Otters return to the Soo
The team that knocked the heavily-favoured Soo Greyhounds out of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs last spring is back in town.
Erie Otters, who upset the Greyhounds four games to two in the Western Conference finals and eliminated a Soo squad that was supposedly ticketed for a Memorial Cup championship, are returning to the scene of the crime tonight.
Erie, which is in first place overall in the 20-team OHL with 65 points from a record of 32-5-1, takes on the Hounds tonight at the Essar Centre. The Hounds have 39 points from a record of 17-16-5 and are tied for sixth place in the 10-team Western Conference.
That Erie is doing as well as it is this season minus superstar centre Connor McDavid — who is playing in the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers as an 18-year old — is a testament to the depth of the Otters, who have seven players with at least 10 goals.
Defensively, the Otters have been outstanding, having allowed just 95 goals in 38 games.
By comparison, the Greyhounds have given up 143 goals in 38 games.
While the Otters no longer have McDavid, they boast a 1-2 threat with 34-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat and 54-point-getter Dylan Strome, who was a standout for Team Canada at the recent World Jr. Hockey Championships.
PHOTO: Erie Otters star Alex DeBrincat.
Although the Battalion managed a 3-2 win over the Otters, much of that game was played in the Bay’s end as was reflected by the shots on goal. Erie’s three players who were at the world juniors were back but looked a little fatigued from the short turn-around. Williams injured himself in a fall behind his net and the first Battalion goal was basically an empty net freebie. The back-up goalie was burned by two quick goals and that was it, but I would certainly not want to face this Otters team in the first round of the playoffs. They’re not big but play fast, smooth hockey.