Saturday, January 17th, 2015
Plymouth Whalers Playoff Chance
Mitch Jones and Coach Don Elland will be missing the next two games due to the fight that happened at the 5:19 mark of the second period of last night’s 5-2 loss against the Sting.
Jones was given a game misconduct penalty for leaving the bench to start an altercation. Which is a violation of Rule 70.2 in the OHL Rulebook.
Rule 70 – Leaving the Bench
70.2 Legal Line Change – A player who has entered the game while play is in progress from his own players’ bench or legally from the penalty bench (penalty time has expired) who starts an altercation maybe subject to discipline in accordance with Rule 28– Supplementary Discipline.
A player or players who have entered the game on a legal line change during a stoppage of play, who line up in preparation for the ensuing face-off, and who participate in an altercation shall be penalized under the appropriate rule and will be subject to discipline in accordance with Rule 28 – Supplementary Discipline (a game misconduct is not automatic in this situation unless provided for as a result of his actions in the altercation).
Both Coach Elland and Jones will be back in action when the Whalers travel to Niagara to take on the Ice Dogs.
Friday, January 16th, 2015
Plymouth Whalers Playoff Chance
According to Terry Camp at ABC 12 in Flint, the Plymouth Whalers are holding a press conference tomorrow to discuss the future of the team . More details as they become available.
The Whalers did more than move some players at the trade deadline. They also moved the captaincy from the injured Alex Peters to overage defenseman Gianluca Curcuruto.
As for the Whalers that are wearing the A on their shoulder? That would be Mathew Campagna, Mitch Jones, and Sonny Milano.
Sunday, January 10th, 2015
Plymouth Whalers Playoff Chance
I saw this in the Detroit Red Wings subreddit and thought it would be perfect here. Here’s the idea:
The Standings Game is something I put together every day for this subreddit so we can keep track of our race to a playoff berth. It is essentially a list of the most ideal results for all NHL games (with respect to Detroit’s position in the standings) on a given night. I will only assign ideal outcomes to games that affect the Eastern Conference standings.
I will also make a note of which games are most important to our current situation in the standings. These will mostly be divisional games, however they can also include games where a team is threatening to remove us from a Wild Card position, or games with a significant statistical impact on Detroit’s playoff chances.
At the end of each night’s schedule, I will update the list with the actual results, as well as indicate how the game affected our statistical probability of making the playoffs. Games that have an insignificant or near-zero effect on our standings will be denoted with a +/-0.0% value. Games regarding teams that have already clinched a playoff berth or been statistically eliminated will not be listed, unless their opponent is of relevance to Detroit’s standings.
Please note that there might be some numbers that don’t quite make sense, or percentages that may change in the middle of an evening of games. I’ll do my best to update and explain these, but if anything seems off or confusing, feel free to ask!
Note: all ideal results are assumed to be regulation victories, unless otherwise noted.
So I will consult Sports Club Stats and try to show who we should root for as the Whalers try to dig out of the hole that they are in and make the playoffs for a 24th straight year.
Saturday, January 10th, 2015
Plymouth Whalers Playoff Chance
The discussion of the Plymouth Whalers being moved and/or sold has be the hot topic since team owner Pete Karmanos Jr. stated last May that if the attendance situation did not change in Plymouth, they would have to look at other options. Since then just about everyone and their mother knows somebody who has the inside scoop as witness by the tweets below.
Per @SpitsInsider, The Plymouth #Whalers move to Chatham should be made official tomorrow. #OHL
— OHLInsiders (@OHLinsiders) December 30, 2014
As has been rumoured for a long time, USA Hockey set to buy Compuware Arena. Expected to be first shoe to drop before Whalers move. — Loosepucks.com (@loosepucks) November 24, 2014
Spoke with Peter Karmanos who said he’s targeting small Canadian city for relocation of Plymouth Whalers: “Hopefully, Chatham.”
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) December 8, 2014
OHL rumour: Plymouth Whalers moving to Flint? @PWhalers @WhalersInsider @HoundsInsider @CoachStanButler @TheMurrayFlurry @CskiChris — Randy Russon (@RandyRusson) January 10, 2015
@WhalersOTM OHL gave Karmanos an extension on moving the team. Not over yet but it could be much worse. No doubt about it.
— Alexander Wolff (@Blairwolff) January 1, 2015
Major announcement in Flint on Monday. @PWhalers moving to Flint? @OutsiderMurray @TSNBobMcKenzie @bcostellothn @CskiChris @OHLinsiders — Randy Russon (@RandyRusson) December 7, 2014
Mike Vellucci: “it is too soon to speculate if the Whalers will be relocating in the future.” His boss Peter Karmanos: “Hopefully Chatham.”
— Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) December 12, 2014
The truth is that we will only know once something has been made official. As you remember Flint has been talked about as a new location even as early as last year. Well since then, some things have changed. A new ownership group has come in to take over the Arena and the talks are that they want to bring a team there. Sooner rather than later. At first there was talk that it was going to be a USHL Expansion team, now in the past week it has come around again that they are looking for an OHL team to start there in September 2015. ABC12 in Flint comes in with this video report. New owners at Perani Arena look into purchasing Ontario Hockey League team
This holds a little more weight when looking at the reports of a move, but still there is a lack of comment from the league and the Whalers. Hold on to your seats Whaler fans, between now and when we have official news, this is going to be a roller coaster ride of rumor and speculation.
Coming into the Friday’s trade deadline the Whalers were in last place in the West and 11 points away from a playoff spot. Fans were wondering what moved might be made by the rookie General Manager, Mark Craig.
To give Craig credit, he has made some good moves with the team early in the season. He brought in Matt Watson when we needed defense without giving up a single player or future pick, and he also brought in OA defenseman Sean Callaghan for a 4th round pick in 2016 and the rights to Connor Carrick. [Yes, you read that right. At least that’s what the OHL media site is reporting]
Thursday we saw our first move for the Whalers. Liam Dunda was sent to the Owen Sound Attack for two picks. London’s 3rd round pick in 2016 and Niagara’s 4th round pick in 2017. Dunda took to Twitter to give his thanks to the Whalers organization and express his excitement for the next step in his OHL career.
A big thank you to the @PWhalers for a great year and a half of hockey and giving me every opportunity to succeed. #whalernation !
— Liam Dunda (@LiamDunda) January 9, 2015
Cannot wait to get things started with the @AttackOHL ! Going to be a great season, couldn’t be any happier and excited !
— Liam Dunda (@LiamDunda) January 9, 2015
The clock hit Noon with no word about any other trades in the pipeline. However, as long as the teams communicate the trade to the league before Noon, there still could be a final few trades that get announced after the deadline. This happened to be the case this year as the Whalers were part of a three way trade with Oshawa and Windsor.
Let’s break this down, even though it’s not that complicated.
First Trade:
Windsor: Ryan Moore, Guelph’s 4th round 2015
Oshawa: Chase Pearson, 2nd round 2021, 3rd round 2018
Second Trade:
Plymouth: Matt Mistele
Oshawa: Ryan Moore, Guelph’s 4th round ’15, 6th round ’16, 4th round ’17, 3rd round ’19, 2nd round ’20
Overall the Whalers set themselves up to acquire additional talent in the future through the OHL Priority Selection without blowing up the entire team. They picked up seven picks and Ryan Moore right before the deadline.
Yes, while the Whalers did get rid of their top scorer with Mistele, I still think this trade will be considered a long term win for the Whalers. Just imagine, right now there is an 11 year-old out there that will be selected with the 2020 2nd round pick that came in this trade.
Our first look at the short term gains Plymouth may have made with this trade will not be seen until the Whalers take on the Soo on Saturday when Ryan Moore joins the team.
Whalers On The Moon 