WEEKEND PREVIEW: Headed West
Erie, Pennsylvania — The Otters are back on the road as they prepare to embark on their only overnight trip of the month of January and play three of their four road games in what is a home-heavy month.
It all starts with the Otters’ first of two visits to the WFCU Centre in Windsor Thursday to conclude their home-and-home series with the Windsor Spitfires. Erie then takes the trip across Lake St. Clair up to Sarnia for their first of two road games this season against the Sarnia Sting on Friday night. The three-in-three weekend concludes Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Place in London for the teams’ third meeting of the season with the rival Knights.
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 organisation 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 come back from break with a four-game week, all starting last Sunday in Kitchener with a battle with the Rangers. Erie would hold a lead for most of the contest, getting goals from Kase Kamzik, Michael Dec, and Ritter Coombs, but a power outage would cause a black-out at the Aud and when play resumed, the Rangers would score a late goal to down Erie.
The Otters would play the following Tuesday in Brantford as they would kick-off a home-and-home with the Bulldogs. Erie would get goals from Cal Hughes and Michael Dec before the Bulldogs would answer back to tie the game with two from Luca Testa. In the final minute, Lucas Ambrosio would score to give the Otters a 3-2 lead. Inside of the final 10 seconds, Noah Erliden would make a spectacular save to preserve the Otters lead and they would go onto hand the Bulldogs their first home regulation loss of the season with the final score being 3-2.
The next day would see a rematch at the Erie Insurance Arena for the annual New Year’s Eve clash, marking the final game of 2025. Luc Plante would get the Otters offense going early, but a barrage of four-unanswered goals from Brantford would see them take control of the contest. A late goal from Mclean Agrette would give Erie a small consolation but the Bulldogs would escape town with a 5-2 win.
Saturday would mark the first game of 2026 and the kick-off to another home-and-home for Erie, this time much more spread out, with five days between games as the Otters would battle the Windsor Spitfires. Erie would play a strong first period but a late Spitfire goal would see Windsor start to take the game over as time would roll on. Down 4-0, the Otters would get a late goal to break the shut-out but the Spits would take the two points in a 4-1 win.
WESTWARD BOUND
Erie heads to Windsor Thursday to wrap-up their home-and-home series with the Spitfires.
Friday sees the Otters invading Progressive Auto Sales Arena in Sarnia for a crucial match-up with the Sting.
Erie will look to sing “Sweet Caroline” all day long as they head to Canada Life Place in London for game three of six this season against the rival London Knights.
WHO TO WATCH
Forward Luc Plante has gotten his feet under him at the OHL level. With recent roster moves, his solid play should be rewarded with more ice-time heading into the road trip. The Chesterfield, MI native has collected two points (1G+1A) over his last couple of games and has looked more and more comfortable as winter has rolled in. This road trip also sees him play two games quite close to home, with Chesterfield being only about 45 minutes from each venue, though across a border. Look for Plante to make a big impact for the Otters on the trip.
Michael Dec has been outstanding and incredibly important for the Otters since being acquired on Halloween. He comes into the road trip with three points over his last four games (2G+1A). Dec has been a major catalyst for the Otters’ offense, look for his role to be increased even more over the weekend and for him to respond well to the added responsibility.
KNOW THE FOE
The Windsor Spitfires are first-up on the weekend and this is a foe that is quite familiar, though both lineups will look dramatically different to when they last collided in Erie just days ago. Liam Greentree and AJ Spellacy should make their returns from World Juniors and the newly-acquired Nathan Villeneuve and Alex Pharand should make their Spitfires debuts after being picked-up from Sudbury via trade earlier in the week. The Spits are one of a few teams that are truly going for it in the West this season and will provide a stiff test for the Otters in a very difficult building to play in.
It is very much a rebuilding year in Sarnia but there is quite the collection of young talent forming a very formidable core with a very bright future ahead, sooner rather than later. Beckham Edwards and Easton Walos lead an exciting young group offensively who are looking to lead their team to the postseason. Young Captain Alessandro Di Iorio when healthy is also quite the player. This Sarnia team has plenty to look forward to under new Head Coach Mathieu Turcotte as they hope to sneak into the playoffs.
The trip concludes in London as the Otters make their second visit of the season to the Forest City to battle the Knights. London has not quite performed to their standards this season though even that has them sitting in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference. Many of the big names have graduated and it’s been players like Ben Wilmott and Jaxon Cover who have led the way offensively for the Knights. Though this team is quite different than the Memorial Cup champions the Otters met in the second round of the playoffs, Canada Life Place is a very difficult place to win, especially on the final day of a three-in-three.
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 home for two home games on January 16 and 17 as they take on the Windsor Spitfires on Golf Night (pres. by Five Iron Golf) and the Saginaw Spirit for Youth Sports Night (pres. by FWRD Brighter Future Foundation Sports Division).
