Whalers' Deadline Deals Land Ryder, O'Connor, Whitely

Published on January 11, 2007 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Plymouth Whalers News Release


Maybe there was a good reason Peterborough Petes General Manager Jeff Twohey attended Plymouth's game in London last Friday.

Plymouth Whalers President, General Manager and Head Coach Mike Vellucci announced the acquisition of 19-year-old center Dan Ryder (shown above) 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.

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 playoff 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 playoff 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 Plymouth 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 the Whalers. Armstrong was taken in the third round (87th overall) by Calgary in last summer's NHL Entry Draft.

"Unfortunately, for John, we were mostly an 1987-born forward team with James Neal, Dan Collins, Tom Sestito, Evan Brophey and Jared Boll in front of him," Vellucci told the Peterborough Examiner. "It kind of hindered John offensively. He was never on our number one power play but he was out for all the important faceoffs, our penalty kill and he played 21 minutes a game. He got a ton of ice time but I never put him in that offensive position, kind of unjustly, for him, because of the older guys in front of him. He'll be able to jump right into the offensive role (in Peterborough). He's been a scorer in every league he's ever been in."

Ryder adds another offensive dimension for Plymouth.

"We were looking for a proven goal scorer and a proven playoff player," said Vellucci. "He was the playoff MVP and the experience in that goes a long way."

Although Twohey called yesterday a sad day, he was realistic about the moves. A year after winning the OHL Championship, he traded Steve Downie to Kitchener and now Ryder to the Whalers for Armstrong, forward Yves Bastien, four second-round draft picks and third round pick and a sixth.

"I'm satisfied as an organization we couldn't have done more legwork on this," Twohey told the Peterborough Examiner. "I'm also content these were the best deals we could have made." Armstrong's role in Peterborough will change. "One thing that's important to the future of a team is having a number one centre," Twohey said. "We thought our young guys, even for next year, weren't quite ready to step up and be number one centres."

"We were also concerned we were getting a little small," said Twohey. "Speed is a huge asset but you don't want to be real small, either. John brings speed and size and the ability to play against top centres. You have to grow into that role and he hasn't had that role given to him before. This is a good opportunity for him."

WHALERS ACQUIRE SEAN O'CONNOR, STEVEN WHITELY IN DEADLINE DEALS

Plymouth Whalers President, General Manager and Head Coach Mike Vellucci announced the acquisition of 19-year-old right wing/center Sean O'Connor from the Erie Otters in exchange for 17-year-old defenseman Frank Grzeszczak.

O'Connor grew up in Trenton and his family currently resides in Brownstown, MI. O'Connor joins three other Plymouth players with local ties - goaltender Jeremy Smith (Brownstown), Ryan McGinnis (Fenton) and AJ Jenks (Wolverine Lake).

O'Connor was selected by Erie in the second round (24th overall) of the 2003 Ontario Hockey League Draft. Now playing his fourth season in the league, O'Connor's best season with Erie was last year when he scored 19 goals and 38 assists for 56 points and 81 PIM's in 68 games. O'Connor missed most of the first half of this season with a shoulder injury, but has come back recently and has 8 goals with 17 assists for 25 points in 20 games.

O'Connor has scored 49 goals with 97 assists for 146 assists and 208 PIM's in 223 games in Erie.

Grzeszczak (pronounced GRAY-shack) was selected by Plymouth in the 11th round (209th overall) of the 2005 OHL Draft. Playing in his first season this year with Plymouth, Grzeszczak has one goal with seven assists for eight points and 32 PIM's.

In another deal, Plymouth acquired 19-year-old defenseman Steven Whitely from the Belleville Bulls for a future fifth round draft choice. 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. The Whalers then host Saginaw next Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are available by calling the Compuware Sports Arena at (734) 453-8400 or by going to Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com

JEREMY SMITH SELECTED FOR 2007 NHL/CHL PROSPECTS GAME

Plymouth goaltender Jeremy Smith has been chosen to play in the 2007 NHL/CHL Home Hardward Prospects Game on Jan. 17 in Quebec City, QC.

The game will showcase 40 of the CHL's top players that are eligible for selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The players were selected by the National Hockey League's 30 teams. The players will be separated into two teams prior to the event.

"On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League, it is my pleasure to congratulate these young men for their selection by the National Hockey League to participate in this storied event," said David Branch, President of the Canadian Hockey League.

The game will showcase 40 of the CHL's top players that are eligible for selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The event consists of a Skills Competition on Tuesday, January 17th at 7:00pm and the Home Hardware Top Prospects Game will be played on Wednesday, January 17th at 7:00pm. In addition, the two teams will be coached by legends behind the bench.

With 1,244 career victories, Scotty Bowman has more wins than any other coach in NHL history. Over the course of 30 seasons behind the bench he compiled a .654 winning percentage and never experienced a losing record in any full season he was coaching. His nine Stanley Cups are the best amongst NHL coaches and he was enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Bowman won two Jack Adams Awards as the NHL's Coach of the Year during his storied career. Prior to becoming a head coach in the NHL, Scotty spent three seasons coaching the Peterborough T.P.T's (now Petes) of the OHA.

Jacques Demers was behind the bench for 1,006 NHL games over the course of 14 NHL seasons to rank him 9th amongst NHL coaches for career games coached. Demers was the winner of the Jack Adams Award during both the 1986-87 & 1987-88 seasons. During the 1992-93 season, Demers lead the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup Championship. Demers also coached the Quebec Nordiques, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings & Tampa Bay Lightning during his NHL career.

Pat Burns is the former head coach of the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. He won three Jack Adams Awards with three different teams - Montreal (1989), Toronto (1993) and Boston (1998) - and is the only three-time winner in NHL history. Burns also coached for the QMJHL Hull Olympiques, and prior to coaching played briefly for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Michel Bergeron is a former head coach of the Quebec Nordiques. Bergeron coached the Nordiques from 1980 to 1987, making the playoffs in all seven season. He left the Nordiques for the New York Rangers for two seasons before returning to Quebec to finish his professional career. Prior to joining the Nordiques, Bergeron was behind the bench with the Trois Rivieres Draveurs of the QMJHL for two seasons (76-77 & 79-80) recording a 74-51-19 record.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 11, 2007


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