Visors and Risers

Courtesy of www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com The 2016-2017 annual coaches poll * that was released on March 16 was dominated by both the Peterborough Petes and the Erie Otters as both teams combined for 28 players being nominated for awards. This comes as no surprise for either team as they both were dominant in their respective Conferences, Peterborough finished 1st overall in the Eastern Conference while Erie finished x in the Western Conference. Award winners for each teams are as follows: Most Underrated Player Peterborough- Logan DeNoble (#1 overall in Eastern Conference with 35 points) Erie- Kyle Maksimovich (#2 overall in Western Conference with 20 points) Most Improved Player  Peterborough- Zach Gallant (#3 overall in the Eastern Conference with 16 points) Smartest Player Erie- Dylan Strome (#1 overall in the Western Conference with 32 points) (Strome also finished first in 2015-2016 and 3rd in 2014-2015) Hardest Worker Peterborough- Logan DeNoble (#3

Credit Larry Clouse Photography  After winning the Atlantic Conference Championship with a tight 2-1 victory over the Robert Morris University Colonials and earning their bid to the NCAA tournament, not many people were expecting them to do anything but roll over and be quickly knocked out. These low expectations for teams coming out of the Atlantic Conference are not all together unwarranted as it is full of small school teams with fewer scholarships to offer and thus less appeal for players, but this year the Atlantic began to turn some heads. Credit Colorado Springs Gazette  This resurgence of the Conference was highlighted by Air Force's breakout season, which started off with a bang when they defeated Boston College, who was ranked 5th in the nation at the time, 2-1 in just their first game of the season. Throughout the season Air Force was ranked in the top 20 nationwide on two separate occasions and would eventually lead to NCAA tournament berth. This tournamen

Credit Erie Otters  In recent history the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League have not been good. From 2005 to the end of the 2013 season they either did not qualify for the playoffs or were quickly bounced in the first round. All of this started to change when they drafted future NHL superstar Connor McDavid first overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection Draft. This pickup of one of the greatest young players of this decade along with other players beginning to step up allowed for the Otters to jump into serious playoff contention, as they made it to the Conference Finals each of the last three years. Credit Erie Highlight Reel Unfortunately each of the last three years the Otters have failed to win the OHL championship and qualify for a shot at the coveted Memorial cup, but this year just might be their chance. After management took a look at all of the aging star power on their team that will soon be gone, most of whom will be gone at the end of the season, they de