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OHL Erie Otters

Otters Meet Knights in Opening Round

March 19, 2009 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


For the fifth time in franchise history the Erie Otters will meet the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. The best-of-seven series begins with a pair of games in London on Friday and Saturday.

Both games can be heard live on FOX Sports Radio AM 1330 The FAN and on-line at www.ottershockey.com (presented by the James H. Cross Company). Friday's game gets underway with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m. Saturday's broadcast begins with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.

The two teams split the previous four post-season series with Erie winning in 2001 and 2002. London was victorious in 1998 and 2004.

The Otters enter the playoffs for the first times since 2005 after finishing the regular season with a 34-29-3-2 record. The 34 wins during the regular season rates as the third-most in franchise history and the 33-point improvement shown from 2007-08 to 2008-09 ranks as the largest in franchise history. A significant improvement in penalty killing and goals against led to the dramatic turnaround. The penalty killing went from worst to first in 2008-09 allowing only 45 power-play goals against (they allowed 74 most last year) and finishing with an 87% success rate (as compared to 71.1% in 2007-08). Additionally, the Otters allowed 104 fewer goals against in 2008-09 as compared to last season.

As a team, the Otters iced one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the League with seven 20 or more goal scorers. Zack Torquato led the way on the goal-sheet with 29 on the season and was joined by Brandon Biggers (25), Justin Hodgman (24), Shawn Syzdlowski (22), Sean Jones (22), Andrew Yogan (22) and Luke Gazdic (20) in the 20-goal category. Meanwhile, Ryan O'Reilly's 50 assists ranked tied for 11th most in the OHL.

London enjoyed another banner season finishing the campaign with a 49-16-1-2 record. The 101-point season marked the fifth time in six seasons the Knights have hit the century mark in points during the regular season.

John Tavares heads a long list of dangerous offensive players for the Knights. The fourth year veteran and odds on favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft finished the season with 58 goals and 46 assists for 104 points in only 56 games split between Oshawa and London. In addition, the 18 year-old from Oakville, Ontario is the all-time leading goal-scorer in OHL history notching 215 goals in 247 career regular season games.

Tavares' supporting cast includes five other players who averaged a point-per-game or better including Nazim Kadri and John Carlson. Kadri, who had 25 goals and 53 assists for 78 points in 56 games, is rated in the top-10 for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft while Carlson, a first round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, finished tied for second among defenseman and second among rookies in scoring with 16 goals and 60 assists for 76 points in 59 games.

Erie posted a 0-3-2-1 record against the Knights during the regular season, which included a shootout and overtime loss in London their last two meetings. Three of the six meetings were decided by one goal.

Games 3 and 4 of the series will be played at the Tullio Arena on Wednesday, March 25th and Thursday, March 26th. Tickets for the games are on sale now at the Civic Center Box Office, all Erie-area Ticketmaster locations, on-line at www.ottershockey.com or by calling 814-452-4857.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2009


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