Windsor Spitfires

History

The original Windsor Spitfires were a junior team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1953. Their name came from the 417 Combat Support Squadron, a Royal Canadian Air Force unit known as the "City of Windsor" that was formed in England during World War II and flew Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes. In those early years, the team made the league finals twice and had four future Hockey Hall of Fame players on its roster. Before 1945, junior hockey in Windsor was played in a six-team league called the Windsor Junior Hockey League. The Spitfires shut down in 1953 when local hockey officials decided to back the OHA Senior A Hockey League instead, which led to the creation of the Windsor Bulldogs. Five former Spitfires later played for the Bulldogs, and one of them, Bobby Brown, helped the team win the Allan Cup in 1963. The Bulldogs themselves folded in 1964 after just one season in the International Hockey League.

The modern Windsor Spitfires began as a Tier II Junior A club in the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, playing from 1971 to 1975. Their first game ever was on October 1, 1971, in Guelph against the Guelph CMC's, a game they lost 11-3. Laurie Gregan scored the franchise's first two goals, both in the first period. Fifteen-year-old goalie Larry Verlinde played the whole game and made 37 saves. The team's first home game and first victory came on October 7, 1971, at Windsor Arena against the Chatham Maroons, a 4-2 win. Future NHL goaltender Eddie Mio stopped 49 shots, and Dean Sheremeta scored the game-winner. That first season ended with a record of 21 wins, 32 losses, and 3 ties, placing them sixth out of eight teams. In the playoffs, they faced the third-place Chatham Maroons in a best-of-seven quarter-final. The Spitfires won their first playoff game on February 23, 1972, in Chatham, 3-2, with goalie Bryan Rose making 35 saves and Wolf Hiesl scoring both the team's first playoff goal and the winner in the second period. Windsor then lost the next four games, ending their season.

Players

Over 100 alumni of the OHA and OHL Junior A Spitfires have graduated to play in the National Hockey League. Four of those alumni have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Glenn Hall, Marcel Pronovost, Terry Sawchuk, and Al Arbour as coach. The team has retired numbers for Taylor Hall (#4), Ryan Ellis (#6), Adam Graves and Bill Bowler (#9), Ernie Godden (#15), Steve Ott, Adam Henrique, and Ed Jovanovski (#14), Mickey Renaud (#18), and Scott Miller (#23). Honoured numbers include Marcel Pronovost (#4), Joel Quenneville (#6), and Gordon Haidy (#11). Notable alumni from the SOJHL Spitfires (1971–1975) include Frank Bathe, Frank Beaton, Ted Bulley, Rick Heinz, Ken Mann, and Eddie Mio. From the modern Spitfires (1975–present), alumni include Josh Bailey, Bryan Bickell, Jack Campbell, Matt Cooke, Will Cuylle, Michael DiPietro, Ryan Ellis, Cam Fowler, Adam Graves, Philipp Grubauer, Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Wyatt Johnston, Ed Jovanovski, Claude Julien, Zack Kassian, Tim Kerr, Michael Leighton, Roland Melanson, Michal Neuvirth, Jordan Nolan, Steve Ott, Joel Quenneville, Mike Rupp, Mikhail Sergachev, Jason Spezza, Cory Stillman, Gabriel Vilardi, Austin Watson, Mike Weber, Shane Wright, and many others.

Uniforms and logos

The Windsor Spitfires updated their look with a new primary logo: an aggressive, stylized World War II Spitfire fighter plane set against clouds inside a red, white, and blue shield, with the word "Spitfires" placed prominently in front. While the team’s main colors remain red and blue, the new version uses richer, more vibrant shades and adds silver and yellow as secondary colors. The Ontario Hockey League and Reebok, the league’s uniform supplier, helped finalize the new jerseys. Shoulder patches on the sweaters feature a vintage Spitfire plane inside a gold laurel wreath, with the number 18 to honor former captain Mickey Renaud. Senior art directors Marcello Fontana and Shane Potvin of Hargreaves Stewart collaborated on both the primary logo and the shoulder patch. The team wears white jerseys on the road before Christmas and at home after the new year, and red jerseys at home before Christmas and on the road after the new year. A third jersey was used briefly, with a white, red, and green scheme and an alternate logo showing a plane flying in front of the Ambassador Bridge. During the Compuware Spitfires era, the colors were brown and orange, and the logo featured a Spitfire airplane. The original Spitfires logo had a maple leaf.

Broadcasters

The Spitfires' radio home is currently CKLW. The station had broadcast the team for years before dropping coverage after the 2002-03 season. For two seasons no radio broadcaster carried the games, then CKUE-FM took over for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 campaigns. The team returned to CKLW starting in 2006-07, with Mike Miller and former CKLW sports anchor Steve Bell now calling the action. On television, YourTV Windsor on Cogeco carries the games. Domenic Papa once hosted and provided colour commentary alongside play-by-play man Bill Kelso and analyst Brian Trenholm. In August 2012, TVCogeco replaced that long-time crew for the 2012-13 season, sparking protests and backlash from fans and the local sports community. The current broadcast team features host Angelo Aversa, play-by-play announcer Chris McLeod (a CKSY-FM morning host and former London Knights studio host), and colour commentator Nick Warriner, a former Soo Greyhounds coach.