The Saginaw Spirit have made franchise history by earning ten consecutive wins, with their 6-2 victory over the Niagara IceDogs on Sunday. The Memorial Cup hosts have been on an absolute tear ever since they made some significant additions to their lineup. The Spirit have added Nolan Lalonde, Ethan Hay, Alex Christopoulos, and Rodwin Dionicio in the past few weeks. After a rather slow start to the season, the Spirit have flipped the switch over the past ten games. Before their 10-0-0 stretch, they had a 4-7-0 record. They still sit fourth in the Western Conference, but they have all the momentum on their side. The Spirit's special team units have been a huge asset as of late. In the past 10 games, Saginaw has been 30.5% effective on the powerplay, and have killed off 41/46 penalties. On the both powerplay units, the Spirit have two high-end powerplay quarterbacks with Zayne Parekh and Rodwin Dionicio. Both defenders would be on most team's first powerplay, but the Spirit have two well-qualified powerplay defencemen. It is not rare to see Parekh play the whole two minutes on the powerplay, and he has the ability to dictate play the entire time. He possesses all of the offensive tools that a scout could want, and he is a defenceman. Parekh's creativity and unpredictability in the offensive zone is what makes him dangerous. He will move the puck from the point, he'll shoot it, or he'll carry it down low himself. His wide array of tools and ability to scan the ice allows him to attack in a variety of ways. They have offensive assets on both units, with Michael Misa, Hunter Haight, Matyas Sapovaliv, Calem Magnone, Alex Christopolous, Joey Willis, and Ethan Hay being spread out over two units. In reality, both of their powerplay groups have the ability to produce at a high level. The Spirit's penalty kill has also improved significantly. When looking at their defence core, the majority of their defenders are offensively-minded. This has been one of their consistent weak spots, but their defence has been finding a way over these last ten games. The addition of Ethan Hay has also significantly helped this group shorthanded. He is one of the better defensive centres in the league, and he plays a lot of PK minutes for this group. Tampa Bay Lightning 7th Round Pick Ethan Hay after 3-2 Win against Niagara IceDogs Saginaw has no shortage of depth offensively. Unfortunately, they were forced to send down their second round pick Jacob Cloutier to their Junior B affiliate, the Chatham Maroons. First round pick Aiden Young has also been getting limited minutes for the Spirit, playing in-and-out of the lineup on the 4th line. Some of the Spirit's youth are getting pushed down the depth chart, but it is reassuring to know that they have depth, should they have future injuries. In the crease, they have two fringe starting goaltenders with Andrew Oke and Nolan Lalonde. Oke has spent his entire junior career with Saginaw, slowly earning the trust from his coaches and transitioning into a starting role. He was battling behind Islanders prospect Tristan Lennox for his first couple of seasons. Now, he is getting all of the opportunity to be "the guy" in Saginaw's Memorial Cup run. The Spirit also picked up Nolan Lalonde earlier this season, the former Otters' starting goaltender. He will provide some competition in the crease with Oke, and goaltending depth is never a bad problem to have. T The Spirit have jumped up to 1st in the OHL's weekly power rankings with this ten-game win streak. Their momentum doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The Memorial Cup hosts are not only gearing up for the tournament next June, but they are looking to build a lengthy playoff run as well.
