WEEKEND PREVIEW: Kicking Things Off
ERIE, Pa. — It is officially hockey season once again in the Flagship City, and the Erie Otters look to hit the ground running in its 29th season with a road and home split to start the 2025-26 campaign. With plenty of new faces like Jake Murray and Alex Misiak joining the crew, veterans Dylan Edwards and Gabriel Frasca returning to lead the charge, and head coach Kris Mallette entering his first full season as head coach, the Otters are primed to build off last year’s second round exit.
The Otters start the season on the road Friday night in Guelph, but the real party starts hours before puck drop on Saturday. Get ready for gametime by coming down to the Home Opener Fan Fest, starting at 3 p.m. Once the gates open, make sure to make it in the arena quickly to be one of the first 1,500 fans to collect a free Erie Otters Magnet Schedule (pres. by iHeart Media Erie), and grab your free Erie Otters Rally Towel (pres. by iHeart Media Erie) to cheer on the Otters against the Kitchener Rangers.
AHEC YEAH!
NWPA AHEC’s Weekend Preview brings the latest news, promotions, and what YOU need to know before YOU go in further the new year.
Northwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center is a non-profit organization committed to helping communities in Northwest Pennsylvania meet their primary health care needs and enhance the quality of health in our region especially the rural and underserved communities.
‘AHEC’ maintains partnerships with community, government, and educational agencies and institutions that will connect students to careers, professionals to communities and communities to better health.
Head to nwpaahec.org to learn more or to apply!
LAST TIME OUT
The Otters finished the preseason with a 1-4 record, picking up a 3-2 shootout in in Peterborough as their lone victory heading into the season. Despite what the record says, the Otters were no pushover, allowing just 15 goals over the five games. Goalies Noah Erliden and Charlie Burns put up strong performances between the pipes, posting .929 and .918 save percentages, respectively. Offensively, McLean Agrette and Michael D’Alessio led the charge for Erie, as Agrette netted two goals while D’Alessio tallied three assists to lead the team in those categories. Erie will be counting on returners like the aforementioned Edwards and Frasca to step up, as Edwards found the back of the net in the win over Peterborough and Frasca got a helper in a 2-1 loss to London in a late push that fell just short.
SING PRAISES FOR FAN FEST
With the season beginning this Friday, Sept. 19 on the road against the Guelph Storm, the Otters will host the Kitchener Rangers in the home opener on Saturday. Before the game, come down early for the fourth-annual Home Opener Fan Fest. The party will start right outside the Erie Insurance Arena on the promenade at 3:00 p.m., and fans can enjoy live music, a vendor fair, local food trucks, kid-focused entertainment, and the Red Carpet entrance as the Otters arrive to the EIA.
WHO TO WATCH
As one of the team’s lone top scorers returning from last year’s roster, Dylan Edwards will be counted on to set the tone offensively at the start of the season. The right winger is entering his fifth season in Erie and is coming off consecutive 20-goal campaigns. In addition to his goal-scoring ability, Edwards took a jump as a playmaker last year, finishing with 36 assists, 24 more than his previous season-high. Edwards is the only returning Otter from the team’s top six scorers, and a hot start from him could go a long way for getting the team’s offense going out of the gate.
The Otters have gotten instant production out of their last four first-round picks, and they hope the case with Jake Murray will be no different. The #12 overall pick of the 2025 OHL Priority Selection brings a physical two-way style to the Otters’ group of centers, willing to get in the dirty areas along the boards and in front of the net, while still possessing the skill to fill up the stat sheet.
KNOW THE FOE
When the Otters and Storm matched up last year, the nets quickly filled up on each end. The Otters took the season series, picking up two regulation wins, an overtime win, and a shootout win across six games against Guelph. In each meeting, the winning team scored at least four goals. The Storm did not qualify for the OHL playoffs, finishing last in the Western conference with 51 points, but return its two leading scorers in right winger Charlie Paquette (37 G + 33 A) and left winger Jett Luchanko (21 G + 35 A).
In Saturday’s home opener against the Rangers, the Otters took the first meeting of the 2024-25 season with a 5-2 win, but Kitchener would win the final five meetings later on. The Rangers finished the season as one of two teams to finish with 100 points, but had an identical fate in the playoffs as the Otters, getting eliminated by the London Knights in a four-game sweep. Jason Schaubel steps up for Kitchener into the starting goalie spot after spending most of last year as the backup to Jackson Parsons, posting a .878 save percentage to go with a 3.40 goals against average across 18 appearances. Like the Otters though, the Rangers will have to replace last year’s top scorers. They return wingers Jack Pridham (27 G + 27 A) and Tanner Lam (13 G + 40A), as well as Luca Romano (25 G + 26 A) down the middle.
HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN, & FOLLOW ALONG
he new home of Otters hockey is Flo Hockey!
Delivering a high-quality viewing experience, Flo Hockey provides access to more than 700 OHL games, and games from the QMJHL, AHL, ECHL and more, streamed across a range of platforms including PC and Tablet on Safari and Google Chrome web browsers, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices.
Fans can also see the NHL’s stars of tomorrow on the Amazon Fire, Apple TV and Roku platforms – right from the comfort of their homes!
For more information, head to flohockey.tv!
:
- PC and/or Tablet on Safari and Google Chrome web browsers
- iOS / Android mobile devices.
- Amazon Fire
- Apple TV
- Roku platforms
Flo Hockey provides live game action all season long, plus free-to-access video-on-demand content and a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate. For more information, head to flohockey.tv.
LISTEN
Listen to Otters Hockey all across Erie County with iHeart Media Erie and the Otters broadcast network!
Every game can feel like a home game as a fan with the Otters Radio Network. With live-game broadcasts of all 68 Regular Season games, fans can always hear the action as it happens. Thanks to the Broadcast Home for Otters Hockey, iHeart Media Erie, fans can listen to every game LIVE on the iHeart App from ANYWHERE in the world! From Pennsylvania to Transylvania and everywhere in between, you’ll always be in range to hear Otters Hockey.
- iHeart Media(Erie, PA) is the Flagship Station for the Otters on WJET 1400 AM, and home to Otters Hockey in Pennsylvania. Games can be heard on terrestrial radio on 96.7 FM/1400 AM in Erie and surrounding communities of NWPA, or can be livestreamed worldwide on the iHeart App.
FOLLOW ALONG
If you want to follow along in-real-time to the weekend’s games, make sure you’re following the Otters on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. From live tweets of the action, scoring updates, photos, and highlights, Otters’ social media is the best way to keep up with the team wherever they are.
UP NEXT
After this weekend, the Otters will have the rest of the week to regroup before heading into another road-home back-to-back split the following weekend. They’ll head up to Kitchener on Friday and host the defending champion London Knights Saturday night at the Erie Insurance Arena.
