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Plymouth Draws Top-Ranked Windsor in OHL Western Conference Semi-Finals

March 30, 2009 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH - The Plymouth Whalers will play the top-ranked Windsor Spitfires in the best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League Western Conference semi-finals, starting Thursday at 7pm at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre. The series moves to Compuware Arena in Plymouth for Game 2 on Saturday at 7pm.

Here's the entire series:

Game 1 - Thursday, April 2, 7pm - Plymouth at Windsor.

Game 2 - Saturday, April 4, 7:05pm - Windsor at Plymouth.

Game 3 - Sunday, April 5, 7pm - Plymouth at Windsor.

Game 4 - Tuesday, April 7, 7:05pm - Windsor at Plymouth

Game 5 - Thursday, April 9, 7pm - Plymouth at Windsor (*)

Game 6 - Saturday, April 11, 7:05pm - Windsor at Plymouth (*)

Game 7 - Monday April 13, 7pm - Plymouth at Windsor (*)

(*) if necessary

HOW THEY GOT HERE - Windsor (57-10-0-1) finished the regular season as the top team in the Ontario Hockey League and the top team in the Canadian Hockey League. The Spitfires swept #8 seed Owen Sound in four games in the Western Conference quarterfinals. Plymouth (36-26-5-0) finished the regular season fourth overall in the Western Conference and eliminated fifth seed Sarnia in five games in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

The other Western Conference semi-finals series features #2 seed London against #3 seed Saginaw, starting Thursday in London.

NHL DRAFTS - The Spitfires are a veteran team that features eight players who have been drafted or signed by National Hockey Leaguer teams, including goaltender Josh Unice (Chicago), center Adam Henrique (New Jersey), right wing Richard Greenop (Chicago), defenseman Harry Young (New Jersey), right wing Greg Nemisz (Calgary), right wing Dale Mitchell (Toronto), Andre Loktionov (Los Angeles) and Mark Cundari (St. Louis). In addition, NHL scouts rank defenseman Ryan Ellis among the top prospects for the upcoming 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft, held this summer in Montreal on June 26-27. Left wing Taylor Hall is considered a top pick for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Plymouth is a younger team that features four players who have been drafted by NHL teams, including defenseman Brett Bellemore and Michal Jordan (both Carolina), center Chris Terry (Carolina) and center AJ Jenks (Florida). Goaltender Matt Hackett, forward Jamie Devane and defenseman Beau Schmitz are all eligible for this summer's NHL Entry Draft.

THE REGULAR SEASON SERIES: Windsor won six of the eight meetings with Plymouth. Two of the Windsor victories were decided by one goal margins - 1-0 in Plymouth on Oct. 25 and 1-0 in Windsor on New Year's Eve.

COACHES QUOTE: "Obviously, our next round will be a real battle," said Plymouth President, General Manager and Head Coach Mike Vellucci. "But we defeated them twice and we need to make sure that we're focused and play our game and compete. If we compete, we'll do well."

"Plymouth's a big rivalry," said Windsor Head Coach Bob Boughner. "We play each other extremely hard and they're physical games. A lot of people around town can't wait to see this series unfold."

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 30, 2009


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