2008–09 Windsor Spitfires season

The Windsor Spitfires finished the 2008–09 season with 57 wins, 10 losses, and 1 shootout loss.http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/bob-boughner-named-ohl-coach-of-the-year-p128150 This marked their best season in franchise history. With the first overall record in the Ontario Hockey League the Spitfires were awarded the Hamilton Spectator Trophy. The Spitfires also played their final games in the Windsor Arena.http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2008/12/03/king_chl_news/
The Spitfires were undefeated at home in the Old Barn during the 2008–09 season. Mid-season they moved to the WFCU Centre. The Spitfires and their new arena played host to the 2009 All-Star Game.http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/notes/1253934/story.html On May 12, Goalie Andrew Engelage broke the OHL record for most wins by a goaltender in a single season with 46 with a 5-1 win over the Plymouth Whalers.http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/engelage-sets-record-for-most-wins-in-a-single-season-p127819
==Season standings==
=== Western Conference ===
Midwest Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	Pts	GF 	GA 	Rank
y-London Knights 	68	49	16	1 	2 	101	287	194	2
x-Guelph Storm 	68	35	26	4 	3 	77 	226	209	6
x-Erie Otters 	68	34	29	3 	2 	73 	231	239	7
x-Owen Sound Attack	68	26	27	7 	8 	67 	226	258	8
Kitchener Rangers 	68	26	37	3 	2 	57 	208	254	9
West Division 	GP	W 	L 	OTL	SL	Pts	GF 	GA 	Rank
z-Windsor Spitfires 	68	57	10	0 	1 	115	311	171	1
x-Saginaw Spirit 	68	36	24	4 	4 	80 	235	219	3
x-Plymouth Whalers 	68	37	26	5 	0 	79 	253	244	4
x-Sarnia Sting 	68	35	26	4 	3 	77 	216	210	5
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	68	19	45	2 	2 	42 	172	290	10
http://ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=standings&season_id=35
== Scoring leaders ==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Taylor Hall	63	38	52	90 	60
Ryan Ellis 	57	22	67	89 	57
===Goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses: OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	GP 	Mins	W 	L 	OTL	SL	GA	SO 	SV%	GAA 	
Andrew Engelage	Windsor Spitfires	54 	3086	46	4 	0 	1 	121	5 	0.914	2.35
==Playoffs==
In the first round of the playoffs, the Spitfires defeated the Owen Sound Attack, taking the series in four games.http://www.windsorstar.com/news/windsor/Spitfires+sweep+Attack/1427932/story.html In the next round, the club played the Plymouth Whalers. After trading off road wins, then trading off home wins, Windsor took Games 5 and 6 to clinch the series.http://www.windsorstar.com/travel/canada/Series+breaks+Plymouth+jinx/1488676/story.html In the Western Conference final, Windsor played the London Knights. Led by John Tavares, every game in the series went to overtime, but the Spitfires were victorious and won the series 4-games-to-1 to earn a berth to the OHL Final and take the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Conference champions.[http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1535770%3c/ref http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1535770
The OHL Final began with a 10-1 victory for the Spitfires over the Eastern Conference's Brampton Battalion. The Battalion fought back in Game 3, winning 4-2. Game 4 belonged to the Spitfires as they took a 4-1 win and a 3-1 series lead. In Game 5, Windsor took a 1-0 lead midway through the second period on the power play. Brampton tied the game up late in the third period to force overtime. At 2:09 of the first overtime period, Taylor Hall scored on the power play to win the Spitfires their second J. Ross Robertson Cup as league champions and a berth into the 2009 Memorial Cup.http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/Junior/2009/05/08/9402156-cp.html Taylor Hall scores in overtime as Windsor beats Brampton to claim OHL crown The victory was the Spitfires' first league title since the 1987–88 OHL season and marked their second time playing for the Memorial Cup.http://communities.canada.com/windsorstar/blogs/duffersdabbles/archive/2009/02/03/spitfires-recall-their-1987-88-title.aspx On May 9, Mayor of Windsor Eddie Francis awarded the team with the Key to the City in honour of their achievement.http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3821330
===First round===
Windsor vs. Owen Sound 	Windsor vs. Owen Sound 	Windsor vs. Owen Sound 	Windsor vs. Owen Sound
Date 	Away 	Home 	
March 18 	Owen Sound 4 	7 Windsor 	
March 20 	Windsor 7 	5 Owen Sound 	
March 22 	Owen Sound 1 	6 Windsor 	
March 25 	Windsor 6 	3 Owen Sound 	
Windsor wins series 4-0	Windsor wins series 4-0	Windsor wins series 4-0	Windsor wins series 4-0
===Conference semifinals===
Windsor vs. Plymouth 	Windsor vs. Plymouth 	Windsor vs. Plymouth 	Windsor vs. Plymouth
Date 	Away 	Home 	
April 2 	Plymouth 6 	3 Windsor 	
April 4 	Windsor 8 	2 Plymouth 	
April 5 	Plymouth 1 	8 Windsor 	
April 7 	Windsor 2 	3 Plymouth 	
April 9 	Plymouth 2 	5 Windsor 	
April 11 	Windsor 4 	2 Plymouth 	
Windsor wins series 4–2	Windsor wins series 4–2	Windsor wins series 4–2	Windsor wins series 4–2
===Conference finals===
Windsor vs. London 	Windsor vs. London 	Windsor vs. London 	Windsor vs. London
Date 	Away 	Home 	
April 15 	London 3 	4 Windsor (OT) 	
April 17 	Windsor 5 	6 London (OT) 	
April 19 	London 4 	5 Windsor (OT) 	
April 20 	(OT) Windsor 5 	London 4 	
April 22 	London 3 	4 Windsor (OT) 	
Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1
===League Final===
Windsor vs. Brampton 	Windsor vs. Brampton 	Windsor vs. Brampton 	Windsor vs. Brampton
Date 	Away 	Home 	
April 29 	Brampton 1 	10 Windsor 	
May 1 	Windsor 5 	3 Brampton 	
May 4 	Brampton 4 	2 Windsor 	
May 6 	Windsor 4 	1 Brampton 	
May 8 	Brampton 1 	2 Windsor (OT) 	
Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1	Windsor wins series 4-1
http://new.windsorspitfires.com/viewcontent.php?id=3206</ref>
==Playoff scoring==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Taylor Hall 	Windsor Spitfires	15	11	16	27 	10
Ryan Ellis 	Windsor Spitfires	15	8 	19	27 	14
Dale Mitchell 	Windsor Spitfires	15	12	14	26 	14
Andrei Loktionov	Windsor Spitfires	15	6 	18	24 	2
==All-Star Classic==
The OHL All-Star Classic was played February 4, 2009 at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, won 11-6 by the Eastern Conference. Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion won the player of the game award, as he scored three goals and added two assists. The skills competition was held the previous night on February 3, with the Western Conference winning. Honourary captains for the event were former Peterborough Petes player Steve Yzerman for the Eastern Conference, while former Windsor Spitfires player Adam Graves represented the Western Conference.
==Memorial Cup==
At the 2009 Memorial Cup, the Spitfires dropped their first two games in Rimouski. The first game was a 3-2 loss in overtime to the Drummondville Voltigeurs and a 5-4 loss to the Rimouski Océanic.<ref>http://www.windsorstar.com/Spitfires+Tuesday+after+loss+Rimouski/1605665/story.html In a do-or-die game, the Spitfires won the final game of the round robin 2-1 over the Kelowna Rockets to gain entry to the tie-breaker game.http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=423277&cmpid=rss-News%20in%20English
In the tie-breaker, Windsor defeated the hometown Océanic 6-4 powered by a third period natural hat-trick by Dale Mitchell.http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2009/05/21/sp-spitfires-oceanic-cup.html The tournament semi-final was between the Spitfires and the Voltigeurs. The Spitfires blew an early 2-0 lead, but won 3-2 in overtime of a goal by Adam Henriquehttp://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=1621948 to become the second team ever to play in the Memorial Cup final after playing in the tie-breaker game.http://www.calgaryherald.com/Spitfires+flying+course+toward+history/1625616/story.html
In the final, the Spitfires again played the Rockets. The Spitfires scored on their first three shots and cruised to a 4-1 win to take their first ever Memorial Cup championship. Their victory marked the first time a team started with two losses in the Memorial Cup round robin and came back to win the championship.http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Historic+Memorial+Spitfires/1627908/story.html The feat also marks the first time that a team has survived the Memorial Cup tie-breaker game to win the championship.http://mastercardmemorialcup.com/news.php?id=1152&y=2009 The Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy was awarded to Taylor Hall as Memorial Cup playoffs most valuable player. Both Ryan Ellis and Hall were elected to the tournament's All-Star Team.http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/memorialcup2009/story.html?id=fa2bad9f-15ae-41ad-b9f7-8a773eb34e46&add_feed_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.faceoff.com%2Fhockey%2Fmemorialcup2009%2Ftopstories.atom Throughout the Memorial Cup tournament, the Spitfires hung Mickey Renaud's jersey on their bench and the championship was won in Renaud's memory.
In the aftermath of the championship, the team was met at the Windsor Airport by a large contingent of local fans and was addressed by Mayor Eddie Francis.http://www.windsorstar.com/Windsor+Spitfires+carpet+welcome+from+frenzied+fans/1629063/story.html It was announced that the road to the new WFCU Centre would be renamed Memorial Cup Drive in honour of the victory.http://www.windsorstar.com/City+names+WFCU+Centre+thoroughfare+Memorial+Drive/1629477/story.html
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==Awards==
J. Ross Robertson Cup: 	Windsor Spitfires
Hamilton Spectator Trophy:	Windsor Spitfires
Wayne Gretzky Trophy: 	Windsor Spitfires
Bumbacco Trophy: 	Windsor Spitfires
Matt Leyden Trophy: 	Bob Boughner, Windsor Spitfires
Max Kaminsky Trophy: 	Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires
OHL Executive of the Year:	Warren Rychel, Windsor Spitfires
Wayne Gretzky 99 Award: 	Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
===Memorial Cup tournament awards===
Award 	Recipient
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player)	Taylor Hall, Windsor
===Memorial Cup All-Tournament team===
All-Star team 	  Position  
Ryan Ellis, Windsor 	D
Taylor Hall, Windsor	F
==Team players drafted into the NHL==
Player 	Round	Pick	Team
Ryan Ellis	1 	11 	Nashville Predators
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=431936
==References==
Category:Memorial Cup championship seasons
Category:Ontario Hockey League championship seasons