Erie chases elusive title
For the fourth straight year, the Erie Otters are in the Western Conference finals. Will this be the year they finally win the Ontario Hockey League championship?
If ever there has been a case of close-but-no-cigar in the OHL, it is Erie, which has won 50 regular-season games four seasons in a row.
But in the 2014 playoffs, Erie lost to the eventual OHL champion Guelph Storm in the Western Conference finals.
Then in the 2015 playoffs, Erie was upended by the eventual Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals in the OHL finals.
And in the 2016 playoffs, Erie was bested by the eventual Memorial Cup champion London Knights in the Western Conference finals.
Now, as the no. 1 overall seed in the OHL, Erie — having needed a Game 7 overtime win over London just to make it to the Western Conference finals — is up against the Owen Sound Attack.
Owen Sound, like Erie, put up 100-plus points during the 2016-2017 regular season.
At any rate, Erie is once again in the Western Conference finals — and facing another formidable foe.
“We’re facing a really good team here,” Erie captain Dylan Strome said of Owen Sound. “They had the best second half of any team in the league, they’ve got a great offense and a great goaltender. We’re going to have to do everything we did against London and then some if we want to have success against them.”
The best-of-seven series begins tonight in Erie.