Plymouth Whalers Work EA Sports NHL '15 With a Smile at Destiny Games

Photo by Rena Laverty - the Plymouth Whalers are hard at play at Destiny Games on Sept. 9

MEDIA ALERT - Plymouth Whalers General Manager Mark Craig will be interviewed on the national radio show, “The Pipeline”, (TSN 1260 in Edmonton, AB) on Saturday at 12:20 pm.

Listen to interview live on Saturday by using the following link: TSN 160 in Edmonton

Like most young men in the age group of 16-20, members of the Plymouth Whalers are comfortable with social media, computers, Smart Phones and I-Pads.

Add video games to the list, too.

The Whalers worked out in a different fashion when they appeared at Destiny Games in Canton on Sept. 9 in the re-launch of EA Sports NHL’ 15.

Fans were invited to test their video gaming skills against the Whalers. As in past editions, the updated EA Sports NHL ’15 has a Canadian Hockey League component, allowing the fans and Whalers alike to play Canadian Hockey League teams, often against National Hockey League teams if they choose.

Members of the Whalers watch and critique themselves as they appear in cyberspace.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Plymouth defenseman Mitch Jones.

“It’s weird, but pretty sweet at the same time,” said Whalers d-man Mathieu Henderson with a smile. “The game and graphics are especially awesome on the PS-4 (Sony).”

Fans wanting to play Plymouth games with new Whalers Will Bitten and Sonny Milano will have to be patient. Much like teams make trades and acquire players over the course of the season, the Plymouth roster will be updated to include all present players on the 2014-15 roster around the Christmas holidays.

“I haven’t played the game yet, but I am looking forward to it,” said Bitten. “They told me I’ll be added around Christmas.”

Other members of the Whalers contribute to the realism of the CHL component.

Plymouth Director of Communication Pete Krupsky isn’t included in the broadcast of the EA Sports NHL’15 series, but he did take detailed photos of the Plymouth white, blue and green jerseys (front, side and back) to capture the team’s logos and number and lettering style. Krupsky also took photos of the Compuware Arena ice surface.

All CHL teams do this for EA Sports.

“I’ve been asked to do this every other season,” Krupsky said. “The artists at EA Sports do an outstanding job capturing our images accurately. It’s not always easy finding a Plymouth name plate with a “Z” in it (Robbie Czarnik) or a “V” (Francesco Vilardi or Alex Nedeljkovic), but the end product makes the work worthwhile.”

VIDEO - Videographer Keith Dotson produced a video report about the Whalers visit to Destiny Games.

Destiny Games is located at 42134 Ford Rd in Canton. Contact them at 734-404-5548.

CAMPAGNA TO NASHVILLE: Whalers veteran Mathew Campagna has been invited the the Nashville Predators main training camp. See the release here.