Erie Otters

The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North American river otter common to Lake Erie.

History

The Erie Otters were previously located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where they were called the Niagara Falls Thunder. They moved to Erie Insurance Arena in downtown Erie in time for the 1996–97 season. After three seasons of mediocrity in Erie, they won the Midwest Division's Holody Trophy in 1999. It was their first of three consecutive Midwest Division championships, culminating in a J. Ross Robertson Cup in the 2001–02 season. Additionally, Dave MacQueen won the Matt Leyden Trophy in 2000–01 as the OHL Coach of the Year. General manager Sherwood Bassin was awarded OHL Executive of the Year, and the CHL Executive of the Year for his role in building a championship team.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) officially partnered with the Erie Otters in 2012 as their official medical provider.

Connor McDavid played for the Erie Otters from the 2012–13 OHL season to the 2014–15 OHL season. McDavid had been named "Player of the Year" for the 2011–12 season in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, following a record of 79 goals and 130 assists while playing as a 14/15 year old on a midget-level team. Hockey Canada, the governing body for amateur hockey in Canada, granted McDavid "Exceptional Player" status, which permitted him to play in the OHL a year earlier than would otherwise be permissible for a player his age. He was only the third player to receive that status, after John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad. The Otters chose the 15-year-old as their first overall pick in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection Draft, and he joined the team for the 2012–13 season. McDavid garnered much attention, and was rated highly as he approached draft eligibility during his 2014–15 season with the Otters. He led the team to the J. Ross Robertson Cup championship finals, where the Otters fell to the Oshawa Generals. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau subsequently named McDavid the top North American prospect for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, where the Edmonton Oilers selected him first overall.

On March 18, 2017, the Erie Otters became the first team in Canadian Hockey League history to record four consecutive 50-win seasons in a row (2013–17). The Otters had previously shared the record of three consecutive 50-win seasons with the Kelowna Rockets (2012–15), Edmonton Oil Kings (2011–14), Saint John Sea Dogs (2009–12) and the Kamloops Blazers (1989–92).

On May 22, 2017, the Erie Otters set a Memorial Cup record for most goals by one team in a single game by defeating the Saint John Sea Dogs with a final score of 12–5, surpassing the previous record of 11 goals set by the Quebec Remparts (1974, 11–3) and Regina Pats (1980, 11–2). The game also set the record for most goals by both teams with a total of 17 goals, surpassing the record of 16 goals when the Kitchener Rangers defeated the Kamloop Jr. Oilers with a final score of 9–7 (1984). Dylan Strome set an individual record of 7 points in a single game (4 goals, 3 assists) surpassing the previous record of 6 points in a single game held by Joe Contini (1976), Guy Rouleau (1986), and Mike Mathers (1992). Taylor Raddysh also tied the previous record of 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in the same game.

On January 17, 2022, the Erie Otters hosted their inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day game. The team made history when University of Pittsburgh student Alex Randall broadcast the television feed of the game as the first African American play-by-play announcer in the Ontario Hockey League or the Canadian Hockey League.

Uniforms and logos

From their first season until the end of the 2016–17 season, the Erie Otters' colors were navy blue, gold, red, and white. Their primary logo featured a circular outline with a fierce, anthropomorphic otter furnishing a hockey stick and gear. The "Otters" wordmark is superimposed over the design in red with gold and navy blue outline. The team's home uniform included a navy blue sweater with red and gold accents. The away uniforms featured a white jersey with navy blue and red trim.

For the 2013–14 season, the Erie Otters introduced a gold alternate jersey. This jersey features a navy blue shoulder yoke, navy blue and white stripes, and the cursive "Otters" wordmark centered across the chest. The design resembles the sweaters of the defunct Erie Blades, who played from 1975 to 1982. In 2016, the Erie Otters began wearing the gold alternate jerseys for every Saturday home game throughout the regular season and also introduced gold helmets to the uniform set, rather than the blue helmets worn with the gold jersey in previous seasons.

For the 2017–18 season, the Erie Otters announced that the secondary cursive "Otters" watermark has become their new primary logo and the team is making a full-time switch to a gold, navy and white color set. With this change, the alternate gold jerseys have become the new primary home set, and a newly introduced white jersey (in the same style as the gold) has become the new away set.

On May 20, 2019, the Otters updated an older Otters logo with the new color pattern of navy blue and gold as part of the center emblem, shoulder patch with a more modern look and the Erie name inside of the Pennsylvania keystone symbol.

Arena

The Erie Otters play their home games at Erie Insurance Arena, which opened in 1983 and currently seats 6,716 spectators. It is a centerpiece of the Erie Civic Center Complex, which also includes the UPMC Park baseball stadium, home to the Double-A Erie SeaWolves.

Championships

List of championships:

Coaches

List of coaches:

^* indicates replacement mid-season.

Award winners

List of award winners:

General managers

''List of general managers with multiple seasons in parentheses.''

*1998–2015 – Sherwood Bassin (17)
*2015–present – Dave Brown (8)

Players

Award winners

List of award winners:

NHL alumni

List of National Hockey League (NHL) alumni:

* Nikita Alexeev
* Brady Austin
* Nick Baptiste
* Adam Berti
* Michael Blunden
* Brad Boyes
* Chris Breen
* David Broll
* Connor Brown
* Andre Burakovsky
* Chris Campoli
* Erik Cernak
* Anthony Cirelli
* Carlo Colaiacovo
* Tim Connolly
* Oscar Dansk
* Alex DeBrincat
* Travis Dermott
* Jamie Drysdale
* Remi Elie
* Warren Foegele
* Brendan Gaunce
* Luke Gazdic
* Justin Hodgman
* Hayden Hodgson
* Mike Liambas
* Brett MacLean
* Kurtis MacDermid
* Mason Marchment
* Connor McDavid
* Greg McKegg
* Steve Montador
* Adam Munro
* Jordan Nolan
* Ryan O'Marra
* Ryan O'Reilly
* Nick Palmieri
* Jeff Paul
* Adam Pelech
* Anthony Peluso
* Geoff Platt
* Darren Raddysh
* Taylor Raddysh
* Michael Rupp
* Dylan Strome
* Stephen Valiquette
* Phil Varone
* Jason Ward
* Jeff Zehr

NHL first round draft picks

Connor McDavid is the first player with Erie ties to be selected first overall in a major professional sports league’s draft. In his case, it was by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft on June 26, 2015.

List of first round NHL draft picks:

Retired numbers

*Brad Boyes (#16)
*Vince Scott (#18)

Season-by-season results

List of season-by-season results:

Regular season

Legend: OTL - Overtime Loss, SL - Shootout Loss, PTS - Points, GF - Goals For, GA - Goals Against, GD - Goal Differential

 

Playoffs

List of playoffs results:

 

Memorial Cup

List of Memorial Cup results:

References

External links

*

{{Pennsylvania Sports

Ontario Hockey League teams
Professional ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania
Sports in Erie, Pennsylvania
Ice hockey clubs established in 1996
1996 establishments in Pennsylvania