Sports
Friday Night (Not) Light - Whalers Host Windsor at 7:05 p.m.
Plymouth currently tied for first place in OHL West
Sound bytes provided by Pete Krupsky and www.plymouthwhalers.com.
The Plymouth Whalers have played the Windsor Spitfires more than any other opponent in the team's 23-year history.
On Friday, the Whalers play the Spitfires for the first time this season - and 191st time in franchise history - at Compuware Arena at 7:05 p.m.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The standings are tight in the West Division, with Plymouth (9-5-2-1, 21 points) and Sarnia (10-7-0-1, 21 points) tied at the top of the division and Windsor (8-7-0-4, 20 points) and Sault Ste. Marie (9-8-1-0, 19 points) right behind. And with all 20 teams in the OHL in action on Friday, the standings may well change.
In other games in the West Division on Friday, Sarnia plays at Guelph, Sault Ste. Marie plays at Kitchener and Saginaw is in Ottawa.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Election Day Tuesday, Plymouth received a lift from first star Rickard Rakell and second star Stefan Noesen in a 4-1 win over Saginaw.
Rakell - a first round pick of the Anaheim Ducks - played the game in front of Anaheim Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray and scored a goal with two assists in the victory.
Rakell also won the battle of faceoffs, going 14-of-20 most of the afternoon against Saginaw's Vince Trocheck, who may be the best on the draw in the league.
BRATINA PICKS UP THE PACE: As with all young players, it takes time to adjust to the Ontario Hockey League. 16-year-old Zach Bratina is starting to make the adjustment with the Whalers.
After starting the season with just one assist over his first 14 games, Bratina scored his first OHL goal last Saturday against Sarnia and has four points over his last four games.
AUDIO: Bratina speaks about his adjustment to the Ontario Hockey League.
MAHALAK PICKS UP THE PACE: Plymouth goaltender Matt Mahalak has played well since the beginning of October, posting a 2.40 goals against average and .924 save percentage in 13 appearances.
Earlier this week, Mahalak was recognized by MiHockeyNow.com.
NEXT UP: Plymouth hosts London on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena.
