| Plymouth Whalers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Plymouth, Michigan |
| League | Ontario Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | West |
| Operated | 1997–2015 |
| Home arena | Compuware Arena |
| Colors | Navy blue, white, green and silver |
| Franchise history | |
| 1990–1992 | Detroit Compuware Ambassadors |
| 1992–1995 | Detroit Junior Red Wings |
| 1995–1997 | Detroit Whalers |
| 1997–2015 | Plymouth Whalers |
| 2015–present | Flint Firebirds |
ThePlymouth Whalers were a majorjunior ice hockey team in theOntario Hockey League. They played out ofCompuware Arena inPlymouth, Michigan, United States, a suburb ofDetroit until 2015 when they were relocated toFlint, Michigan.
The Whalers can trace their roots back to the 1990–91Detroit Compuware Ambassadors as an expansion team in the OHL. Since then the franchise has also been called theDetroit Junior Red Wings and theDetroit Whalers. In 1997 they were officially renamed the "Plymouth Whalers" after the local municipality gave generous tax breaks to the team and venue. The franchise was owned until 2015 byPeter Karmanos, who also owned the NHL'sCarolina Hurricanes (formerly theHartford Whalers, from which the OHL team's name was taken).
Plymouth is one of only two teams to win 5 consecutive division titles (West division from 1999 to 2003), the other team being the Ottawa 67's (East division from 1996 to 2000). Plymouth has made the playoffs 23 consecutive seasons, since the 1991–92 season. The Whalers reached the OHL finals two consecutive seasons in1999–2000, and2000–01, losing to theBarrie Colts andOttawa 67's. These seasons included future NHLersDavid Legwand,Justin Williams,Robert Esche, andStephen Weiss.
Celebrating their 10th Anniversary playing at the Compuware Arena during the2005–06 season, all current Whalers players had been brought into the system by head coach and general managerMike Vellucci. This created the build-up for the next year. Headed by overage captainJohn Vigilante, the team's rookies in 2003 and 2004 came to fruition inJames Neal, Dan Collins, andTommy Sestito. Vellucci acquired theBelleville Bulls' leading scorerEvan Brophey and theToronto St. Michael's Majors goaltender Justin Peters, who had an extensive resume. On the last game of the season, the Whalers played theSaginaw Spirit, with the division title on the line, in what has been proven to be one of the most exciting OHL games in recent history. With the Whalers' 2–0 lead going into the third period, the Spirit fought back and managed the tying goal just before time expired. However, Brophey scored in overtime to clinch the Whalers' 9th division title.
During the2006–07 season, rookie goaltendersJeremy Smith andMichal Neuvirth, combined for the lowest goals against average in the OHL, with only 173 goals against in total. The Whalers had a number of high prospects signed or drafted by NHL teams, including formerWayne Gretzky 99 Award winner Daniel Ryder, who was acquired, with him already having been signed with theCalgary Flames. After a very inconsistent start, the team improved to fall short of theLondon Knights by one point for theHamilton Spectator Trophy. During the second half of the season and through the playoffs, the Whalers featured a 23-game winning streak at home, lasting three and a half months, falling at Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals to London. The Whalers, although seeded #2, easily won theWayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference playoff champion, sweeping #7 Guelph, and winning in 5 against both #3 Kitchener and #1 London. In the final, the Whalers defeated theSudbury Wolves in six games to win theJ. Ross Robertson Cup, thus earning the right to represent the OHL in the2007 Memorial Cup.
In the Memorial Cup, the team suffered a rough start, losing to theVancouver Giants 4–3 in overtime on May 18, and again to theMedicine Hat Tigers 4–1 on May 21. Their fortunes would change, however, on May 22, when they would defeat theLewiston Maineiacs 2–1 in overtime, thus putting them in the tiebreaker game on May 24, in which they would defeat Lewiston again, 5–1, eliminating the Maineiacs from the Memorial Cup and advancing to the semifinal. However, on May 25, the Whalers would lose again to theVancouver Giants in the semifinal round, this time in dramatic fashion by a score of 8–1. This way, the Whalers finished the2007 Memorial Cup in third place.[1]
During the2007–08 season, the Whalers dealt the goaltender that led them to their 2007 OHL Championship, Michal Neuvirth, early to make room for Jeremy Smith to start. Neuvirth was among 12 players that left/were traded from that team, leaving the team looking to a number of young players for leadership. Chris Terry led the team in scoring and was helped by overage captain Andrew Fournier and up-and-comer AJ Jenks. In mid-December 2007, President and GM Mike Vellucci left his head coaching position for Greg Stefan. A late season injury to overage defensemanWes Cunningham hampered the flow of the team, leading to an early playoff exit at the hands of the eventual OHL champions, the Kitchener Rangers.
Early in the2008–09 season, Stefan was recalled to the Hurricanes, where Mike Vellucci came back to fill the head coaching role. Injuries and inconsistency plagued the team, as they fell to dead last in the league. After the coaching change, as well as key trades, including a short lived experiment with Cory McGillis, then-leading scorer Matt Caria from the Greyhounds,Scott Fletcher from the Ice Dogs, and the return from AHL-playing Brett Bellemore, the team saw a turn around by Christmas putting them back into the middle of the pack. At the deadline, as a result of Bellemore's return and the emergence ofMatt Hackett as the new starting goaltender, Patrick Lee and Jeremy Smith were traded to Niagara for draft picks.
The2009–10 season saw the Whalers led by league MVPTyler Seguin along with other top scorers such asMyles McCauley.
On December 29, 2013, the Whalers and theLondon Knights broke the newly setCanadian Hockey League attendance record. The Knights and Whalers, playing in the second OHL game of the evening outdoors atComerica Park inDetroit,Michigan (also the second outdoor game ever played in the OHL), played in front of 26,384 spectators. The Whalers won the game 2–1 in a shootout.[2]
On January 14, 2015, owner Peter Karmanos announced that the Whalers would be relocated toFlint, Michigan after a sale of the team to the owner of Flint'sPerani Arena and Event Center for the2015–16 season. The OHL approved the sale, and the relocated franchise is named theFlint Firebirds. On March 15, the Whalers missed the playoffs for the only time. Six days later on March 21, the Plymouth Whalers played their final game in franchise history losing 5–1 to the Erie Otters.[3][4]
The Plymouth Whalers have won eight divisional titles, five of them consecutively. Plymouth has also won three Hamilton Spectator trophies and reached the OHL Championship Finals three times, winning during the2006–07 season.
J. Ross Robertson Cup
| Hamilton Spectator Trophy
Bumbacco Trophy
|
14 -Pat Peake is the only number retired by the Whalers organization. Peake (who played in the Junior Red Wings era) was a two-season captain, the first MVP for the franchise in 1992–93, as well as Canadian Hockey League player of the year, and OHL Most Sportsmanlike player of the year. He has the most career points in franchise history.
Players who were drafted in the first round of theNHL Entry Draft while playing for the Whalers franchise.
List of Plymouth Whalers alumni who have played in theNational Hockey League.
Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Memorial Cup champions | OHL champions | OHL runners-up |
| Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL | SL | Pts | Win % | GF | GA | Standing | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 66 | 37 | 22 | 7 | — | — | 81 | 0.614 | 279 | 223 | 2nd West | Won first-round (Sarnia Sting) 4–1 Won quarter-final (Belleville Bulls) 4–2 Lost semi-final (Guelph Storm) 4–0 |
| 1998–99 | 68 | 51 | 13 | 4 | — | — | 106 | 0.779 | 313 | 162 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–0 Lost conference semi-final (London Knights) 4–3 |
| 1999–2000 | 68 | 45 | 18 | 4 | 1 | — | 95 | 0.699 | 256 | 172 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Guelph Storm) 4–2 Won conference semi-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–1 Won conference final (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) 4–1 LostOHL championship (Barrie Colts) 4–3 |
| 2000–01 | 68 | 43 | 15 | 5 | 5 | — | 96 | 0.706 | 253 | 162 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Sarnia Sting) 4–0 Won conference semi-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–0 Won conference final (Erie Otters) 4–1 LostOHL championship (Ottawa 67's) 4–2 |
| 2001–02 | 68 | 39 | 15 | 12 | 2 | — | 92 | 0.676 | 249 | 166 | 1st West | Lost conference quarter-final (London Knights) 4–2 |
| 2002–03 | 68 | 43 | 14 | 9 | 2 | — | 97 | 0.713 | 259 | 174 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Owen Sound Attack) 4–0 Won conference semi-final (London Knights) 4–3 Lost conference final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–3 |
| 2003–04 | 68 | 32 | 24 | 9 | 3 | — | 76 | 0.559 | 220 | 204 | 2nd West | Won conference quarter-final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–1 Lost conference semi-final (Guelph Storm) 4–0 |
| 2004–05 | 68 | 30 | 29 | 6 | 3 | — | 69 | 0.507 | 198 | 204 | 2nd West | Lost conference quarter-final (Owen Sound Attack) 4–0 |
| 2005–06 | 68 | 35 | 28 | — | 1 | 4 | 75 | 0.551 | 227 | 224 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–3 Lost conference semi-final (Guelph Storm) 4–2 |
| 2006–07 | 68 | 49 | 14 | — | 2 | 3 | 103 | 0.757 | 299 | 173 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Guelph Storm) 4–0 Won conference semi-final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–1 Won conference final (London Knights) 4–1 WonOHL championship (Sudbury Wolves) 4–2 Tied for 3rd place inMemorial Cup round-robin Won tie-breaker (Lewiston Maineiacs) 5–1 Lost semi-final (Vancouver Giants) 8–1 |
| 2007–08 | 68 | 34 | 28 | — | 2 | 4 | 74 | 0.544 | 228 | 223 | 5th West | Lost conference quarter-final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–0 |
| 2008–09 | 68 | 37 | 26 | — | 5 | 0 | 79 | 0.581 | 224 | 218 | 2nd West | Won conference quarter-final (Sarnia Sting) 4–1 Lost conference semi-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–2 |
| 2009–10 | 68 | 38 | 27 | — | 1 | 2 | 79 | 0.581 | 245 | 201 | 2nd West | Won conference quarter-final (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) 4–1 Lost conference semi-final (Windsor Spitfires) 4–0 |
| 2010–11 | 68 | 36 | 26 | — | 2 | 4 | 78 | 0.574 | 249 | 219 | 3rd West | Won conference quarter-final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–3 Lost conference semi-final (Owen Sound Attack) 4–0 |
| 2011–12 | 68 | 47 | 18 | — | 2 | 1 | 97 | 0.713 | 279 | 205 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Guelph Storm) 4–2 Lost conference semi-final (Kitchener Rangers) 4–3 |
| 2012–13 | 68 | 42 | 17 | — | 4 | 4 | 93 | 0.684 | 292 | 202 | 1st West | Won conference quarter-final (Sarnia Sting) 4–0 Won conference semi-final (Owen Sound Attack) 4–2 Lost conference final (London Knights) 4–1 |
| 2013–14 | 68 | 28 | 33 | — | 0 | 7 | 63 | 0.463 | 187 | 238 | 4th West | Lost conference quarter-final (Guelph Storm) 4–1 |
| 2014–15 | 68 | 23 | 38 | — | 5 | 2 | 53 | 0.390 | 195 | 255 | 4th West | Did not qualify |
In 2009 allCanadian Hockey League teams came out with newReebok EDGE Jerseys[5]
The Plymouth Whaler logo featured an angry hockey stick-wielding whale, blowing a puck and spout of water out its blow hole. The name Whalers was superimposed on the image surround by a circle of green and blue with waves in the background.
The Whalers' white jersey had the whaler logo in the center with 3 even stripes on the sleeves and bottom of the jersey. The stripes are evenly spaced with two navy outer lines and one green inner line. The Whalers' blue jersey had the Whalers logo in the center with a white space and green space going down the sleeves. A third jersey was green with "WHALERS" written diagonally down the front.
The Plymouth Whalers had amascot named Shooter.[6] His first game appearance was on December 11, 2003 against thePeterborough Petes.
Peter Karmanos arranged to build the Whalers a new home inPlymouth Township, Michigan as soon as the 1995–96 season ended. TheCompuware Arena was constructed in six months' time, ready for the 1996–97 season, with aseating capacity of 3,807. In addition to the NHL-sized rink, there is an Olympic sized rink also in the building.[7]
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