Erie Otters center Connor McDavid will play for his native Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 team at the IIHF U18 World Championship, which runs from Thursday through April 28 in Sochi, Russia. McDavid, 16, the OHL’s rookie of the year who had 25 goals and 66 points in 63 games this season, will be joined by 10 other OHL players on the 23-player roster – goaltender Spencer Martin (Mississauga), defensemen Chris Bigras (Owen Sound) and Roland McKeown (Kingston) and forwards Nick Baptiste (Sudbury), Sam Bennett (Kingston), Jason Dickinson (Guelph), Hunter Garlent (Guelph), Zach Nastasiuk (Owen Sound), Nick Ritchie (Peterborough) and Carter Verhaege (Niagara).
Canada begins the tournament Thursday at 10 a.m. against Slovakia, followed by games against Germany (Saturday at 4 a.m.), Switzerland (Monday at 4 a.m.) and Sweden (Tuesday at 4 a.m.). Medal-round play begins April 25 and is capped by the gold-medal and bronze-medal games April 28.

Victor Fernandes unveils his predictions for the OHL playoffs:

Eastern Conference
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Belleville def. No. 8 Mississauga, 4-1
No. 2 Barrie def. No. 7 Kingston, 4-0
No. 6 Niagara def. No. 3 Oshawa, 4-2
No. 4 Brampton def. No. 5 Sudbury, 4-2
Semifinals
No. 1 Belleville def. No. 6 Niagara, 4-2
No. 2 Barrie def. No. 4 Brampton, 4-1
Finals
No. 1 Belleville def. No. 2 Barrie, 4-3

Western Conference
Quarterfinals
No. 1 London def. No. 8 Saginaw, 4-0
No. 2 Plymouth def. No. 7 Sarnia, 4-1
No. 3 Owen Sound def. No. 6 Sault Ste. Marie, 4-1
No. 5 Guelph def. No. 4 Kitchener, 4-3
Semifinals
No. 1 London def. No. 5 Guelph, 4-1
No. 2 Plymouth def. No. 3 Owen Sound, 4-2
Finals
No. 2 Plymouth def. No. 1 London, 4-3

League finals
No. 1W Plymouth def. No. 1E Belleville, 4-2

- Victor Fernandes

BRNO, Czech Republic – Erie Otters defenseman Adam Pelech has to settle for a chance to win a bronze medal at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship. Canada lost to the undefeated United States 2-1 Friday in the semifinals, setting up a third-place matchup against Finland on Sunday at 6 a.m. The U.S. will face unbeaten Sweden, a 7-3 semifinal winner against Finland, for the gold medal Sunday at 10 a.m.
Pelech had no points, one shot on goal and two penalty minutes against the U.S. He has no points, eight shots and eight penalty minutes in six games at the tournament. Owen Sound’s Gemel Smith scored Canada’s lone goal, which tied the score at 1 late in the first period. The U.S. scored the winning goal 6 minutes, 26 seconds into the third against Sault Ste. Marie’s Matt Murray, stopped 25 of 27 shots.

BRNO, Czech Republic – Erie Otters defenseman Adam Pelech and Canada opened the IIHF World Under-18 Championship with a 6-1 win Thursday against Denmark. Pelech, an assistant captain, had no points, two shots on goal and two penalty minutes.
Windsor’s Kerby Rychel had a goal and assist for Canada, which returns to action Saturday at 10 a.m. against Finland. Oshawa’s Scott Laughton and Owen Sound’s Gemel Smith had a goal apiece. Sault Ste. Marie goaltender Matt Murray stopped 15-of-16 shots.

Victor Fernandes unveils his predictions for the 2011-12 OHL season:

REGULAR SEASON

Eastern Conference

East Division

1. Oshawa

2. Ottawa

3. Peterborough

4. Kingston

5. Belleville

Central Division

1. Niagara

2. Mississauga

3. Sudbury

4. Brampton

5. Barrie

Western Conference

Midwest Division

1. London

2. Kitchener

3. Erie

4. Owen Sound

5. Guelph

West Division

1. Plymouth

2. Saginaw

3. Sarnia

4. Windsor

5. Sault Ste. Marie

PLAYOFFS

Eastern Conference

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Niagara def. No. 8 Kingston, 4-0

No. 2 Oshawa def. No. 7 Sudbury, 4-2

No. 3 Mississauga def. No. 6 Brampton, 4-1

No. 4 Ottawa def. No. 5 Peterborough, 4-1

Semifinals

No. 1 Niagara def. No. 4 Ottawa, 4-0

No. 3 Mississauga def. No. 2 Oshawa, 4-2

Finals

No. 1 Niagara def. No. 3 Mississauga, 4-2

Western Conference

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Plymouth def. No. 8 Owen Sound, 4-2

No. 2 London def. No. 7 Erie, 4-2

No. 6 Windsor def. No. 3 Saginaw, 4-3

No. 5 Sarnia def. No. 4 Kitchener, 4-2

Semifinals

No. 1 Plymouth def. No. 6 Windsor, 4-2

No. 2 London def. No. 5 Sarnia, 4-3

Finals

No. 1 Plymouth def. No. 2 London, 4-2

League finals

No. 1E Niagara def. No. 1W Plymouth, 4-2

OWEN SOUND, Ontario – Fresh off snapping a winless streak in London on Friday night, the Erie Otters (15-15-1-1) hoped to do the same in Owen Sound where they hadn’t won in regulation in five years, but that remained the case as the Attack grabbed a 6-1 win Saturday night at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The loss was only Erie’s second in 11 games.

The first period belonged to the Attack, who grabbed three goals in the first 20 minutes of play to take a 3-0 lead. Owen Sound out-shot Erie, 18-12, in the first period.

Erie picked up their play in the second period, which got off to a good start as Brett Appio blasted a shot from the left point over the left shoulder of Jordan Binnington 2:14 into the frame for his fourth goal of the season. Binnington stopped the other 18 shots by Erie in the period, protecting Owen Sound’s two-goal lead going into the third.

The Attack took control of the game in the third period, starting with a fluky goal by Liam Heelis at 5:37. Owen Sound effectively put the game away on Bobby Mignardi‘s second goal of the night while on the power play, which chased Ramis Sadikov out of the net. Holden Cook completed the scoring for Owen Sound with just over three minutes left to play.

Binnington continued his mastery of the Otters with 42 saves, improving his record to 3-0-0-1 over Erie in his young career. Phil Varone‘s team-leading eight-game point scoring streak was snapped, and the loss was the first for Sadikov in regulation since November 12. The Otters complete their road trip on Sunday against the Guelph Storm at 2:00 p.m.

- From Erie Otters news release

What: Erie Otters (14-14-1-1) at London Knights (13-13-2-1)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: John Labatt Centre – London, Ontario

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

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (21 goals, 22 assists, 43 points), RW Shawn Szydlowski (14-12-26), RW Anthony Luciani (9-14-23), G Ramis Sadikov (14-10-1-1 record, 2.70 goals-against average, .916 save percentage, 2 shutouts), C Phil Varone (10-10-20)

London – RW Jared Knight (12-16-28), RW Vladislav Namestnikov (9-17-26), G Michael Houser (12-9-2-1, 2.92, .914, 1 SO), C Daniel Erlich (7-18-25), D Michael D’Orazio (4-17-21)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters’ five-game winning streak – their longest in two years – ended Saturday in a 3-2 shootout loss to Sarnia. … The Otters begin a three-game road trip through the Midwest Division by trying to snap a 24-game winless skid in London. Their last win at Labatt Centre was on Dec. 27, 2002 – their first visit to the rink. They lost in London 5-3 on Oct. 14… If the Otters win, they will have a winning record for the first time since a season-opening win at Brampton. … The Otters are one point ahead of London in the Midwest Division standings, although the Knights have a game in hand. … Varone takes a seven-game point streak (six goals, 13 points), the second-longest streak of his career, into his first game in London since being traded Oct. 26. He had points in 11 consecutive games with the Knights from Jan. 13-Feb. 8, 2008. … McKegg has points in the past five games (seven goals, 12 points). He has goals in six of his past eight games. … Sadikov has made 20 straight starts, three shy of equaling Josh Disher’s record of 23 set from Sept. 28-Nov. 27, 2003. … The Otters could reach the .500 mark on the road (6-7-1-0). They have won two straight and four of five since a 10-3 loss in Oshawa Nov. 19.

London – The struggling Knights have lost three straight and eight of their last 11 games. … The Knights, one of the OHL’s most potent offenses for many years, rank near the bottom with 93 goals. … They also have the league’s worst power play (15.2 percent) and rank near the bottom on the penalty (79.2). … They have nine losses in 18 home games. They lost only four home games last season. … Houser, a native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, ranks among the top 12 in goals-against average and save percentage. … They have lost two of three meetings with the Otters this season.

Up next: at Owen Sound (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.), at Guelph (Sunday, 2 p.m.)

– Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters finally have another winning streak.

Rookie center Luke Cairns scored two goals and Shawn Szydlowski added three assists to lead the Otters to a 5-2 win against Guelph in front of 2,511 at Tullio Arena Wednesday night.

The Otters (7-12-1-0) have won two straight games, their first winning streak of any kind since winning two in a row in early October. Erie also won at Mississauga St. Michael’s on Sunday.

Cairns continued his impressive start to the season. Cairns, who subbed for injured center Mike Cazzola on a No. 1 line featuring wingers Greg McKegg and Szydlowski, scored 4:53 into the opening period to hand the Otters a 1-0 lead. Szydlowski and Tyler Hostetter assisted on the goal.

Guelph tied the score at 1 at the 6:31 mark of the second period on rookie winger Brock McGinn’s first Ontario Hockey League goal. But the Otters broke the game open by scoring four of the next five goals.

Late in the opening period, Anthony Luciani scored a power-play goal in his long-awaited return to the Otters’ lineup to snap the 1-1 tie. Luciani, who missed the past month with a broken right wrist, fired a rebound past Storm goaltender Matej Machovsky for his fourth goal of the season.

Linemate Phil Varone scored his third goal in seven games with the Otters to extend the lead to 3-1 just 1:16 into the third. Guelph’s Tyler Carroll responded with his fifth goal of the season 38 seconds later to move the Storm (9-6-1-1) within 3-2. But Cairns scored again at the 9:18 mark – the first two-goal game of his brief OHL career – to regain the Otters’ two-goal advantage at 4-2.

McKegg followed with his team-leading 11^th goal of the season, on assists from Hostetter and rookie defenseman Adam Pelech, for a 5-2 lead with 8:16 left in the game.

Luciani (goal, assist) joined Cairns and Szydlowski in recording multi-point efforts in the win. Machovsky made 31 saves in a losing effort for the Storm, which lost for the first time since losing No. 1 goaltender Brandon Foote to an arm injury three games ago.

* News and notes: Mike Cazzola’s wrist injury could be as serious as Luciani’s broken wrist, said Sherry Bassin, Otters managing partner and general manager. But club officials will learn more today about Cazzola’s injury, which he suffered in Saturday’s loss to Owen Sound. He played with the injury in Sunday’s win at Mississauga and also practiced earlier this week. … Former winger Scott Mitchell has cleared waivers, Bassin said, meaning the Otters maintain his rights. Mitchell could join a team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Bassin said.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Otters 5, Storm 2

Guelph  0  1  1  —  2

Erie  1  1  3  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Luke Cairns 2 (Hostetter, Szydlowski), 4:53. Penalties — Van Laren (G) hooking, 1:07; Varone (E) interference, 7:53; Van Laren (G) holding, 18:56.

2^nd Period — 2. Guelph, Brock McGinn 1 (Kosmachuk, Tresham), 6:31. 3. Erie, Anthony Luciani 4 (Szydlowski, Holden), 18:57 (pp). Penalties — Erie, too many men (served by Paton), 11:01.

3^rd Period — 4. Erie, Phil Varone 4 (Luciani), 1:16. 5. Guelph, Tyler Carroll 5 (Menard), 1:54. 6. Erie, Cairns 3 (Szydlowski, Varone), 9:18. 7. Erie, Greg McKegg 11 (Hostetter, Pelech), 11:44. Penalties — Pedan (G) hooking, 11:03; Paton (E) diving, 11:03; Crisp (E) hooking, 14:23; Latta (G) 10-min. misconduct, 18:36; Beck (G) hooking, 18:54.

Shots on goal — Guelph, 7-10-7—24; Erie, 11-17-8—36.

Goaltenders — Guelph, Matej Machovsky 2-2-0-0 (36 shots, 31 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 7-9-1-0 (24 shots, 22 saves).

Power plays — Guelph (0-3), Erie (1-4).

Referees — Mike Bolibruck, Mike Cairns. Linesmen — Jesse Wilmot, R.J. King.

Attendance — 2,511.

Three stars

* Luke Cairns, Otters (2 goals) ** Shawn Szydlowski, Otters (3 assists) *** Anthony Luciani, Otters (goal, assist)

The Erie Otters’ second winning streak of the season will have to wait a little longer.

Owen Sound scored twice early in the third period to hand the Otters a 3-2 loss at Tullio Arena on Saturday night and salvage a split of the two-game series in Erie. The Otters won 4-0 on Friday night.

“We didn’t get the job done,” Otters coach Robbie Ftorek said. “It’s unfortunate.”

The game immediately turned into a battle between Otters goaltender Ramis Sadikov and Owen Sound backup Jordan Binnington. Both teams had several quality scoring opportunities in the first period. But Sadikov made 11 saves and Binnington stopped 10 to maintain a scoreless tie.

Both made several key saves in the opening half of the second period. But the Attack enjoyed the first fortunate bounce of the period to take a 1-0 lead at the 11:53 mark.

Sadikov stopped defenseman Keevin Cutting’s shot from the left wing. But the puck caromed off Attack winger Andrew Fritsch’s body in front and into the net for the goal. Meanwhile, the Otters had shots from Tyler Hostetter and rookie Chris Marchese bounce off posts. Yet less than two minutes after Fritsch’s goal, Otters center Mike Cazzola scored during a delayed penalty to tie the score at 1.

Hostetter and rookie winger Macaulay McDonnell assisted on Cazzola’s ninth goal of the season, which momentarily tied linemate Greg McKegg for the team lead. But Cazzola and Hostetter assisted on McKegg’s 10^th goal of the season 2:05 later, which handed the Otters a 2-1 lead. Sadikov stopped 15-of-16 shots in the period to carry that one-goal advantage into the third.

The Attack tied the score at 2 on Joey Hishon’s ninth goal of the season, off assists from Fritsch and Garrett Wilson, three minutes into the third. Then 5:30 into the period, Wilson scored his Ontario Hockey League-leading 18^th goal of the season to hand the Attack their first lead of the game at 5-3.

The Otters failed on a 5-on-3 for a full minute midway through the period. Hostetter seemed to score the tying goal with 8:30 left, as his shot from the point appeared to hit the back post inside the upper portion of the net and bounce out. But the referee disallowed the goal. The video replay judge upheld the ruling.

The Otters finished with only three shots on goal in the period and 24 for the game. Owen Sound had 35 shots. Fritsch led the Attack with a goal and two assists. Wilson added two points. Hostetter and Cazzola had two points apiece for the Otters while Sadikov made 32 saves.

* News and notes: The Otters lost veteran winger Shawn Szydlowski to an undisclosed injury while skating through a rut during pregame warm-up. The Otters already were without right wing Anthony Luciani (broken right wrist). … Defenseman Brady Austin, who has replaced the departed Mitch Gaulton in the rotation, left the game in the first period with an apparent injury.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Attack 3, Otters 2

Owen Sound  0  1  2  —  3

Erie  0  2  0  —  2

1^st Period — None. Penalties — Appio (E) 5-min. fighting, 8:31; Heelis (O) 5-min. fighting, 8:31; Varone (E) slashing, 16:52; Wilson (O) roughing, 16:52; Shaw (O) roughing, 18:30. Missed penalty shot — Cazzola (E) 17:13.

2^nd Period — 1. Owen Sound, Andrew Fritsch 4 (Cutting), 11:53. 2. Erie, Mike Cazzola 9 (Hostetter, McDonnell), 13:02. 3. Erie, Greg McKegg 10 (Cazzola, Hostetter), 15:07. Penalties — Shields (E) tripping, 8:02; Blacker (O) tripping, 8:48; Zweep (O) interference, 15:53.

3^rd Period — 4. Owen Sound, Joey Hishon 9 (Fritsch, Wilson), 3:00. 5. Owen Sound, Garrett Wilson 18 (Blacker, Fritsch), 5:30. Penalties — Heelis (O) checking to the head, :13; Shaw (O) high sticking, 6:38; Heelis (O) tripping, 7:38.

Shots on goal — Owen Sound, 11-16-8—35; Erie, 10-11-3—24.

Goaltenders — Owen Sound, Jordan Binnington 3-2-0-1 (24 shots, 22 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 5-9-1-0 (35 shots, 32 saves).

Power plays — Owen Sound (0-1), Erie (0-6).

Referees — Darcy Burchell, Chris Carnegie. Linesmen — Matthew Traub, Darryl Wolfe.

Attendance — 3,807.

Three stars

* Andrew Fritsch, Attack (goal, 2 assists) ** Mike Cazzola, Otters (goal, assist) *** David Shields, Otters (good defense)

The Erie Otters finally produced a strong defensive effort.

After surrendering 12 goals in the opening two games of the weekend, the Otters stymied rival London to snap a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win in front of 3,456 at Tullio Arena on Saturday night.

The Otters (2-3-0-0) held the Knights in check for nearly two periods. The penalty-kill unit, which allowed seven goals on 18 chances in the opening four games, went 7-for-7 against the Knights (2-2-0-0).

Meanwhile, the Otters scored four straight goals, two apiece in the first and second, to build a 4-0 lead.

“This was a huge win for us,” second-year winger David Broll said. “It’s a really good confidence boost.”

The Otters found an opening through Igor Bobkov, London’s 6 foot 6 inch, 240-pound rookie goaltender and Anaheim Ducks prospect, late in the opening period. Broll turned defenseman David Shields’ pass into his second goal of the season and a 1-0 Otters lead with 5 minutes, 32 seconds left in the first. Thirty-one seconds later, overage winger Shawn Szydlowski, who has joined Mike Cazzola and Greg McKegg on the No. 1 line, scored his first goal of the season for a 2-0 lead.

Then in the second period, a defensive miscue and Bobkov’s inability to cover the puck in the crease turned into McKegg’s short-handed goal at the 8:04 mark. McKegg poked the puck through Bobkov after it slipped out from under Bobkov’s glove. The Otters continued the offensive assault late in the period.

Tyler Hostetter scored his second goal of the season, off assists from rookie Chris Marchese and Broll, for a 4-0 lead with 4:58 left. The Knights ended Ramis Sadikov’s bid for his first Ontario Hockey League shutout, as rookie Andreas Athanasiou poked in a rebound with 7.6 seconds left in the second.

London sliced the Otters’ lead to 4-2 at the 2:40 mark of the third, as rookie Vladislav Namestnikov’s shot trickled through Sadikov. London outshot the Otters 14-5 in the final 20 minutes. But Sadikov and the Otters held off the Knights the rest of the way.

Along the way, McKegg scored his second short-handed goal, this one into an empty net, with 1:02 left in the game. He’s the first Otter to score two short-handed goals in a game since Zack Torquato on Feb. 29, 2008, against Owen Sound and the fifth in the franchise’s 15-year history. Sadikov had 35 saves. Bobkov had 24 in his OHL debut. McKegg led Erie with two goals and an assist. Broll and Hostetter each had a goal and assist. Namestnikov had a goal and assist for the Knights.

* News and notes: Defenseman Brett Cook missed the game. He apparently was injured in a first-period fight against Kitchener’s Tyler Randell on Friday night. Coach Robbie Ftorek said he was unaware of Cook’s condition. … Brady Austin has played the first five games on defense. Before the season, club officials said he would return to defense permanently.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Otters 5, Knights 2

London  0  1  1  —  2

Erie  2  2  1  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Erie, David Broll 2 (Shields, Luciani), 14:28. 2. Erie, Shawn Szydlowski 1 (McKegg, Hostetter), 14:59. Penalties — Paton (E) high sticking, 7:13; McNeill (L) holding, 15:56; Szydlowski (E) high sticking, 16:47; Paton (E) hooking, 19:58.

2^nd Period — 3. Erie, Greg McKegg 2 (unassisted), 8:04 (sh). 4. Erie, Tyler Hostetter 2 (Marchese, Broll), 15:02. London, Andreas Athanasiou 1 (D’Orazio, Namestnikov), 19:52. Penalties — Appio (E) 4-min. roughing, 6:34; Terreri (L) checking from behind, 6:34.

3^rd Period — 6. London, Vladislav Namestnikov 2 (Donnay), 2:40. 7. Erie, McKegg 3 (unassisted), 18:52 (sh-en). Penalties — Shields (E) holding, 4:35; Appio (E) high sticking, 6:45; Holden (E) delay of game, 17:58.

Shots on goal — London, 10-13-14—37; Erie, 13-11-5—29.

Goaltenders — London, Igor Bobkov 0-1-0-0 (28 shots, 24 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 2-2-0-0 (37 shots, 35 saves).

Power plays — London (0-7), Erie (0-1).

Referees — Ben Wilson, Craig Spada. Linesmen — Ron Wilson, Fraiser MacIntire.

Attendance — 3,456.

Three stars

* Greg McKegg, Otters (2 goals, assist) ** Ramis Sadikov, Otters (35 saves) *** Tyler Hostetter, Otters (goal, assist)