The OHL will unveil the winner of the Emms Family Award for OHL rookie of the year Thursday at 11 a.m. Erie Otters center Connor McDavid (25 goals, 41 assists, 66 points) headlines a list of finalists that also includes forwards Sam Bennett (18-22-40 with Brampton), Blake Clarkee (19-32-51) with Brampton, Michael Dal Colle (15-33-48 with Oshawa), Nikolay Goldobin (30-38-68 with Sarnia) and Sergey Tolchinsky (26-25-51 with Sault Ste. Marie).

Erie Otters (18-40-3-5) at Guelph Storm (38-23-1-4)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Sleeman Centre – Guelph, Ontario
On the air: WJET-AM/1400, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)*
Upcoming schedule: Saturday vs. Guelph, 7 p.m. (season finale)
What to expect: The Otters enter the final weekend of the season tied with the 2007-08 club (18-46-2-2) for the third-fewest, single-season wins in the franchise’s 17-year history. They currently have the fourth-worst, single-season winning percentage (.333) in franchise history, behind only the 2011-12 club (.191), 2006-07 club (.243) and 2007-08 club (.294). … The Otters have topped 300 goals against for the second straight season and fourth time in the past seven years. … The Otters have clinched the No. 2 pick in the OHL Priority Selection April 6. Ottawa (16-43-0-5) will have the No. 1 pick. … Otters C Connor McDavid (25 goals, 37 assists, 62 points) entered Thursday trailing Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin (27-36-63) by one point for the league’s rookie scoring title. McDavid leads his counterpart by one assist and trails him by two in goals. The Sting faced Oshawa at home Thursday night. … McDavid needs one point to set a new franchise mark for points by a rookie in a season. He’s tied with Tim Connolly, who had 62 points in the 1997-98 season. McDavid already has broken the club’s mark for assists by a rookie in a season originally held by Brad Boyes (36 in 1998-99). … RW Connor Brown (26-41-67) could finish the season among the league’s top 20 scorers. … C Jake Evans (5-11-16) remained on crutches for Wednesday night’s loss to London at Erie Insurance Arena. … The Otters are holding a raffle as part of their annual Mario Lemieux Foundation Night. Tickets are $5 for one, $20 for five and $50 for 15 and will be drawn Saturday night. The list of 15 prizes include a framed Lemieux sweater signed by 15 players from his fantasy camp and sweaters signed by Lemieux, a Hockey Hall of Famer and Penguins co-owner, and current Penguins Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. … Guelph stands four points behind Midwest Division rival Kitchener with two games left. The Storm need to sweep the Otters this weekend and Rangers losses in Sault Ste. Marie and Saginaw this weekend to clinch the fourth seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. … The Storm are fourth in the league with 247 goals scored despite having one player among the top 20 in goals (RW Scott Kosmachuk, 33) and no players among the top 20 in points.
* Saturday’s game will air on WFNN-AM/1330

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters (18-37-3-5) at Owen Sound Attack (39-18-1-5)
When: Today and 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)
Upcoming schedule: Wednesday vs. London, 7 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-4 comeback win in overtime against Windsor Saturday night at Erie Insurance Arena. … D Spencer Abraham scored the winning goal to complete his second two-goal game and three-point outing of his three-year OHL career. He was one point short of matching his single-game best of four points, set in his second career game with Brampton against Barrie Sept. 30, 2010. … F Dane Fox (16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points in 32 games) had two goals and an assist against the Spitfires in his first game back from a two-game, OHL-imposed suspension. … D Adam Pelech (7-30-37) rejoins the lineup tonight after serving a five-game suspension. … C Jake Evans (5-11-16) served his two-game suspension last weekend. But he hasn’t skated since injuring his knee during practice Feb. 25. … The Otters also are without rookie RW Hayden Hodgson (8-4-12), who’s serving a 10-game suspension that carries over to the first three games of the 2013-14 season. … RW Connor Brown (26-40-66) has skated on his own this week as he recovers from a concussion. Brown, who has been symptom-free the past few days, hopes to play this weekend. … Rookie D Justin Felker (neck) has been shut down for the rest of the season. … The Otters have all but clinched the No. 2 pick in the OHL Priority Selection April 6. Ottawa (16-42-0-5) is on pace to secure the No. 1 pick, while Peterborough (22-34-3-4) has the inside track to the third overall spot. … Otters C Connor McDavid (25-35-60) and Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin (27-33-60) are tied atop the league’s rookie scoring list. Both teams have five games left. McDavid, who has played five fewer games than Goldobin, leads his counterpart by two assists and trails him by two in goals. … Owen Sound is in a tight battle with Midwest Division rival Kitchener for third place in the Western Conference. The Attack has 84 points, one more than the Rangers, with five regular-season games left. … The Attack have the league’s best scoring defense (155 goals against) despite being the most penalized team (1,173 minutes). They are third on the penalty kill (84 percent). … C Daniel Catenacci ranks among the top 15 overall with 34 goals, 72 points and 111 penalty minutes. … LW Steven Janes (104), D Kurtis MacDermid (101) and LW Kyle Hope (100) also rank among the top 20 in penalty minutes. … G Jordan Binnington ranks among the leaders in wins (29), goals-against average (2.25), save percentage (.931) and shutouts (6). … The Attack won three of the first four meetings with the Otters.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters (17-33-3-5) at Windsor Spitfires (22-28-1-6)
When: Thursday, 7:05 p.m.
Where: WFCU Centre – Windsor, Ontario
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Upcoming schedule: Friday at Sarnia, 7:05 p.m., Sunday vs. Kingston, 2 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters would be eliminated from OHL playoff contention for the second straight season and sixth time since the 2001-02 league championship season with a loss in regulation, overtime or shootout tonight. … The Otters are on pace to earn the No. 2 pick in the OHL Priority Selection. They have the second-worst record in the league, behind only Ottawa, which entered Wednesday night’s game at Belleville with a 15-38-0-4 mark. Peterborough stands third worst at 20-30-3-4. … The Otters are expected to play without captain Connor Brown because of a head injury suffered in Monday’s loss at London. The second-year winger, who leads the team with 26 goals, 40 assists and 66 points, has played in every game – 126 in all – since joining the club a season ago. … League officials will announce today if D Adam Pelech will be suspended for a five-minute, cross-checking penalty and game misconduct against the Knights. League vice president Ted Baker didn’t rule out suspending Pelech indefinitely if more time is needed for the review. Pelech was suspended indefinitely before being issued a four-game ban less than a month ago for a five-minute kneeing penalty and game misconduct Jan. 23 against Saginaw. … C Connor McDavid (24-31-55) holds a three-point lead over Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin (24-28-52) in the league’s rookie scoring race. Brampton LW Blake Clarke (18-27-45) trails McDavid by 10 points. … J.P. Labardo (20-34-54) has scored 20 goals in a season for the first time in his five-year OHL career. … The Otters lost the first two meetings with the Spitfires by a goal – 2-1 in Windsor Oct. 18 and 3-2 two nights later at Erie Insurance Arena. They meet for the final time March 2 in Erie. … Windsor has lost five straight games and eight of its last 10 to fall 11 points behind Saginaw in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. Any combination of Windsor losses, as well as Spirit wins in regulation, overtime and shootouts, totaling 12 points would eliminate the Spitfires from contention. … The Spitfires rank near the bottom of the league with 169 goals scored and 221 goals against. … RW Kerby Rychel, son of Spitfires vice president and general manager Warren Rychel, ranks among the league leaders with 33 goals and 69 points. … C Alexander Khokhlachev has 13 goals and 28 points in 18 games since leaving the Kontinental Hockey League in his native Russia to rejoin the Spitfires. … RW Josh Ho-Sang, McDavid’s former teammate with the Toronto Marlboros and the fifth pick in the 2012 OHL draft, has 11 goals and 37 points in 52 games.

- Victor Fernandes

London Knights (39-11-2-2) at Erie Otters (16-31-3-5)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Erie Insurance Arena
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Upcoming schedule: Saturday vs. Kitchener, 7 p.m.; Monday at London, 2 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters have lost nine of their last 10 games to fall 18 points behind eighth-place Saginaw in the chase for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference with 13 games left in the regular season. … Any combination of Otters losses and Spirit wins totaling nine points officially will eliminate the Otters from playoff contention. … The Otters have lost five straight home games by a combined 27-9 score. They have the league’s third-worst home record (9-12-1-5). … Ottawa (15-36-0-4), which lost 10-1 at home to Eastern Conference-leading Barrie Wednesday night, remains ahead of the Otters in the race for the No. 1 pick in the upcoming OHL Priority Selection. Peterborough entered Thursday night’s game against Brampton with an 18-29-3-4 record. … F Connor Crisp completes 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. Crisp is eligible to play Saturday against Kitchener. … C Connor McDavid (23 goals, 30 assists, 53 points) holds a three-point lead over Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin (24-26-50) in the league’s rookie scoring race after Goldobin was held scoreless in an 8-0 loss to Sault Ste. Marie Wednesday. The Sting play in Windsor Thursday night. Brampton LW Blake Clarke (18-25-43) trails McDavid by 10 points. … McDavid leads all rookies with 30 assists and trails Goldobin by one goal. … The Otters face the league-leading Knights three times in the final month of the regular season, including Monday in London and March 13 in Erie. The Otters have lost two of the first three meetings, including a 4-3 shootout loss at home Oct. 16. … London leads Barrie by nine points in the race for the league’s regular-season championship and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. … The Knights have lost three straight games for the second time in the past month. … They have lost eight of 15 games since posting a 24-game winning streak, which fell one shy of tying the CHL record. … They lead the league with 221 goals scored and fourth with 143 goals against. … RW Seth Griffith ranks among the league’s top five with 33 goals, 49 assists and 82 points. … C Max Domi (33-38-68) also stands among the leaders in all three categories. … G Jake Patterson has a 17-6-1-1 record, 2.46 goals-against average, .918 save percentage and four shutouts in 27 games. … Kitchener (32-15-1-6) stands third in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Owen Sound and four ahead of Guelph. … The Rangers have won seven of their last 10 games. … They have won four of six meetings in the eight-game season series with the Otters. … They are third with 137 goals against.

- 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

Erie Otters (15-24-3-5) at Kitchener Rangers (26-14-1-5)
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Kitchener Memorial Auditorium – Kitchener, Ontario
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Upcoming schedule: Saturday vs. Kitchener, 7 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters enter a home-and-home series with the Midwest Division rival Rangers trailing eighth-place Saginaw by 11 points in the chase for the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference. They are seven points behind No. 9 Windsor. … The Otters play 11 of their 21 games against division opponents – Kitchener (four times), London (three), Owen Sound (twice) and Guelph (twice). Those teams hold four of the top five spots in the conference standings. … The Rangers are third in the division and fourth in the conference. They are 17 points behind frontrunning London and six behind third-place Owen Sound. … The Otters and Rangers have split the first four games of the eight-game season series, with each team winning once at home and on the road. Erie won the past two meetings 6-2 and 4-3 in a shootout Dec. 14-15. … Otters officials are awaiting word from the league today on defenseman Adam Pelech, who could be suspended for his knee-on-knee hit against Saginaw LW Zach Bratina Wednesday night. Pelech received a five-minute kneeing penalty and game misconduct. … G Oscar Dansk (concussion) remains day to day. He hadn’t returned to practice as of Thursday. … Rookie C Connor McDavid has four goals in his last 14 games after totaling nine goals in 13 November games. However, he has 14 points in those past 14 games. He still leads the league’s rookie scoring race with 49 points, eight ahead of Sarnia RW Nikolay Goldobin. … The Rangers are 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games. … The Rangers rank 16th in the league with 134 goals scored and 19th on the power play (16.1 percent). But they are third with 118 goals against and second on the penalty kill (85.4 percent). … G John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, ranks among the league leaders with a 2.41 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. … LW Joshua Leivo ranks among the top 20 scorers with 52 points. … Frank Corrado joins Pelech (34 points) among the top 10 defensemen with 31 points.

- Victor Fernandes

A weekend that began with such promise ended with a thud for the Erie Otters Saturday night.
Unlike their strong efforts in a convincing six-goal win against Saginaw Wednesday night and a shootout loss to Sault Ste. Marie Friday night, the Otters had little energy in a 5-2 loss to Sarnia in front of 2,648 fans at Erie Insurance Arena Saturday night.
Rookie center Connor McDavid had a goal and assist for the Otters (4-8-1-2), which dropped their second straight game and finished the three-game weekend series at home 1-1-0-1. McDavid, who extended his point streak to 14 straight games and has 18 points in 15 games, was one of the lone bright spots for a team that struggled to find consistency against the Sting (7-6-0-1).
The Otters entered the game with the OHL’s seventh-ranked penalty kill at 82.5 percent. But Sarnia’s third-rated power play burned the Otters for four goals on five chances in the game. Craig Duininck, who had one goal in his first 12 games, scored the first of his two power-play goals on assists from Nikolay Goldobin and Anthony DeAngelo 9 minutes, 47 seconds into the opening period.
Goaltender Oscar Dansk made several key stops, especially in close, to keep the Otters within a goal until Charles Sarault netted his sixth goal of the season, a power-play score 10:04 into the second period, to extend the Sting’s lead to 2-0. Sarnia’s lead reached 3-0 less than two minutes later, as Duininck scored his second goal of the night on assists from Goldobin and Bryan Moore.
The Otters crept within 3-1 on Connor Crisp’s sixth goal of the season – a loose puck in front that he slipped past Sting goaltender J.P. Anderson – with 1:45 left in the period. Moments later, Otters defenseman Adam Pelech was helped to the dressing room with a left ankle injury suffered while blocking a shot. Club officials believe Pelech suffered only a bruise, but he was expected to undergo x-rays. Pelech, who was hit with a shot on the same ankle in Friday’s game was seen walking gingerly outside the dressing room after the game. The Otters learned before the game that winger Nick Betz will miss at least the next six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery Friday night for a ruptured appendix.
Then any momentum the Otters gained from Crisp’s goal vanished 53 seconds into the third period, as the Sting regained a three-goal lead at 4-1 on Reid Boucher‘s goal. McDavid provided a bit of a spark, as his steal in front of the Sting’s net and two nifty moves through traffic produced his seventh goal of the season and moved the Otters within 4-2 with 10:12 left in the game.
But Goldobin’s shot into an open net – Sarnia’s fourth power-play goal in five chances – with 1:30 left sealed the Sting’s win.

- Victor Fernandes