WEEKEND PREVIEW: Four Games in Six Days
Erie, Pennsylvania — The Otters are back in action as they prepare for a busy week, bouncing from home to the road in a rare four-game week.
It all starts Wednesday as the Otters welcome in the Owen Sound Attack for the first of three times this season for Red Light Rally. Friday, Erie travels to Brantford for the final time this season to take on the Bulldogs. Saturday, the Flint Firebirds come to town for Torch the Stigma – Olympic Night on what is a packed Saturday night at the EIA. It all comes to an end with a Family Day matinee in Guelph as the Otters visit the Storm for the final time this season.
AHEC YEAH!
NWPA AHEC’s Weekend Preview brings the latest news, promotions, and what YOU need to know before YOU go further into the new year.
Northwest Pennsylvania Area Health Education Centre 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
Erie would kick-off a three-in-three nearly a week ago as they would take on the Guelph Storm for the annual School Day Game. The Otters would get their offense going early as Michael Dec would strike to give Erie a 1-0 lead in the early stages. The Storm would swarm following this goal, going onto get the game’s next three and taking a 3-1 lead into the final moments of the contest. Down late, Tristen Trevino would score to get the Otters back into the contest late, but it would not be enough as the Storm would hang on for victory.
The following night, the Otters would make their way to Saginaw to take on the Spirit. The home side would play quite tough, zipping the puck around in their offensive zone and making life quite difficult for the Otters. The Spirit would jump out to a 2-0 lead before Erie would get themselves on the board. A power play goal for Tyler Cooper would give Erie life in the game as they would trim the deficit to one. Saginaw would respond with two late to put the game away as the Spirit would skate away with a 4-1 win.
Saturday would see the Otters travel to Flint to take on the Firebirds. Flint would control the game from the word go, scoring three goals early on and dictating the pace of play. Erie would get strong goaltending all game from Noah Erliden. It would be late in the game where the Otters would find some offense as Julius Saari would strike to get the visitors on the board. It would not be enough as the Firebirds would skate to a 3-1 win.
BUSY THREE-IN-THREE
Erie kicks off their weekend with a mid-week match-up with the Owen Sound Attack at the Erie Insurance Arena.
Friday sees the Otters head to Branford for the final time this season to take on the Bulldogs at TD Civic Centre.
The weekend continues Saturday as the Flint Firebirds make their final visit to the Erie Insurance Arena.
It all comes to an end for a Family Day matinee with the Otters visiting the Guelph Storm for the third and final time this season.
WHO TO WATCH
The youth movement is certainly on in Erie and Tyler Cooper is a name to know for the navy and gold. Cooper has seen plenty of power play time lately and with the number one unit for the Otters and was rewarded Friday in Saginaw with a PPG. Cooper is an exciting young piece who provides plenty of skill and should translate to a strong scorer for the Otters as his career develops. The rest of this season should see the youngest player in the league continue to get opportunities as he continues to grow.
Julius Saari has been a brick wall defensively for the Otters lately and now he’s added a touch of scoring to his game. Selected by the Otters in the second round of this past summer’s CHL Import Draft, the Finnish defenseman has been steady all season but has gotten better and better as the season has gone on. Getting plenty of minutes each night, Saari has been one of the Otters’ best defenseman and with his goal Saturday in Flint, he hopes he can continue to score down the stretch.
KNOW THE FOE
It has been a rough ride lately for the Owen Sound Attack. The Bayshore Bears come into Wednesday’s game 2-7-1-0 over their last 10 and struggling since the trade deadline. A deadline which saw them move on from goaltender Carter George among others. Up-front they are led by Pierce Mbuyi who has been quite the agitator of the Otters in his time in the OHL. Erie has lost two of three against the Attack this season with their one win coming right as the wheels had started to fall off in Owen Sound. The Attack are 3-14-2-1 since these two teams last met.
Maybe the most talented team in the OHL, the Brantford Bulldogs are poised to make a run this postseason. The Bulldogs have gone all-in, acquiring talent from all around the league to build a team capable of winning a championship. Players like Adam Benak, Adam Jiricek, Jett Luchanko and quite a few others lead an attack that is one of the league’s best. This Bulldogs team is as strong as it gets but Erie knows what it takes to win in Brantford after doing it already this season in December.
The Flint Firebirds are all-in and they should be. A strong team led by Nathan Aspinall and Alex Kostov with a terrific goaltender in Mason Vaccari got even stronger at the trade deadline when they picked up forwards Kevin He and Jacob Battaglia respectively. With He especially playing terrific in the navy and orange, with points in all but three games so far in Flint. These two teams last met Saturday in Flint with the Firebirds coming out on top. The Birds are all-in and looking to keep climbing as they chase the number one seed in the Western Conference.
The Guelph Storm have an eye on next season, however their finish to this year matters a bunch as they hope to gain valuable experience ahead of hosting the Memorial Cup in 2027. The Storm are led offensively by veteran Ethan Miedema, but it’s younger players like Tyler Hopkins, Carter Stevens and Wil McFadden that Storm fans have eyes on as they continue to develop. In net, Zachary Jovanovski has been strong, playing night-in and night-out as the Storm make their playoff push. The last meeting between these two Midwest Division rivals saw the Storm take care of business in Erie for the School Day Game with Erie looking to get back at them on this Family Day.
HOW TO WATCH, LISTEN, & FOLLOW ALONG
The 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, V 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 the 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, the Otters’ social media is the best way to keep up with the team wherever they are.
UP NEXT
The Otters are back on home ice Friday as they take on the Oshawa Generals on February 20 for Fishing Night presented by Fish USA. The weekend will conclude with the season’s final visit from the Kitchener Rangers for Mascot Mania presented by Chick-Fil-A Erie.
