OHL Erie Otters

Otters Weekend Journey

October 8, 2008 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Erie Otters News Release


The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League return to action this weekend with three road games against Eastern Conference competition.

The Otters begin the trip through Central Ontario with a game Thursday night in Peterborough against the Petes. Friday the Otters are in Oshawa to meet the Generals and Saturday they wrap up the road set in Barrie against the Colts.

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's game gets underway with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Friday is a 7:20 p.m. pre-game and Saturday's pre-game starts at 7:15 p.m.

The Otters (2-3-1-0) hit the road coming off a wild 6-5 overtime loss to the London Knights on home ice on Saturday. The Otters trailed 5-0 late in the second period before rallying to force overtime. Shawn Szydlowski's equalizer came with less than six seconds remaining in regulation and secured what seemed like an unlikely point in the standings for the Otters. Nick Palmieri paced the offense with a pair of goals in the game while Justin Hodgman and Brandon Biggers supplied a goal and two assists each.

Thursday's game will mark the Otters debut of Chris Breen, acquired Tuesday from the Saginaw Spirit. The 6-foot-7 defenseman has played 125 career OHL games (all with Saginaw) with a goal and nine assists for 10 points to go along with 118 minutes in penalties.

The Petes enter weekend action with a 2-6 record and coming off a 5-2 loss on home ice to Oshawa on Saturday. Rookie Ryan Spooner leads the Petes in scoring with four goals and two assists in eight games.

Oshawa will face the Otters sporting a 4-3 record (prior to a Wednesday night game in Belleville) and coming off a 5-3 home ice win over the Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday. John Tavares is off to another quick start in this his fourth and likely last OHL season. The high-scoring forward leads the OHL in goals and points with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points in seven games. Rookie defenseman Calvin de Haan is tied for the League lead in assists with eight in seven games.

The Colts are 3-1-1-0 to start the season (prior to their game Friday in Sudbury) and are fresh off a 7-2 upset win over the Windsor Spitfires (the No. 1 team in the CHL Top-10) on home ice on Saturday. Earlier this week, Stefan Della Rovere was named OHL and CHL Player-of-the-Week after collecting four goals (including a hat trick against the Spitfires) and three assists for seven points in two games last week. Della Rovere leads the Colts in scoring with five goals and three assists for eight points in four games.

The next Otters home game takes place Wednesday, October 15th when the Niagara IceDogs visit for a 7 p.m. start at the Tullio Arena. Tickets for the game 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.

Erie Otters Mini-Ticket Packages are available to keep you in the action. Packages can be tailored to meet every fan's schedule and budget. Reserve your seats in six, 10 or 17-game packages and receive valuable benefits and special offers. Call the Otters Office at 814-455-7779 to purchase your package or for more information.

Check out the Erie Otters Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 8, 2008


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