This week, I’ll break down all 20 OHL clubs division by division and unveil my predictions for the 2012-13 season. Today, let’s look at the Western Conference’s Midwest Division (listed in alphabetical order):

Erie Otters
Coach/GM: Robbie Ftorek/Sherry Bassin
2011-12 finish: 10-52-3-3, 5th division, 10th conference
Playoff finish: Did not qualify
Key players: C Connor McDavid (No. 1 pick in 2012 OHL Priority Selection; 33 goals, 39 assists, 72 points in 33 games with Toronto Marlboros minor midget), G Oscar Dansk (No. 3 pick in 2012 CHL Import Draft; 2.82 goals-against average, .910 save percentage in 28 games with Brynas in Sweden), C Dane Fox (23-31-54), RW Connor Brown (25-28-53; Toronto prospect), LW Stephen Harper (24-11-35)
Key losses: G Ramis Sadikov (6-23-3-2, 4.26, .894)
Outlook: The highly anticipated McDavid era begins in Erie, but this team has other promising players at every position. Now these young Otters have to learn how to win after enduring the worst record in franchise history a season ago.

Guelph Storm
Coach/GM: Scott Walker/Mike Kelly
2011-12 finish: 31-31-2-4, 4th division, 7th conference
Playoff finish: Lost to Plymouth 4-2 in conference quarterfinals
Key players: RW Zack Mitchell (37-38-75), G Garret Sparks (27-25-1-3, 3.11, .907, 5 SO; Toronto prospect), RW Cody McNaughton (25-24-49), RW Scott Kosmachuk (30-29-59; Winnipeg prospect), D Andrey Pedan (10-30-40; N.Y. Islanders prospect)
Key losses: C Francis Menard (24-36-60; traded to Peterborough)
Outlook: The Storm are ready to take the next step in this always competitive conference. They play solid defense, led by Sparks in goal and Pedan on the blue line, and they have skill up front in Kosmachuk, Mitchell and McNaughton.

Kitchener Rangers
Coach/GM: Steve Spott
2011-12 finish: 42-24-1-1, 2nd division, 3rd conference
Playoff finish: Lost to London 4-0 in conference finals
Key players: RW Tobias Rieder (42-43-85; Edmonton prospect), D Ryan Murphy (11-43-54, +14; signed with Carolina), C Radek Faksa (29-37-66; signed with Dallas), LW Matt Puempel (34-35-69; acquired from Peterborough, signed with Ottawa), G John Gibson (21-10-0-0, 2.75, .928, 1 SO; signed with Anaheim)
Key losses: C Michael Catenacci (25-44-69), C Andrew Crescenzi (24-23-37; signed with Toronto)
Outlook: The Rangers are a perennial contender in the conference, and they made sure this season was no different with the acquisition of Puempel from Peterborough. Expect the Rangers to be near, if not at, the top of the West in 2012-13.

London Knights
Coach/GM: Dale Hunter/Mark Hunter
2011-12 finish: 49-18-0-1; 1st division, 1st conference
Playoff finish: Won league championship, lost to Shawinigan (QMJHL) in Memorial Cup final
Key players: RW Seth Griffith (45-40-85, Boston prospect), D Scott Harrington (3-23-26, +26; signed with Pittsburgh), D Olli Maatta (5-27-32, +25; signed with Pittsburgh; C Max Domi (21-28-49), C Ryan Rupert (17-31-48)
Key losses: Michael Houser (46-15-0-1, 2.47, .925, 6 SO; signed with Florida), C Greg McKegg (31-44-75; former Otter, signed with Toronto), C Vladislav Namestnikov (30-39-69; signed with Tampa Bay), RW Jared Knight (25-45-70; signed with Boston), C Austin Watson (25-43-68; signed with Nashville)
Outlook: Dale Hunter returns behind the Knights’ bench after leading the NHL’s Washington Capitals to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. He has work to do if the Knights are to recapture the success they enjoyed in 2011-12.

Owen Sound Attack
Coach/GM: Greg Ireland/Dale DeGray
2011-12 finish: 32-29-304, 3rd division, 6th conference
Playoff finish: Lost to Kitchener 4-1 in conference quarterfinals
Key players: G Jordan Binnington (21-17-0-1, 2.99, .906, 1 SO; signed with St. Louis), C Daniel Catenacci (33-39-72; signed with Buffalo), C Gemel Smith (21-39-60; Dallas prospect), C Cameron Brace (29-27-56), D Keevin Cutting (7-18-25, +20)
Key losses: LW Mike Halmo (40-45-85; signed with N.Y. Islanders), D Jay Gilbert (10-23-33, +8)
Outlook: The Attack lost a 40-goal scorer in Halmo, but they have enough talent from back to front to make a run in the conference. But they need to be more consistent after tailing off late last season and losing in the first round of the playoffs.

- Victor Fernandes

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that a media conference is scheduled for Wednesday at 12 pm at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, to announce the winner of the Red Tilson Trophy presented to the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player of the Year for the 2011-12 season.

The Red Tilson Trophy is the most prestigious individual award presented annually by the league to the Most Outstanding Player in the Ontario Hockey League during the regular season schedule of games as voted by sports writers and broadcasters in the OHL. The award is in honour of Albert “Red” Tilson, who was killed in action in Europe during World War II. Tilson was the OHA scoring champion for the 1942-43 season after scoring 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points in 22 games with the Oshawa Generals. Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires captured the award last season.

2011-12 Red Tilson Trophy Nominees
Barrie Colts – Tanner Pearson
Belleville Bulls – Brendan Gaunce
Brampton Battalion – Sam Carrick
Erie Otters – Adam Pelech
Guelph Storm – Matt Finn
Kingston Frontenacs – Darcy Greenaway
Kitchener Rangers – Tobias Rieder
London Knights – Michael Houser
Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors – Riley Brace
Niagara IceDogs – Mark Visentin
Oshawa Generals – Kevin Bailie
Ottawa 67’s – Tyler Toffoli
Owen Sound Attack – Mike Halmo
Peterborough Petes – Andrew Yogan
Plymouth Whalers – Stefan Noesen
Saginaw Spirit – Brandon Saad
Sarnia Sting – Nail Yakupov
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds – Nick Cousins
Sudbury Wolves – Michael Sgarbossa
Windsor Spitfires – Kerby Rychel

- From OHL news release

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Andrew Agozzino of the Niagara IceDogs is the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy winner awarded to the OHL’s Overage Player of the Year for the 2011-12 season.

Agozzino tied for fifth in league scoring with a career-high 88 points in 67 games scoring 40 goals and 48 assists leading the IceDogs to their first Central Division title and best overall record in team history with a record of 47-18-0-3 for 97 points. Agozzino becomes the second member of the IceDogs’ to win the award following his former teammate Michael Swift who earned it in the club’s first season in Niagara back in 2007-08.

“It’s a great feeling to win this award and it’s something I was looking forward to at the start of my overage year,” said Agozzino. “Having the opportunity to be an overager on the same team I started with is something special and I would like to thank the entire IceDogs organization for the opportunities they have given me.”

A 21-year-old native of Kleinburg, ON, Agozzino played all five of his OHL seasons with the IceDogs after being the franchise’s first ever draft pick selected 15th overall in the 2007 Priority Selection. This season the three-year captain led the IceDogs in both goals and points for the third time in five years finishing his career with a franchise record 159 goals and 147 assists for 306 points in a franchise record 318 regular season games played. In 2010, Agozzino represented the IceDogs at the OHL All-Star Classic in Kingston, ON, where he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Game scoring an All-Star Classic record four goals.

“We couldn’t be more happy or proud of Andrew winning the Overage Player of the Year Award,” said IceDogs owner Bill Burke. “Andrew is everything you could ask for in a leader, hockey player and a person and is extremely deserving of this award. He has meant everything to this organization in our five years here and will be impossible to replace.”

The Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top overage player of the year as selected by OHL General Managers. Teams were not permitted to vote for players from their own hockey club. Players received five points for a first place vote, three points for a second place vote and one point for a third place vote.

Agozzino finished the voting process with 53 points just slightly ahead of Owen Sound Attack forward Mike Halmo who finished with 52 points. Defenceman Beau Schmitz of the Plymouth Whalers finished in third with 28 voting points.

Former winners of the trophy include Bill Bowler (Windsor, 1994-95), and Dan Tessier (Ottawa 99-00), along with current NHL stars Chad LaRose (Plymouth 2002-03), and Ryan Callahan (Guelph, 2005-06). Top scorer Jason Akeson of the Kitchener Rangers captured the award last season.

The Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy was donated by the trainers of the Ontario Hockey League, in memory of the late Leo Lalonde, former Chief Scout of OHL Central Scouting. Leo Lalonde was also formerly the Chief Scout for the Belleville Bulls as well as a scout for the Peterborough Petes.

Agozzino will be formally presented with the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy at the 2011-12 OHL Awards Ceremony scheduled for June 5 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

- From OHL news release

Owen Sound Attack (23-21-3-4) at Erie Otters (7-38-3-1)

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena

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

Up next: at Saginaw (Friday, 7:11 p.m.), at Windsor (Saturday, 7:05 p.m.)

Fast facts: The Otters fell short of their first three-game winning streak of the season in a 3-0 home loss to Saginaw on Saturday. … The Otters have been shut out four times this season. But they scored 14 goals in the two games before the loss to the Spirit. … The Otters, which have allowed an OHL-worst 235 goals, have surrendered three goals or fewer in six of their last 10 games. … The Otters are 29 points out of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot with 18 games left. Any combination of Erie losses and wins by Guelph or Sault Ste. Marie totaling eight points would eliminate the Otters from contention. … RW Connor Brown (18 goals, 35 points in 49 games) ranks second among OHL rookies in goals and third in points. … LW Stephen Harper (16-5-21) is tied for third on the rookie goal-scoring list and among the top 20 in points. … C Dane Fox (20-23-43 in 45 games) has points in seven of 11 games since being acquired from London last month. He has seven goals and 11 points in 11 games overall. … RW Johnny McGuire (hand) and D/RW Tyler McCarthy (ill) rejoined the lineup last weekend after missing eight and six games, respectively. … LW Anthony Cortellessa (sore back muscle) missed both of last weekend’s games. … The Attack are tied with Saginaw for fifth in the West, six points ahead of eighth-place Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie. … They have won four straight against the Otters since a 7-5 loss in the series opener Oct. 7. … LW Mike Halmo (33-33-66 in 51 games) ranks third in the league in goals. He has nearly matched his combined total from the previous three seasons (36 goals in 181 games). … C Gemel Smith (20-25-45) ranks among the top 20 North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm list. … C Jarrod Maidens (12-11-23 in 28 games) hasn’t played since Nov. 30 reportedly because of concussion-like symptoms. He is ranked 21^st among North American skaters.

- Victor Fernandes

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