The city of London, Ontario, and the OHL’s London Knights will host the 2014 Mastercard Memorial Cup, the league announced Tuesday.
The Knights earned the right to hold the CHL’s annual tournament, which includes champions of the OHL, WHL and QMJHL and the host club, over the Barrie Colts and Windsor Spitfires. Officials from all three clubs made formal bid presentations to the site selection committee this past April 17.
The Knights’ potential roster, which has more than 22 players eligible to return from a team that won a second straight league championship Monday, proved to be in the Knights’ favor. “The site selection committee determined that while all three clubs possess sufficient elements for a suitable host city,” OHL legal counsel Gord Kirke, a committee members, said in a statement, “it is the projected quality of the London Knights Hockey Club next season that is the decisive factor.” The 96th annual tournament will be held at Budweiser Gardens in London May 16-25, 2014. The Knights begin play in the 2013 Memorial Cup Friday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, against the host Saskatoon Blades.

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.

Millcreek Township native Cameron Trejchel, 12, has been selected to play for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres’ 12-under team in the prestigious Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. The 53rd annual event will be held Feb. 14-24 at Pepsi Coliseum, in Quebec City, Quebec – home of the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques from 1972-1995 and current home to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts.
Trejchel, who plays for the Amherst (N.Y.) Knights during the season, joins a group of 19 other players from western and central New York on the Jr. Sabres’ roster. The tournament for 11 and 12-year-olds, which has featured more than 600 current and former NHL players in the past, reportedly attracts an estimated 2,300 players from 16 countries and 200,000 spectators each year.

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League announced today that Anaheim Ducks prospect John Gibson of the Kitchener Rangers is the first Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week for the 2012-13 season after posting a 2-0-0-0 record with a shutout victory along with a 0.96 goals-against-average and .964 save percentage for the week ending September 23.

Gibson opened the 2012-13 campaign on Friday night recording the first shutout across the CHL this season making, the second of his career, with 25-saves as first star of the Rangers’ 3-0 win over the Mississauga Steelheads. He followed that performance with a 28-save effort on Sunday afternoon in a 3-2 shootout win over the Sarnia Sting.

Gibson, a 19-year-old from Pittsburgh, PA, is playing in his second OHL season with the Rangers following a 2011-12 season where he led the league with a .928 save percentage in 32 games. Gibson was selected in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks and was a member of last year’s U.S National Junior Team.

Also considered for the award this week was Luke Siemens of the Prince Albert Raiders who posted a 1-0-0-1 record for a 1.44 goals-against-average and a .957 save percentage. In the QMJHL, Carl Hozjan of the Rimouski Oceanic posted a 2-0-0-0 record with a goals-against-average of 0.61 and save percentage of .978.

- From CHL news release

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario – The Erie Otters mounted a comeback with four goals in the third period Thursday night.
But that outburst wasn’t enough to overcome Niagara’s scoring barrage throughout the Otters’ 7-4 preseason loss at Gatorade Garden City Complex. The Otters also allowed seven goals in a preseason loss to Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) last weekend.
The IceDogs scored three goals in the first period and one more in the second to build a 4-0 lead.
Ryan Strome scored early in the third to hand the IceDogs a 5-0 lead before Anthony Cortellessa and Nick Betz scored off rebounds to move the Otters within 5-2. Derek Todosichuk regained Niagara’s four-goal lead at 6-2. Then Luke Cairns scored the first of his two goals to pull the Otters within three again at 6-3. Strome capped his five-point outing with his second goal, and Cairns completed his three-point night, in the game’s final minutes.
Connor Brown had two assists and Cortellessa added a goal and assist for the Otters, which fell to 1-2 in the preseason heading into the finale against Owen Sound Sunday at 2 p.m. in Elmira, Ontario. Travis Wood and Stephen Harper also had an assist apiece. Keinan Brown allowed all seven goals for the Otters. Anthony DiFruscia had two goals for the IceDogs.

FLAMBOROUGH, Ontario – Rookie winger Hayden Hodgson and second-year winger Nick Betz scored their first goals of the preseason, and veteran center Jake Evans scored his second goal for the Erie Otters.
But that wasn’t enough to overcome a scoring barrage by the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the Otters’ 7-3 loss at North Wentworth Arena Saturday night.
The Huskies snapped a scoreless tie with three second-period goals. Then they broke the game open with three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 37 seconds of the third period that built a 6-1 lead. Evans added two assists to his goal for a three-point outing.
No. 1 pick Connor McDavid had his third assist in two games, and Stephen Harper had an assist after scoring two goals in a 3-2 win against Niagara Friday night. The Otters return to preseason action Thursday at 7 p.m. against the IceDogs at Gatorade Garden City Complex.

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 Erie Otters officially announced today that they will hold training camp at Morgan Firestone Arena in Ancaster, Ontario, during a news conference at the facility. Players report for camp Aug. 27 at 5 p.m. All on-ice sessions are open to the public and free of charge.
The Otters will end camp with their preseason opener Aug. 31 against Niagara at Firestone Arena. Tickets for the 7 p.m. game cost $10, and a portion of the proceeds will support the Rotary Splash Pad Project. The Otters also will face Rouyn-Noranda, of the QMJHL, in a preseason game Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at North Wentworth Arena in Flamborough, Ontario. The game that benefits the Skate the Dream program, which provides underprivileged children the chance to play ice hockey.
Tickets are $12 or $10 with a donation to the Flamborough Food Bank.

Check out this New York Times story on what may lie ahead for fighting in junior hockey.

Toronto – The Canadian Hockey League in association with the Ontario Hockey League, London Knights and Sudbury Wolves announced on Thursday the rosters for Team OHL that will compete against Team Russia in the 2010 SUBWAY® Super Series.

Following two games hosted in the QMJHL, the OHL leg of the six-game series begins in London on Nov. 11 at the John Labatt Centre before moving north to the Sudbury Community Arena on Nov. 15.  Erie Otters captain Greg McKegg will play in the Nov. 15 game.

The series then shifts west for two games hosted in the WHL.

“The SUBWAY® Super Series provides these players with a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate that they can compete amongst the best players eligible for the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship,” said Dave Cameron of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, who will serve as head voach of both Team OHL and Team Canada.  “The OHL has had a lot of success against the Russians in this event and I am confident that we have assembled another strong group of players in all positions that will make us competitive in these games, and with players who will make a strong push to represent the OHL on Team Canada in Buffalo this December.”

A total of 36 players in total were selected for Team OHL rosters, including 2010 Team Canada members Calvin de Haan of the Oshawa Generals and Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires who won silver last year at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

The rosters are also highlighted by three first round picks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, including Erik Gudbranson of the Kingston Frontenacs, Joey Hishon of the Owen Sound Attack and Mark Visentin of the Niagara IceDogs.

In addition to de Haan and Ellis, 2009 first-round picks Peter Holland of the Guelph Storm and Zack Kassian of the Spitfires will compete in the series.  London’s Scott Harrington is one of seven players competing that are eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  He will represent the host Knights in London alongside forward Michael MacDonald, while Wolves forwards Marcus Foligno and John McFarland will represent the host team in Sudbury.

The Team OHL rosters were assembled by a selection committee that includes Brampton Battalion general manager and coach Stan Butler and London general manager Mark Hunter.  They worked in conjunction with Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast.

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