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...

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, the...

Credit Toronto Sun The 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League's regular season has officially ended and the first-round matchups for the Western Division can be seen here below. The OHL playoff format is the same as the NHL where the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed in each round, the finals are the winner of the Eastern and Western Division, all series are best of 7 (win 4 games). Eastern Division series are as follows: #1 Peterborough Petes Vs. #8 Niagara Ice Dogs - Peterborough has earned the #1 seed in the East with a record of 42-21-5 - Niagara earned the last spot in the East with a record of 23-35-10 - The Petes won the regular season series against the Ice Dogs, winning 3 of the 4 games - Leading scorer for the Petes: Nikita Korotelev  17 goals, 18 assists - Leading scorer for the Ice Dogs: Johnny Corneil  31 goals, 31 assists   #2 Mississauga Steelheads Vs. #7 Ottawa 67's  - Mississauga has earned the #2 overa...

Credit Erienewsnow.com The 2016-2017 Ontario Hockey League's regular season has officially ended and the first-round matchups for the Western Division can be seen here below. The OHL playoff format is the same as the NHL where the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed in each round, the finals are the winner of the Eastern and Western Division, all series are best of 7 (win 4 games). Western Division series are as follows: #1 Erie Otters Vs. #8 Sarnia Sting  - The Otters had their third straight 50 win season, going 50-15-3 - Sarnia Barely made it into the playoffs winning only 31 games this season - Erie won the regular season series 3 games to 1, losing only one game against the Sting at home 5-3 on March 4th - Leading Scorer for Erie: Alex Debrincat  65 goals, 62 assists - Leading Scorer for Sarnia: Jordan Kyrou  30 goals, 64 assists   #2 Sault St. Marie Greyhounds Vs. #7 Flint Firebirds  - Greyhounds finished seco...

Thursday March 16, 2017  Memorial Gardens, North Bay Ontario  North Bay Battalion (23-35-6, 9th in the Eastern Conference)    Vs.  Sudbury Wolves (24-32-7, 7th in Eastern Conference)  Credit www.thesudburystar.com With less than 10 regular season games remaining for both of these teams and a playoff spot on the line this is one of the most important remaining regular season games left. With the top 8 teams making the playoffs from the Eastern Conference both teams are still thoroughly in the mix as North Bay is only 2 points behind the 8th seed Niagara Ice Dogs and 3 points behind the Wolves. Sudbury is currently 2 points behind the 6th seed Ottawa 67's with one game in hand. North Bay:  Brett McKenzie (Vancouver 2016 7th round pick, #194 overall) - 260 games over 4 seasons in the OHL all with North Bay - Taken #10 overall in the 1st round of the 2013 OHL draft by North Bay - Career highs in goals (28) assists (37) and point...

The Greyhounds from Sault Ste. Marie only needed 29 shots on goal to score 6 goals and defeat the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 6-1 in front of home crowd of 3,800 fans. The Greyhounds opened up the scoring halfway into the first period when forward Bobby Macintyre scored on the power play and left-winger Boris Katchouk scored a shorthanded goal, the first of two for Katchouk that would end up being the game winner. Rangers right winger Joseph Garreffa scored their lone goal with 3 minutes left in the game, but it was too little too late at that point. Greyhounds rookie goaltender Matthew Villalta saved 40 of the 41 shots he faced for the victory while Rangers goaltenders Luke Opilka and LukeRichardson combined to save 23 of 29 shots in the loss. This victory pushed the season series between these two teams to 3-1-0 in favor of Sault Ste. Marie and the 5-year series to 12-7-0 in favor of the greyhounds. The Greyhounds next game will take place on the roa...

Friday March 10, 2017  Essar Centre, Marie Ontario Canada  Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (43-15-4, 2nd in Western Conference)    Vs.  Kitchener Rangers (34-25-4, 6th in Western Conference)  Credit therecord.com This game is a battle of two teams who have already punched their ticket to the OHL playoffs but are still fighting for better positioning for the postseason. Kitchener, Currently 6th in the Western Conference, is currently 14 points behind 5th ranked Windsor but is also in danger of being surpassed by 7th ranked Flint who is just two points behind. Sault St. Marie, currently 2nd in the Western Conference, is just 3 points behind Conference leading Erie who also holds the overall top spot in the league. Sault Ste. Marie:  Zachary Senyshyn  (Boston Bruins 2015 1st round pick, #15 overall) - One of two 2015 first round draft picks still playing in the OHL ( Dylan Strome ) - 60 points in 53 games this season (41 goals,...

The Erie Otters used an eight goal second period to absolutely dismantle the Niagara Ice Dogs 10-1 in front of 5,015 fans at the Erie Insurance Center. The first period was actually quite misleading as the Ice Dogs ended the period with a 1-0 lead despite being outshot 14 to 7 in said period. The second period was another story altogether as the Otters rattled off eight straight goals and 29 total shots, the Otters would fire home two more goals before the end of the game as well as outshooting the Ice Dogs 60-14, yes 60-14. The Otters were led offensively by Anthony Cirelli (3 goals), Christian Girhiny (2 goals), and Cam Lizotte (2 goals) and goaltender TroyTimpano stopped 13 of 14 shots for the victory. Ice Dogs goaltender StephenDhillon stopped 35 of 43 shots before rookie goaltender Colton Incze came in relief and stopped 15 of 17 shots to end the game. This was the 5 th time in Otters team history that the team had 60 or more shots in one game, it...

Ryan Mantha Finally Gets His Shot  Credit Harry Scull Jr. It has been a long time coming for Niagara Ice Dogs defenseman Ryan Mantha , but he has finally signed a 3 year entry level contract with an NHL team earlier today. After being drafted by the New York Rangers in the 4th round of the 2014 Entry Draft (#104 overall) Mantha continued to play for the Niagara Ice Dogs of the OHL, but was deemed to not be a part of the Rangers long term future and was never offered a contract. After becoming a free agent in June of this year, Mantha was invited to the Buffalo Sabres pre-season camp but was let go soon after. Mantha was soon after named the 2016/2017 captain of the Ice dogs and has been a solid offensive contributor to the team, producing 51 points (14 goals, 37 assists) in 58 games this season. Just following the NHL Trade Deadline today, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they had signed Mantha to a 3-year entry level deal.  In an Interview with The Buffal...

Friday March 3, 2017  Erie Insurance Center, Erie PA  Erie Otters (44-12-3, 1st in the Western Conference)    Vs.  Niagara Ice Dogs (20-29-10, 8th in the Eastern Conference)  Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America This is a Matchup of two teams in almost polar opposite positions in the standings. Erie, who clinched a playoff spot almost two weeks ago to the day, is just coming off of a 14 game win streak but more recently has been struggling with lower seeded teams due to injuries and lack of motivation. Niagara, who on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs baring a late season surge, has been unable to find a way to consistently win more than one or two games in a row. I believe that this matchup will be closer than you think, as Erie is most likely going to coast into the playoffs while Niagara is still fighting for their playoff lives. Erie:  Taylor Raddysh  (Tampa Bay Lightning 2016 2nd round pick, #58 overall)...

OHL in Primetime: LA Kings Prospect Erik Cernak traded to Tampa Bay  Credit NHL.com Just four days before the NHL trade deadline the LA Kings and Tampa Bay Lighting have completed a trade sending goaltender Ben Bishop and a 2017 5th round pick in the draft to Los Angeles and in return Tampa Bay receives Erie Otters Defensemen Erik Cernak, Goaltender Peter Budaj, and a 2017 7th round draft pick. Erik Cernak  Credit Hockeyfutures.com Cernak , a six foot tall 19 year old defenseman, is currently playing in his second season in the OHL for the Erie Otters. He was drafted by the otters in the first round of the 2015 OHL import draft, #54 overall, and in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft by the LA Kings, #43 overall.  In 82 total games Cernak has 32 points (7 goals, 25 assists) and a  +34 rating helping to lead the Otters to the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Cernak is now one of three Otters players who's rights are owned by Tampa...

Friday February 24, 2017 Hershey Center, Mississauga Ontario Mississauga Steelheads (24-19-13, 2nd in Eastern Conference)   Vs. Peterborough Petes (33-17-5, 3 rd in Eastern Conference) Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/Postmedia Network This is game offers a matchup between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Mississauga and Peterborough are 2 nd and 3 rd respectively in the Eastern Conference coming into their Friday night clash.   Peterborough has clinched a playoff spot before Mississauga because they have nine more regulation wins, but Mississauga is almost guaranteed a spot eventually.   Skaters in the spotlight: Mississauga: Michael McLeod (New Jersey Devils 2016 1 st round pick, #12 overall) -        141 points over three seasons with Mississauga -        Ranked 6 th among North American skaters before the 2016 draaft -     ...