Behind the Bench with Peter DeBoer

by Stephen J. Holodinsky
on

When it comes to Peter DeBoer you might excuse some of the other coaches in the OHL for being a bit jealous. A babe in the woods by most counts at 31 years old, the coach of the Plymouth Whalers has, in his four years at the helm, finished first in his division twice, played for the OHL championship, won the OHL’s Coach of the Year twice, and just recently copped the CHL Coach of the Year honours. All that and a team brimming with NHL prospects to boot. Last week Coach DeBoer and Hockey’s Future had the opportunity to sit down and talk about his time in Plymouth and what might come next.

Hockey’s Future: You’ve just finished up what can be termed both a very successful season (finishing first overall) and a disappointing one (losing to Barrie in the playoffs). What are your thoughts on the year just passed?

Peter DeBoer: It was a special season. We were predicted to be in a fight just for a playoff position and ended up a game away from a championship.

HF: What kind of feeling did you have going into the Barrie series, putting your comparably inexperienced club up against a veteran club with as many offensive weapons as they had this year?

PD: We knew it would be a test. We were going to have to rely on our team play and discipline to overcome our obvious talent and experience deficiencies.

HF: What were some of the things you set out to do against the Colts and how did your strategies pan out?

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Results of the 2000 OHL Priority Selection

by pbadmin
on

Mississauga – The Ontario Hockey League today held the annual Priority
Selection process of players at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

Players born in the years 1981 – 1984 were eligible for selection with
member teams permitted to select a maximum of 15 players who were born in
1984. The first two players that a team selected that were born in 1984 will
be eligible to play in the Ontario Hockey League during the 2000-01 season,
with the balance of players born in 1984 eligible to play in the 2001-02
season.

Soo Thunderbirds centre Patrick Jarrett was selected first overall by the
host Mississauga IceDogs. The 5’11″, 175 lb. centre led the Tier II Junior A
Thunderbirds with 22 goals and 32 assists for 54 points in 39 games.

“Right now I’m up here living a dream,” Jarrett said after being presented
with the Jack Ferguson Award as the first overall selection. “Last year
while attending the draft in Brampton with my brother Cole, who went to the
Plymouth Whalers, I saw Jason Spezza walk up to the stage and I set my goal
right there that I would be selected first overall next season. My dream has
come true.”

The Toronto St. Michael’s Majors used the second overall selection to
acquire Cambridge Junior B centre Tim Brent, who scored 19 goals and 16
assists for 35 points in 40 games.

The Owen Sound Platers took the first defenceman of the day, Richard Power Read more»

Sting Enjoy Successful Season, But Not Successful Enough

by Brad Coccimiglio
on

The Sarnia Sting had modestly high hopes for the 1999-2000 OHL season. They had lost quite a bit after the 1998-99 season as they lost 2-time league scoring champion Peter Sarno as well as 40-goal scorer Ivan Novoseltsev.

Things were looking good for the Sting early in the year as they sat 3rd in the 5-team West Division behind the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds and the Windsor Spitfires. The Sting remained consistent throughout the season and finished the season 3rd in the West Division and 4th in the Western Conference.

Going into the playoffs the Sting felt that they had a shot at going a fairly long way in the playoffs. Sting overager Mike Van Ryn told me before the playoffs, “I think we have the makings of going a fairly long way in the playoffs.” With the team that they had I can’t say that I disagree with him considering what they had lost coming into the season.

In goal the Sting boasted two strong goaltenders in overager Greg Hewitt and rookie Andrew Sim. Both were consistently good throughout the season. Sim posted the best Goals against average of any rookie goaltender with a 2.93 GAA.

On defense the Sting boasted the likes of overagers Dan Watson, a former league All-Star, former Canadian World Junior Team captain Mike Van Ryn and veteran Ryan VanBuskirk. All three of them provided the Sting with veteran experience on a fairly young team.

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OHL Finals Preview

by Brad Coccimiglio
on

The OHL finals are slated to open up Thursday night in Barrie at the Molson Centre as the Plymouth Whalers and the Barrie Colts fight for the right to be called OHL champs and a Memorial Cup berth.

Firstly, here is a look at the schedule for the series: 


Game 1 Thurs., May 4  at Barrie   7:30 pm
Game 2 Sun.,   May 7  at Plymouth 7:00 pm
Game 3 Mon.,   May 8  at Plymouth 7:30 pm
Game 4 Wed.,   May 10 at Barrie   7:30 pm
*Game 5 Fri.,  May 12 at Plymouth 7:30 pm
*Game 6 Sun.,  May 14 at Barrie   6:00 pm
*Game 7 Tues., May 16 at Plymouth 7:30 pm
*-if necessary

Now here is a look at the series breakdown:

Offense: The offense of both teams has been hot and cold at best throughout the playoffs. Just when you think they’re going to break out they hit a slump. With the likes of Sheldon Keefe and Michael Henrich the colts averaged just under 3 goals a game in 18 playoff games. The Whalers meanwhile, boast the likes of rookies Stephen Weiss and Tomas Kurka as well as Justin Williams. The Whalers boast a very potent offense that has looked pretty good throughout the playoffs averaging nearly 4 goals a game. Plymouth has faced some tough goaltending throughout the playoffs as well.

Advantage: Plymouth

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Plymouth Whalers drop Soo Greyhounds in five games

by Derek Berry
on
PLYMOUTH, MI-They did not want to make another bus trip to Sault Ste. Marie. The Plymouth Whalers avoided the agonizing ride by sideswiping the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, with a thrilling Game Four overtime victory on Friday night, and wrapping up the series in Game Five on Saturday night, 3-1, before a crowd of nearly 3,000 at Compuware Sports Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. The Whalers are the Western Conference Champions of the Ontario Hockey League.

The big game Friday night in Plymouth featured a Justin Williams goal for the Whalers 13:20 into overtime, propelling Plymouth into a 3-1 series lead, setting the stage for Saturday’s showdown.

Just like Game One of the series, the Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Cory Pecker. Not long after, the Greyhounds would lose defenseman Derek Fox on a crushing blow along the boards in the Sault Ste. Marie zone. Fox’s season ended with a separated shoulder, according to Sault Ste. Marie head coach Paul Theriault.

“It was a good, solid hit, nothing dirty about it,” said Theriault. “He’s got a pretty sore chest too.”

That wasn’t the only pain the Whalers would inflict upon the Greyhounds.

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Top Prospects

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  9. Jimmy Lodge
  10. Nikita Zadorov
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  12. Jason Dickinson
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  5. Ryan Kujawinski
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