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Whalers acquire Dan Ryder from Peterborough

January 10, 2007 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


PLYMOUTH - Plymouth Whalers President, General Manager and Head Coach Mike Vellucci announced the acquisition of 19-year-old center Dan Ryder from the Peterborough Petes in exchange for 17-year-old center-right wing John Armstrong.

Plymouth also trades 2007 third-round and sixth-round draft choices and a second round draft choice in 2008 to Peterborough to complete the deal.

"Dan is a proven goal scorer in our league and last season's Playoff MVP," Vellucci said. "We're excited to have him in our lineup. We're sad to see John leave, because he is a good player and an excellent person who will be missed by everyone. But you have to give up quality to get quality."

Ryder - who turns 20-years-old Friday - is in his fourth season for Peterborough and has scored 111 goals with 164 assists for 275 points and 149 PIM's in 225 career games with the Petes. Ryder helped Peterborough win the OHL Championship last season, scoring 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 19 playoffs games. Ryder was awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as last season's Most Valuable Player in the OHL Playoffs.

In all, Ryder has scored 24 goals with 19 assists for 43 points and 32 PIM's in 33 playoffs game in his career with Peterborough. Ryder was selected in the first round (14th overall) by Peterborough in the 2003 and is a third round pick (74th) overall of the Calgary Flames in the 2005 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Armstrong was selected by the Whalers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2004 OHL Draft and has scored 28 goals with 49 assists for 77 points in 151 regular season games for Plymouth. Armstrong was selected in the third round (87th overall) by Calgary in last summer's NHL Entry Draft.

The OHL's Final Trading Deadline is set for 6:00 p.m. this evening.

On Tuesday, the Whalers picked up 19-year-old right wing/center Sean O'Connor (Brownstown, MI) from the Erie Otters in exchange for 17-year-old defenseman Frank Grzeszczak and a conditional fourth round draft choice and also acquired 19-year-old defenseman Steven Whitely from the Belleville Bulls for a future fifth round draft choice.

O'Connor has scored 49 goals with 97 assists for 146 assists and 208 PIM's in 223 games in Erie. Whitely was originally drafted by Toronto in the 14th round (274th overall) and has played for Toronto, Saginaw and Belleville in his career. A stay-at-home defenseman, Whitely had six assists in 35 games this year with Belleville.

Ryder, O'Connor and Whitely are expected to be in the lineup for the Whalers this weekend. Plymouth (in first place in the OHL West with a record of 26-11-1-2) plays in Saginaw (third place, OHL West, 25-13-0-2) on Friday before returning home to host Windsor on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at the Compuware Sports Arena. Tickets are available by calling the Compuware Sports Arena at (734) 453-8400 or by going to Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.

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