Plymouth Whalers Lose Home Opener, 6-4

Published on September 22, 2007 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH - The Plymouth Whalers raised their 2007 Championship Banner to the rafters of Compuware Arena Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 3,613 to open their 2007-08 Ontario Hockey League season. The visiting Erie Otters then defeated Plymouth, 6-4.

Erie evens their record to 1-1-0-0. Plymouth is 0-1-0-0.

Justin Hodgman and Anthony Peluso led the Erie attack with a pair of goals each. Jordan Skellett and Zack Torquato added singles. Plymouth received two goals from Joe McCann and singles from Chris Terry and AJ Jenks (Wolverine Lake).

Plymouth outshot Erie 42-35. Former Whalers goaltender Justin Garay stopped 38-of 42 shots to pick up the victory for the Otters, while Jeremy Smith (Brownstown) stopped 29-of-35 shots in the loss.

Erie never trailed in the game, snapping a 1-1 tie after one period with three unanswered goals in the second period to lead 4-1 after forty minutes of play. Hodgman's first goal of the game came at 5:31 of the second period on a wrap around from the left post to give Erie a 2-1 lead. Torquato - a Detroit Red Wings draft - scored from the hashmarks at 17:51 and Skellett scored from the right faceoff circle at 17:51.

Peluso's second goal of the game gave Erie a 5-1 lead at 1:37 of the third period. But the Whalers came back in the third period to cut the Erie lead to 5-4 on goals by Terry (penalty shot at 4:05), McCann (rebound at 8:02) and a power play by Jenks (scramble in front of the Erie goal at 14:36).

But Hodgman iced the game for the Otters when he beat Smith with a shorthanded goal with 1:06 left in regulation.

The loss didn't diminish a memorable pre-game ceremony. With Ontario Hockey League Commissioner Dave Branch participating, the Whalers championship banners were raised to the rafters of Compuware Arena with the sellout crowd roaring approval.

Plymouth is off until next Friday when they play in Kitchener (www.plymouthwhalers.com). The Whalers' next home game is next Saturday when they host Windsor at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena. Tickets are available by calling the Compuware Arena box office (734) 453-8400 or by going to Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 22, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central