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Allegiant · 09-06-2020, 02:03 PM

Mounting Injuries for Will Windsor

A couple of seasons ago, Will Windsor was selected in the fourth round by the Buffalo Stampede. He wound up going sixtieth overall, after several teams had already declared passes on their selections. As so often happens, the later rounds of the draft became a time for guesswork and gambling, and at the behest of one Rintauro Okabe, Buffalo decided to exercise their selection on a player whose development had largely halted. A defenceman who played a very old-school style, who was responsible with the puck and in-front of his own net, but who displayed little in the way of two-way ability, and even less in the way of forward advancement.

To onlookers at the time, it was a low-risk pick with the potential to offer at least some reward. Maybe Windsor would turn into an SHL-level player with a few years more development. Certainly, a player who could record so many shots blocked per game as to draw the ire of opposing fans and players alike had at least some chance of turning out. For a little while there, it looked like Buffalo’s guess might well have paid off — Windsor began to take strides forward in his development, and turned his shot-blocking game up to eleven.

He led the SMJHL in shots blocked multiple times and made a name for himself as half-defenceman, half-brick wall. This season alone he registered 160 shots blocked in 50 games, and even added 2 goals and 10 assists to the mix for at least some cursory offensive upside. He also recorded 63 hits for some solid, if unremarkable, physical play. Perhaps more impressive was his tally of 30 takeaways. So, it’s clear that Windsor turned into a very solid junior player for the Maine Timber. That much is difficult to deny, and it should have spelled promise for a future SHL career.

Unfortunately, that career is now in question.

There’s little doubt that the Buffalo Stampede are far too deep a team to have much use for a depth player like Windsor, barring some serious changes to the team roster. But, under normal circumstances, Buffalo might be able to make a trade for a late-round pick to offer Windsor a chance to make some lesser team’s line-up after another season of training in juniors. But at this point, it no longer seems like Windsor will even be able to crack a junior line-up next season.

Indeed, even as Windsor is playing the best hockey of his career with 13 points in 22 games, along with 76 shots blocked and 15 takeaways, some inside the locker room are reporting that just playing those games is becoming more and more of a struggle. Turning yourself into a moving wall has its consequences, and the injuries are starting to pile up on Windsor to a concerning extent. The only thing keeping him going is a lengthy regimen of physical rehab before every game, along with a healthy dose of will (no pun intended) to win this final playoff series.

But that desire can’t last forever, and few teams are going to take a risk on a player who is beginning to succumb to injuries even before he makes it into a professional league. The question hanging over Windsor now is no longer whether he will prove Buffalo right to take a chance on a late draft pick, but whether he will ever lace up the skates again after this season. Some that know him have suggested that he might be more likely to move directly into the staffing side of hockey, possibly as some sort of video development coach or assistant, putting his prowess as an old-school defender to good use for the benefit of some minor or junior team. He might even opt to go to college and pursue a career outside of hockey entirely, given his age may make him undesirable as an actual staff-member for most teams.

Either way, it seems more and more likely that Windsor’s future does not lay as an active player on the ice.

There is some outside chance that he could still rehabilitate his injuries enough to keep playing. Maybe with enough adjustment to his play-style, or some superhuman conditioning enough to make being hit with the puck a dozen times a night less of a physical drain, he could make something of himself. But, at this point in time, it seems less than likely. So, rather than question whether or not Windsor will be able to hack out another season, let us instead ask the following: will Will Windsor be able to leave the sport of hockey on top, as a champion in the SMJHL, or will he suffer one final disappointment before entering what will no doubt he a stressful and uncertain off-season?

There is one ultimate irony to the entire situation.

As Maine heads into the finals against the Newfoundland Berserkers, it is in some respects a come-full-circle moment for Windsor. It was at the tail end of Season 52 that Will Windsor first joined the SMJHL, again at the behest of Rintarou Okabe. There, he signed a short-term, pre-draft contract with the Newfoundland Berserkers. He scored one regular season goal for the team in two games, before joining them in their playoff run. It ended in a disappointing sweep to the Detroit Falcons in the second round, during which time Windsor recorded just a single assist and seven shots blocked — a number that seems extraordinarily low, given the totals he has managed more recently.

Heading into that off-season, it was widely known that Will Windsor desired to return to the Newfoundland Berserkers. It was on that team that he began his journey towards professional hockey. Now that he has become a mainstay of the Maine Timber, it is all he can do to try to stave off a powerful Newfoundland offense to try to help his new team overcome the old. The Newfoundland Berserkers were the start of the line for Will Windsor. His task now is to make sure that they don’t make the end of the line a bitter one.

It’s just one more wrinkle to this already tense series, now tied two apiece. Buffalo may be asking itself now whether it will ever find some return for Windsor’s team with the team. Maine may be asking itself whether it will find itself down its premier shotblocker heading into next season. But, as fans, the most important question right now is who will claim this year’s championship. And maybe, just maybe, Windsor will find some kind of storybook ending out of it all.

1,121 Words

Snoopdogg · 09-06-2020, 02:56 PM

Great article

dankoa · 09-06-2020, 03:00 PM

scrub

Serpe x 13 · 09-06-2020, 04:19 PM

the injury bug is scary

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