Erie Otters

Erie Otters
City	Erie, Pennsylvania
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	Midwest
Founded	1996 (1996)–97
Home arena	Erie Insurance Arena
Colors	Gold, navy blue, white[1]
Owner(s)	Jim Waters
General manager	Dave Brown
Head coach	Chris Hartsburg
Website	ottershockey.com
Franchise history
1946–1953	Windsor Spitfires
1953–1960	Hamilton Tiger Cubs
1960–1974	Hamilton Red Wings
1974–1978	Hamilton/St. Catharines Fincups
1978–1984	Brantford Alexanders
1984–1988	Hamilton Steelhawks
1988–1996	Niagara Falls Thunder
1996–present	Erie Otters

The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The "Otters" name refers to the North American otter (Lontra canadensis), a semiaquatic mammal common to Lake Erie.

History

The Erie Otters were previously located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where they were called the Niagara Falls Thunder. They moved to Erie Insurance Arena in downtown Erie in time for the 1996–97 season. After three seasons of mediocrity in Erie, they won the Midwest Division's Holody Trophy in 1999. It was their first of three consecutive Midwest Division championships, culminating in a J. Ross Robertson Cup in the 2001–02 season. Additionally, Dave MacQueen won the Matt Leyden Trophy in 2000–01 as the OHL Coach of the Year. General manager Sherwood Bassin was awarded OHL Executive of the Year, and the CHL Executive of the Year for his role in building a championship team.^[2][3] The Erie Otters became the second U.S. team to win the OHL Championship, following the Detroit Junior Red Wings in the 1994–95 OHL season.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) officially partnered with the Erie Otters in 2012 as their official medical provider.^[4]

On March 18, 2017, the Erie Otters became the first team in Canadian Hockey League history to record four consecutive 50-win seasons in a row (2013–17).^[5] The Otters had previously shared the record of three consecutive 50-win seasons with the Kelowna Rockets (2012–15), Edmonton Oil Kings (2011–14), Saint John Sea Dogs (2009–12) and the Kamloops Blazers (1989–92).

On May 22, 2017, the Erie Otters set a Memorial Cup record for most goals by one team in a single game by defeating the Saint John Sea Dogs with a final score of 12–5, surpassing the previous record of 11 goals set by the Quebec Remparts (1974, 11–3) and Regina Pats (1980, 11–2). The game also set the record for most goals by both teams with a total of 17 goals, surpassing the record of 16 goals when the Kitchener Rangers defeated the Kamloop Jr. Oilers with a final score of 9–7 (1984). Dylan Strome set an individual record of 7 points in a single game (4 goals, 3 assists) surpassing the previous record of 6 points in a single game held by Joe Contini (1976), Guy Rouleau (1986), and Mike Mathers (1992). Taylor Raddysh also tied the previous record of 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in the same game.^[6]

Connor McDavid era (2012–15)

Connor McDavid, a Canadian center, played for the Erie Otters from 2012 to 2015, before joining the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Otters chose him as their first overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection Draft. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau subsequently named McDavid the top North American prospect for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, where the Oilers selected him first overall.^[7][8] The Greater Toronto Hockey League named McDavid "Player of the Year" for the 2011–12 season following a record of 79 goals and 130 assists. Hockey Canada, the governing body for amateur hockey in Canada, granted McDavid "Exceptional Player" status, which permitted him to play in the OHL a year earlier than would otherwise be permissible for a player his age. He was only the third player to receive that status, after John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad.^[9]

Uniforms and logos

From their first season until the end of the 2016–17 season, the Erie Otters' colors were navy blue, gold, red, and white. Their primary logo featured a circular outline with a fierce, anthropomorphic otter furnishing a hockey stick and gear. The "Otters" wordmark is superimposed over the design in red with gold and navy blue outline. The team's home uniform included a navy blue sweater with red and gold accents. The away uniforms featured a white jersey with navy blue and red trim.

For the 2013–14 season, the Erie Otters introduced a gold alternate jersey. This jersey features a navy blue shoulder yoke, navy blue and white stripes, and the cursive "Otters" wordmark centered across the chest. The design resembles the sweaters of the defunct Erie Blades, who played from 1975 to 1982.^[10] In 2016, the Erie Otters began wearing the gold alternate jerseys for every Saturday home game throughout the regular season and also introduced gold helmets to the uniform set, rather than the blue helmets worn with the gold jersey in previous seasons.

For the 2017–18 season, the Erie Otters announced that the secondary cursive "Otters" watermark has become their new primary logo and the team is making a full-time switch to a gold, navy and white color set. With this change, the alternate gold jerseys have become the new primary home set, and a newly introduced white jersey (in the same style as the gold) has become the new away set.^[11]

Arena

The Erie Otters play their home games at Erie Insurance Arena, which opened in 1981 and currently seats 6,716 spectators. It is a centerpiece of the Erie Civic Center Complex, which also includes the UPMC Park baseball stadium, home to the Double-A Erie SeaWolves.

Championships

Coaches

^* indicates replacement mid-season.

Players

Current roster

Updated September 29, 2017

Goaltenders
#		Player	Born	Place of birth	Drafted
1		Daniel Murphy	2000	Guelph, Ontario	Eligible 2018
40		Anand Oberoi	1999	Kanata, Ontario	Undrafted

Defencemen
#		Player	Born	Place of birth	Drafted
3		Ryan Martin	1999	London, Ontario	Undrafted
5		Aidan Timmermans	1999	Toronto, Ontario	Eligible 2018
20		Josh Wainman	1999	Peterborough, Ontario	Undrafted
34		Jack Duff	2000	Kingston, Ontario	Eligible 2018
41		Kurtis Henry	2000	Niagara Falls, Ontario	Eligible 2018
47		Owen Headrick	1997	Garden River, Ontario	Undrafted
49		Luke Beamish	2000	Mississauga, Ontario	Eligible 2018

Forwards
#		Player	Position	Born	Place of birth	Drafted
7		Christian Girhiny	LW	1998	Thorold, Ontario	Undrafted
9		Kyle Maksimovich	LW	1998	Hamilton, Ontario	Undrafted
10		Emmett Sproule	C	2001	Collingwood, Ontario	Eligible 2019
14		Hayden Fowler	C	2001	Kingston, Ontario	Eligible 2019
15		Stephane Patry	C	2000	Geneva, Switzerland	Eligible 2018
21		Patrick Fellows	LW	1997	Mississauga, Ontario	Undrafted
22		Joseph Mack	C	2000	New Hudson, Michigan	Eligible 2018
27		Ivan Lodnia	C	1999	Novi, Michigan	MIN –– Round 3, 85th overall –– 2017
29		Chad Yetman	RW	2000	Whitby, Ontario	Eligible 2018
39		Gera Poddubnyi	C	1999	Sarov, Russia	Undrafted
77		Maxim Golod	LW	2000	Concord, Ontario	Eligible 2018
91		Troy Lajeunesse	C	1997	Dokis First Nation, Ontario	Undrafted
96		Alex Gritz	LW	2000	Cranberry,[12] Pennsylvania	Eligible 2018

Season-by-season results

References

External links

• Official website
• Erie Otters coverage at Erie Times-News