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Plymouth Whalers

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Plymouth Whalers
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif
City Plymouth Township, Michigan
League Ontario Hockey League
Conference Western
Division West
Founded 1997-1998
Home Arena Compuware Sports Arena
Capacity 4,500 (incl. standing)
Ice Size 200' x 85'
Colours Navy blue, Silver, Green and White
Head Coach Mike Vellucci
General Manager Mike Vellucci
File:Vig.JPG
2006 All-Star and Whalers captain John Vigilante celebrates after scoring a goal. He has 93 in his career, and ranks 6th in all-time team scoring.
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The Plymouth Whalers are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They play out of the Compuware Sports Arena (seating capacity: 3,807) in Plymouth Township, Michigan, USA.

Franchise Identities:


A Brief History

The Whalers have had a very colored past. The team began in Detroit, then moved to Oak Park and Auburn Hills. The team moved to Plymouth in 1996 and haven't looked back. They've been called Ambassadors, Jr. Wings and Whalers. But despite the changes, this team continues to win hockey games.

The club has made the playoffs in every season except their expansion year of 1990-91. The team has won 9 divisional titles (1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006), 2 OHL Regular Season Championships (2000, 2001), reached the OHL Championship Finals four times and won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1995. The team played in the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup championship in 1995.

The team played their first season at Cobo Arena, and moved to Joe Louis Arena for their second season. However, after a falling out with the Detroit Red Wings in 1995, the team moved to play in Oak Park as the Detroit Whalers while also playing a few games at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and failed to successfully defend their OHL Championship. The following year, they moved to the Compuware Sports Arena as their second and final season as the Detroit Whalers. The following year, they changed their name to the Plymouth Whalers.

Owned by Peter Karmanos, the owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, Whalers players are often drafted by the Hurricanes to keep them in the system.

Notable players

Current squad

Goaltenders
Number Player Shoots Acquired NHL Rights Place of Birth
1 Canada Justin Peters L Trade TOR File:CarolinaHurricanes 100.png 2004 Blythe, Ontario
30 United States Jeremy Smith L 2005 2007 Brownstown, Michigan
33 United States Justin Garay R 2003 Free Agent Monaca, Pennsylvania
Defensemen
Number Player Shoots Acquired NHL Rights Place of Birth
2 Canada Brett Bellemore R 2005 2006 Windsor, Ontario
3 Canada Wes Cunningham L Trade BLV Free Agent Dresden, Ontario
4 United States Derek Merlini L Trade ER Free Agent Clinton Township, Michigan
10 United States Ryan McGinnis L 2003 File:LosAngelesKings 100.png 2005 Fenton, Michigan
22 United States Mike Letizia - A L 2002 Free Agent Chicago, Illinois
26 Canada Steve Ward - A R Trade SAR Free Agent Scarborough, Ontario
28 Canada Zack Shepley L 2003 Free Agent Oakville, Ontario
34 Canada Leo Jenner L 2005 2007 Mossley, Ontario
Forwards
Number Player Shoots Positon Acquired NHL Rights Place of Birth
7 United States Jared Boll R RW Trade KGN File:ColumbusBlueJackets 100.png 2005 Oshawa, Ontario
9 United States John Vigilante - C R LW 2002 File:NashvillePredators 100.png 2005 Dearborn, Michigan
11 Canada Evan Brophey L C Trade BLV File:ChicagoBlackhawks 100.png 2005 Kitchener, Ontario
15 Canada Andrew Fournier L C 2003 2006 Amhertstview, Ontario
17 United States Dan Collins (Injured) R RW 2003 File:FloridaPanthers 100.png 2005 Carthage, New York
18 Canada John Armstrong R C 2004 2006 Unionville, Ontario
19 Canada James Neal L LW 2003 File:DallasStars 100.png 2005 Whitby, Ontario
20 Canada Chris Terry L C 2005 2007 Brampton, Ontario
21 United States Tommy Sestito L LW 2003 2006 Rome, New York
23 Canada Joe McCann R RW Trade SAG 2006 Essex, Ontario
24 United States Gino Pisellini - A R RW 2002 File:PhiladelphiaFlyers 100.png 2004 Itasca, Illinois
25 Canada Joe Gaynor L LW 2005 2007 Goderich, Ontario
29 Slovakia Ondrej Otcenas L C 2005 File:CarolinaHurricanes 100.png 2005 Piestany, Slovakia
39 Canada Ryan Stephenson L LW Trade KGN Free Agent Belmont, Ontario
File:DetCompuwareAmbassadors2.GIF
A previous logo of the team, as the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors.

First Round Draft Picks

Players who were drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft

NHL Alumni

Players who have played in the NHL Bold indicates having played in the 2005-06 NHL season.



File:Peake.PNG
Pat Peake, in his final season with the organization. Peake is 1st in career goals scored, and points overall with the team.

Retired numbers

# 14 - Pat Peake

File:Berard and Haggerty.jpg
Bryan Berard and Sean Haggerty, with Haggerty's autograph on the card. Berard was named Defenceman of the Year and was drafted 1st Overall in 1995, while Haggerty, 5th in all-time scoring in the regular season, leads the team playoffs, and is 1st all-time playoff scoring.

All-Time Career Points Leaders

The following players are the top 10 players, sorted by points, of all-time by Whalers players. These statistics only include games played with the Whalers, not career OHL numbers.

Player Years GP G A Pts PIM
Pat Peake 1990-92 162 138 181 319 162
Bob Wren 1991-94 182 115 188 303 220
Todd Harvey 1991-95 173 113 157 270 310
Kevin Brown 1992-94 113 102 167 269 161
Sean Haggerty 1993-96 187 131 132 263 136
John Vigilante 2002-06 254 93 153 246 107
Harold Druken 1996-99 187 123 120 243 60
John Mitchell 2001-05 258 80 150 230 158
Damian Surma 1998-02 241 105 120 225 286
Stephen Weiss 1999-02 172 89 134 223 149
File:Detroit Jr. Red Wings.gif
A previous logo of the team, as the Detroit Jr. Red Wings.

Team Captains

Year-by-year Record

Logo Year GP W L T OL GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
File:DetCompuwareAmbassadors2.GIF 1990-91 66 11 50 5 - 213 378 27 8th Emms Out of Playoffs
File:DetCompuwareAmbassadors2.GIF 1991-92 66 23 42 1 - 279 353 47 7th Emms Lost First Round (NF)
File:Detroit Jr. Red Wings.gif 1992-93 66 37 22 7 - 330 324 81 2nd Emms Lost Conference Final (SSM)
File:Detroit Jr. Red Wings.gif 1993-94 66 42 20 4 - 312 237 88 1st Emms Lost Final (NB)
File:Detroit Jr. Red Wings.gif 1994-95 66 44 18 4 - 306 223 92 1st West Won J. Ross Robertson Cup
2nd Place, Memorial Cup
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 1995-96 66 40 22 4 - 319 243 84 1st West Lost Conference Final (PBO)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 1996-97 66 26 34 6 - 230 270 58 4th West Lost First Round (SSM)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 1997-98 66 37 22 7 - 279 223 81 2nd West Lost Conference Final (GUE)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 1998-99 68 51 13 4 - 313 162 106 1st West Lost Conference Semi-Final (LDN)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 1999-00 68 45 18 4 1 256 172 95 1st West Lost Final (BAR)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2000-01 68 43 15 5 5 253 162 96 1st West Lost Final (OTT)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2001-02 68 39 15 12 2 249 166 92 1st West Lost Conference Quarter-Final (LDN)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2002-03 68 43 14 9 2 259 174 97 1st West Lost Conference Final (KIT)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2003-04 68 32 24 9 3 220 204 76 2nd West Lost Conference Semi-Final (GUE)
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2004-05 68 30 29 6 3 198 204 69 2nd West Lost Conference Quarter-Final (OS)
Logo Year GP W L OL SL GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
File:Plymouthwhalers.gif 2005-06 68 35 28 1 4 227 224 75 1st West WQF: Tied 3-3 with the Windsor Spitfires
  • 1990-92: Team known as Detroit Compuware Ambassadors
  • 1992-95: Team known as Detroit Jr. Red Wings
  • 1995-97: Team known as Detroit Whalers
  • 1997-present: Team known as Plymouth Whalers

External links

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