My apologies, this didn’t post for some reason yesterday …

Sean Day was happy and relieved to hear the news Thursday. The Ontario Hockey Federation announced that Hockey Canada granted exceptional player status to the 15-year-old defenseman , which allows him to enter the OHL Priority Selection a year early.
He joins former current New York Islanders center John Tavares (Oshawa, 2005), Barrie Colts defenseman Aaron Ekblad (2011) and Erie Otters center Connor McDavid (2012) as the only players to receive early entry into the league.
Unlike his predecessors, Day reportedly isn’t guaranteed to be the No. 1 pick in the April 6 draft. Speculation has arisen about the Ottawa 67′s and their choice. Under league rules, the 67′s aren’t required to choose Day with that top pick. Day isn’t required to report to the club that picks him.
However, Day said during Thursday’s conference call that “I’m prepared to go anywhere,” he said. “Part of getting this (status) is to play in the OHL.”
Meanwhile, the Otters hold the No. 2 pick because they finished with the league’s second-worst record (19-40-4-5). Sherry Bassin, managing partner and general manager, was tight-lipped earlier this week regarding the pick. “We’ve got a pretty good idea,” Bassin said. “We’ll go with the best player.”
The Otters need help on a defense that allowed 312 goals this season, the second-worst total in the league. Day, a 6 foot 2 inch, 197-pound offensive defenseman, had 11 goals and 35 points in 63 games with Detroit-area Compuware’s minor midget club. “If you need me to play good defense, I can play that,” Day, a Belgian-born Canadian citizen who lives in Rochester, Mich., said during a conference call. “If you need a fourth forward, I can jump into the play.” Yet forwards such as Travis Konecny (Elgin Middlesex Chiefs) and Dylan Strome (Toronto Marlboros) are highly regarded. Earlier this week, Bassin said he needed the right complementary players to play alongside skilled performers like McDavid.
Keith Day, Sean’s father, said there has been no contact yet with officials from the 67′s or Otters.

- Victor Fernandes

Ottawa 67′s (7-21-0-3) at Erie Otters (7-17-2-3)
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Erie Insurance Arena
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
Upcoming schedule: Saturday vs. Guelph, 7 p.m.; Sunday at Brampton, 2 p.m.
What to expect: The Otters enter Kris Knoblauch‘s first home game as coach on a season-high, six-game losing streak. They have lost eight of their past 10 games to fall nine points out of a playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference. … The Otters and 67′s have two of the OHL’s three worst records. Peterborough (6-20-3-1) stands last overall in the league. … Otters GM Sherry Bassin holds out hope C Dane Fox (broken left foot) could make his season debut this weekend. … The Otters traded D Nathan Glass to Saginaw Wednesday, which opens up a spot on defense for rookie Justin Felker, a second-round pick in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection who has dressed for only 13-of-29 games and has spent some time at forward. … The Otters are 2-10 in one-goal games and 2-14 in games decided by two goals or fewer. … C Connor McDavid, the league’s two-time rookie of the month, leads the team in goals (17), is tied with RW Connor Brown with 36 points and ranks second to Brown with 19 assists. … The 67′s have lost seven straight and 10 of their past 11 games, including a 9-0 defeat at Niagara Thursday night, which left them ninth in the Eastern Conference and nine points out of a playoff spot. … They look to sweep the two-game season series with the Otters. Ottawa won 8-1 at home Sept. 29. … They ranked a respectable 10th in goals scored (99), but had allowed a league-worst 139 goals. … C Sean Monahan, the 67′s leading scorer (36 points in 24 games) and NHL Central Scouting’s top OHL prospect for the 2013 draft, continues to serve a 10-game suspension. … Guelph (18-9-0-3) has used the league’s highest-scoring offense (118 goals) to move into fifth in the Western Conference. … The Storm have seven players with at least 20 points. … Brampton (14-12-3-2 entering Thursday’s game against London) ranks near the bottom of the league with 85 goals scored, but has one of the stingiest defenses (91 goals against). … The Otters hold their fifth annual “Teddy Bear Toss” Saturday. Fans donating a new or gently used stuffed animal will receive a ticket voucher for a future game. Fans will toss the bears onto the ice after the team’s first goal. The club collected 4,951 stuffed animals for the Salvation Army and other Erie-area charities a season ago.

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters winger Stephen Harper stands eighth among OHL skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings for next summer’s NHL Entry Draft, which was released Tuesday. Ottawa center Sean Monahan tops the list, followed by Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Darnell Nurse, Windsor winger Kerby Rychel and London’s frontlin duo of Max Domi and Bo Horvat. Mississauga’s Spencer Martin headlines the list of the OHL’s top goaltenders, followed by Peterborough’s Michael Guigovaz and Barrie’s Alex Fotinos.

Upcoming schedule
Today - vs. Owen Sound, 7 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena
Saturday - vs. Owen Sound, 7 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena
Sunday - at Mississauga, 2 p.m.
On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)
What to expect: The Otters (4-8-1-2) complete a six-game home stand after losing three of the first four games (1-2-0-1). … They are tied with Ottawa (4-8-0-2) and Peterborough (4-7-2-1) for the fewest wins in the OHL. … The Otters are fourth in the league on the power play (25.8 percent), but they have slipped to 11th on the penalty kill (77.9 percent). … RW Nick Betz (appendicitis – out at least six to eight weeks) joined C Dane Fox (broken left foot) on the injured list last week. … Fox should have the cast removed from his foot next week before undergoing two to three weeks of physical therapy. GM Sherry Bassin said he hopes Fox can make his season debut later this month. … D Adam Pelech (bruised left ankle) returned to the ice Tuesday. … C Connor McDavid leads all OHL rookies with 18 points and is tied for the lead with seven goals. He has points in 14 straight games and in 14 of the first 15 games of his OHL career. … The Attack (10-2-0-2) have the league’s best winning percentage (.786) and goal differential (50 goals scored, 32 goals against). … They are second in scoring defense. … C Cameron Brace is tied for second in the league with 12 goals …. Brace and C Daniel Catenacci join McDavid among the top 20 scorers with 18 points apiece. … G Jordan Binnington leads the league with a 1.96 goals-againsty average and a. .940 save percentage. He’s also tied for second with nine wins.

- Victor Fernandes

KANATA, Ontario – The Erie Otters continue to surrender goals at an alarming rate.
They equaled a season high in goals against in an 8-1 loss against Ottawa Saturday in front of 3,981 at Scotiabank Place. Erie also allowed eight goals in a loss at London last weekend, as well as six in an overtime defeat at Kingston Friday night.
The Otters (1-3-1-0) have allowed a league-high 27 goals – more than five per game – in their first five games of the season.
The 67′s built a 3-0 lead 8 minutes into the game on Tyler Graovac‘s natural hat trick before rolling to a convincing win. They had lost the first three games of a season-opening, four-game home stand in their new rink. The 67′s (1-3-0-0) will play in the home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators for the next two seasons while the Ottawa Civic Centre undergoes renovations.
Connor Brown scored the Otters’ lone goal on the power play, his third of the season, with 5:32 left in the first period.
Connor McDavid had an assist for the sixth point in his first five career games. J.P. Labardo also assisted on the goal for his fifth point in four games with the Otters. But Ottawa scored the final five goals, including two by Remy Giftopoulos. He added an assist to finish with three points, while Brett Gustavsen had a goal and two assists.
Jacob Blair stopped 22-of-23 shots to earn the win in net. In contrast, Oscar Dansk allowed all eight goals on 41 shots two days after stopping 47-of-48 in his first OHL win, a 5-1 victory at Peterborough Thursday. The Otters allowed 40 or more shots in all three games on this road trip. The Otters play their home opener Friday at 7 p.m. against Brampton in the first event at Erie Insurance Arena since the facility closed this past May for renovations. They face London at home Saturday.

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Seth Griffith of the London Knights is the OHL Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2012-13 OHL regular season ending Sept. 23 after scoring five goals and one assist for six points in two games with a plus-minus rating of plus-3.

Griffith and the Knights opened the season with an 8-2 win over the Erie Otters on home ice Friday night where the defending Robertson Cup champs were honoured with a pre-game ceremony that raised their 2011-12 Championship Banner to the rafters. Griffith recorded his fourth career hat-trick scoring all three goals in the second period and was named first star of the game. On Sunday afternoon he scored a pair of goals and added an assist as third star of an 8-2 win over the Guelph Storm.

Griffith, a 19-year-old from Wallaceburg, ON, is playing in his fourth season with the Knights after leading the club with 85 points in 68 games last season scoring 45 goals and 40 assists. In June, Griffith was selected in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins.

Also considered for the award this week was Cameron Brace of the Owen Sound Attack who scored three goals and three assists for six points in two games, while defenseman Cody Ceci of the Ottawa 67’s picked up a goal and four assists for five points in two games. In goal, John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers went 2-0-0-0 with a shutout victory and a goals-against-average of 0.96 and save percentage of .964.

- From OHL news release

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 Eastern Conference’s East Division (listed in alphabetical order):

Belleville Bulls
Coach/GM: George Burnett
2011-12 finish: 35-32-1-0, 2nd division, 7th conference
Playoff finish: Lost to Ottawa 4-2 in conference quarterfinals
Key players: G Malcolm Subban (25-14-0-0 record, 2.50 goals-against average, .923 save percentage, 3 shutouts; signed with Boston), C Brendan Gaunce (28 goals, 40 assists, 68 points; signed with Vancouver), RW Austen Brassard (27-24-51; Winnipeg prospect); D Stephen Silas (6-26-32), D Brady Austin (6-20-26; former Erie Otter)
Key losses: C Adam Payerl (22-25-47), RW Luke Judson (18-21-39)
Outlook: Burnett has the rebuilding Bulls headed in the right direction, as they have improved by 15 wins in the past three seasons. And with Subban in net, Silas on defense and Gaunce up front, the Bulls could make a big move this season.

Kingston Frontenacs
Coach/GM: Todd Gill/Doug Gilmour
2011-12 finish: 19-41-3-5, 5th division, 10th conference
Playoff finish: Did not qualify
Key players: C Darcy Greenaway (27-25-52), LW Cody Alcock (24-23-47), C Ryan Kujawinski (16-20-36), D Roland McKeown (No. 2 pick in 2012 OHL Priority Selection), G Mike Morrison (10-19-2-3, 3.87, .890, 1 SO)
Key losses: G Igor Bobkov (17-32-2-4, 3.64, .902, 1 SO; signed with Anaheim)
Outlook: The Frontenacs had the league’s second-worst record a season ago. Morrison, an overager signed earlier this summer, will need to lead a young team headlined by the offensive trio of Greenaway, Alcock and Kujawinski, through a rebuild.

Oshawa Generals
Coach/GM: D.J. Smith/Jeff Twohey
2011-12 finish: 31-30-4-3, 3rd division, 8th conference
Playoff finish: Lost to Niagara 4-2 in conference quarterfinals
Key players: LW Lucas Lessio (34-28-62; signed with Phoenix), C Scott Laughton (21-32-53; signed with Philadelphia), C Boone Jenner (22-27-49; signed with Columbus), D Matt Petgrave (10-35-45, plus-11), G Daniel Altshuller (11-16-2-1, 3.55, ,900)
Key losses: RW Christian Thomas (34-33-67; signed with N.Y. Rangers), RW Nicklas Jensen (25-33-58), LW Andy Andreoff (22-36-58), D Julian Melchiori (2-34-36, +10)
Outlook: The Generals had talent galore last season, but lost in the first round after barely making the playoffs. They still have plenty of talent this season. Smith and Twohey, the former GM in Peterborough, are in charge of turning that talent into wins.

Ottawa 67’s
Coach/GM: Chris Byrne
2011-12 finish: 40-20-5-3, 1st division, 2nd conference
Playoff finish: Lost to Barrie 4-3 in conference semifinals
Key players: D Cody Ceci (17-43-60, +34; signed with Ottawa), C Sean Monahan (33-45-78), G Jake Cardwell (8-28-36), LW Steven Janes (16-20-36), G Keegan Wilson (12-9-3-3, 2.82, .892, 1 SO with Kingston)
Key losses: RW Tyler Toffoli (52-48-100; signed with Los Angeles), LW Shane Prince (43-47-90; signed with Ottawa), G Petr Mrazek (30-13-4-2, 2.84, .917, 3 shutouts; signed with Detroit), C Mike Cazzola (11-34-45; former Otter); D Marc Zanetti (7-21-28, +27)
Outlook: Toffoli’s 109 goals and 208 points the past two years will be difficult to replace, especially since the 67′s also lost 40-goal scorer Prince. But the key to success will be Wilson in net, where he replaces the highly skilled and consistent Mrazek.