Erie Otters return to OHL playoff action with best-of-seven series against Kitchener.
Erie Otters coach Stan Butler surpassed 800 career Canadian Hockey League victories earlier this month.
The East York, Ontario, native accomplished that feat during his first full season in charge of Erie's Ontario Hockey League franchise.
Butler, 68, also coached the Oshawa Generals for two years and the North Bay Battalion more than 21 before his current tenure in Erie. Two of those North Bay teams participated in the league’s Robertson Cup finals.
No coach wins that many games without knowing the most minutia of rules.
Which is to say, yes, Butler was aware the Otters had to defeat the Kitchener Rangers in regulation or overtime of last Saturday’s season finale to have any chance of claiming the fifth seed for the league’s Western Conference playoffs.
Erie went a long way in getting that specific berth when Martin Misiak scored in overtime before a raucous crowd of more than 6,500 at Erie Insurance Arena.
The Otters’ 4-3 dramatic victory, combined with Guelph’s 3-0 loss at London the following day, meant they’d play the fifth-seeded Rangers in a quarterfinal series instead of the third-seeded Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Game 1 for the best-of-seven series between Erie (33-28-5-2) and Kitchener (41-23-4-0) will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
The initial puck drop will signal the Otters’ return to the OHL playoffs for the first time since they were the league’s Robertson Cup titlists in 2017.
It’s mostly that reason Butler wasn’t overly concerned if Erie was the conference’s fifth or sixth seed. However, there was another behind his rationale.
Otters’ fans only need look at the records for all the OHL’s playoff participants to understand why.
“To be honest,” Butler said, “we knew we were going to be an underdog against whoever we played. The (first) three seeds in our conference had more points than any on the other side (the Eastern Conference). The biggest thing we wanted to was be aware of that.
“Another was playing well going into the playoffs.”
Erie accomplished that. Misiak’s goal clinched Erie’s fifth straight victory, the longest such streak for its 2023-24 regular season.
More: OHL Western Conference quarterfinal series: Erie Otters vs. Kitchener Rangers
‘Going to quickly learn’
Erie’s playoff drought does warrant an asterisk. The league’s 2020 postseason and entire 2020-21 season were cancelled because of COVID-19 and travel restrictions between the United States and Canada.
However, Erie’s 2018-23 postseason absence was the longest stretch since the franchise moved to northwestern Pennsylvania in 1996.
The Otters have employed three coaches since Kris Knoblauch was behind the bench for their 2016-17 Robertson Cup team. The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers replaced coach Jay Woodcroft with Knoblauch last Nov. 12.
The next two Erie coaches who followed Knoblauch were dismissed in midseason. General manager Dave Brown fired Chris Hartsburg in 2022 and B.J. Adams a year later.
Butler officially took over for Adams on Feb. 4, 2023. He’s the first person who’s coached the Otters over a full season since Hartsburg for 2020-21.
Erie went 7-16-0-4 for the end of its 2023-24 season with Butler as coach. This time last year, he was arranging end-of-season interviews for those Otters expected to return.
While those one-on-one sessions will happen at some point, they’ll be later than normal.
“I’m really happy right now for guys like Owain Johnston, Spencer Sova and Brett Bressette, who have never experienced a playoff game,” Butler said. “Now, they’re going to find out there’s actually four seasons in the OHL: preseason, before Christmas, after Christmas and the playoffs.
“They’re going to quickly learn Friday night the intensity goes up in the playoffs.”
Excitement after eclipse?
There’s no guarantee of a sixth game between the Otters and Rangers.
Should it happen, though, it’s guaranteed to be unlike any other in Erie’s sports history.
That potential April 8 game at EIA will begin at 7 p.m. While lighting within the arena isn’t expected to be an issue, the lighting outside will be a celestial matter.
That playoff would start after the total solar eclipse directly passes over northwestern Pennsylvania. Erie County businesses have long prepared for thousands of out-of-town residents to converge here for that rare experience.
Brown asked the league if the game could be held on a different day because of that, but the league rejected his request.
"We know our April 8 home date isn't ideal,” Brown said in an Otters news release. “We hope we can count on our fans to witness the eclipse, and then to come to the arena to truly make the day more interesting and bright."
The Erie Times-News left a message with OHL communications director Josh Sweetland about the scheduling issues surrounding that possible game. It was not returned.
The OHL has two other potential playoff games, Mississauga at Sudbury and Owen Sound and Saginaw, scheduled on April 8.
Sudbury and Saginaw aren’t located in the eclipse’s direct path.
Series schedule
Friday: Erie at Kitchener, 7 p.m.
March 31: Erie at Kitchener, 2 p.m.
April 2: Kitchener at Erie, 7 p.m.
April 4: Kitchener at Erie, 7 p.m.
April 5: Erie at Kitchener, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
April 8: Kitchener at Erie, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
April 9: Erie at Kitchener, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie Otters end OHL playoff drought come Friday's faceoff vs. Kitchener
