Matthew Maggio hits 50-goal mark for Spitfires
The anticipation for Matthew Maggio to score his 50th goal of the OHL season for the Windsor Spitfires was palpable on Wednesday night. When the Tecumseh resident received a stretch pass from Jacob Maillet, he made no mistake.
As the crowd at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre was whipped into a frenzy, you could see the sense of relief on Maggio's face.
"It's pretty cool. I don't think it's sunk in yet," Maggio said in a post-game interview shared to the team's YouTube channel after the Spitfires beat the Saginaw Spirit 6-5 in overtime. "I've been trying my best to not think about it."
That was a pretty tough task for the 20-year-old captain of his hometown team.
"It's been a bit draining," Maggio said. "I've been trying to block it out of my mind but it's tough. I've been doing some meditation every day and try to get my mind off of it. But when that's all anyone wants to talk about it's tough.
"I was at the Lakeshore game and I was asked about 15 times if I was going to get 50 Wednesday," he said with a smile. "There was a little bit of added pressure today. It's a relief that I was able to get it. Now I'm excited to go back to playing more free hockey out there."
Maggio became the eighth player in Spitfires history to score 50 goals. Before Maggio, the last Spits player to record 50 was Steve Ott in 2001. The last local to score 50 for the Spits was Tim Finley in 1995-96.
Now, Maggio leads the OHL in socring with 50 goals and 54 assists for 104 points.
While the New York Islanders draft pick is getting all the praise, he can't help but think about everyone that helped him get there.
"Obviously I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Maggio said. "And all the credit goes to them for helping me out on this ride. It takes a village to help me here. From my teammates, the coaches, GM and my parents. I couldn't have done it without them."
Spitfires coach Marc Savard couldn't help but be happy for his captain.
"It's well deserved. Tonight the talk was you can one up me," Savard said. "I talked to him after the first period. Everyone knew he was mad. I told him to just stay with it. You're going to get an opportunity. And I think two shifts later he got that breakaway goal."
