Continued success has Otters hungry for a championship
Wednesday February 24, 2016
By Josh Sweetland/CHL
Erie Otters fans know all too well the feast or famine nature of OHL hockey in the Flagship City over the past several years.
The Otters, who have been the CHL’s top ranked team for the past 14 straight weeks, have had a head seat at the table in recent years as they aim to become the first team in OHL history to string together three consectuve 50-win seasons.
It wasn’t long ago however that the Otters won just 33 games over two seasons from 2006-08 and shortly thereafter, just 29 from 2011-13. The arrival of Connor McDavid turned the franchise’s fortunes around, but #97 didn’t hoist the J. Ross Robertson Cup in his three years as an Otter, leaving the Brad Boyes-led 2002 team as the only one in franchise history to do so.
Though the organization and its fans are hungry for a championship after winning five playoff series in the past two years, the continued success has been sweet in Pennsylvania’s fourth-largest city thanks to the highly competitive roster put together by former general manager Sherry Bassin and current GM Dave Brown.
“All of our playoff games were sold out last year and the place was going crazy,” said sophomore Otters forward Taylor Raddysh who is a target for the 2016 NHL Draft in June. “It’s a great city with really passionate fans and we want to finish the job for them this spring.”
After being eliminated in the Western Conference finals by the OHL champion Guelph Storm in 2014, the Otters came within three wins of a championship last May, running into a big, physical Oshawa Generals team that wore them down in five games. The road to the finals was intense though, featuring a highly entertaining six game Western Conference final triumph over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
“That whole playoff experience really grew me as a player,” continued Raddysh. “Everything is more intense from the atmosphere to the pace and the physical play. Veteran guys like Nick Betz, Nick Baptiste and of course Connor McDavid showed me the importance of bringing it all to the rink, even late in the year when your body doesn’t bounce back as quickly as it did in October.”
The younger of two brothers on the Otters, Taylor Raddysh is the 34th ranked North American skater on NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings that came out in mid-January. Described by Central Scouting as a “confident offensive player, strong skater and accurate shooter,” the Caledon, ON, native has 20 goals, 41 assists and 61 points in 55 regular season games and had the opportunity to represent Team Orr at the 2016 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Vancouver, BC. He’s come to appreciate the winning culture and high expectations in Erie.
“I think getting so used to expecting success is a good thing for me as a player,” he noted. “I’ve had the honour of playing alongside some outstanding talent in McDavid, Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat and have been able to learn from them.”
“The thing is, when you’re on a team that wins so often, the losses hurt a lot more,” he continued. “Both the players and the coaches set high standards and I think that’s a good thing, but we also have to avoid dwelling on things too much when we do lose and just stick to what has been working for us all season.”
Though the dynamic McDavid has moved on, the Otters still boast one of the OHL’s best offences, one that receives frequent contributions from captain and Arizona Coyotes first round pick Dylan Strome, fellow draft prospects Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Maksimovich and overage veterans Nick Betz and Jake Marchment.
Strome, Marchment and Vancouver Canucks prospect Kyle Pettit provide the Otters with a strong presence through the middle and a steady hand in the faceoff circle.
On the back end, older brother Darren Raddysh serves as one of the most underrated blueliners in the league, logging big minutes along with Toronto Maple Leafs second round pick Travis Dermott. Los Angeles Kings draftee Erik Cernak provides a big 6’3″, 217Ib. physical presence while rookie Jordan Sambrook has put together a solid first year in the league with eight goals, 14 assists and 22 points in 55 games.
The Otters have the steady presence of overage veteran Devin Williams in the crease, fresh off his 100th career OHL victory on Sunday. Williams is just the fifth goaltender in OHL history to reach the century mark and the first American to do so. Having appeared in 33 playoff contests in the last two years, Williams ensures that there will be no shortage of experience in the Erie crease come late March.
Though they’ve missed McDavid’s game-breaking presence in their lineup, Raddysh, Maksimovich and others have stepped up to carry the load, resulting in a hard-working group in all three zones under the guidance of head coach Kris Knoblauch.
“Our systems are all the same, it’s just a different look without guys like McDavid around,” said Raddysh. “In a sense I think we’re a harder working team as a result. I don’t think we’ve been able to rely on raw talent alone as much as we did in the past and we’ve really had to work for our points in the standings.”
The hard work continues in Erie as the Otters aim to translate their regular season success into an OHL championship and the first MasterCard Memorial Cup title in franchise history.
The hype and enthusiasm of ‘McDavid mania’ in Erie at the beginning of the 2012 season has gradually transformed into one of the OHL’s most consistent and successful development programs.