Add another major publication – Sports Illustrated – to the always growing list of media outlets throughout North America that have done feature stories on hockey phenom Connor McDavid since he joined the Erie Otters as a 15-year-old at the start of the 2013-14 OHL season.
Sports Illustrated has a four-page article in its latest magazine entitled “The Next Next Next One.” McDavid, the highly touted No. 1 pick in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection who’s already expected to be the top pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, also has been featured by media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today and ESPN.com, The Hockey News, Toronto Sun, The Globe and Mail in Toronto) and Le Journal de Montreal.
McDavid, 16, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, finished second among all OHL rookies with 66 points in the regular season. He won a gold medal, and led all scorers with 14 points in seven games, with Canada in the IIHF U18 World Championship in Sochi, Russia.

The Erie Otters have hired Chris Hartsburg and Vince Laise as the new assistant coaches on coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff. They were introduced, along with first-round pick Dylan Strome, to the media and a group of season-ticket holders and fans during a welcome reception Thursday at Erie Insurance Arena.
Hartsburg, 33, whose father, Craig Hartsburg, was a defenseman in the NHL and now is associate coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, spent the past four seasons as an assistant with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Hartsburg, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, will focus on the defense and penalty kill.
Laise, 30, a native of Bramalea, Ontario, will handle off-ice training, video breakdown and assist Knoblauch with the power-play units. He has worked with many professional athletes at the Athletic Training Center, a hockey training facility in Mississauga, Ontario. He also has worked with Strome.
He was an assistant coach this season with the Brampton Bombers, a Junior B club in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. He spent the 2011-12 season, his first in coaching, with the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
Knoblauch said he has someone in mind for the club’s part-time goaltending coach. But he planned to wait until the OHL releases the schedule for the 2013-14 season before making a decision. Knoblauch said the team’s schedule would need to fit into that undisclosed candidate’s plans.

- Victor Fernandes

Here’s the latest speculation surrounding at least one of the newest members of Erie Otters coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff … Chris Hartsburg, son of former NHL defenseman and current Columbus Blue Jackets associate coach Craig Hartsburg. The younger Hartsburg spent this season as an assistant coach with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
No official confirmation from the Otters. The staff will be announced at tonight’s welcome reception for first-round pick Dylan Strome at Erie Insurance Arena.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters winger Stephen Harper stood 128th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, which was released Wednesday. Harper, 18, slid 90 spots down the list after being picked 38th in the midterm rankings released in January. He had 18 goals and 38 points in 67 games this season after totaling 24 goals and 35 points in 63 games as a rookie in the 2011-12 OHL season.
Otters winger Nick Betz, 17, doesn’t appear in the final rankings after standing 106th among North American skaters on the midterm list. He had four goals and 12 points in 44 games this season. He missed two months of the season’s opening half recovering from an appendectomy.
Defenseman Seth Jones (Portland, WHL) and goaltender Zachary Fucale (Halifax, QMJHL) top the list among North American skaters and goaltenders, respectively. Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Darnell Nurse and Ottawa center Sean Monahan rank among the top five skaters, while Mississauga’s Spencer Martin ranks fifth among goaltenders. The Finnish-born duo of Aleksander Barkov and Juuse Saros top the list of European skaters and goaltenders, respectively. The NHL Entry Draft is set for June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Peter Sidorkiewicz survived three head coaching changes with the Erie Otters, including his own.
But after 14 seasons, his tenure with the OHL club is over. Sherry Bassin, Otters managing partner and general manager, has chosen not to renew Sidorkiewicz’s contract, which expires at the end of this season, because “they’re looking at going in another direction,” Sidorkiewicz said Friday.
Sidorkiewicz, 49, joined the Otters in 1999 to serve as assistant and goaltending coach under then-coach Dave MacQueen. He replaced MacQueen as coach before the 2006-07 season, but was demoted to assistant under coach Robbie Ftorek after posting an 18-62-1-2 record during one-plus seasons.
Sidorkiewicz, a former NHL goaltender, again chose to remain on staff after Kris Knoblauch was hired to replace Ftorek this past November.
Yet Sidorkiewicz said, “I’m not part of the plan” for the 2013-14 season. “I think they want to get a couple of younger coaches.
Dave Brown, Otters assistant manager of hockey operations, said the staff likely will include two full-time assistants and a part-time goaltending coach, although club officials wouldn’t rule out hiring one of the new assistants to also work with the goaltenders.
Bassin declined to comment on if Sidorkiewicz’s performance factored into the decision. The Otters topped 300 goals allowed – 650 in all – the past two seasons, and their goaltenders – Ramis Sadikov and Devin Williams in 2011-12, as well as Oscar Dansk and Williams this season – struggled mightily.
“I have nothing negative to say about it. We’re looking at different things that could be done,” said Bassin, who added that Knoblauch wants input into the staff. Sidorkiewicz said he worked well with Knoblauch. But with a new coach, Sidorkiewicz said, “you always know (a change is) possible.”
Sidorkiewicz will turn his attention to finding a new job. “It’s like a kick in the gut,” he said of leaving the Otters. “But I have to get off the floor. I have to find a new job.” Bassin said he plans to help Sidorkiewicz find a job at a higher level. “I’m going to do my best to call a lot of people because he would be a wonderful addition to their staff,” Bassin said. “I think the world of him. I’m going to do my best to get him to the next level.”
In other news, the Otters have chosen not to retain Mike Hildenbrand, who spent the past three seasons as equipment manager. Paul Roper, who served as play-by-play broadcaster and media relations manager for the past four seasons, won’t also remain with the club.

- Victor Fernandes

The Colorado Avalanche have announced they matched the Calgary Flames’ offer sheet for former Erie Otters captain Ryan O’Reilly. Check out this story from the Denver Post.

Former Erie Otters captain Ryan O’Reilly could be a member of the NHL’s Calgary Flames at this time next week.
The Denver Post reported Thursday that the Flames have signed O’Reilly to a two-year, $10 million offer sheet. According to the report, the Colorado Avalanche, the team O’Reilly played with for the first three seasons of his NHL career, have seven days to match the offer.
If the offer isn’t matched, the Post reported, the Avalanche would receive the Flames’ first-round and third-round picks in the NHL Entry Draft this summer as compensation. O’Reilly, 22, earned a reported $2.64 million during during his three-year, entry-level contract, which expired at the end of the 2011-12 season. He totaled 39 goals and 107 points in 236 games with the Avalanche, including a team-leading 37 assists and 55 points a season ago. O’Reilly hasn’t played this season while awaiting a new contract. Reports have indicated he rejected two past offers from the Avalanche for $7 million over two years and $17 million over five years.

Mark Guy, agent for former Erie Otters captain Ryan O’Reilly, from Newport Sports Management Inc. in Mississauga, Ontario, had little to say Tuesday about his client’s contract situation with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
But Guy did say “there has been zero discussions with Colorado for weeks now.” When asked if a trade is the most viable option to resolve this impasse, Guy said, “You can infer that, I guess, by the fact that we haven’t had any discussions. But likely that’s going to be the outcome, I would say. (That’s) not for sure. Things can always change. But likely that’s going to be the outcome.”
When asked how O’Reilly has handled the situation, Guy said, “Ryan’s good. He’s a player and competitive. He wants to play, but he’s competitive in all aspects of his life.”
Guy declined to comment on any further details.

- Victor Fernandes

Niagara IceDogs (25-25-2-2) at Erie Otters (16-30-3-5)
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Erie Insurance Arena
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Upcoming schedule: Friday vs. London, 7 p.m.; Saturday vs. Kitchener, 7 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters snapped a season-high, seven-game losing streak with a 7-4 win Friday at Oshawa. … They lost 4-1 to Belleville Saturday night to fall 18 points behind eighth-place Saginaw in the chase for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference with 14 games left in the regular season. … Any combination of Otters losses and Spirit wins totaling 11 points officially will eliminate the Otters from playoff contention. … The Otters have the league’s second-worst record. Ottawa, which has the league’s worst mark (15-35-0-4), has the inside track to the No. 1 pick in the OHL Priority Selection. Peterborough (18-29-3-4) ranks third on the list. … The Otters scored a season-high seven goals in the win at Oshawa. In contrast, they scored 13 goals in their seven-game skid, and rank 15th in the league with 166 goals scored. … The Otters have lost four straight at home by a combined 20-7 score to fall to 9-11-1-5 overall. … F Connor Crisp serves the fourth game of a five-game suspension for a game misconduct incurred Feb. 2 against Sudbury. He was ejected for being the aggressor in a fight with D Charlie Dodero, who was unwilling to trade punches. Crisp is eligible to play Saturday against Kitchener. … G Oscar Dansk (concussion) said he hopes to play tonight. … C Jake Evans (arm) rejoined the lineup last weekend. … C Connor McDavid (22 goals, 30 assists, 52 points) has seen his lead in the league’s rookie scoring race shrink to two points over Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin (24-26-50). Brampton LW Blake Clarke (18-25-43) trails McDavid by nine points. … McDavid leads all rookies with 30 assists and trails Goldobin by two goals. … The Otters have lost four of five meetings in the six-game season series with the IceDogs. … Niagara snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 5-1 win in Erie Feb. 1. … The IceDogs have lost 10-of-15 games since losing frontline D Dougie Hamilton, who played for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship during Christmas break and now plays for the NHL’s Boston Bruins. … C Ryan Strome (29-44-73) ranks seventh in the league’s scoring race (67 points) despite playing in only 43 of the IceDogs’ first 54 games. He also played at World Juniors before attending New York Islanders training camp. … Former Otters G Chris Festarini has a 20-18-2-2 record, 3.09 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and four shutouts in 44 games with the IceDogs. … RW Brett Ritchie is tied for eighth overall with 31 goals. … F Steven Shipley joins Strome and Ritchie on a top line that has totaled 85 goals and 184 points this season.

- Victor Fernandes

Former Erie Otters Michael Rupp and Nick Palmieri were involved in a trade between the NHL’s New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.
According to reports Monday, the Rangers sent Rupp, 33, to the Wild for Palmieri, 23, and fellow forward Darroll Powe. Rupp had four goals, five points and 109 points in 68 games since joining the Rangers a season ago. He has 53 goals, 95 points and 765 penalty minutes in 565 games with the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets and Phoenix Coyotes from 2002-13.
Rupp, a Cleveland native, had 51 goals, 110 points and 293 penalty minutes in 137 games with the Otters from 1997-2000. Palmieri totaled 65 goals and 114 points in 174 games for the Otters from 2005-08 before being traded to Belleville. He was playing for the Houston Aeros, the Wild’s AHL affiliate, this season. He had 10 goals and 21 points in 40 games. He has 13 goals and 25 points in 87 career NHL games with New Jersey (2009-11) and Minnesota (2011-12). He reportedly will play with the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate.