WHALERS THIS WEEKEND - Friday, Kingston at Plymouth, 7:05 pm, Compuware Arena. Saturday, Belleville at Plymouth, 7:05 pm, Compuware Arena. BROADCAST - TV, CN-900 both nights at 7 pm.
The Whalers are preparing for an important four-game home stand over the next two weekends. Plymouth hosts Kingston on Friday and Belleville on Saturday at Compuware Arena and then will host Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, Feb. 7 and North Bay the next evening.
Plymouth comes into the weekend in the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff chase with a record of 17-26-0-5, good for 39 points, three points ahead of ninth place Sarnia (15-27-1-5, 36 points) and five points up on tenth place Kitchener (16-29-1-1, 34 points).
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And while Sarnia prepares to entertain Belleville tonight and host Mississauga on Saturday and Kitchener hosts Barrie on Friday and plays in St. Catharines against the Niagara on Saturday, the Whalers are looking to score goals.
Plymouth works hard as a team, but goals have been hard to come by.
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The Whalers drove to the net hard on Jan. 20 and were rewarded in a 7-2 victory over Saginaw at Compuware Arena. It's that kind of jam that the Whalers are working towards this week in practice.
Overage Zach Lorentz is having a career-year offensively for Plymouth. Nearly all of his 19 goals this season have come from the hashmarks in.
"The next couple of weeks are huge," Lorentz said Thursday. “We came up short last weekend and got away from the game plan. But we’ll stick with the game plan over the next couple of weeks. We’ve had some good practices this week and we’ll be playing our game."
Listen to hockey teams at all levels and most say the same thing about scoring goals - go to the net, drive to the net, get pucks to the net, redirect the puck, get gritty, get dirty, get greasy.
There is no such thing as Puck Luck. Watch games and most goals are earned through grit and hard work around the blue paint, something that the Whalers are working on this week.
“We’ve definitely been working on that in practice," Lorentz admitted. "Getting pucks to the net, driving to the net and banging in some dirty goals. That’s definitely going to be on our mind over the next couple of games.We’re just looking to get some greasy goals and go on from there.”
Plymouth has received a lift from young players like Cullen Mercer, Mathieu Henderson, Francesco Vilardi, Connor Chatham and Josh Wesley, among others. Lorentz sees the young Whalers as a group that will continue to improve as the season wears on.
"You look are their games and they do a lot of the little things right – especially like (Cullen) Mercer," Lorentz said. "He chips pucks in, then goes and gets them. That’s’ going to help out this team in the long run."
If the Whalers get in a shootout, expect Lorentz to be one of the shooters. He's been deadly this year, going 9-for-12 in shootout. And Plymouth leads the OHL with 25 points gained in overtime or shootouts over 15 games.
The question is, will Lorentz go forehand, backhand, five-hole or stuff? He's scored every way. Stay tuned.
THE BENNETT FILE: Kingston features an offensive team led by Sam Bennett (27-41-68), who is the top-rated North American in the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Bureau mid-term ranking for the 2014 NHL Draft, held June 27-28 in Philadelohia.
Dan Marr is the director for NHL Central Scouting and has visited Compuware Arena this season.
"Bennett is there because, as a group, we feel he stood out to us in the first half of the season as the one that has the skills and intangibles to be a difference-maker," Marr told NHL.com. "He's a player that can play in all situations, elevate his game and rise to the occasion."
ADDITIONAL STORY ABOUT BENNETT - Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star.
IMPORTANT WEEKEND FOR BELLEVILLE: Belleville - tenth place in the OHL Eastern Conference with a record of 13-30-2-2 and ten points out of the playoffs - plays in the Western Conference on Thursday in Sarnia, Friday in Saginaw and Saturday in Plymouth.
The Bulls need points this weekend if they hope to catch Mississauga or Niagara for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
“Since Christmas, for whatever reason, our play on the road has been stronger,” said Bulls GM-coach George Burnett. “If we knew why, we'd bottle it. But you see that kind of thing in junior hockey all the time and it can be hard to explain. Maybe it's the freedom to play that way and not be worrying about satisfying your hometown fans.”
