Erie Otters 1034439 222353433 2008-06-28T22:08:42Z 24.93.186.225 /* Current roster */ {{Hockey team |team = Erie Otters |logo = erieotters.gif |city = [[Erie, Pennsylvania]] |league = [[Ontario Hockey League]] |conference = Western |division = Midwest |founded = [[1996-97 OHL season|1996-97]] |arena = [[Louis J. Tullio Arena]] |colours = [[navy blue]], [[red]], [[yellow]] and [[gold]] |coach = [[Robbie Ftorek]] |GM = [[Sherwood Bassin]] |affiliates = [[Huntsville-Muskoka Otters]] |name1 = [[Hamilton Tiger Cubs]] |dates1 = 1953-60 |name2 = [[Hamilton Red Wings]] |dates2 = 1960-74 |name3 = [[Hamilton Fincups]] |dates3 = 1974-76 |name4 = [[Hamilton Fincups|St. Catharines Fincups]] |dates4 = 1976-77 |name5 = [[Hamilton Fincups]] |dates5 = 1977-78 |name6 = [[Brantford Alexanders]] |dates6 = 1978-84 |name7 = [[Hamilton Steelhawks]] |dates7 = 1984-88 |name8 = [[Niagara Falls Thunder]] |dates8 = 1988-96 |name9 = Erie Otters |dates9 = 1996-Present }} The '''Erie Otters''' are a [[junior ice hockey]] team in the [[Ontario Hockey League]]. They have played in [[Erie, Pennsylvania]], [[USA]] from 1996 to present, at the [[Louis J. Tullio Arena]]. The Otters are the only [[Pennsylvania]] team in the OHL, and one of only three United States-based teams in the league. ==History== The Niagara Falls Thunder were relocated in 1996 from [[Niagara Falls, Ontario]], becoming the Erie Otters. The team took its name from the [[otter]], a water creature common to the south shore of [[Lake Erie]]. The Otters' ownership partners are Ron Sertz, Jeff Fatica and Ray Irwin. [[Sherwood Bassin]] is the general manager and a managing partner of the team. Walt Wingfield is the head scout of the Otters. The first three years in Erie were building years for the Otters, with the team eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each year. In the fourth year, all the hard work paid off with their first [[Holody Trophy|Midwest Division championship]]. For the Otters it would be their first of three consecutive Midwest Division championships, culminating in an [[J. Ross Robertson Cup|OHL Championship]] in 2001-2002. [[Dave MacQueen]] won the [[Matt Leyden Trophy]] in 2000-01 as the OHL Coach of the Year. [[Sherwood Bassin]] was awarded [[OHL Executive of the Year]] in 2001-02 for his role as general manager in building a championship team. The Erie Otters celebrated their 10th anniversary in the 2005-2006 season. ===2001-2002 OHL Champions=== In the 2001-2002 season, the Erie Otters became only the second OHL team based in the [[United States of America]], to win the OHL Championship. The first were the 1995 champions [[Detroit Junior Red Wings]] (now the [[Plymouth Whalers]]). After a disappointing loss to the Plymouth Whalers the previous year in the conference finals, the Otters used their experience and work ethic to push themselves through the playoffs. Otters players had a puck holder hung on the wall of the dressing room with sixteen slots to fill for the sixteen wins needed for the title. Erie earned that 16th puck defeating the [[Barrie Colts]] in game 5 of the 2002 finals. The Otters bid to host the [[2002 Memorial Cup]], but the [[Guelph Storm]] were chosen instead as hosts. The Otters earned a berth in the tournament as OHL Champions but ultimately finished in third place. Two-time OHL MVP [[Brad Boyes]] led the Otters as captain. Team members for the 2002 championship were: :T.J. Aceti, Chris Berti, Brad Bonello, Brad Boyes, Chris Campoli, Carlo Colaiacovo, Noel Coultice, Sean Courtney, Brandon Cullen, Scott Dobben, Jeff Doyle, Chris Eade, David Herring, Alex Karaulchuk, Mical Kokavec, Brian Lee, Thomas Lee, Chris Martin, Mike McKeown, Adam Munro, Cory Pecker, Mike Rice, Dave MacQueen (coach), Sherwood Bassin (GM) ==Championships== * [[J. Ross Robertson Cup]] (OHL Champions)<br>2001-2002 * [[Wayne Gretzky Trophy]] (Western Conference Champions)<br>2001-2002 * [[Hamilton Spectator Trophy]] (1st place regular season)<br>2000-2001 (102 points) * [[Holody Trophy]] (Midwest Division Champions)<br>1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002 ==Coaches== [[Dave MacQueen]] won the [[Matt Leyden Trophy]] in 2000-01 as the OHL Coach of the Year. ''Multiple years in parentheses'' *'''1996-1997''' [[Chris Johnstone]], Dale Dunbar *'''1997-1998''' [[Dale Dunbar]] (2) *'''1998-1999''' [[Paul Theriault]] *'''1999-2006''' [[Dave MacQueen]] (7) *'''2006-2007''' [[Peter Sidorkiewicz]] (2) *'''2007-2008''' [[Robbie Ftorek]] ==Players== Since the franchise relocated to Erie prior to the 1996-1997 season, a total of 21 players have been selected at the National Hockey League Entry Draft including a five-year stretch from 1997-2001 in which seven members of the team were selected in the first round (1997 Jason Ward, 11th, Montreal; 1998 Michael Rupp, ninth, New York Islanders; 1999 Tim Connolly, fifth, New York Islanders; 2000 Nikita Alexeev, eighth, Tampa Bay and Brad Boyes, 24th, Toronto; 2001 Carlo Colaiacovo, 17th, Toronto and Adam Munro, 29th, Chicago). ===Award winners=== *''1999-00'' - '''Brad Boyes''', [[CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award]], [[Bobby Smith Trophy]] (OHL Scholastic Player of the Year) *''2000-01'' - '''Brad Boyes''', [[Red Tilson Trophy]] (Most Outstanding Player), [[William Hanley Trophy]] (Most Sportsmanlike Player) *''2000-01'' - '''Joey Sullivan''', [[Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy]] (Humanitarian of the Year) *''2001-02'' - '''Brad Boyes''', [[CHL Sportsman of the Year Award]], [[Red Tilson Trophy]] (Most Outstanding Player), [[William Hanley Trophy]] (Most Sportsmanlike Player), [[Wayne Gretzky 99 Award]] (Playoffs MVP) *''2001-02'' - '''Cory Pecker''', [[Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy]] (Overage Player of the Year) *''2003-04'' - '''Chris Campoli''', [[CHL Humanitarian of the Year]], [[Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy]] (OHL Humanitarian of the Year) *''2006-07'' - '''Derrick Bagshaw''', [[Roger Neilson Memorial Award]] (Top Academic University Player) *''2007'' - '''Ryan O’Reilly''', [[Jack Ferguson Award]] (First Overall draft pick) ===NHL alumni=== <table><tr><td valign=top> *[[Nikita Alexeev]] *[[Adam Berti]] *[[Michael Blunden]] *[[Brad Boyes]] </td><td valign=top> *[[Chris Campoli]] *[[Carlo Colaiacovo]] *[[Tim Connolly]] *[[Steve Montador]] </td><td valign=top> *[[Adam Munro]] *[[Jeff Paul]] *[[Geoff Platt]] *[[Michael Rupp]] </td><td valign=top> *[[Stephen Valiquette]] *[[Jason Ward]] *[[Jeff Zehr]] </td></tr></table> ===Retired numbers=== *[[Brad Boyes]] (#16) ===Current roster=== as of March 13, 2008 [[Goalies]] *1 -- Shane Owen ([[Shanty Bay, Ontario]]) *32 -- Jaroslav Janus ([[Presov, Slovakia]]) [[Defenceman (ice hockey)|Defencemen]] *2 -- Josh Kidd ([[Sundridge, Ontario]]) ~ LA [[2007]] *4 -- Mitch Gaulton ([[Grimsby, Ontario]]) ~ NYR [[2008]] *5 -- David Shields ([[Rochester, New York]]) *6 -- Paul Cianfrini ([[Dundas, Ontario]]) *7 -- Frank Grzeszczak ([[Plantation, Florida]]) *10 -- Tyler Hostetter ([[Lititz, Pennsylvania]]) *17 -- Brian Shaw ([[St. Thomas, Ontario]]) *20 -- Robyn Sertic ([[Mississauga, Ontario]]) *28 -- Brett Cook ([[Washago, Ontario]]) [[Forward (ice hockey)|Forwards]] *8 -- Matthew Paton ([[Woodstock, Ontario]]) *9 -- Ryan O'Reilly ([[Varna, Ontario]]) *12 -- Sean Jones ([[Newmarket, Ontario]]) *13 -- Mike Cazzola ([[Guelph, Ontario]]) *18 -- Shawn Szydlowski ([[St. Clair Shores, Michigan]]) *19 -- Nick Palmieri ([[Clinton, New York]]) ~ NJ [[2007]] *21 -- Jordan Skellet ([[London, Ontario]]) *22 --[[Zack Torquato]] ([[Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario]]) ~ DET [[2007]] *23 -- Luke Gazdic ([[Toronto, Ontario]]) ~ DAL [[2007]] *24 -- Michael Liambas ([[Woodbridge, Ontario]]) *25 -- Justin Hodgman ([[Brampton, Ontario]]) *27 -- Doug Clarkson ([[Mimico, Ontario]]) *39 -- Kelly Geoffrey ([[Newmarket, Ontario]]) ==Team records== {| align=left border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#ffffff" style="border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" | align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan=3 style="border-bottom:1px #aaaaaa solid;" | '''Team Records for a single season''' |- !Statistic!!Total!!Season |- align="center" |Most Points||102||2000-01 |- align="center" |Most Wins||45||2000-01 |- align="center" |Most Goals For||271||1998-99 |- align="center" |Least Goals For||181||2002-03 |- align="center" |Least Goals Against||171||2000-01 |- align="center" |Most Goals Against||378||2006-07 |} {| align=right border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#ffffff" style="border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" | align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee" colspan=4 style="border-bottom:1px #aaaaaa solid;" | '''Individual player records for a single season''' |- !Statistic!!Player!!Total!!Season |- align="center" |Most Goals||Sean Courtney||53||2001-02 |- align="center" |Most Assists||Colin Pepperall||60||1997-98 |- align="center" |Most Points||Cory Pecker||99||2001-02 |- align="center" |Most Points, rookie||Tim Connolly||62||1997-98 |- align="center" |Most Points, defenceman||Chris Campoli||66||2003-04 |- align="center" |Best GAA (Goalie)||Adam Munro||2.31||2000-01 |- | align="center" colspan=4 style="border-bottom:1px #aaaaaa solid;" | ''Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played'' |} <br clear="all"><br> ==Season-by-season results== ===Regular season=== Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shoot Out Loss {| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#ffffff" style="border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#ccccff" align="center" ! Season || Games || Won || Lost || Tied || OTL || SL || Points || Pct % || Goals<br>For || Goals<br><small>Against</small> || Standing |- align="center" |[[1996-97 OHL season|1996-97]]||66||23||36|| 7|| -||-|| 53||0.402||240||260||5th Central |- align="center" |[[1997-98 OHL season|1997-98]]||66||33||28|| 5|| -||-|| 71||0.538||261||252||4th Central |- align="center" |[[1998-99 OHL season|1998-99]]||68||31||33|| 4|| -||-|| 66||0.485||271||297||3rd Midwest |- align="center" |[[1999-00 OHL season|1999-00]]||68||33||28|| 4|| 3||-|| 73||0.515||224||229||'''1st Midwest''' |- align="center" |[[2000-01 OHL season|2000-01]]||68||45||11||10|| 2||-||102||0.735||264||171||'''1st Midwest''' |- align="center" |[[2001-02 OHL season|2001-02]]||68||41||22|| 4|| 1||-|| 87||0.632||246||218||'''1st Midwest''' |- align="center" |[[2002-03 OHL season|2002-03]]||68||24||35|| 6|| 3||-|| 57||0.397||181||248||5th Midwest |- align="center" |[[2003-04 OHL season|2003-04]]||68||29||26|| 6|| 7||-|| 71||0.471||221||212||5th Midwest |- align="center" |[[2004-05 OHL season|2004-05]]||68||31||26|| 6|| 5||-|| 73||0.500||186||207||4th Midwest |- align="center" |[[2005-06 OHL season|2005-06]]||68||26||35||-|| 4|| 3|| 59||0.434||219||266||5th Midwest |- align="center" |[[2006-07 OHL season|2006-07]]||68||15||50||-|| 1|| 2|| 33||0.243||209||378||5th Midwest |- align="center" |[[2007-08 OHL season|2007-08]]||68||18||46||-||2|| 2|| 40||0.294||206||343||5th Midwest |- align="center" |''Total:''||812||349||376||52||28||7||785||-||2728||3081||- |} ===Playoffs=== *'''1996-97''' Lost to Guelph Storm 4 games to 1 in division quarter-finals. *'''1997-98''' Lost to London Knights 4 games to 3 in division quarter-finals. *'''1998-99''' Lost to Guelph Storm 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals. *'''1999-00''' Defeated Brampton Battalion 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals. <br>Lost to S.S. Marie Greyhounds 4 games to 3 in conference semi-finals. *'''2000-01''' Defeated London Knights 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals. <br>Defeated Brampton Battalion 4 games to 1 in conference semi-finals. <br>Lost to Plymouth Whalers 4 games to 1 in conference finals. *'''2001-02''' Defeated Sarnia Sting 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals. <br>Defeated London Knights 4 games to 2 in conference semi-finals. <br>Defeated Windsor Spitfires 4 games to 1 in conference finals. <br>Defeated Barrie Colts 4 games to 1 in finals. '''OHL CHAMPIONS''' <br>Lost to Victoriaville Tigres 5-4 (OT) in the Memorial Cup semi-finals. *'''2002-03''' Out of playoffs. *'''2003-04''' Defeated Sarnia Sting 4 games to 1 in conference quarter-finals. <br>Lost to London Knights 4 games to 0 in conference semi-finals. *'''2004-05''' Lost to Kitchener Rangers 4 games to 2 in conference quarter-finals. *'''2005-06''' Out of playoffs. *'''2006-07''' Out of playoffs. *'''2007-08''' Out of playoffs. ==Uniforms and logos== The team mascot of the Erie Otters is an [[anthropomorphic]] otter named '''Shooter''', who wears a home jersey. The Otters home uniforms are white background, and the road uniforms are navy blue background. Both have red, yellow & gold trim. The logo is an angry otter with a hockey stick. For the 2005-2006 season (the team's 10th/Diamond Anniversary), the Otters unveiled a third jersey as part of the Make other teams bleed campaign. The jersey has a red background with navy blue, white and gold trim. The third logo has "Erie" in big letters across the chest with "Otters" written beneath it. ==Arena== The Erie Otters play home games at the [[Louis J. Tullio Arena]] located in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania. The arena was built in 1983 and seats 5,500 spectators. The Tullio arena is one of the loudest in the league and works well for home ice advantage. The arena is part of the [[Erie Civic Center Complex]] which includes [[Jerry Uht Park]], a baseball stadium, home to the AA [[Erie SeaWolves]]. *'''[http://www.ohlarenaguide.com/otters.htm Louis J. Tullio Arena]''' The OHL Arena & Travel Guide The team occasionally plays training camp at the [[Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena]] in [[Jamestown, New York]]. ==External links== *[http://www.ottershockey.com www.ottershockey.com] Erie Otters official site *[http://www.erieevents.com/tullio.html www.erieevents.com] Erie Event Centre official site *[http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/ Ontario Hockey League] Official web site *[http://www.chl.ca/ Canadian Hockey League] Official web site {{OHL}} {{Pennsylvania Sports}} [[Category:Sports in Erie, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Ontario Hockey League teams]] [[Category:Ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Sports clubs established in 1996]] [[fr:Otters d'Érié]] [[pl:Erie Otters]]