Erie Otters 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part One)

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dirty12

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DB needs fired so badly and I’ll continue to say it until it happens. Amongst terrible trading, here’s one of his worst draft decisions he’s ever made.View attachment 760215
The two after Lockhart would not report to Erie. I’m not sure if any had Johnston at 6 other than Windsor. Lockhart was ranked 4-5 among ON born by nearly all.
The Petes took a big risk with MacTavish.
 
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NOA

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The two after Lockhart would not report to Erie. I’m not sure if any had Johnston at 6 other than Windsor. Lockhart was ranked 4-5 among ON born by nearly all.
The Petes took a big risk with MacTavish.
Exactly. The bigger issue was not developing him or surrounding him with good talent thanks to other poor drafting, asset management, and bad hiring decisions
 

Petes1987

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Exactly. The bigger issue was not developing him or surrounding him with good talent thanks to other poor drafting, asset management, and bad hiring decisions
Connor Lockhart has been a great player for the Peterborough Petes and was key to their Championship win. He went from a career total of 75 points in two seasons in Erie to getting 79 points in one season with the Petes. The key was Rob Wilson put him in situations were he could succeed. He played with Tucker Robertson for most of the season, Owen Beck in the later part of the season (at left wing) and the early rounds of the playoffs and in the conference finals, the league finals and the Memorial Cup he played with Jax Dubois. The last move was to spread the scoring around and in that role he continued to contribute.
 

Mata

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Connor Lockhart has been a great player for the Peterborough Petes and was key to their Championship win. He went from a career total of 75 points in two seasons in Erie to getting 79 points in one season with the Petes. The key was Rob Wilson put him in situations were he could succeed. He played with Tucker Robertson for most of the season, Owen Beck in the later part of the season (at left wing) and the early rounds of the playoffs and in the conference finals, the league finals and the Memorial Cup he played with Jax Dubois. The last move was to spread the scoring around and in that role he continued to contribute.

As you've just further illustrated...

The pick itself wasn't horrible. He was arguably the best available at that time to report to Erie. He's one heck of a player, but as NOA eluded to WTF is going on in Erie where highly sought after picks are falling flat? Coaching, drafting, development...it's been abysmal in the past 7 seasons.
 

Mata

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Big road tests left in Flint and Sarnia...

Let's hope they can at least win 1 of the 2 with the priority being Flint IMO...they have a legit shot to make up some ground for middle of the pack in the conference in these next 2 games!
 

OttersFan

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Big road tests left in Flint and Sarnia...

Let's hope they can at least win 1 of the 2 with the priority being Flint IMO...they have a legit shot to make up some ground for middle of the pack in the conference in these next 2 games!
We are on the road and stayed in the same hotel as the team. Spirits were high and they should be well rested. Today will be a big test and they can’t quit early.

I asked Alfano about Lalonde’s cheap shot, but he didn’t want to disclose anything. We’ll be cheering them on. We were the only ones with cowbells last night so if you heard it on the stream/broadcast, it was us.
 

Section5Petes

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It is kinda funny that from the 2019 draft, 3 of the top 5 picks ended up being Peterborough Petes: Brennan Othmann (2nd overall), Connor Lockhart (3rd overall), Mason McTavish (5th overall)

Boy was that 2019 draft ever loaded
 
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Guy In Burlington

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Flint head coach Paul Flache played for Stan Butler's Brampton Battalion ('99-'02).
Watched him plenty back then. He was a strong, tough, honest player and I’m happy to see he’s coaching in the league.

Has a twin brother Peter who played for the North Bay Centennials, and something tells me they fought each other up there one night.
 

Mata

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Good gritty win...should have won in regulation, but a shootout win is still a win.

Ben played well tonight. Felt like we did enough to win, but we weren't overly flashy or anything.

Get the win tomorrow and we are poised for middle of the pack just under 1/4 of the way through the season.
 
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ZinErie

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Otters have an opportunity to go 3-0 on their 4 day road trip. Hopefully they can close it out
 
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Mata

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First time since 2017 the Otters have won a 3 in 3 on the road...

Also puts them at .500 for the season...

This weekend was huge and they stepped up.
 
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OttersFan

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I was at all three games this weekend and what a team. There was no quit. This team played huge and got it done.

If anyone wants to sponsor my travels, feel free to Venmo/Paypal since clearly I was the 7th man 😂

The Sarnia fans really love Benny. We are very lucky to have him because he stole the show.
 

NOA

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Impressive weekend. Let’s see if they start to really build off this with now 4 straight home games coming up. The West is pretty wide open right now and certainly the middle pack teams aren’t pulling away. really hope they can build off this and become a more consistent team. Terrance is starting to get rolling. I still think this offense has a higher ceiling
 

Mata

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Impressive weekend. Let’s see if they start to really build off this with now 4 straight home games coming up. The West is pretty wide open right now and certainly the middle pack teams aren’t pulling away. really hope they can build off this and become a more consistent team. Terrance is starting to get rolling. I still think this offense has a higher ceiling

The next month will be a true testament to how good the team is and will make or break this season as well as be a precursor to what our trade deadline will look like:

Opponent rankings in conference presently:

Wolves #3
Firebird #5
Spirit #9
Knight's #3
Rangers #1
SOO #2
Miss #1
Rangers #1

Every team with the exception of the Spirit are above .500 atm.
 
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NOA

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The next month will be a true testament to how good the team is and will make or break this season as well as be a precursor to what our trade deadline will look like:

Opponent rankings in conference presently:

Wolves #3
Firebird #5
Spirit #9
Knight's #3
Rangers #1
SOO #2
Miss #1
Rangers #1

Every team with the exception of the Spirit are above .500 atm.
Tough stretch, no doubt. I think going .500 during this stretch is a realistic and fair expectation. Anything better is just gravy given their backup goalie spot. Gibbons is historically bad right now and they can’t survive long with him as their backup option… .742 SV% is almost impossible to believe. I’m not advocating that they spend real assets to upgrade the backup spot but using a later round pick (8th/9th round) to get a better option is pretty much a must at this point. Another high end draft pick used on a goalie who literally can’t play in the league… (Lawr, Lalonde, Gibbons)
 

onetimeshot

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Apr 21, 2023
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Erie Otters – up three spots to #14 this week

A 3-0 weekend on the road? Welcome to the OHL Power Rankings! The Otters make their first appearance since the preseason edition when they came in at 15th after wins over Saginaw, Flint and Sarnia. First overall CHL Import Draft pick Martin Misiak, a Chicago Blackhawks prospect, had himself a strong weekend with six points (4-2–6) in the three victories.
 

eriefan101

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Nov 6, 2023
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Tough stretch, no doubt. I think going .500 during this stretch is a realistic and fair expectation. Anything better is just gravy given their backup goalie spot. Gibbons is historically bad right now and they can’t survive long with him as their backup option… .742 SV% is almost impossible to believe. I’m not advocating that they spend real assets to upgrade the backup spot but using a later round pick (8th/9th round) to get a better option is pretty much a must at this point. Another high end draft pick used on a goalie who literally can’t play in the league… (Lawr, Lalonde, Gibbons)
Let’s not forget the young lads only started two games. Had an unbelievable showing in pre season and showed a lot of promise, wasn’t his finest in Mississauga but didn’t exactly have the most help from the team. Had a solid showing in Kitchener without giving up any bad goals in my opinion. He’s had to go in as relief in 3 games against top teams, and yes he struggled in those, but it’s also a very tough situation to be put into. Give him time, he’s only young
 
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Mata

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We have quite possibly the worst ice and zambonis in the league. There’s no reason for large puddles to be on the ice.

Heard the compressors are having issues today so look for minimal water on cuts. If they can't get it fixed I wouldn't be surprised if the game tomorrow gets postponed.
 

OttersFan

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Heard the compressors are having issues today so look for minimal water on cuts. If they can't get it fixed I wouldn't be surprised if the game tomorrow gets postponed.
I know things like this happened, but it looks like a swimming pool out there. Other teams use the ice and you’d think they’d be aware of the issue prior to an OHL game.
 

Mata

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I know things like this happened, but it looks like a swimming pool out there. Other teams use the ice and you’d think they’d be aware of the issue prior to an OHL game.

They were...they canceled all the youth hockey games for the tournament this weekend.
 

OttersFan

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They were...they canceled all the youth hockey games for the tournament this weekend.
Wow that’s good to know. By they I meant the Erie Events. They should’ve fixed it when Erie went on the road.
 

Mata

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Wow that’s good to know. By they I meant the Erie Events. They should’ve fixed it when Erie went on the road.

We were here Thursday night for practice...it wasn't a problem then. This just transpired within the last 24 hours.
 
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