By Nathan Waters

The Flint Firebirds are living up to their moniker, proving to be one of the hottest teams in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) through the first half of the season.

The Firebirds, who just crossed the halfway point of their 2025-26 season, sit atop the OHL’s Western Conference, seven points ahead of the next closest team, the Kitchener Rangers, who knocked Flint out of last season’s playoffs eight months ago. 

The contrast between now and Flint’s last season at the same point could not be starker. 

Through 34 of the 68 games played in their 2024-25 season, the Firebirds found themselves at a tepid 13-19-1-1 record. (For those who casually follow hockey, records are listed as wins-losses-overtime losses-shootout losses). At the time of publication, Flint stands at a much-improved 24-8-2-2 through 36 games played. 

A streak and a record

Within the first half of this season, the Firebirds have also achieved an 11-game winning streak. The streak started on Nov. 5 and ended with a shootout loss to the Sarnia Sting on Nov. 30.

During that streak, Coach Paul Flache became the winningest coach since the team moved from Plymouth, Mich. and rebranded as the Flint Firebirds in 2015. He crossed that milestone at 79 wins, though his record has since extended to 82 wins. 

This month, East Village Magazine (EVM) had the opportunity to catch up with Coach Flache on the season so far.

On breaking the win record, Flache said, “It’s an organization thing, right? And it’s a team and a staff… It’s everyone from the top all the way down. The title goes to one person, but it’s definitely an organization accomplishment.”

He explained that the change in form from one season to the next can be attributed, in part, to the improvement in play by some of the key players, but he also credits the team’s culture. 

“It took years,” said Flache, who held the position of assistant coach in 2017-18 and again in 2023-24 before taking over as head coach in October 2023. 

“It just takes time. And now we’re seeing the rewards, you know, with Aspinall, Lombardi, Kostov. And those are our captains, right?” he said. “They’re carrying the torch, and they’ll pass it on to the next group… They train all summer, and this is what ends up happening. They’ve become very, very good players in our league.”

Nathan Aspinall is second in the league for goals scored and fourth for assists, which is good enough to lead the league in points (the sum of goals plus assists). This was also good enough to place him as the League’s Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 19 and the Player of the Month for November overall. Alex Kostov, Flint’s second highest-scoring player, was also named Player of the Week for Nov. 11.  

On trades

Though the OHL trade deadline is not until January 10, 2026, the Firebirds have already made some moves this season. 

The team traded Kaden Pitre to the North Bay Battalion and received Ihnat Pazii and a fourth round pick in the 2026 draft. Coach Flache told EVM that Pazii “plays like a Firebird,” describing him as a player who has “good skill and speed, [we] just love his competitiveness.”

The Firebirds also picked up Brady T. Smith, in exchange for Jeremy Martin, from the Soo Greyhounds.

“Smitty, he’s younger, right… and we want to take time developing him,” Flache said of Smith. “He has a really good hockey IQ, scored a lot of goals in his draft year, so he has the finish. It’s something we wanted to add, right? [The] ability to put the puck in the back of the net.”

More recently on Dec. 28, Flint was a part of a blockbuster trade with the Niagara Icedogs. 

The Firebirds received Icedogs captain Kevin He. The 19-year-old had been with the Icedogs for his entire OHL career (225 games) and has captained the team since October 2024. 

This season He has 14 goals and 17 assists (31 points). He was drafted in the 2024 entry draft to the Winnipeg Jets, becoming the highest drafted Chinese-born player. Upon his signing of an Entry Level Contract (ELC) in December 2024, he became the first Chinese-born player to sign a professional deal with the National Hockey League (NHL).

Flint also received the rights to forward Darcy Dewatcher, a 2029 second round pick and a 2026 fourth round pick. In exchange, Niagara has received Chase Hull, who is in the middle of his rookie season, as well as a bundle of draft picks. These include two second round picks for the 2026 draft, third round picks for 2027, 2028, and 2029 as well as a fourth round pick for 2028 and a sixth round pick in 2027. 

Elsewhere on the team, 18-year-old Jimmy Lombardi has signed a three-year ELC with the L.A. Kings of the NHL. Lombardi was drafted in the fourth round (125th pick overall) in the 2025 NHL draft this summer. Originally committed to the University of Michigan to play NCAA Hockey, he will forfeit the opportunity by signing the professional deal with the Kings. This will afford him the opportunity to continue with Flint in the coming seasons should the Kings organization decide that is what’s best for his development.

What’s next

With 33 games remaining for the regular season, Firebirds fans should have plenty to look forward to. The team is something Coach Flache hopes to make the city proud of. 

“As you have success on the ice, people start to listen more, and I know they’d, you know, be proud of this team. We’re a blue-collar, hard-working team,” he said. “We’re proud of our fan base and we want to make them proud every time we put on that sweater, and I know the players believe that too.”

The Firebirds will continue their season level on points with the Ottawa 67’s of the Eastern Conference at 52, though Flint has played one additional game. 

The charge is on with a chance for Flint to grab the Hamilton Spectator Trophy for best regular season record and a place as the top seed in the coming OHL Playoffs.

Lead photo credit: Allison Denman