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.

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

Center Dylan Strome and defensemen Jesse Saban and Cole Mayo – the Erie Otters’ top three picks in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection – will play in the U16 OHL Gold Cup May 9-12 at Sportsworld Arena in Kitchener, Ontario.
The annual event features Ontario’s top Under-16 players, and serves as an evaluation and selection process for Team Ontario. Strome and Saban will play for Team GTHL Red, while Mayo will play for Team Alliance.

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

PETERBOROUGH, Ontario – The Erie Otters handed rookie goaltender Oscar Dansk an early three-goal lead Thursday night.
Then Dansk took care of the rest with a stellar 47-save effort in the Otters’ first win of the season, 5-1 against Peterborough in front of 2,344 at Peterborough Memorial Centre. The Otters (1-2-0-0) won despite being outshot 48-30.
Stephen Harper and Connor McDavid, the Otters’ last two first-round picks in the OHL Priority Selection, sparked Erie’s surge to a 3-0 lead. McDavid set up both of Harper’s goals in a span of four minutes midway through the period, and then Jake Evans scored his first goal of the season with 6:46 left in the period. McDavid has a goal and four points in his first three games.
That was more than enough offensive support for Dansk. He rebounded from a rocky debut last weekend, as he allowed 11 goals in losses at Niagara and London. But against the Petes (1-2-0-0), he overcame a barrage of shots – 16 in the second and 29 through two periods – to keep his shutout intact. The Petes recorded 15 of the first 16 shots in the second and had four straight power plays, including a pair of two-man advantages that lasted nearly two minutes. Peterborough finished 0-for-8 on the power play. In contrast, the Otters were 1-for-3.
Yet while Dansk kept the Petes off the scoreboard, the Otters built a 4-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the period on Nick Betz‘s second goal of the season. Dansk’s bid for his first OHL shutout ended on Trevor Murphy’s goal 2:53 into the third.
But Dansk finished with 18 saves on 19 shots in the period. Travis Wood capped the scoring with his first goal of the season in the final minute. Rookie Hayden Hodgson had an assist for his first OHL point, while Nathan Glass added the last of his two assists. Evans added an assist to his goal for the Otters, which travel to Kingston today for a 7 p.m. game.

ANCASTER, Ontario – The Erie Otters’ past two first-round draft picks opened the preseason in grand fashion Friday night.
Stephen Harper, their top choice in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection, scored two goals in a 3-2 win against Niagara at Morgan Firestone Arena. Connor McDavid, the high-profile No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, assisted on both goals in his Otters’ debut.
Their linemate, second-year winger Nick Betz, added an assist. Second-year center Jake Evans’ goal snapped a 2-2 tie 6 minutes, 20 seconds into the third period on an assist from rookie winger Hayden Hodgson.
Devin Williams stopped 12-of-14 shots in the first two periods. Keinan Brown followed with four saves in the third to earn the win.
The Otters continue the preseason Saturday at 7 p.m. against Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) at North Wentworth Arena in Flamborough, Ontario.

The Ontario Hockey League announced today that the Windsor Spitfires have been punished for what the league termed as “violations of our Recruitment/Benefit Rules and Policies.”
The club was fined $400,000 and was stripped of five OHL draft picks over the next five years – first-rounders in 2013, 2014 and 2016 and second-rounders in 2015 and 2017. The ruling was handed down based on findings from two separate investigations, the league said in a statement.
“While the penalties may appear to be severe,” OHL Commissioner David Branch said in the statement, “the league and its member teams recognize for any such violations of our Recruitment/Benefit Rules and Policies, we must send a strong message to preserve the integrity of our league.”
Branch pointed to the league’s enforcement program, which was developed by the OHL’s Board of Governors in 2009. The program, he said in the statement, “is designed to address and attempt to eliminate violations of the rules and impose appropriate penalties if violations occur.”
The enforcement process,” Branch added, “is an integral part of the process to ensure integrity and fair play among the member teams. One of the fundamental principles of the enforcement process is to ensure that those member teams that are abiding by the rules are not disadvantaged by their commitment to compliance.”
Check out this story from The Windsor Star.

Millcreek Township native Bryan Sienerth has chosen to attend the USHL Combine over the Erie Otters’ orientation camp this weekend, his father, Rick, confirmed Friday.
“We felt that he needed the exposure to keep all of his hockey options open,” Rick Sienerth said in a text message, referring to USHL Futures Draft, the draft for 1996-born players, which will be held Tuesday. “He is only 16, so NCAA eligibility is still very important. And since the USHL is the Tier I league (in the United States), that keeps (eligibility) intact. We opted to keep that door open.”
Sienerth, a Cathedral Prep sophomore who played for the Pittsburgh Hornets’ U16 team this past season, has received interest from Division I programs at Harvard, Merrimack and Notre Dame.
He could be selected in the draft, Rick Sienerth said. He has been contacted by several USHL clubs. The Otters chose him in the 13th round of the OHL Priority Selection April 7.
He plans to attend the Otters’ main camp in August, Rick Sienerth said.

Sherry Bassin expected to make the Erie Otters’ two-year Tullio Arena lease extension official Friday.
Bassin, Otters managing partner and general manager, said Friday he planned to sign the paperwork that night and present it to Casey Wells, the Erie County Convention Center Authority’s executive director. On March 19, Bassin announced they had reached an agreement in principle that would keep the OHL franchise in Erie through the 2013-14 season. The current three-year lease expires at the end of June.
“There’s no dramatic moment because I believe it was going to be done anyway,” Bassin said Friday at the Bayfront Convention Center, where he introduced center Connor McDavid as the No. 1 pick in today’s OHL Priority Selection.

- Victor Fernandes