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Saginaw Spirit
Saginaw Spirit
City	Saginaw, Michigan
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	West
Founded	2002–03
Home arena	The Dow Event Center
Colours	Midnight blue, red, silver, white and yellow;
General manager	Todd Watson
Head coach	Todd Watson
Affiliate(s)	Leamington Flyers
	Website
	www.saginawspirit.com
Franchise history
1943–47	St. Catharines Falcons
1947–62	St. Catharines Teepees
1962–76	St. Catharines Black Hawks
1976–82	Niagara Falls Flyers
1982–02	North Bay Centennials
2002–	Saginaw Spirit

Pregame Warm-up at Wendler Arena. February 7th, 2003.

The Saginaw Spirit are a junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).

[edit] History

The Saginaw Spirit were born when Dick Garber, the owner of several local automobile dealerships, purchased the North Bay Centennials and moved the team to Saginaw after the 2001–02 season, renaming it the Saginaw Spirit.

The team traces its roots back to St. Catharines, Ontario, where it played as the Falcons, Teepees, and Black Hawks from 1943–1976. It won two Memorial Cup championships as the Teepees, in 1954 and 1960. In 1976, the franchise moved to nearby Niagara Falls, where it was known as the Flyers. In 1982, the team was moved again, this time to North Bay, and renamed the Centennials, where it remained until moving to Saginaw in 2002.

The Spirit have done extensive promotions in the Mid-Michigan area, increasing their fan base and season ticket-holder numbers. The Spirit have one of the highest attendance rates in the Ontario Hockey League.^{[citation needed]}

After three rebuilding seasons the Spirit clinched their first playoff berth on March 2, 2006, but lost in the first round to the Guelph Storm. They made the playoffs the following two seasons, but lost to the division rival Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds both times, in six games in 2007 and in four games in 2008. In 2009, the Spirit won their first playoff series since relocating to Saginaw, sweeping Guelph in four games. They were then swept in the second round by the London Knights.

[edit] Coaches

The first coach in Saginaw Spirit history was Dennis Desrosiers. He was well known to local fans, with many years of hockey experience in Michigan. As a player he spent 10 years for the Saginaw Gears (IHL), and spent time coaching the Flint Generals, Saginaw Generals & Kalamazoo Wings all in Michigan. In total, there have been four coaches in Saginaw Spirit history to date.

List of coaches. Numbers of seasons in parentheses.

2002–03 - Dennis Desrosiers (2)
2003–04 - Dennis Desrosiers / Moe Mantha
2004–05 - Doug Lidster / Bob Mancini
2005–07 - Bob Mancini (3)
2007–present - Todd Watson

[edit] Players

See complete list of all List of Saginaw Spirit alumni.

[edit] Award winners

2003–04 - Patrick McNeill, Jack Ferguson Award -1st overall OHL Priority Draft Selection

2005–06 - Ryan Daniels, F.W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy -Best Rookie GAA

2005–06 - Craig Goslin, OHL Executive of the Year

2006–07 - Tom Pyatt, William Hanley Trophy -Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year

2006–07 - Craig Goslin, OHL Executive of the Year

[edit] NHL alumni

Since 2002 the Saginaw Spirit have graduated seven players who have played in the National Hockey League.

[edit] Current squad

Roster updated as of November 9th, 2009

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Glove	Acquired	NHL Draft	Place of birth
1	Tadeas Galansky (injured)	L	Saginaw Spirit 2009	2010	Czech Republic
30	Anthony Peters	L	Trade KNG 2008	Undrafted	Blyth, Ontario
80	Edward Pasquale	L	Trade BLV 2007	ATL 2009	Toronto, Ontario
Defensemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	NHL Draft	Place of birth
2	Brad Walch	L	Saginaw Spirit 2007	Undrafted	Saginaw, Michigan
14	Alex Lepkowski	L	Saginaw Spirit 2009	2011	West Seneca, New York
17	Joe Underwood	R	Trade GUE 2007	Undrafted	Canton, Michigan
21	Ryan O'Connor	R	Trade BAR 2009	2010	Hamilton, Ontario
26	Nicholas Trecapelli	R	Saginaw Spirit 2007	2010	Guelph, Ontario
41	Cody Sol	L	Saginaw Spirit 2007	ATL 2009	Woodstock, Ontario
44	Matt Braun	R	Saginaw Spirit 2008	2010	Mississauga, Ontario

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	NHL Draft	Place of birth
5	Garrett Ross	L	LW	Free Agent 2009	2010	Dearborn, Michigan
11	O/A Tyler Murovich - C	L	C	Free Agent 2007	Undrafted	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
14	Jordan Szwarz - A	R	RW	Saginaw Spirit 2007	PHX 2009	Burlington, Ontario
15	O/A Joe Pleckaitis	L	LW	Trade BAR 2007	Undrafted	Markham, Ontario
20	Mitch Fillman	R	RW	Free Agent 2007	Undrafted	Oakville, Ontario
23	O/A Jordan Skellett	L	LW	Trade ERE 2008	Undrafted	London, Ontario
24	Ivan Telegin	L	C	Saginaw Spirit 2009	2010	Novokuznetsk, Russia
25	Josh Shalla	L	LW	Trade GUE 2009	2010	Whitby, Ontario
28	Stephen Francella	L	LW	Free Agent 2009	Undrafted	Bolton, Ontario
51	Anthony Camara	L	LW	Saginaw Spirit 2009	2011	Toronto, Ontario
67	Barry Sanderson	R	C	Trade NIA 2008	Undrafted	Dearborn, Michigan
89	Vincent Trocheck	R	C	Saginaw Spirit 2009	2011	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
93	Michael Sgarbossa	L	C	Trade BAR 2009	2010	Campbellville, Ontario

[edit] Team records

Statistic	Total	Season
Team records for a single season
Most points	91	2006–07
Most wins	44	2006–07
Most goals for	291	2006–07
Least goals for	150	2004–05
Least goals against	217	2006–07
Most goals against	275	2002–03

Statistic	Player	Total	Season
Individual player records for a single season
Most goals	Ryan McDonough	45	2007–08
Most assists	Tyler Haskins	60	2006–07
Most points	Jack Combs	100	2007–08
Most points, rookie	Jan Mursak	80	2006–07
Most points, defenseman	Patrick McNeill	77	2006–07
Best GAA, goalie	Ryan Daniels	2.94	2006–07
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

[edit] Season-by-season results

[edit] Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SL	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
2002–03	68	11	45	5	7	–	34	0.250	158	275	5th West
2003–04	68	16	45	3	4	–	39	0.287	161	228	5th West
2004–05	68	18	42	4	4	–	44	0.324	150	260	4th West
2005–06	68	36	30	–	2	0	74	0.544	242	246	2nd West
2006–07	68	44	21	–	0	3	91	0.669	291	217	2nd West
2007–08	68	33	25	–	8	2	76	0.559	234	231	4th West
2008–09	68	36	24	–	4	4	80	0.559	235	219	2nd West

[edit] Playoffs

2002–03 Out of playoffs.
2003–04 Out of playoffs.
2004–05 Out of playoffs.
2005–06 Lost to Guelph Storm 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
2006–07 Lost to Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals.
2007–08 Lost to Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
2008–09 Defeated Guelph Storm 4 games to 0 in conference quarter-finals.
Lost to London Knights 4 games to 0 in conference semi-finals.

[edit] Uniforms and logos

The Saginaw Spirit logo depicts an American bald eagle with the colors of the Stars and Stripes along its neck, on the words "Saginaw Spirit." The uniform scheme is similar to that previously used by the U.S.A. national team. The home jerseys are white backgrounds with navy blue sleeves and red trim. The away jerseys are navy blue backgrounds with red sleeves and white trim. The Saginaw third jersey has a red background with navy blue sleeves and white trim, bearing across the chest the word "Saginaw" spelled diagonally downwards from left to right.

[edit] Mascots

Saginaw's main mascot is "Sammy Spirit," resembling an American bald eagle. The team held a vote on their website to name a new secondary mascot for the 2006–07 season. The mascot was named^[1] Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle after Stephen Colbert. Colbert had promoted the contest on his show, The Colbert Report. After naming the mascot after Colbert, the Spirit won seven straight games before losing to the Sarnia Sting on October 20. Since then, The Colbert Report has featured ongoing comedy sketches related to the team, the mascot, and other teams in the Ontario Hockey League, especially the Oshawa Generals, and Oshawa, Ontario mayor John Gray.^[2]

[edit] Arena

The Spirit play at Wendler Arena (capacity 5,527), which is part of The Dow Event Center complex in downtown Saginaw. The OHL All-Star Classic was hosted here in 2007. This was the first time in history that the OHL All-Star Game was hosted in an American city. The Arena was formerly home to the Saginaw Gears, Saginaw Generals, Saginaw Hawks, Saginaw Wheels and the Saginaw Lumber Kings.

Capacity = 5,527

Ice size = 192' x 85'

Wendler Arena The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

[edit] Mid Michigan Spirit

The Saginaw Spirit in partnership with Meijer food stores sponsor the Mid Michigan Spirit, a women's hockey club based out of Midland, Michigan. The 16U team took second at the MAHA state tournament during the 2006-2007 season. A 16U team moved up to 19U for the 2007-2008 season and once again took second at the MAHA state tournament in Canton, Michigan on March 9, 2008.

[edit] References

^ "Spirit on the Colbert Report Tonight". Saginaw Spirit. 2006-10-03. http://www.saginawspirit.com/ss/home.nsf/public/87F6C36ABD6B6B90852571FC0074AE03. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
^ Sunaya Sapurji (2007-02-01). "The Steagle has landed". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/article/177061. Retrieved 2007-02-01.

[edit] External links

www.saginawspirit.com Saginaw Spirit official site
Ontario Hockey League Official web site
Canadian Hockey League Official web site

[0] "Spirit on the Colbert Report Tonight". Saginaw Spirit. 2006-10-03. http://www.saginawspirit.com/ss/home.nsf/public/87F6C36ABD6B6B90852571FC0074AE03. Retrieved 2007-02-01.

[1] Sunaya Sapurji (2007-02-01). "The Steagle has landed". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/article/177061. Retrieved 2007-02-01.

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