What: Erie Otters (15-14-1-1) at Owen Sound Attack (19-9-0-2)

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre – Owen Sound, Ontario

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (21 goals, 25 assists, 46 points), RW Shawn Szydlowski (17-13-30), RW Anthony Luciani (11-16-27), G Ramis Sadikov (15-10-1-1 record, 2.75 goals-against average, .916 save percentage, 2 shutouts), C Phil Varone (11-11-22)

Owen Sound – LW Andrew Fritsch (14-15-29), RW Bobby Mignardi (10-14-24), RW Liam Heelis (7-17-24), D Geoffrey Schemitsch (1-11-12, plus-12), G Jordan Binnington (9-6-0-2, 3.01, .889, 1 SO)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters have won three straight and five of their last six games to move one game above .500 on the road (8-7-0-1). … They have four hat tricks in the last six games (Szydlowski 2, McKegg, Varone). … Szydlowski has three of his four career hat tricks in the past nine games. His goal total ranks among the OHL’s top 25. … Varone has an eight-game point streak (seven goals, 15 points), the second-longest streak of his career. He had points in 11 consecutive games with London from Jan. 13-Feb. 8, 2008. … McKegg has points in the past six games (seven goals, 15 points). He has moved into a tie for fifth in the OHL scoring race. … Sadikov has made 21 straight starts, three shy of equaling Josh Disher’s record of 23 set from Sept. 28-Nov. 27, 2003. … … Luciani has points in three straight games and nine of his past 10 games (seven goals, 20 points). He has eight goals and 22 points in 12 games since returning from a broken wrist. … The Otters stand second in the league on the power play (22.9 percent).

Owen Sound – The Attack are expected to play without LW Garrett Wilson (25-19-44, 11 power-play goals), C Joey Hishon (17-25-42) and D Jesse Blacker (7-20-27, plus-9) because they head to Toronto today for Canada’s National Junior Team selection camp, according to the team’s website. … The Attack also have three injured players – G Scott Stajcer, D Curtis Crombeen and 2010 first-round pick Jarrod Maidens – and suspended Fs Mike Halmo and Cameron Brace out of the lineup, the team announced. … The Attack have lost six of their past 10 games to fall into a tie with Kitchener for the Midwest lead.

Up next: at Guelph (Sunday, 2 p.m.), vs. Brampton (Friday, 7 p.m.)

– Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters’ second winning streak of the season will have to wait a little longer.

Owen Sound scored twice early in the third period to hand the Otters a 3-2 loss at Tullio Arena on Saturday night and salvage a split of the two-game series in Erie. The Otters won 4-0 on Friday night.

“We didn’t get the job done,” Otters coach Robbie Ftorek said. “It’s unfortunate.”

The game immediately turned into a battle between Otters goaltender Ramis Sadikov and Owen Sound backup Jordan Binnington. Both teams had several quality scoring opportunities in the first period. But Sadikov made 11 saves and Binnington stopped 10 to maintain a scoreless tie.

Both made several key saves in the opening half of the second period. But the Attack enjoyed the first fortunate bounce of the period to take a 1-0 lead at the 11:53 mark.

Sadikov stopped defenseman Keevin Cutting’s shot from the left wing. But the puck caromed off Attack winger Andrew Fritsch’s body in front and into the net for the goal. Meanwhile, the Otters had shots from Tyler Hostetter and rookie Chris Marchese bounce off posts. Yet less than two minutes after Fritsch’s goal, Otters center Mike Cazzola scored during a delayed penalty to tie the score at 1.

Hostetter and rookie winger Macaulay McDonnell assisted on Cazzola’s ninth goal of the season, which momentarily tied linemate Greg McKegg for the team lead. But Cazzola and Hostetter assisted on McKegg’s 10^th goal of the season 2:05 later, which handed the Otters a 2-1 lead. Sadikov stopped 15-of-16 shots in the period to carry that one-goal advantage into the third.

The Attack tied the score at 2 on Joey Hishon’s ninth goal of the season, off assists from Fritsch and Garrett Wilson, three minutes into the third. Then 5:30 into the period, Wilson scored his Ontario Hockey League-leading 18^th goal of the season to hand the Attack their first lead of the game at 5-3.

The Otters failed on a 5-on-3 for a full minute midway through the period. Hostetter seemed to score the tying goal with 8:30 left, as his shot from the point appeared to hit the back post inside the upper portion of the net and bounce out. But the referee disallowed the goal. The video replay judge upheld the ruling.

The Otters finished with only three shots on goal in the period and 24 for the game. Owen Sound had 35 shots. Fritsch led the Attack with a goal and two assists. Wilson added two points. Hostetter and Cazzola had two points apiece for the Otters while Sadikov made 32 saves.

* News and notes: The Otters lost veteran winger Shawn Szydlowski to an undisclosed injury while skating through a rut during pregame warm-up. The Otters already were without right wing Anthony Luciani (broken right wrist). … Defenseman Brady Austin, who has replaced the departed Mitch Gaulton in the rotation, left the game in the first period with an apparent injury.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Attack 3, Otters 2

Owen Sound  0  1  2  —  3

Erie  0  2  0  —  2

1^st Period — None. Penalties — Appio (E) 5-min. fighting, 8:31; Heelis (O) 5-min. fighting, 8:31; Varone (E) slashing, 16:52; Wilson (O) roughing, 16:52; Shaw (O) roughing, 18:30. Missed penalty shot — Cazzola (E) 17:13.

2^nd Period — 1. Owen Sound, Andrew Fritsch 4 (Cutting), 11:53. 2. Erie, Mike Cazzola 9 (Hostetter, McDonnell), 13:02. 3. Erie, Greg McKegg 10 (Cazzola, Hostetter), 15:07. Penalties — Shields (E) tripping, 8:02; Blacker (O) tripping, 8:48; Zweep (O) interference, 15:53.

3^rd Period — 4. Owen Sound, Joey Hishon 9 (Fritsch, Wilson), 3:00. 5. Owen Sound, Garrett Wilson 18 (Blacker, Fritsch), 5:30. Penalties — Heelis (O) checking to the head, :13; Shaw (O) high sticking, 6:38; Heelis (O) tripping, 7:38.

Shots on goal — Owen Sound, 11-16-8—35; Erie, 10-11-3—24.

Goaltenders — Owen Sound, Jordan Binnington 3-2-0-1 (24 shots, 22 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 5-9-1-0 (35 shots, 32 saves).

Power plays — Owen Sound (0-1), Erie (0-6).

Referees — Darcy Burchell, Chris Carnegie. Linesmen — Matthew Traub, Darryl Wolfe.

Attendance — 3,807.

Three stars

* Andrew Fritsch, Attack (goal, 2 assists) ** Mike Cazzola, Otters (goal, assist) *** David Shields, Otters (good defense)

What: Owen Sound Attack (11-3-0-1) at Erie Otters (4-11-1-0)

When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (9 goals, 15 assists, 24 points), C Mike Cazzola (8-13-21), RW Shawn Szydlowski (7-7-14), D Tyler Hostetter (3-8-11), C Phil Varone (1-2-3 in 7 games)

Owen Sound – LW Garrett Wilson (17-10-27, 9 power-play goals), C Joey Hishon (10-6-16), RW Liam Heelis (6-10-16), C Andrew Shaw (3-12-15), D Geoffrey Schemitsch (1-10-11, plus-10)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters have lost two straight and nine of their last 10 games. … They complete a five-game home stand with a doubleheader against the Attack, which lead the Midwest Division and are second in the Western Conference. The Otters are 1-2 during this home stand and 2-5 at home overall. … The Otters have lost nine games by two goals or fewer this season. … Varone, acquired from London last week, was scoreless the last two games after contributing two assists in his debut Oct. 27 against Plymouth. … RW Anthony Luciani had the cast removed from his broken right wrist on Tuesday. He also has participated in full-contact workouts the past three days. But he remains a game-time decision. … Rookie F Connor Crisp (concussion) made his OHL debut on Saturday against Oshawa. … D Brady Austin returns to defense tonight. He was expected to begin the season on defense after spending time at forward as a rookie last season. But he began this season at forward. … McKegg, one of the league’s top 10 scorers, has only two goals in his past eight games. But he has eight points in that same stretch. … Szydlowski has one point in the last three games. … The Otters’ once top-ranked power play has slipped to sixth (21.3 percent). … The penalty kill ranks 17^th overall (77.5 percent).

Owen Sound – The Attack are ranked eighth in the CHL’s top 10 after posting losing records the past three seasons. … They lead the league with 73 goals and are third with 47 goals against. … They also rank third on the power play (22.3 percent). … Wilson tops the goal-scoring list after totaling 36 last season. He is tied with Sarnia rookie RW Nail Yakupov for the points lead and leads in power-play goals. … Hishon is tied for ninth in goals. … The teams split the six-game series last season.

Up next: at Mississauga St. Michael’s (Sunday, 2 p.m.), vs. Guelph (Wednesday, 7 p.m.)

Toronto – The Canadian Hockey League in association with the Ontario Hockey League, London Knights and Sudbury Wolves announced on Thursday the rosters for Team OHL that will compete against Team Russia in the 2010 SUBWAY® Super Series.

Following two games hosted in the QMJHL, the OHL leg of the six-game series begins in London on Nov. 11 at the John Labatt Centre before moving north to the Sudbury Community Arena on Nov. 15.  Erie Otters captain Greg McKegg will play in the Nov. 15 game.

The series then shifts west for two games hosted in the WHL.

“The SUBWAY® Super Series provides these players with a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate that they can compete amongst the best players eligible for the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship,” said Dave Cameron of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, who will serve as head voach of both Team OHL and Team Canada.  “The OHL has had a lot of success against the Russians in this event and I am confident that we have assembled another strong group of players in all positions that will make us competitive in these games, and with players who will make a strong push to represent the OHL on Team Canada in Buffalo this December.”

A total of 36 players in total were selected for Team OHL rosters, including 2010 Team Canada members Calvin de Haan of the Oshawa Generals and Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires who won silver last year at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

The rosters are also highlighted by three first round picks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, including Erik Gudbranson of the Kingston Frontenacs, Joey Hishon of the Owen Sound Attack and Mark Visentin of the Niagara IceDogs.

In addition to de Haan and Ellis, 2009 first-round picks Peter Holland of the Guelph Storm and Zack Kassian of the Spitfires will compete in the series.  London’s Scott Harrington is one of seven players competing that are eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  He will represent the host Knights in London alongside forward Michael MacDonald, while Wolves forwards Marcus Foligno and John McFarland will represent the host team in Sudbury.

The Team OHL rosters were assembled by a selection committee that includes Brampton Battalion general manager and coach Stan Butler and London general manager Mark Hunter.  They worked in conjunction with Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast.

Read the rest of this entry »

OHL players to watch

(listed in alphabetical order; stats from 2009-10 season)

RW Taylor Beck, Guelph – 39 goals, 93 points (61 games)

C Alexander Burmistrov, Barrie – 22 goals, 65 points (62 games)

D Ryan Ellis, Windsor – 12 goals, 61 points (48 games)

D Cam Fowler, Windsor – 8 goals, 55 points (55 games)

D Erik Gudbranson, Kingston – 23 points, +11 rating (41 games)

C Joey Hishon, Owen Sound – 16 goals, 40 points (36 games)

C Peter Holland, Guelph – 30 goals, 80 points (59 games)

C Cody Lindsay, Ottawa – 39 goals, 82 points (68 games)

C Greg McKegg, Erie – 37 goals, 85 points (67 games)

LW Jeremy Morin, Kitchener – 47 goals, 83 points (58 games)*

LW Matt Puempel, Peterborough – 33 goals, 64 points (59 games)

C Tyler Seguin, Plymouth – 48 goals, 106 points (63 games)

C Jeff Skinner, Kitchener – 50 goals, 90 points (64 games)

RW Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa – 37 goals, 79 points (65 games)

G Mark Visentin, Niagara – 24-26-0-5 record, 2.99 goals-against average, .911 save percentage, 7 shutouts

* Eligible to play with Rockford IceHogs, Chicago Blackhawks‘ AHL affiliate, this season

- Victor Fernandes