The Windsor Spitfires got a steal in Noah Morneau.

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The Windsor Spitfires got a steal in Noah Morneau.

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To many, Morneau’s selection seemed to be just a goodwill gesture for a local kid by the Spitfires in 2020 when the club selected him in the 15th and final round with the 294th pick overall from the Windsor Jr. Spitfires’ minor midgets. Morneau’s selection came 180 picks after the Spitfires made Ryan Abraham the club’s first-round pick, but he’s shown he more than belongs in the league.

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“He’s a special kid,” Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters said. “I have a big spot in my heart for him.”

Not only did the Morneau beat the odds, but he’s become a key part of Windsor’s historic turnaround this season.

“Just so proud of that kid,” Walters said. “Comes to the rink every day and he’s our hardest worker.”

On a night the Spitfires celebrated the club’s overage players, Morneau delivered in a big way with his second hat-trick in six games to help the Spitfires to a 5-0 win over the Sarnia Sting before a crowd of 4,776 at the WFCU Centre.

“Yeah, pretty good,” said Morneau, who is third in team scoring with 32 goals and 73 points. “Pretty sad being the last game I’ll ever play here in the regular season, but I know there’ll be a lot of good things coming in the playoffs.”

The win was also significant in that it pushed the club’s point total to 96 on the season, which is a 52-point improvement from a year ago. That marks the biggest turnaround in franchise history and broke the old mark from the 2007-08 team, which was the foundation of back-to-back Memorial Cup squads. That team made a 51-point jump to 94 points after posting 43 points in 2006-07, which is the first season of ownership under Bob Boughner, Warren Rachel and Peter Dobrich.

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“Just (happy) for the guys that were here last year and knowing what went through,” said Morneau, who is headed to Bowling Green State University next season. “It’s pretty incredible what we’ve done here and what Billy (general manager Billy Bowler) has done with the roster he’s put together. The hard work they’ve done and the hard work we the players have done. It’s insane. It’s really good.”

Bowler took time to congratulate players and coaches after Thursday’s franchise-record win.

“It’s a big thing,” Bowler said. “I’m happy for them.”

Windsor Spitfires’ forward Shawn Costello, at right, battles the Sarnia Sting’s Ruslan Karimov, left, of the Sarnia Sting for the puck on Thursday.

But Bowler also deserves credit for wheeling and dealing at last year’s deadline to put the Spitfires in position for this year’s turnaround.

“To make the biggest jump in franchise history is something very special to me, the coaching staff and players,” Walters said. “For Billy and for fans to kind of understand that this is a business and he took that step back last year so that this would be a possibility. Great job by Billy to look down the road and to put us in the position we’re at.”

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And while Bowler traded nearly ever veteran asset with any value last year, one of the players he did not move was Morneau and Walters, who was not with the club a year ago, knows there was interest.

“I know coaches around the league at the deadline last year that were calling me about players,” Walters said. “I know a lot of teams called for Noah, who were looking to go on a playoff run, and Billy obviously knew what he had and held on to him thankfully.”

Abraham and A.J. Spellacy also scored for the Spitfires while Ilya Protas picked up five assists. Goalie Joey Costanzo made 21 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 33rd win of the campaign, which is the third-highest total in a single season for a Windsor goalie.

“It feels extremely weird,” Abraham said of his last regular-season home game as a Spitfire before the playoffs start Thursday. “I’m for sure going to miss this place. You only get four or five years in this league so every year matters. That turnaround was awesome. It’s my last year, so I want to go out with a bang.”

jpparker@postmedia.com

twitter.com/winstarparker

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Game Summary

Thursday Result

Spitfires 5 Sting 0

Sarnia 0 0 0 – 0

Windsor 0 4 1 – 5

First period: No scoring. Penalty: Young S (roughing) 14:28.

Second period: 1. Windsor, Morneau 30 (Protas, Abraham) 4:39, 2. Windsor, Morneau 31 (Protas) 7:48, 3. Windsor, Abraham 28 (Protas, Cristoforo) 14:29 (sh), 4. Windsor, Morneau 32 (Protas) 15:40 (pp). Penalties: Hurt S (cross checking) 8:26, Woodall W (check to head major, game misconduct) 9:34, Barr S (delay of game) 14:55.

Third period: 5. Windsor, Spellacy 18 (Protas, Davis) 10:32 (pp). Penalty: O’Brien S (holding) 9:15.

Game stats – SOG – Sarnia 3 14 4 – 21 Windsor 9 10 11 – 30 Goal (shots-saves) – Sarnia: Maillet (L,6-11-2-2) (19-15), Surzycia (0:00 of third period) (11-10). Windsor: Costanzo (W,34-10-3-1) (21-21). Power play (goals-chances) – Sarnia 0-1. Windsor 2-4. Referees: Ryan Elbers and Joe Monette. Linesmen: Adam Burnett and Luke Pye. Att.: 4,776 at the WFCU Centre.

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