Veteran D Spencer Abraham figures Dane Fox and Jimmy McDowell are locks for two of the Erie Otters’ three overager spots for the 2013-14 OHL season. The departure of D Jack Kuzmyk, who recently informed club officials he has chosen to enroll in school instead of trying to play his final season in major juniors, leaves as Abraham as the only other OA on the current roster.
Yet Abraham doesn’t think he’s a sure thing right now. “I’m going to have to earn my spot,” he said. OAs need to be among the best players on the team. So where doe Abraham feel he fits in?
“I can be a depth guy,” he said, who can serve as a mentor to younger Ds like returnees Justin Felker and Darren Raddysh, soon-to-be signed 2013 second-round pick Jesse Saban and highly-touted 2012 pick Travis Dermott.
“They’re young guys coming into the league,” said Abraham, who heads into his fourth year in the OHL. “It’s a tough league. I can show them the way they need to work and the way they need to act.”
* Taking the next step: Defense prospect Patrick Murphy needed to get thinner, faster and stronger to have a chance to play for the Otters next season. He’s spending the offseason doing just that.
A more streamlined version of the Otters’ fifth-round pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection looked impressive during the club’s rookie development camp this weekend at Mercyhurst Ice Center.
“I wasn’t fast enough and too soft in the corners. That’s where I needed to step up to stick around,” said Murphy, who spent brief stints with the club the past two seasons.
* Hitting his mark: First-round pick Dylan Strome tossed a strike Friday night at Jerry Uht Park, when he threw the ceremonial first pitch before the Erie SeaWolves game. Strome wishes he was more accurate with his shots in Saturday’s scrimmages at MIC. He scored in the first scrimmage featuring mainly players with 1996 and 1997 birth years.
Yet he was stopped on a few quality chances in the second scrimmage.
Yet on the plus side, he quickly learned how much of a jump he will face from minor midgets to the OHL. Besides being a faster game, he said, “you’ve got to brace yourself for every hit.”
* A weekend off: C Connor McDavid enjoyed a leisurely weekend at MIC. He didn’t skate because he’s only a week removed from winning a gold medal at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Sochi, Russia. Besides, he’s still savoring the memorable experience, and not because he led all players in the tournament with eight goals and 14 points.
He enjoyed playing some of the best players in the world in that age group. McDavid also appreciated what he saw on the ice at MIC this weekend.
“It looks good out there,” he said. “I’m looking forward to training camp.”
* Getting offensive: C Kyle Pettit developed into a reliable defensive forward for the Otters last season as a 16-year-old rookie. Yet he focused on his offensive game this offseason. He has worked strictly on offense four days a week.
“It’s nice to get an offensive approach to my game,” he said.

Trent Fox has played hockey with his older brother, Dane, countless times in his life. But those times were in their driveway back home in Thamesville, Ontario. This weekend is different. This time, they’re both members of the Erie Otters organization.
“It’s exciting,” said Trent Fox, 16, the club’s fifth-round pick in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection who had 15 goals and 28 points in 27 minor midget games with London Knights Gold this season. “It will be a dream come true (if he earns a roster spot with the Otters. “I just have to do the hard work and do the little things to make it. That’s what I’ll do.”
Dane Fox, 19, who enters his overage season with the Otters, has served as his younger brother’s mentor heading into his first experience at the OHL level. “He’s been asking questions. I’ve just been calming him down and telling him what to expect and what to do and what not to do. He’s listening and asking questions. So I know that he’s ready to come out here and play.
Trent Fox didn’t last long in his first on-ice practice Friday during rookie development camp at Mercyhurst Ice Center. He left the ice early because of an ongoing battle with strep throat.
* News and notes: First-round pick Dylan Strome has officially signed with the Otters. … Strome will wear No. 19 as a rookie next season. Defenseman Artem Kuleshov wore that number as a rookie this season. But he isn’t expected to rejoin the club next season. Goaltender Oscar Dansk occupies one of two spots designated for European-born players. The Otters also hold the No. 5 overall pick in the CHL Import Draft this summer. … Defenseman Justin Felker was cleared to resume skating last week after being off the ice for four months because of a compression fracture in his neck that was originally feared to be career-threatening. … Center Jake Evans (knee) should be cleared to skate in the next two weeks.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters D Adam Pelech underwent surgery Tuesday to remove pins from his surgically repaired wrist, managing partner/GM Sherry Bassin confirmed today.
Bassin said Pelech will be ready for training camp in late August. He also will be able to train at some point this summer. “It’s just a question of healing,” Bassin said.
Pelech has undergone three surgeries on that wrist since fracturing it early in the 2011-12 OHL season – the first to repair the break in the fall of 2011, the second in May 2012 to remove a screw inserted during the first procedure.
In other news, Bassin said the roster for this weekend’s rookie development camp at Mercyhurst Ice Center will be finalized today. He expects 25-28 players with 1996 and 1997 birth years to participate in the camp. Yet Bassin remained tight-lipped on who he has hired to join coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff. The staff will be unveiled Thursday night during a welcome reception for first-round pick Dylan Strome at Erie Insurance Arena.
Bassin previously has said he could hire two full-time assistants and a part-time goaltending coach.

- Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters will hold a rookie development camp May 3-5 at Mercyhurst Ice Center. The sessions are free and open to the public. The camp roster hasn’t been finalized yet.

Friday, May 3
10-11:20am – Practice (Team Red)
11:30am-1pm – Practice (Team Gold)

Saturday, May 4
11:30am-1pm – Scrimmage (Red vs. Gold; 1996 & 1997-born players only)
1:10-2:30pm – Practice (1993, 1994 and 1995-born players only)
3:30-5pm – Scrimmage (Red vs. Gold; 1996 and 1997-born players only)
5:10-6:30pm – Practice (1993, 1994 and 1995-born players only)
Note: The team will hold dry-land testing May 3 from 2:30-4:30pm at Mercyhurst Athletic Center and Sunday, May 5 from 9-10:30am at Presque Isle Park (if there’s good weather) and MAC (if there’s inclement weather).

No. 6 Mercyhurst (18-16-5) vs. No. 4 Connecticut (19-13-4)
When: Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Where: Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, N.Y.
On the air: www.americaonesports.com (live stream), WMCE-FM/88.5 & wmce.mercyhurst.edu (radio), www.atlantichockeyonline.com (live scores)
Up next: Championship game (Saturday, 7:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena)*
What to expect: Mercyhurst has reached the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinals for the second straight season. The Lakers lost to eventual champion Air Force 5-2 in this round a season ago. … The Lakers rebounded from an eight-game winless streak with a sweep of 11th-seeded Army at Mercyhurst Ice Center two weeks ago and a series win at No. 3 Holy Cross last weekend. … Mercyhurst hasn’t reached the title game since consecutive trips in 2008 and 2009 (lost to Air Force both times). … The Lakers haven’t won an AHA championship since beating Quinnipiac 3-2 in the 2005 title game. They also beat Quinnipiac 6-5 to capture the 2001 title, when the league was known as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. … Mercyhurst and UConn split their two-game, regular-season series in Storrs, Conn., with the Lakers losing 5-4 Jan. 18 and winning 5-0 the following night. … The Lakers lead the all-time series 32-13-3. Yet they have lost three straight and four of six games against the Huskies in the postseason, including a UConn sweep in the 2011 AHA quarterfinals. … With top-seeded and 15th-ranked Niagara (23-8-5) facing seventh-seeded Canisius (17-18-5) in the other semifinal, the conference will have a champion from a school other than Air Force and Rochester Institute of Technology for the first time since Holy Cross in 2006. Air Force, which lost to Canisius in the quarterfinals, had won five of the last six titles (2007-09, 2011-12). RIT, which lost to Niagara in the quarterfinals, won in 2010 on the way to the first NCAA Division I Frozen Four appearance for the Tigers and the AHA. … Senior F Grant Blakey has five goals and seven points in the Lakers’ five playoff games. … UConn senior G Matt Grogan has a 14-3-3 record, 1.88 goals-against average and .939 save percentage since taking over as starter midway through the season. He was the Huskies’ only player to earn all-conference honors (third team). Mercyhurst features three all-stars – junior D Nick Jones (first team), sophomore F Ryan Misiak (second) and sophomore F Matthew Zay (third). … Niagara has never reached the title game. Canisius hasn’t reached the final since 1999 (lost 4-3 to Holy Cross). … Niagara junior G Carson Chubak leads the nation with six shutouts and ranks among the top five in winning percentage (.773), goals-against average (1.81) and save percentage (.941). He’s one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which honors the nation’s top men’s hockey player. … Freshman F Ralph Cuddemi, a former Erie Otters draft pick, has two goals and seven points in 34 games for Canisius.
* If the Lakers win tonight

- Victor Fernandes

Atlantic Hockey Association final four schedule
at Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, N.Y.
Semifinals – Friday
No. 1 Niagara (23-8-5) vs. No. 7 Canisius (17-18-5), 4:05 p.m.
No. 4 Connecticut (19-13-4) vs. No. 6 Mercyhurst (18-16-5), 7:05 p.m.
Championship game – Saturday
Semifinal winners, 7:05 p.m.
Note: Champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament.

AHA TOURNAMENT – QUARTERFINALS
No. 6 Mercyhurst (16-15-5) at No. 3 Holy Cross (19-12-3)
When: Today and Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m.*
Where: Hart Center – Worcester, Mass.
On the air: www.americaonesports.com (live stream), WMCE-FM/88.5 & wmce.mercyhurst.edu (radio), www.goholycross.com (live statistics)
What to expect: Mercyhurst earned a spot in the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals with a two-game sweep of 11th-seeded Army in the first round last weekend. … With those wins, the Lakers snapped an eight-game winless streak (0-5-3) and swept a series for the first time since winning two games at Sacred Heart Nov. 2-3. … They also won consecutive games for the first time since 8-1 victories against Army and Robert Morris Feb. 2-5. … The Lakers and Crusaders meet in the quarterfinals for the second straight season. Mercyhurst won in three games at Mercyhurst Ice Center to advance to the AHA’s final four in Rochester, N.Y., a season ago Fifth-year senior G Max Strang stopped 111-of-115 shots in that series. … The Lakers split two games with the Crusaders at MIC in the regular season, losing 2-1 Jan. 11 and winning 4-2 the following night, but lead the all-time series 27-12-5. … The Lakers are 15-5-1 all-time at Hart Center. … They have a 3-1 record against Holy Cross in AHA tournament play and a 4-1 overall playoff mark dating back to a 2000 meeting in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (which became the AHA in 2003). … Rick Gotkin became the 26th college coach to reach 450 career wins last weekend. … Junior Fs Daniel O’Donoghue and Kyle Just and sophomore F Zac Frischmon combined for four goals and 11 points last weekend. They were teamed on a line for the first time this season in those games. … Holy Cross earned a first-round bye with a third-place finish in the regular-season standings. … The Crusaders enter this series with a five-game unbeaten streak. … They need one win to record consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in program history. … They have their best record through 34 games since posting a 23-9-2 mark in the 2005-06 season.
* Sunday’s game if necessary

Atlantic Hockey Association tournament schedule
Quarterfinals (best-of-3 series)
Friday-Sunday*
No. 6 Mercyhurst (16-15-5) at No. 3 Holy Cross (19-12-3), 7 p.m.*
No. 8 Rochester Institute of Technology (15-16-5) at No. 1 Niagara (21-8-5), 7:05 p.m.
No. 5 Robert Morris (20-12-4) at No. 4 Connecticut (17-13-4), 7:05 p.m.
No. 7 Canisius (15-18-5) at No. 2 Air Force (17-11-7), 9:05 p.m.
* Game 3 on Sunday (if necessary) would begin at 5 p.m.
Semifinals – March 22
at Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, N.Y.
Quarterfinal winners, TBA
Championship game – March 23
at Blue Cross Arena – Rochester, N.Y.
Semifinal winners, TBA
Note: Champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament.

- Victor Fernandes

Lakeshore Hockey League
First round – Today
at Erie Insurance Arena
No. 4 Southwestern/Maple Grove 5, No. 5 Jamestown 2
Semifinals – Thursday
at Erie Insurance Arena
No. 2 Fairview vs. No. 3 Fort LeBoeuf, 6:30 p.m.
No. 1 Meadville vs. Southwestern/Maple Grove, 8:15 p.m.
Championship game – March 14
at Mercyhurst Ice Center
Semifinal winners, 8:30 p.m.

Five players headline the Mercyhurst University men’s hockey team’s recruiting class for the 2012-13 season.
Rick Gotkin, who enters his 25th season as coach, has brought in three defensemen – Anthony Mastrodicasa from Woodbridge, Ontario, Mychal Monteith (Toledo, Ohio) and Justin Stevens (Brantford, Ontario). Mastrodicasa (6-foot 1-inch, 195 pounds), a two-time captain with the Vaughan Vipers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, had 25 goals and 85 points in 69 games the past two seasons.
Monteith (5-9, 180) led the Texas Tornado to the North American Hockey League’s Robertson Cup finals this past season. Stevens (5-11, 205) had four goals and 24 points in 43 games with the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Central Canadian Hockey League in 2011-12.
Gotkin also added forward Kyle Cook (6-4, 215) from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, and Moon Township native Alec Shields (5-9, 180). Cook finished sixth in the NAHL this past season with 70 points (31 goals, 39 assists) in 59 games for the Springfield Jr. Blues. Shields had five points in eight games for the NAHL’s Traverse City North Stars before a torn tendon in his hand ended his season. Cook, whose expected to be ready for the start of the 2012-13 season, had 21 goals and 51 points in 50 games with Traverse City two seasons ago.
Mercyhurst begins the season Oct. 6 with a 7:05 p.m. exhibition game against Wilfrid Laurier, from Waterloo, Ontario, at Mercyhurst Ice Center. The regular season opens Oct. 13 with an Atlantic Hockey Association game at Niagara.

The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team has gained from the loss of a College Hockey America rival for the second straight year.
The Lakers have added senior forwards Jenna Hendrikx and Kelsey Welch and junior forward Kaleigh Chippy from Niagara, which folded its program in March in the wake of the athletic department’s restructuring plan. The trio ranked among the Purple Eagles’ top four scorers this past season with a combined 23 goals and 54 points. Last summer, the Lakers added graduating senior defenseman Jill Szandzik and rising senior forward Gina Buquet from Wayne State, which folded its program after the 2010-11 season.
The newest transfers headline Lakers coach Michael Sisti‘s 12-player recruiting class for the 2012-13 season. They are joined by nine freshmen – forwards Jaclyn Arbour, Hannah Bale, Jenna Dingeldein, Kathy Donohue, Emily Janiga, and Maggie Rothgery; defensemen Lauren Kilroy and J’nai Mahadeo; and goaltender Julia DiTondo.
DiTondo, a native of Kenmore, N.Y., who played for the Nichols School and the Buffalo Bisons’ Tier I program, will compete with senior Stephanie Ciampa and sophomore Amanda Makela for the chance to replace Hillary Pattenden, a four-year starter in goal.
Mahadeo, a native of Airdrie, Alberta, played for the prestigious Edge School in Calgary, Alberta. Kilroy joins the Lakers from the North American Hockey Academy in Stowe, Vt., by way of her hometown of Cypress, Calif.
Sisti recruited two forwards apiece from western New York – Donohue (Rochester) and Janiga (East Aurora) – and Ontario – Bale (Oakville) and Dingeldein (Toronto). Donohue joined Kilroy at the North American Hockey Academy, while Janiga played with DiTondo at Nichols.
Arbour, a native of South Seatauket, N.Y., played for the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, N.Y. Her grandfather, Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour, led the NHL’s New York Islanders to four straight Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83.
Rothgery, a native of Elyria, Ohio, played for the Ohio Flames Under-19 team. The Lakers’ season begins Sept. 22 with an exhibition game against the Stoney Creek (Ontario) Sabres at Mercyhurst Ice Center.

No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid headlines a group of 26 rookies and prospects invited to the Erie Otters’ rookie camp Friday and Saturday at Mercyhurst. Players report Friday morning before starting off-ice workouts on the soccer field at 10 a.m. They head to Mercyhurst Ice Center at 2 p.m. for a two-hour practice and a scrimmage On Saturday, they will have on-ice sessions from 9-11 a.m. and 2:45-4:45 p.m.

The players invited are as follows:
2012 draft picks
Gregory Allen
Daniel Dekoning
Travis Dermott
Justin Felker
Hayden Hodgson
Jake Ireland
Nathan Kohler
Dylan Larkin
Thomas Lattavo
Quentin Maksimovich
Connor McDavid
Kyle Pettit
Darren Raddysh
Riley Robertson
Bryan Sienerth (Millcreek Township native)

2011 draft picks
Sean Darroch
Jordan Dunin
Blake Jones
Justin Maiolino
Nate Miller (Millcreek Township native)
Patrick Murphy
Sean Power
Troy Saunders
Jordan Schneider

2010 draft picks
Brent Hambly
Eric Kimmerly