Windsor Spitfires forward Josh Ho-Sang is a probable first-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft on Friday. Where he’ll end up, it’s uncertain at this point, but the overtly-skilled forward – who plays right wing in Windsor but is also listed as a center – certainly has the potential to make a splash in the future.
Josh Ho-Sang, who turned 18 in January, is coming off his sophomore season with the Spitfires.
As a rookie in 2012-13, he had 44 points (14-30) in 63 regular season games. Despite the offensive production, he ended the season a minus-23 on a Windsor team that finished second-last in the Western Conference. He led Spits rookies in scoring and was sixth on the team overall, behind guys like Kerby Rychel, Brady Vail and Alexander Khokhlachev.
This season, Josh Ho-Sang was even more offensively productive, leading the Spitfires with an 85-point regular season campaign. His 32 goals were tied with Brady Vail for the team lead, while his 53 assists were also most on the team. He averaged 1.27 points/game, best of any player who spent the entire season in Windsor. (Rychel averaged 1.44 points/game in 27 games with Windsor before being traded to the Guelph Storm.)
Puck Prose
Ho-Sang also finished the regular season with a plus-26 rating and 44 penalty minutes. He now has 129 points in 130 career OHL regular season games.
This year also saw Josh Ho-Sang play in the first OHL playoff action of his young career. In four games, he had one goal and two assists. The Spitfires were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the London Knights.
Those playoffs brought a little bit of tension to Ho-Sang’s career. In game four, Ho-Sang collided with London defenseman Zach Bell, causing Bell to crash hard into the boards. He came out of the incident with a broken leg; Ho-Sang was initially served just a two-minute holding penalty, but after league review, was handed a 15-game suspension. With the Spits eliminated, that meant the young forward would be forced to miss the first 15 games of next season.
“He handles the puck very well at top speed and sees the ice well.”
Many called the suspension into question, particularly when Bell was able to return to action for the Mastercard Memorial Cup. The OHL further reviewed the situation and ended up reducing Ho-Sang’s suspension to six games. All in all, it was an unfortunate incident that resulted in a broken leg. Ho-Sang will miss the first six games of the Spits’ season next year, but it’s certainly better than missing 15.
NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Edwards notes Ho-Sang’s skating and ability to “split the defense with surprising speed” as two of the key assets of his game.
After being ranked 18th in midterm rankings by Central Scouting, Josh Ho-Sang finished the year with a #22 final ranking. He’s an incredibly skilled young forward who stepped up his game this season after the departure of Rychel from the Spitfires. Ho-Sang will return to Windsor next year and should step up even more with the departure of overagers like Steven Janes and Eric Diodati.