Spits Pair Recognized for Outstanding Play in 2021-2022 Season
On December 1, left-winger Will Cuylle was one of 35 players invited to the main training camp for the Canadian National Junior Hockey Team that will compete in the upcoming 2022 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Three goaltenders, 11 defencemen and 21 forwards will vie for the 22 roster spots on the Canadian team that will play in the world tourney that will be held from December 26-January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
The 19-year-old Cuylle, a rugged left-winger who was the second round draft choice, 60th overall, of the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers in 2020, has been near or at the top of the Spits’ leading scorers. Named team captain shortly after his arrival back from the Rangers’ training camp last fall, the 6’4”, 210-lb. power forward had 18 goals and seven assists in 21 games for the Spitfires this season before leaving for leaving for Team Canada’s training camp.
Now in his third season in Windsor, Cuylle was obtained by the Spitfires in a blockbuster trade orchestrated by then-general manager Warren Rychel. Cuylle, who had been drafted in the first round, third overall, of the 2019 OHL Priority Selection, never reported to Peterborough and was obtained by Windsor in exchange for seven draft choices. The Petes also received two compensatory picks from the OHL as a result of Cuylle not reporting.
After scoring 41 points in his rookie season, Cuylle followed that up with 42 points in his sophomore campaign with the Spitfires. And while the Spitfires did not play during the 2019-2020 hockey season due to the pandemic, Cuylle played 18 games in the American Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, the top farm team of the Rangers. Had Cuylle played two more games in Hartford and reached the 20-game mark in the AHL, he could have been assigned there to play there again this season by the Rangers.
Cuylle’s previous international hockey experience includes playing for Team Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge during his rookie season in Windsor and winning a silver medal at the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup the following season
Meanwhile, Spitfire centre Wyatt Johnston was named the OHL Player of the Week for the week of November 29-December 5. The 18-year from Toronto scored nine points in the Spits two games last weekend by notching three assists in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Erie Otters at the WFCU Centre on Nov. 28 and following that up with a career-high six points on the strength of a two-goals and four assists performance in a 7-5 win over the Sting in Sarnia.
The offensive explosion by Johnston, the first round pick, 23rd overall, of the Dallas Stars in the 2021 National Hockey League Entry Draft last summer, was the most by a Windsor player since Josh Ho-Sang also had six points in a game against the North Bay Battalion in February of 2014.
Johnston, the Spits’ top face-off player, also exhibited his considerable skill in that regard by winning 14 out of 17 face-offs in the Erie game.
Johnston has 13 goals and 23 assists in 21 games with the Spitfires so far this season. His points in the games against Erie and Sarnia extended his point-scoring streak to 14 games.
Johnston became the first Spitfire player to be named OHL Player of the Week since Aaron Luchuk and Michael DiPietro were recognized with the same honour in 2017
Cuylle will be out of the lineup but Johnston will be playing when the Spitfires play their next game – a rare Wednesday night contest when the team plays host to the Owen Sound Attack at the WFCU Centre on December 8.