Henault battling former Spitfires’ teammate Staios to be OHL’s top-scoring defenseman


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With two games left in the regular season, Wyatt Johnston isn’t the only member of the Windsor Spitfires chasing a scoring title.

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The Spitfires travel to Erie to play the Otters on Friday before wrapping up the regular season in Guelph on Saturday against the Storm. Johnston is poised to become the first Windsor player to win an outright scoring title since Peter Sarno in 1997-98.

However, overager Louka Henault is also chasing a scoring title as he looks to become the first Windsor player to lead league defensemen in scoring since Windsor native Trevor Murphy in 2014-15.

“We’d like both to be able to finish first,” Spitfires’ head coach Marc Savard said. “We’ve got our eye on it and we’re trying to get them in situations where they can continue to do what they’ve been doing.”

While Johnston has opened a cushion in his chase for a scoring title, Henault is battling tooth-and-nail with former Spitfire first-round pick Nathan Staios to be the top-scoring defenseman.

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“I obviously know he’s up there with me and it’s nice to kind of see we came up in this league together and we’re having career seasons together,” Henault said.

Staios, who is the son of former NHLer Steve Staios, was taken by the Spitfires with the 17th pick overall in the first round. Because the team had dealt so many draft picks in its run to the 2017 Memorial Cup title, Henault was actually the team’s second pick, but wasn’t taken until the fifth round with the 96th pick overall.

“It’s good to see a friend and former teammate having success as well,” Staios said. “I was close to the (2001-born players) from our draft class during my two years in Windsor. We were together a lot with school and at the rink, so we definitely created good friendships.”

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The 20-year-old Staios came into the league with an offensive reputation, but is having a career year with the Hamilton Bulldogs with 15 goals and 65 points in 57 games heading into Thursday’s game against Barrie.

The 21-year-old Henault has also set new career highs with 65 points in 63 games with a league-leading 26 assists at the position on the power play.

“I’m not surprised, no,” Staios said of Henault’s offensive exploits. “He has always been a good player growing up through junior. The team has a great power play and lots of firepower up front, so I’m not surprised they were putting up lots of points.”

Henault had just two assists in his rookie season with the Spitfires, but the total has climbed steadily since then. With 117 career assists, he’s just one assist from Tying Darryl Shannon for fifth place in franchise history for career helpers at the position.

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“The thing I’m most proud of is the consistent growth through the seasons,” said Henault, who has two games left to play compared to three for Staios. “It goes to show the development and the things I’ve been through in my junior career, but for sure it’s fun putting up numbers.”

Chasing scoring titles might be fun, but so is winning and that’s a focus for both players. Staios and the Bulldogs are the No. 1-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League with the best record in the Ontario Hockey League and the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Henault and the Spitfires are riding the longest winning streak in the OHL this season at 13 games and have moved up to No. 4 in the CHL rankings while having already wrapped up the top spot in the Western Conference.

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“I’m definitely more focused on team success and how our group, as a whole, is looking heading into the playoffs as we get ready to make a long run,” Staios said.

One that could eventually see Staios and Henault battle for an OHL title if the seedings hold up through the playoffs.

“That would be awesome” Staios said.

For now, Savard just wants to keep his team rolling to finish up the season and doesn’t plan many lineup changes for the final two regular-season games.

“Just continuing to play the right way,” Savard said. “I’d like to win these two to roll into the playoffs.”

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