The Erie Otters will hold a “Welcome to Erie” reception for 2013 1st-round pick Dylan Strome Thursday night at Erie Insurance Arena. Sherry Bassin, managing partner and general manager, said he has agreed to terms with Strome and 2nd-round pick Jesse Saban. Bassin said Strome should sign in time for this weekend’s rookie development camp at Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Yet Strome won’t be the only guests of honor. Apparently, new members of Kris Knoblauch‘s coaching staff will be introduced at the gathering. No word yet on who they are …
In other news, Bassin continues to rave about D Travis Dermott, a 9th-round pick in 2012, who was the the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s rookie of the year with Newmarket.
Meanwhile, veteran forwards Jake Evans (knee) and Connor Crisp (muscle pull in side) are close to 100 percent healthy, while Joel Wigle continues to recover from sore shoulders that bothered him late in the season.
Defense prospect Riley Robertson (3rd round in 2012) will attend the camp but won’t skate because he’s recovering from a shoulder injury that nagged him all season.
“He’s pretty well 100 percent healthy,” Bassin said of Robertson. “We’re just being cautious. This isn’t a time to get somebody reinjured.”

- Victor Fernandes

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario – As expected, the Erie Otters are a work in progress.
Highly touted No. 1 pick Connor McDavid will fill the stat sheet in the 2012-13 season. New goaltender Oscar Dansk will make enough key saves in net. And the Otters will produce more consistent efforts. But a defeat on opening night still hurts.
“Losing is something that doesn’t sit well for me,” said McDavid, who had opportunities for several assists but settled for a scoreless outing in his OHL debut – a 4-2 loss to Niagara in front of 3,145 at Gatorade Garden City Complex Thursday night.
Dansk produced a respectable effort – 26 saves on 30 shots – in his first OHL game.
Dansk and the Otters withstood an early offensive flurry from the IceDogs (1-0-0-0). But after former Otters goaltender Chris Festarini fired the puck over the boards for a delay of game penalty, the Otters capitalized on a two-man advantage to take a 1-0 lead 8:02 into the first period. Connor Crisp, who missed nearly all of the 2011-12 season following shoulder surgery, scored off a deflection in front for his first goal since March 17, 2011.
Dansk wasn’t able to stop Steven Shipley‘s shot in close, which tied the score at 1 on the power play with 6:03 left in the period. But the Otters regained the lead at 2-1 just 1:06 later, as Nick Betz pushed a rebound past Festarini. The IceDogs recorded the first nine shots, including rookie David Sysala‘s first career goal off 6:44 into the period that tied the score at 2.
Anthony DiFruscia‘s first OHL goal handed the IceDogs their first lead at 3-2 at the 4:34 mark. Then Joel Wigle‘s bad-angle shot slipped between Dansk and the right post for a 4-2 IceDogs lead with 9:32 left.

- Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters couldn’t snap their long losing streak, even with Brad Boyes in attendance.

The Niagara IceDogs erased a two-goal deficit with a four-goal barrage in the second period to hand the Otters their seventh straight loss, 6-4, in front of 3,076 at Tullio Arena on Wednesday night.

Andrew Agozzino, Joel Wigle, Freddie Hamilton and Ryan Strome scored in the decisive period for the IceDogs (6-6-0-1), which turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

Dougie Hamilton led the IceDogs with a goal and two assists. Agozzino had two goals while Freddie Hamilton and Strome had two points apiece.

A surprise visit from Boyes, the Buffalo Sabres forward and most revered player in Otters’ franchise history, seemed to inspire the home team. The Otters overcame Agozzino’s goal 1:15 into the game by scoring three straight goals, starting with Brett Cook’s tying goal at the 4:04 mark of the period.

Cook turned assists from Greg McKegg and Brett Thompson into his second goal of the season. Then the Otters scored twice in less than three minutes late in the period to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.

Rookie winger Sondre Olden scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season, this one on the power play, on assists from Connor Brown and Kris Grant to snap the 1-1 tie with 5:31 left in the first. Then first-round pick Stephen Harper scored his second goal on an assist from Brown with 2:14 left in the period.

But things fell apart for the Otters in the second, as the IceDogs scored four goals to take a 5-3 lead.

Agozzino scored his second goal of the night, this time with the man advantage, at the 6:42 mark. Then the IceDogs capitalized on sloppy play from the Otters’ power play to take a two-goal lead.

Freddie Hamilton scored short-handed on an assist from David Pacan with 6:33 left in the period. Then a mix-up in front of Otters goaltender Tyson Teichmann led to Strome’s short-handed goal 10 seconds later. Erie rebounded early in the third with a short-handed goal, as Thompson and McKegg teamed to pull the Otters within 5-4 at the 2:45 mark while the IceDogs were on a 5-minute power play. But the IceDogs responded on the same power play, with Dougie Hamilton scoring 57 seconds later.

- Victor Fernandes