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.

The Erie Otters have hired Chris Hartsburg and Vince Laise as the new assistant coaches on coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff. They were introduced, along with first-round pick Dylan Strome, to the media and a group of season-ticket holders and fans during a welcome reception Thursday at Erie Insurance Arena.
Hartsburg, 33, whose father, Craig Hartsburg, was a defenseman in the NHL and now is associate coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, spent the past four seasons as an assistant with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Hartsburg, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, will focus on the defense and penalty kill.
Laise, 30, a native of Bramalea, Ontario, will handle off-ice training, video breakdown and assist Knoblauch with the power-play units. He has worked with many professional athletes at the Athletic Training Center, a hockey training facility in Mississauga, Ontario. He also has worked with Strome.
He was an assistant coach this season with the Brampton Bombers, a Junior B club in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. He spent the 2011-12 season, his first in coaching, with the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
Knoblauch said he has someone in mind for the club’s part-time goaltending coach. But he planned to wait until the OHL releases the schedule for the 2013-14 season before making a decision. Knoblauch said the team’s schedule would need to fit into that undisclosed candidate’s plans.

- Victor Fernandes

Here’s the latest speculation surrounding at least one of the newest members of Erie Otters coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff … Chris Hartsburg, son of former NHL defenseman and current Columbus Blue Jackets associate coach Craig Hartsburg. The younger Hartsburg spent this season as an assistant coach with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
No official confirmation from the Otters. The staff will be announced at tonight’s welcome reception for first-round pick Dylan Strome at Erie Insurance Arena.

- Victor Fernandes

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.

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

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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Robbie Ftorek (Contributed/Erie Otters)

Sherry Bassin wants to keep coach Robbie Ftorek and assistant coach Peter Sidorkiewicz with the Erie Otters in the future.

So Bassin, managing partner and general manager, plans to restructure their contracts, he said Wednesday at Tullio Arena. Bassin either will add to their existing deals or finalize a new contract.

Either way, their new deals will last a minimum of three years apiece. Ftorek has two years left on his current deal. Sidorkiewicz has one year remaining. “They’re good,” Bassin said of Ftorek and Sidorkiewicz. “It’s good for the continuity of the team. It’s good for the new players that are coming in.”

* Camp cuts: Club officials cut 11 prospects on Wednesday to reduce the roster to 40 players.

The list includes five 2010 OHL draft picks – goaltender Hunter Johnson (10th round), defenseman Liam Maaskant (eighth) and forwards Eric Kimmerly (11th round), Brent Hambly (14th round) and Liam Walker (15th round) and a pair of 2009 picks – defensemen Mikhel Poldma (fifth round) and Matt Halloran (14th round). Bassin originally planned to keep Maaskant in camp. But he wasn’t able to practice because of a case of shingles, a painful skin rash triggered by the same virus that causes chicken pox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“That’s too bad because he deserves to stay longer,” Bassin said of Maaskant.

Harborcreek Township native Billy Wager, a goaltender, and Harbor Creek High School defenseman Hunter Conboy headlined a list of free-agent invites cut that included defenseman Tyler Mayea and forward Jack Pirie.

* Ailing Luciani: Right wing Anthony Luciani had wisdom teeth removed a few days before training camp began. That should keep him from practicing all week. Bassin said Luciani developed a throat infection stemming from the procedure. Club officials also removed Luciani from the team’s cabins at Camp Sherwin in Fairview over concerns that other players could be infected.

“We’ve been very careful with that,” Bassin said. “We’re not upset (that Luciani can’t practice) because we don’t have to evaluate him.” Luciani led the team with 38 goals last season.

In other injury news, goaltender Ramis Sadikov (foot) missed Wednesday’s practice. He was struck with a shot on Tuesday. Center Connor Crisp (groin), a 2010 second-round pick, and free-agent winger Macaulay McDonnell (charley horse) also sat out practice.

Billy Wager (Contributed/Bill Wager)

* Wager chooses NCAA: Wager approached Ftorek after the second scrimmage on Wednesday. Wager informed Ftorek that NCAA hockey is in his future. “I just realized I really want to focus on education,” said Wager, 16, who will play for Plymouth, Mich.-based Victory Honda‘s U16 team this season.

He pointed to the Otters’ annual seminar on Tuesday night, which featured Mercyhurst College men’s coach Rick Gotkin.

“It cleared things up for me,” Wager said.

Wager’s collegiate list includes NCAA Division I Boston University (his favorite), Boston College, Canisius, Denver, Maine, Mercyhurst, Michigan State, Ohio State (his father Bill‘s alma mater) and Wisconsin. He has made unofficial visits to BC, BU and Ohio State. “I’m still trying to find out what school is right for me,” said Wager, who wants to earn degrees in business and film. “I’ve looked at hockey programs. Now it’s time to look at education programs.”

* News and notes: Veteran winger Matthew Paton has added eight pounds of muscle to his 208-pound frame. That will help his physical style of play. But he has still focused on his speed and skill. Without that, he said, “I’m useless.” … John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, and Sudbury Arena in Sudbury, Ontario, will host the OHL’s two games in the Subway Super Series, which features a six-game series between OHL, QMJHL and WHL all-star teams against a Russian club.

- Victor Fernandes

First round at a glance

1. Prince George (WHL)

2. Sarnia (OHL)

3. Halifax (QMJHL)

4. Edmonton (WHL)

5. Kitchener (OHL – acquired from Belleville)

6. Victoriaville (QMJHL – acquired from Baie-Comeau)

7. Portland (WHL – acquired from Lethbridge)

8. Oshawa (OHL)

9. Quebec (QMJHL – acquired from Lewiston)

10. Seattle (WHL)

11. Owen Sound (OHL)

12. Montreal Juniors (QMJHL – acquired from Moncton)

13. Vancouver (WHL – acquired from Regina)

14. Mississauga St. Michael’s (OHL – acquired from Sudbury)

15. Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL – acquired from Acadie-Bathurst)

16. Prince Albert (WHL)

17. Saginaw (OHL – acquired from Niagara)

18. Chicoutimi (WHL)

19. Edmonton (WHL – acquired from Chilliwack)

20. Peterborough (OHL)

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