The OHL preseason kicked off with a pair of Friday night games. Last year's Memorial Cup champions, the Saginaw Spirit scored six goals to defeat the Brantford Bulldogs while the Kitchener Rangers won in the shootout against the Erie Otters. 

Brantford Bulldogs vs Saginaw Spirit

The Spirit played the Bulldogs in a matinee game at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

After the first period of play, Brantford and Saginaw were tied at two goals. It was Saginaw who went up 4-2 after scoring a pair in the second. An even third period resulted in a final score of 6-4 and a Saginaw victory. 

It was a good day for the returning players on both rosters as they did the vast majority of the scoring.

Kristian Epperson also scored a pair of goals for Saginaw and an assist. 2025 draft-eligible forward Michael Misa also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. 

Saginaw's 2024 seventh-round pick Liam Campbell had an excellent game picking up a pair of goals.

For Brantford, returning forward Dylan Tsherna also recorded a pair of goals While Gabriel Runco picked up a pair of assists. 

Erie Otters vs Kitchener Rangers

The Rangers played host to the Erie Otters at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Kitchener set the tone for the game, outshooting the Otters in every period resulting in a 34-24 final shot count. 

However, it was Erie's Martin Misiak who got the scoring started under two minutes into the first period. Kitchener responded with a pair of goals to end the first period up 2-1.

The teams exchanged goals in the second resulting in a 3-2 Kitchener lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play. Dramatically, Malcolm Spence scored with 17 seconds left on the clock to tie the game. After a three-round shootout, Kitchener salvaged the win. 

Matthew Schaeffer had a pair of assists in the game, including a secondary assist on the game-tying goal. Malcolm Spence, Ondrej Molnar and Martin Misiak scored the goals for Erie. 

Kitchener's Justin Bottineau, Antonino Pugliese and Trent Swick scored the goals for Kitchener. It was second-year forward Luca Romano who sealed the win in round three of the shootout. 

The four teams will each play three games for the weekend. They will rotate through playing one another in a rapid-fire start to the preseason.

Today, Erie faces of against Brantford while later tonight Saginaw with play against Kitchener.