Erie Otters Announce 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League Schedule

Sports stats



OHL Erie Otters

Erie Otters Announce 2025-26 Ontario Hockey League Schedule

June 17, 2025 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


Erie, Pennsylvania -- On Monday afternoon, the Ontario Hockey League unveiled the full 2025-26 season schedule for all 20 member teams, as the Erie Otters look ahead to another highly anticipated season.

Season 29 in Erie Otters' team-history presents a well-balanced schedule of home game dates, allowing for fans to maximize their time at the EIA throughout the entire seven-month season. While sticking with traditions like the School Day game and New Year's Rockin' Eve, and the second-straight season featuring a game on Thanksgiving Eve, fans will also notice a few new changes to the schedule in 2025-26. The biggest change comes with Erie meeting the Brantford Bulldogs four times this season as opposed to the customary two meetings. With this alteration, Erie will meet the Brampton Steelheads twice in 25-26 as opposed to four times in previous seasons.

The 2025-26 edition of the Erie Otters starts with plenty of excitement - the top-ranked prospect ahead of this month's NHL Entry Draft Matthew Schaefer will return alongside playoff heroes Dylan Edwards and Gabriel Frasca. Fan-favorites Wesley Royston and Garrett Frazer, will be back in the navy and gold while dynamic young guns like Tyler Challenger (second-season) will look to showcase his developed skills and abilities in his sophomore campaign. New faces in NCAA committed prospects Luc Plante and Mclean Agrette and 2025 draftees Jake Murray (#12 overall) and Tyler Cooper (#34 overall) will all begin their Otters journeys. Under the tutelage of head coach Kris Mallette, who will begin his first full season with the Otters following the team's first appearance in the second round of the OHL playoffs since 2017 - Erie will look to be a competitor at the top of the league's Western Conference, and a return to the playoffs.

The countdown officially begins to the 2025-26 season for the Erie Otters, with 95 days separating today and the season opener on September 19 at the Guelph Storm. Officially unveiled on Thursday, June 12, the Erie Otters will open their home schedule on Saturday, September 20 for the first game of the season against another Midwest Division rival, the Kitchener Rangers - extending Erie's new tradition of September home openers. Erie will then conclude the month with their first of three trips to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium to battle the Rangers on September 26 and the first home date of the season with the reigning OHL and Memorial Cup champion, rival London Knights on Saturday September 27.

October starts with the Eastern Swing as the Otters take on the first overall pick in this Spring's OHL Priority Selection Kaden McGregor and his Peterborough Petes at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on October 2, the Ottawa 67's at TD Place on October 4 and the Kingston Frontenacs at Slush Puppie Place on October 5. Erie will then make their first trip to Canada Life Place in London on October 10 before returning home to take on the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday October 11. As announced Friday, June 13, OHL Rivalry Week will see the Otters battle their geographic rivals, the Niagara IceDogs in a home-and-home Friday, October 17 in Erie and October 18 in St. Catharines. The latter of which kicks off a lengthy road stretch for the Otters seeing them travel to Brampton (19th), Sault Ste. Marie (22nd), Saginaw (24th), and Flint (25th). The month will conclude on Thursday October 30 with the season's first home match-up with the Guelph Storm. October is the team's busiest month of the season with 12 games. No shortage of highly-anticipated opponents in the spookiest month of the year!

Erie's only trip of the regular season to Barrie opens up November on Saturday, November 1, before opening its season-series with Owen Sound at the Bayshore on Sunday the 2nd. A pair of home games follows against Eastern Conference foes in Ottawa on Friday November 7 and Niagara on Saturday November 8. All-abord up North as the Otters will take a new-look Northern Swing to North Bay (13th), Sudbury (14th) and finishing out in Oshawa (16th). November closes out with four-straight home games for Erie, taking on Barrie on Friday the 21st, Sarnia on Saturday the 22nd, the continuing tradition of Thansgiving Eve hockey as the Otters battle Brampton on Wednesday the 26th, and concluding the month with the highly-anticipated, lone visit of the Peterborough Petes. November will be tied for the most home games in a month for the Otters (6).

While the Otters will be home for Christmas, the team will be on the road for the first three games of the final month of 2025. Tuesday December 4 will see Erie visit the Kitchener Rangers before the annual back-to-back weekend in Owen Sound taking on the Attack (5th, 6th). Erie will return home for four-straight heading into the Holiday Break beginning on Thursday December 12 with the season's and month's first meeting with the Brantford Bulldogs, Saturday December 13 against the North Bay Battalion and a back-to-back weekend with two West Division foes on Friday December 19 against Flint and Saturday December 20 against Sarnia. After the stockings are taken down and ol' Saint Nick has returned to the North Pole, Erie will push toward 2026 with games on the road against Kitchener (28th) and Brantford (30th) before the New Year's Eve game at home against Brantford (31st).

Happy New Year! The 2026 portion of the season begins with a home date with the Windsor Spitfires on January 3. Erie will then travel to Windsor on Thursday the 8th, Sarnia (9th) and a rare Saturday game in London (10th) for a three-in-three. Back home for a pair, Erie will host Windsor on Friday the 16th, and Saginaw on Saturday the 17th. The following weekend sees two Midwest Division clashes as Erie travels to Guelph (23rd) then returns home on Saturday the 24th to take on Kitchener. January closes with the lone visit of the Soo Greyhounds on Friday the 30th, and the season's second home meeting with the London Knights on Saturday the 31st. The first month of 2026 sees plenty of weekend action against many highly-anticipated opponents.

The penultimate month of the regular season features a near-even split of home and road contests, starting off with the annual School Day Game returning on Thursday the 5th with the Guelph Storm in town, before Erie takes its final trip to Michigan to face Saginaw (6th) and Flint (8th). Erie will then host Owen Sound for the first time this season on Wednesday the 11th, before heading to Brantford (13th) and returning home for a Valentine's Day clash with Flint on Saturday the 14th. Canada's Family Day will see the Otters travel to Guelph for the final time on the season (17th). Erie will return home on Friday the 20th for the only home game of the season against the Oshawa Generals. Saturday the 21st sees Erie welcome in the Kitchener Rangers. A quick trip to Niagara (26th) and the first of the home back-to-back with Owen Sound on Saturday the 28th concludes the shortest month of the year.

The final month of the regular season begins with the finale of the Owen Sound back-to-back on Sunday, March 1. The Otters will then open up a home-and-home series with the rival London Knights in the Forest City (6th) and in Erie on Saturday March 7th. The weekend concludes with an all-American Sunday battle against the Saginaw Spirit. This stretch of four-straight at home will see the Otters battle Kingston for the only time at home on Friday March 13 and wrap-up the home portion of the season series against Niagara on Saturday March 14. Erie will play its final games out west as the team travels to Windsor (17th) and Sarnia (18th) before returning home on Saturday the 21st to wrap up the home schedule against Guelph. The final game of the regular season for Erie will be up to Niagara (22nd) From there, it'll be determined if the Otters are in the playoffs, who their opponent will be, and when they'll bring playoff hockey back to downtown Erie once again!

Director of Business Operations/ Fan Experience Darcie Chabola spoke with great regard on the excitement from a hockey and community standpoint for the team's 29th Season

"We're hoping our fans are as excited as we are for the 25-26 season!," Chabola said. "This schedule release is just the beginning of the fun. We've added some new, creative minds to the staff, mixed with some long-time veterans that have been working hard on the promo schedule to ensure all 34 home games are entertaining from the moment fans walk through the front doors until the last buzzer sounds. There won't be a game on this schedule you'll want to miss!"

The full promotional schedule, including day-specific themes, theme nights, and giveaways will be released in the coming weeks by the organization.

2025-26 SCHEDULE:

September:

19 - at Guelph

20 - vs. Kitchener

26 - at Kitchener

27 - vs. London

October:

2 - at Peterborough

4 - at Ottawa

5 - at Kingston

10 - at London

11 - vs. Sudbury

17 - vs. Niagara

18 - at Niagara

19 - at Brampton

22 - at Soo

24 - at Saginaw

25 - at Flint

30 - vs. Guelph

November:

1 - at Barrie

2 - at Owen Sound

7 - vs. Ottawa

8 - vs. Niagara

13 - at North Bay

14 - at Sudbury

16 - at Oshawa

21 - vs. Barrie

22 - vs. Sarnia

26 - vs. Brampton

29 - vs. Peterborough

December:

2 - at Kitchener

5 - at Owen Sound

6 - at Owen Sound

11 - vs. Brantford

13 - vs. North Bay

19 - vs. Sarnia

20 - vs. Flint

28 - at Kitchener

30 - at Brantford

31 - vs Brantford

January:

3 - vs. Windsor

8 - at Windsor

9 - at Sarnia

10 - at London

16 - vs. Windsor

17 - vs. Saginaw

23 - at Guelph

24 - vs. Kitchener

30 - vs. Soo

31 - vs. London

February:

5 - vs. Guelph (11 A.M.)

6 - at Saginaw

7- at Flint

11 - vs. Owen Sound

13 - at Brantford

14 - vs. Flint

16 - at Guelph

20 - vs. Oshawa

21 - vs. Kitchener

26 - at Niagara

28 - vs. Owen Sound

March:

1 - vs. Owen Sound

6 - at London

7 - vs. London

8 - vs. Saginaw

13 - vs. Kingston

14 - vs. Niagara

17 - at Windsor

18 - at Sarnia

21 - vs. Guelph

22 - at Niagara

QUICK FACTS:

Home Games per Day of Week:

Monday - 0

Tuesday - 0

Wednesday - 3

Thursday - 3

Friday - 8

Saturday - 18

Sunday - 2

Home Games per Month:

September - 2

October - 3

November - 6

December - 5

January - 6

February - 6

March - 6

Home Games (and total) against Opponents:

Western Conference - 21 (42)

Guelph - 3 (6)

Kitchener - 3 (6)

London - 3 (6)

Owen Sound - 3 (6)

Flint - 2 (4)

Saginaw - 2 (4)

Sarnia - 2 (4)

Windsor - 2 (4)

Sault Ste. Marie - 1 (2)

Eastern Conference - 13 (26)

Niagara - 3 (6)

Brantford - 2 (4)

Barrie - 1 (2)

Brampton - 1 (2)

Kingston - 1 (2)

North Bay - 1 (2)

Oshawa - 1 (2)

Ottawa - 1 (2)

Peterborough - 1 (2)

Sudbury - 1 (2)

Fans will once again be able to keep up with the Otters at home or on the road for all 68 games through OHL Live on CHL TV and the league's largest radio network, the Otters Radio Network.

The Erie Otters are ecstatic to return the top tier of amateur hockey in the world to downtown Erie for the 29th season and reignite the best fan base in the OHL. Don't miss a single moment of this highly-anticipated year of Otters Hockey: 2025-26 Full Season Tickets are on-sale now for as low as $13/game.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from June 17, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central