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Hot Whalers Look to Finish Season on High Note

March 5, 2009 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


Plymouth captain Chris Terry and the Whalers are on a torrid pace as they head into the home stretch of the Ontario Hockey League's regular season.

Playing most of February with Matt Caria and Tyler Seguin, the line clicked for 24 goals and 43 assists for 67 points over ten games in the month as the Whalers went 9-1-0-0 to move into third place in the OHL's Western Conference playoff race.

Suddenly, a team that was out of the playoffs in November with a record of 6-11-2-0 has righted the ship in a big way. Nobody wants to face the Whalers in the playoffs.

As captain, Terry realizes the Whalers turnaround is a credit to everyone associated with the team.

"Everyone with the team - the coaches, the players and everyone who works at the rink - has been part of this turnaround," Terry said a day after the Whalers ended February with a 6-3 win in Kitchener. "We aren't done - there's still work to do. We all know that, we know what's at hand and we're going to keep going."

The Whalers first game in March - a 6-3 victory in Erie - showed how Terry's line can dominate the game.

With Terry (a goal with four assists), Caria (2-1) and Seguin (1-2) leading the way, Plymouth built a 6-0 lead after forty minutes. Plymouth blew the game open for good with a pair of goals 0:24 apart in the second period to take a 5-0 lead. Terry - at the lower rim of the left circle in the Erie zone - found Caria at the top of the circle. Caria's shot was stopped by Erie goaltender Jaroslav Janus, but the rebound trickled behind him and into the goal at 8:19. Seguin came right back to make it 5-0 at 8:43.

Terry was asked to describe why his line is so effective.

"When our line is going, there's not many defensive pairings that are going to stop us," he said. "There's a certain amount of grit on the line and skill with Matt and Tyler. It just took time for us to start clicking. We're going to need this over the last seven games."

The Whalers have developed into a nice blend of older players and young contributing to a winning effort.

"This is a different team than what I've played on in the past," Terry said. "Usually, it's the older guys who carry the team. But this year, we're contributions from everywhere. 19-year-olds and OA's (overages) are playing their role, but you've got a 17-year-old like Seguin helping out and has been unbelievable for us and Beau's (Schmitz) been rock-solid for us and has picked up his offense of late. (Goaltender Matt) Hackett has been consistent, which is what we need from him.

"Everything's going well right now. And we're going to try to keep it going."

Terry has certainly done his part, moving up to third overall on the Whalers all-time scoring list with 281 points (112 goals and 169 assists) in 248 games.

Terry and the Whalers have been mentioned on a couple of National Hot Lists this week.

On Monday, Terry and the Whalers made Patrick King's, "Who's Hot, Who's Not" list on Sportnet.ca:

Ontario Hockey League Hot team: Plymouth Whalers Cinderella's slipper could very well be planted on Plymouth's foot this season. The Whalers won all three games on their road trip through Saginaw, Kitchener and Erie, extending their winning streak to four games. Plymouth has won nine of their last 10 games, losing just once in Erie in the last month of play. Don't look now but the Whalers are hitting stride at the right time.

Hot player: Chris Terry, Plymouth Whalers The 19-year-old Terry has been the main catalyst behind the resurgent Whalers in the second half of the season. Terry lit the lamp three times while assisting on nine others for 12 points in three games. With Terry's help, rookie forward Tyler Seguin enjoyed a nine-point week. The Whalers will need much of the same down the stretch if they're going to get home ice in the first round.

Then, Terry made The Hockey News Hot List, written by Ryan Kennedy, on Wednesday:

4. Chris Terry, LW - Plymouth Whalers (OHL): Despite a loss Monday night, the Whalers are one of the hottest teams in junior right now and the play of their captain has certainly aided that. Terry now stands tied for third in Ontario League scoring with 86 points and looks like a steal of a prospect. Drafted 132nd overall by Carolina in 2007.

Another hot Whaler? Tyler Seguin, who comes into the week with a 16-game scoring streak (13 goals, 18 assists for 31 points) stretching from January 25 through Monday.

In fact, it could be said the entire Whalers team was hot in February, going 9-1-0-0. Here is a partial list of Whaler scorers in February:

PLYMOUTH SCORING - FEBRUARY

PLAYER GMS G A PTS +/- PIM

#20 Chris Terry 10 10 16 26 19 16

#9 Tyler Seguin 10 8 13 21 14 4

#15 Matt Caria 10 6 14 20 14 10

#32 Michal Jordan 10 5 5 10 15 8

#22 AJ Jenks 10 4 6 10 E 10

#10 Ryan Hayes 10 4 4 8 3 4

#2 Brett Bellemore 10 1 7 8 14 13

GOALTENDING GMS MINS GA AVG SHOTS SAVES % W-L-OTL-SOL

Hackett 10 558 25 2.69 329 304 0.924 9-0-0-0

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