OHL Erie Otters

A Thanksgiving Tradition

Published on November 26, 2008 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League return to action tomorrow (Thursday) night in their annual Thanksgiving game at the Tullio Arena when they play host to the Belleville Bulls in a 7 p.m. start presented by WJET-TV. The first 1,000 fans into the game will also receive a free Otters Water Bottle courtesy of Sprickman Heating and Cooling.

Tickets for the game, as well as Saturday's home game against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, are available at all Erie-area Ticketmaster locations, the Civic Center Box Office, on-line at www.ottershockey.com or by calling 814-452-4857.

The Otters (11-12-1-0) enter a busy weekend of action coming off a pair of losses last weekend, including a 5-2 setback at the hands of the London Knights in their last outing on Saturday at the Tullio Arena. Sean Jones scored one of the two Erie goals in the game to extend his point-scoring streak to six games (5-1-6), the longest by a member of the Otters this season. The veteran forward is now tied for the team lead in goals with 10 and sits sixth in team scoring with 15 points in 24 games.

Thursday's game will mark the eighth meeting between the Otters and Bulls on Thanksgiving. Last season the Otters won a 4-3 thriller in overtime to improve their Thanksgiving record to 4-6-2 (W-L-T).

The Bulls arrive in Erie leading the Eastern Conference with a 17-6-2-2 record. The defending Conference champs have been hot lately with only one regulation loss in their last 10 games (7-1-1-1).

Belleville features a wealth of offense as the second highest scoring team in the Eastern Conference with 93 goals scored in 27 games. Eric Tangradi leads the Bulls in scoring and is fourth in OHL with 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 26 games. Bryan Cameron's 19 goals lead the League and his 33 points lists him tied for sixth in OHL scoring. Former Otters member Nick Palmieri got off to a good start with his new team collecting a goal and two assists in his first two games with the Bulls.

The Otters complete the weekend with a home-and-home series against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors beginning Friday in Mississauga. The Majors are second to last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 9-12-0-1 and have only managed two wins in their last 10 games (2-7-0-1).

Mississauga sports the most anemic offense in the OHL with only 56 goals for, that's 14 goals fewer than any other team in the League heading into weekend action. As a result, the Majors are the only team in the League without a player in double digits for goals and have only three players in double digits for points.

Knowing their offensive limitations, the Majors have concentrated on the defensive side of things and have allowed only 61 goals against, the second fewest in the OHL. In fact, the Majors are so stingy that they've allowed more than four goals in a game only three times this season.

All three 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). Thursday and Saturday the games get underway with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Friday's pre-game starts at 7:15 p.m.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2008


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