Whites 5, Blue 4 in Whalers' Rookie Orientation Scrimmage

The Whites scored four unanswered goals in the second half to overcome a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Blues, 5-4, in the opening scrimmage at Plymouth Whalers Rookie Orientation on Saturday afternoon at .

The teams played two, 25-minutes running-time halves.

Tom Marchin’s goal in the final minute of play in the second half snapped a 4-4 tie and stood as the game-winner for the Whites.  Marchin – a free agent from Algonac, MI, who played for the Detroit Honeybaked midgets last season – scored on a rebound in front of Blues goaltender CJ Sharp.

Earlier, Mathieu Henderson (7^th round, 2012), Zach Bratina (1^st round, 2012), Patrick Kudla (11^th round, 2012) and Joe Drabin (free agent from Rochester, NY Alliance) tallied the other White goals.  Plymouth veteran Danny Vanderwiel recorded two assists in the second-half comeback for the Whites.

Plymouth veteran Matt Mistele opened the scoring for the Blues, who scored all of their goals in the first half.  Whalers veteran Mitch Jones, Bryan Basilico (free agent from Detroit Honeybaked), and free agent Brad Riccardi (Gilmour Academy) scored the other Blues goals.

Darien Ekblad and free agent Riley Corbin split time in goal for the Whites, with Ekblad giving up all four Blues goals in the first half.  Alex Nedeljkovic (6^thround, 2012) and CJ Sharp (Thunder Bay Kings) split time in goal for the Blues.  Nedeljkovic allowed one goal in the first half for the Blues, while Sharp allowed four.

One skater was participating in his second sport of the day.  Christian Wolanin (Plymouth’s 13^th round pick in the 2011 OHL Draft) began a busy Saturday playing lacrosse for Rochester Adams high school before reporting to the Whalers Rookie Orientation.  If Wolanin was tired, it didn’t show on the ice.

Another player – 15^th round draft choice Camden VanBrocklin – became the first Whalers draft choice ever to be drafted from Iowa.  VanBrocklin played for the NPI Leafs U-16’s based out of Urbandale, IA and did not look out of place in Saturday’s scrimmage.

The scrimmage was part of a busy day for the players and their parents.  The bulk of the day was spent in off-ice testing and an Educational Seminar, designed to inform parents of the educational opportunities while playing for the Whalers.

All high-school aged players attend school at the Plymouth-Canton Education Park while all Whalers of college age are encouraged to attend one of several colleges in the Western Wayne County area.

“We firmly believe in developing good hockey players and good citizens,” said Plymouth General Manager Mike Vellucci.  “One of the best hires we’ve ever made is bringing in John Siedleman as our Educational Consultant.  He’s been part of the Plymouth school system for over 30 years and is integral to our success.”

The Blues and Whites will scrimmage Sunday from 9:30-11 a.m. at Compuware Arena.