Plymouth Whalers Prepare for Saturday Home Opener Vs. Erie

Photo by Rena Laverty - From left, Plymouth’s Josh Wesley and Alex Peters battle Erie’s Travis Wood.

After starting the 2014-15 season in London on Friday, the Whalers host the Erie Otters on Saturday at 7:05 pm at Compuware Arena in the home opener.

The Whalers magnet schedules have been produced and will be passed out on Saturday.

Although it seems like Plymouth hosts Erie every home opener - and it has happened regulary lately - Saturday’s Plymouth-Erie home opener is the seventh time since 2006.

Like a lot of teams in the Ontario Hockey League, the Whalers are slowly getting players back from National Hockey League training camps. Alex Nedeljkovic and Josh Wesley (Carolina) and Mathew Campagna (Nashville) all retured to Plymouth on Monday and all are back in practice on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon’s practice, Sonny Milano (Columbus), Victor Crus Rydberg (NY Islanders), Matt Mistele (Los Angeles) and Connor Chatham (New Jersey) remain with their NHL teams.

That may change by the end of the week, depending on the NHL teams.

The first of several Plymouth previews and/or league previews are out. Tim Smith of the Plymouth Observer and Eccentric previews the Whalers:

What stands to be a very important season on and off the ice for the Plymouth Whalers is set to open this weekend.

The 25th season for the Peter Karmanos-owned Ontario Hockey League franchise will be a lot different than one can remember simply because Farmington native Mike Vellucci is gone.

Vellucci, the longtime president/general manager and head coach of the team, left after last season to join the braintrust of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes (also owned by Karmanos, by the way). Vellucci presided over a team that made the OHL playoffs 23 consecutive seasons.....

Later in the article, Danny Vanderwiel talked about looking forward to Saturday.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the opener,” said forward Danny Vanderwiel, entering his fourth season with the Whalers. “People should definitely come out, give us a look. Help us get our attendance up.

“Whalers games are a lot of fun, it’s good hockey, it’s good-paced hockey, just a bunch of kids trying to battle to make their dreams come true.”

See the rest of the story.

THE McDAVID FILE: Much like Patrick Kane (London), Steven Stamkos (Sarnia), Tyler Seguin (Plymouth), Taylor Hall (Windsor) and Aaron Ekblad (Barrie) before him, Erie’s Connor McDavid comes into the season as one of the top players eligible for the 2015 National Hockey League Draft.

McDavid has done plenty of offensive damage against the Whalers during his career. Last season, McDavid scored three goals with six assists for nine points in four games. Over two seasons, McDavid has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in eight games against Plymouth.

The only game he didn’t register a point while playing against Plymouth came during his rookie season on Jan. 21, 2013 in a 7-1 Whalers victory.

McDavid’s point totals compare to Stamkos, who turned into a Whaler killer from 2006-08 for Sarnia. Stamkos scored 14 goals with six assists for 20 points in 11 games against Plymouth.

Early this season, McDavid was interviewed on The Pipeline Show on TSN 1260.

Audio - Connor McDavid.

Much like Seguin and Hall in 2010, McDavid and Boston University center Jack Eichel are at the top of the 2015 NHL Draft Class.

“Anybody who wants to rate them one-two right now, go for it,” said Chicago Blackhawks senior director of amateur scouting Mark Kelley (a regular at Compuware Arena). “I’m just going to enjoy watching it unfold and have the players determine who is No. 1 and who is No. 2. McDavid plays in the Canadian Hockey League and Eichel is in the NCAA, and we know there is rivalry there.

“We have one who’s Canadian and one who’s American, so there’s another rivalry. Then, as if the hype couldn’t get any more heated, bring it to Montreal and Toronto where we expect both to play prominent roles for their country at the World Junior Championship. Expectations are high for both, and deservedly so.”

See the rest of the story from Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com.