night Tilt - Flint Firebirds
- Wolves Lead Bell Challenge Cup - Sudbury Wolves
- Spirit Seek Volunteers for OHL Minor Officials - Saginaw Spirit
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