Erie Otters rookie Connor McDavid has been chosen to play for Team OHL against Team Russia in the first of two games in the Subway Super Series. McDavid, 15, who will play Nov. 8 at Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ontario, is the youngest player to ever play in this 10-year-old event, which helps determine Canada’s roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship this coming winter.
McDavid and Barrie center Zach Hall are replacing Oshawa winger Lucas Lessio and Belleville center Brendan Gaunce, who can’t play because of injuries. McDavid joins teammate Adam Pelech in the event. The veteran defenseman will play in the OHL’s second game Nov. 12 at RBC Centre in Sarnia, Ontario. Team OHL has an 18-0 overall record.

Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast late last week. But the large, powerful storm actually did Sondre Olden a favor.

Olden, the Erie Otters’ top pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, turned 19 Monday. Since Irene cancelled his flight from Oslo, Norway, to New York City this past weekend, the Norwegian-born right wing was able to celebrate his birthday at home with his family.

“But finally I’m here,” Olden said Wednesday after entering Tullio Arena for the first time.

He flew from Oslo to Toronto – with a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany – on Tuesday. He arrived in Toronto at 7 p.m. But he didn’t arrive in Erie until 2 a.m. Wednesday after a two-hour delay at the United States-Canadian border because of visa issues.

The total length of his trip was about 15 hours. But after sleeping in Wednesday morning, “I’m ready to start (playing) on the ice,” Olden said.

Olden and the Toronto Maple Leafs, which selected him (as well as Otters captain Greg McKegg) in the third round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, want Olden to play with the Otters so he will learn the North American game, which is more physical than the European style and also played on smaller ice surfaces. “It was not a hard decision,” Olden said.

Olden is best known for being a playmaker who handles the puck a lot. He had seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points for MoDo in Sweden last season, as well as represented Norway at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo last winter. But he said Leafs officials yelled at him for not shooting the puck enough. “So I have to shoot the puck more now,” he said. “I will try to score some goals this year.”

Olden said he hopes for a long, bright hockey career in North America. “I want to play in North America forever,” he said. “I hope it’s a great start for me to learn to play here. It’s a new start (to) my hockey career. I’m excited. It’s going to be fun.”

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The Erie Otters are back above the .500 mark.

Shawn Szydlowski’s power-play goal with 5:04 left in regulation snapped a tie and handed the Erie Otters a 4-2 win against Niagara in front of 2,712 at Tullio Arena Wednesday night.

With their second straight win, the Otters improved to 19-18-1-1 on the season and moved from eighth into a tie for fifth with Plymouth in the Western Conference standings.

They were bolstered by the return of rookie defenseman Adam Pelech, who played a night after joining teammate Chris Marchese on Ontario’s gold medal-winning team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Marchese was scratched from the lineup.

Pelech helped the Otters stymie the IceDogs (23-10-2-2) during a four-minute power play in the opening minutes of the first period. Less than two minutes after that man advantage expired, Otters captain Greg McKegg turned defenseman David Shields’ seemingly innocent dump-in with the game’s opening goal.

An IceDogs defender stopped the dump-in attempt. But McKegg grabbed the loose puck and flipped a backhand past goaltender Dalton McGrath at the 7:32 mark. McGrath replaced regular No. 1 Mark Visentin, who started in goal for his native Canada against Russia in the IIHF World Junior Championship’s gold-medal game in Buffalo Wednesday night.

The Otters outshot Niagara 11-6 in the second period. But the IceDogs managed the only goal, as Freddie Hamilton redirected the puck past goaltender Ramis Sadikov with 1:42 left in the period.

The Otters appeared to snap that tie on McKegg’s deflection early in the third. But the officials ruled no goal because McKegg played the puck with a high stick. The ruling was upheld by the video replay judge.

But McKegg wasted little time in scoring again. He turned defenseman Brett Cook’s cross-ice pass into his 27^th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead 6:39 into the period. Yet IceDogs center Ryan Strome, who joins McKegg among the OHL’s top five scorers, slipped past the Otters’ defense and then slipped a shot past Sadikov to tie the score at 2 at the 8:39 mark.

But Szydlowski snapped the tie in the closing minutes.

The Otters recorded a season-low in shots allowed (22). … Szydlowski also had an assist. … Derek Holden and Niagara’s Darren Archibald had two assists apiece. … The Otters presented a check for $1,312 to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Erie County in a pregame ceremony. The funds were raised at the inaugural Guns & Hoses Charity Hockey Game at Tullio Dec. 18.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Otters 4, IceDogs 2

Niagara  0  1  1  —  2

Erie  1  0  2  —  4

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Greg McKegg 26 (Shields), 7:32. Penalties — Luciani (E) 4-min. checking from behind, 1:32; Pelech (E) tripping, 11:40.

2^nd Period — 2. Niagara, Freddie Hamilton 16 (Archibald, Strome), 18:18. Penalties — MacEachern (N) hooking, 6:43; McKegg (E) tripping, 10:15; Archibald (N) checking to the head, 19:17.

3^rd Period — 3. Erie, McKegg 27 (Cook, Szydlowski), 6:39. 4. Niagara, Ryan Strome 23 (Archibald), 8:39. 4. Erie, Shawn Szydlowski 19 (McKegg, Holden), 14:56 (pp). 5. Erie, David Broll 7 (Holden, Shields), 17:58. Penalties — Mercer (N) holding, 14:50.

Shots on goal — Niagara, 9-6-7—22; Erie, 10-11-14—35.

Goaltenders — Niagara, Dalton McGrath 5-2-0-0 (35 shots, 31 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 19-14-1-1 (22 shots, 20 saves).

Power plays — Niagara (0-4), Erie (1-3).

Referees — Seth Ferguson, Mike Cairns. Linesmen — Fraser McIntire, Ray King.

Attendance — 2,712.

Three stars

* Greg McKegg, Otters (2 goals) ** Shawn Szydlowski, Otters (goal, assist) *** Brett Cook, Otters (assist)

Check out this blog written by Erie native Keith Kaval, a referee at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo.

Check out this NHL.com story on Team USA forward Chris Brown, who has family ties to Millcreek Township.