Hartsburg has Erie feeling
Chris Hartsburg is back in the Ontario Hockey League after a four year hiatus — and with the Erie Otters, no less. The 45 year old Hartsburg, who manages the local arena and the minor hockey association in Erie, has been hired by the OHL Otters as a part time skills development coach.
Hartsburg returns to the OHL and the Otters after a previous association with them. He was an assistant coach with the Otters for one season and later had a four year stint with them as a head coach that began in 2017 and ended in 2021.
Hartsburg stands to be a valuable resource in Erie for the Otters under seasoned general manager David Brown and head coach Kris Mallette. Besides his previous OHL experience with Erie, Hartsburg was also an assistant coach for four years in the Western Hockey League and had a one season gig in the United States Hockey League as a head coach.
All in all, Hartsburg has more than 10 years of coaching experience at the major junior level, while having learned a lot about the game from mentors that include his dad, Craig Hartsburg.
The elder Hartsburg is a former world class player and coach with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL who not only played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League as a star defenseman — and former first round pick — with the Minnesota North Stars but also coached in the NHL as both the head and an associate for 20 years.
As for Erie, the Otters are coming off of a topsy turvy ’24-25 campaign that included the late season firing of veteran head coach Stan Butler. With aforementioned Kris Mallette taking over from Butler, Erie finished fifth in the Western Conference with a regular season record of 34-28-6 before upsetting the fourth place Saginaw Spirit four games to one in the first round of the playoffs. The Otters were then swept in the second round by the eventual OHL and Memorial Cup champion London Knights.