The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975–76 season. An unrelated OHA Jr. A Spitfires team, founded in 1946, moved to become the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in 1953 and went through other iterations/moves to become the present OHL Erie Otters in 1996.
The 2003–04 OHL season was the 24th season of the Ontario Hockey League. In November 2003, the OHL Board of Governors renamed the OHL Humanitarian of the Year Award to the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy, in recognition of former Owen Sound Platers player, Dan Snyder, who died in a car accident in September 2003. Twenty teams each played 68 games. The J. Ross Robertson Cup was won by the Guelph Storm, who swept the Mississauga IceDogs in the league final.
The 2002–03 OHL season was the 23rd season of the Ontario Hockey League. The North Bay Centennials relocated to Saginaw, Michigan, becoming the Saginaw Spirit. Due to the move, several teams changed divisions; the Saginaw Spirit were placed in the west division, the London Knights moved to the midwest division, and the Brampton Battalion moved to the central division. The London Knights moved into the new John Labatt Centre, which replaced the London Ice House. The Tim Adams Memorial Trophy was inaugurated as the MVP of the OHL Cup. Twenty teams each played 68 games. The Mississauga Icedogs qualified for the playoffs for the first time in their existence. The Kitchener Rangers won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Ottawa 67's in the final.
The 2005–06 OHL season was the 26th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Canadian Hockey League adopted the new playing rules and enforcement recently adopted by the National Hockey League in efforts to speed up the game, and make it more exciting for fans. Twenty teams each played 68 games. The J. Ross Robertson Cup was won by the Peterborough Petes, who defeated the London Knights in the final.
The 2001–02 OHL season was the 22nd season of the Ontario Hockey League. Twenty teams each played 68 games. The Erie Otters defeated the Barrie Colts for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The 2000–01 OHL season was the 21st season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Guelph Storm moved from the Guelph Memorial Gardens to the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre at the start of the season. The Owen Sound Platers were renamed to the Owen Sound Attack Twenty teams each played 68 games. The Ottawa 67's won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Plymouth Whalers.
The 2006–07 OHL season was the 27th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The OHL announced, a new rule titled "Checking to the Head," effective for this season. Also announced, the recently adopted National Hockey League rule on stick curvature was not implemented until 2007–08. The season commenced on September 21, 2006, and twenty teams each played 68 games. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds moved from Sault Memorial Gardens into the new Steelback Centre, which opened October 11, 2006. The Oshawa Generals moved mid-season from the Oshawa Civic Auditorium to the General Motors Centre, on November 3, 2006. The Plymouth Whalers won the J. Ross Robertson Cup defeating the Sudbury Wolves in the championship series.
The 2007–08 OHL season was the 28th season of the Ontario Hockey League. Twenty teams played 68 games each during the schedule, that started on September 19, 2007, and concluded on March 16, 2008. The Mississauga IceDogs relocated to the Gatorade Garden City Complex in downtown St. Catharines after getting approval of the team's sale to Bill Burke by the Board of Governors on June 5, 2007. The team was renamed the Niagara IceDogs. The Toronto St. Michael's Majors replaced the IceDogs in the Hershey Centre, renaming themselves, the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The Kingston Frontenacs moved late-season from the Kingston Memorial Centre to the new K-Rock Centre, which opened on February 22, 2008. On the afternoon of February 18, 2008, Windsor Spitfires team captain Mickey Renaud died after collapsing at his home, at age 19, of the rare heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The playoffs began March 20, with the Kitchener Rangers winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions. The Rangers were also chosen before the start of the season to host the 2008 Memorial Cup tournament.
The 1994–95 OHL season was the 15th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Newmarket Royals relocated, and became the Sarnia Sting. The OHL realigned from two divisions, creating the east, central, and west divisions. The Bumbacco Trophy is inaugurated to be awarded to the first place team in the west division, during the regular season. The Leyden Trophy is reallocated to the east division, and the Emms Trophy to the central division. Sixteen teams each played 66 games. The Detroit Junior Red Wings won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm.
The 1997–98 OHL season was the 18th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Toronto St. Michael's Majors name was reactivated when they are awarded a franchise, to play in the east division. The Detroit Whalers became the Plymouth Whalers. Eighteen teams each played 66 games. The Guelph Storm won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Ottawa 67's.
The 1998–99 OHL season was the 19th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Brampton Battalion and the Mississauga IceDogs were added as expansion teams. The league realigned from three divisions into two conferences and four divisions. Brampton were placed in the Midwest division of the Western conference, and Mississauga were placed in the Central division of the Eastern conference. The OHL inaugurated four new trophies this season. The Holody Trophy was created for the regular season champion of the Midwest division. Two conference playoffs champions were created; the Bobby Orr Trophy for the Eastern conference, and the Wayne Gretzky Trophy for the Western conference. The fourth new trophy was the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, to be awarded to the MVP of the playoffs. Twenty teams each played sixty-eight games. The Belleville Bulls won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the London Knights.
The 1999–2000 OHL season was the 20th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The season was the first to award a point for an overtime loss. Twenty teams each played 68 games. The Barrie Colts won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Plymouth Whalers.
The 2008–09 OHL season was the 29th season of the Ontario Hockey League. Twenty teams played 68 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on September 17, 2008 and concluded on March 15, 2009. The OHL inaugurated the Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy following his death in the previous season. The Windsor Spitfires played their last game at Windsor Arena on December 4, defeating the Guelph Storm, 2–1. The Spitfires played their first game at the WFCU Centre on December 11 against the Belleville Bulls, losing the game 4–0. The playoffs began on March 18, 2009, and ended on May 8, 2009 with the Windsor Spitfires winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup, and a berth in the 2009 Memorial Cup which was held in Rimouski, Quebec. Windsor went on to win the Memorial Cup.
The 2009–10 OHL season was the 30th season of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Twenty teams played 68 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on September 17, 2009 and ended on March 14, 2010. On September 9, 2009, all 20 teams in the OHL unveiled their new Reebok Edge jerseys, which have been used in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2007 until 2017. The playoffs began on March 18, 2010, and ended on May 4, 2010, with the Windsor Spitfires winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second consecutive year, which they followed up by winning the 2010 Memorial Cup, hosted by the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL in Brandon, Manitoba.
The 2011–12 OHL season was the 32nd season of the Ontario Hockey League. Twenty teams played 68 games each during the regular season schedule, which started on September 21, 2011 and ended on March 18, 2012. The playoffs began on Thursday March 22, 2012 and concluded on Friday May 11, 2012. The London Knights won the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second time in franchise history. London secured a berth in the 2012 Memorial Cup hosted by the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL.
The 2012–13 OHL season was the 33rd season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors were sold during the off-season. As part of the sale, the "St. Michael's Majors" name was returned to St. Michael's College School. The new name of the team will be the Mississauga Steelheads. The Brampton Battalion announced during the season that this would be their last season in Brampton and will relocate to North Bay, Ontario for the 2013–14 OHL season. Twenty teams played 68 games each during the regular season schedule, which began in September 2012 and ended in March 2013. The London Knights won their second consecutive J. Ross Robertson Cup and third in franchise history, and with it a berth in the 2013 Memorial Cup hosted by the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.
The 2013–14 OHL season was the 34th season of the Ontario Hockey League. The Brampton Battalion relocated to North Bay and became the North Bay Battalion, playing at the North Bay Memorial Gardens. The first two outdoor games in OHL history were held this season, when the Saginaw Spirit, Windsor Spitfires, Plymouth Whalers, and London Knights played at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan as part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival on December 29. On March 11, 2014 Terry Trafford of the Saginaw Spirit, who had been missing for eight days, was found dead in his vehicle at a Wal-Mart in Saginaw, Michigan. His death was ruled a suicide as a result of self-inflicted asphyxiation. Twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 19, 2013 to March 17, 2014. The Guelph Storm won the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the third time in franchise history, and the first time since 2004, as they defeated the North Bay Battalion in five games, and represented the OHL at the 2014 Memorial Cup held at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. The London Knights also qualified for the tournament as the host team.
The 2015–16 OHL season was the 36th season of the Ontario Hockey League, in which twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 2015 to March 2016. The Plymouth Whalers relocated to Flint and became the Flint Firebirds, playing at the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center. The Belleville Bulls relocated to Hamilton and became the Hamilton Bulldogs, playing at FirstOntario Centre. The London Knights won the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the fourth time in franchise history, as they defeated the Niagara IceDogs in four games in the final round of the playoffs. The Knights qualified for the 2016 Memorial Cup held at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta. London defeated the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3-2 in overtime in the final game, winning the Memorial Cup for the second time in franchise history.
The 2017–18 OHL season was the 38th season of the Ontario Hockey League, in which twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 21, 2017 to March 18, 2018. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds accomplished a streak of 23 consecutive wins between October 27, 2017 and January 4, 2018.
Michael Thorne
