OHL Erie Otters

Otters Return for Western Swing

Published on December 27, 2005 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


OTTERS RETURN FOR WESTERN SWING The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League return to action Wednesday night for the first of three road games in three nights against West Division opponents. The Otters, 13-16-3-1, begin the trip in Saginaw against the Spirit tomorrow night followed by games in Windsor and Plymouth on Thursday and Friday respectively. The three games will mark the opening half of a six-game road trip. The second half will take them through Eastern Ontario January 6-8th. Erie played the final three games of the opening half of the season without the services of two of their top three scorers as Mike Blunden (27-21-48) and Ryan O'Marra (13-22-35) are with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Vancouver, BC. The two forwards will miss the next three games as well but are scheduled to rejoin the team in time for their Eastern Ontario trip next week. The Otters offense has sputtered without Blunden and O'Marra registering only four goals in their last three games. Adam Berti, who has played in only four of seven games since being acquired from the Oshawa Generals, rates as the Otters leading scorer on the active roster with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points in 27 games. The veteran forward has one goal and one assist as a member of the Otters and is scheduled to be back in the line-up this week. Saginaw is challenging for the lead the West Division with a 19-13-0-0 record and are only two points behind the front-running Plymouth Whalers with a game-in-hand. The Spirit started the season 12-3 but have gone 7-10 since and have won only once in their last five games heading into the holiday break. Ryan McDonough is Saginaw's leading scorer with 20 goals and 46 points in 32 games. Thursday in Windsor the Otters round out their four-game season series against the Spitfires hoping to exact some revenge for a 5-2 home loss to the ‘Spits that sent the Otters into the break. Windsor is 12-19-2-2 on the season and trails the Otters by only two points in the race for seventh in the Western Conference (Erie holds two games-in-hand). The Otters wrap up their trip Friday in Plymouth against the Whalers (18-11-1-3). Overage forward John Vigilante has 14 goals and 51 points in 31 games to lead all Plymouth point-getters. Dan Collins is the Whalers top goal scorer with 23 in 33 games. Former Otters defenseman Derek Merlini has collected two goals and an assist in five games since being acquired by the Whalers.

All three games can be heard live on SportsRadio 1330 The FAN and on line at www.ottershockey.com (presented by the James H. Cross Company). Wednesday's game begins with the pre-game show at 6:55 p.m. while Thursday and Friday's games get underway with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m. The next Otters home game takes place Wednesday, January 11th when the Mississauga IceDogs visit the Tullio Arena for a 7:30 p.m. start. Tickets for the game are available at all Erie-area TicketMaster locations as well as the Civic Center Box Office.

For further information contact the Erie Otters at 814-455-7779 or e-mail the Otters at mark@ottershockey.com.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2005


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