Niagara Whalers

Niagara Whalers
City Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada
League Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League
Founded 2014
Operated 2014–present
Home arena Vale Health & Wellness Centre
Colours                    
Owner(s) Steven Quinn
General manager Steven Quinn
Head coach Terry Masterson <small(2016-17)
Website Niagarawhalershockey.com

The Niagara Whalers are a junior ice hockey team based in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the South Division of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). The Whalers were founded in 2014 and joined the GMHL to compete in the 2014–15 season. The club plays their home games at the Vale Health & Wellness Centre.

History

Whalers goalie during 2015-16 season.

In May 2014 the Whalers were granted a franchise in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) for the 2014–15 season.[1] Prior to joining the GMHL the Whalers competed as a showcase organization in Southern Ontario Bantam and Midget tournaments, winning nine of eleven tournaments. A prospects team will continue to compete in the showcase tournaments and will serve as an affiliate to the Junior A club.[2] After being awarded a GMHL franchise the Whalers were approved to play out of the Vale Health & Wellness Centre in Port Colborne, Ontario.[3] The Whalers finished their debut regular season in tenth place overall and third in the South Division of the South Conference.[4][5] The club advanced to Round One of the 2014–15 Russell Cup playoffs where they were drawn against the Halton Ravens. The Whalers were defeated by the Ravens three games to one ending their playoff run.[5] In 2015 the GMHL realigned the teams into three divisions, North, Central and South, and dropped the two conferences for the upcoming 2015-16 season. The Whalers were placed into the eleven team South division.[6]

Season by season results

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA PTS Finish Playoffs
2014–15 42 23 17 - 2 187 191 48 3rd of 12 S Div
?th of 22 GMHL
Lost in Round One, 3-1 (Halton Ravens)
2015–16 42 26 14 0 2 231 149 54 4th of 10 S Div
11th of 30 GMHL
Won Div. Quarterfinals, 3-0 (Dragons)
Lost Div. Semifinals, 3-0 (Kings)

Players and personnel

Whalers skater during 2015-16 season.

Current roster

Team roster for the 2015–16 season[7]

# Nat Name Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
6 United States Michael Lask F 21 2014–15 Buffalo, New York, United States
8 Canada Daniel Abbott F R 22 2015–16 Chippawa, Ontario, Canada
10 United States Andrew Robinson F L 21 2014–15 Buffalo, New York, United States
12 Canada Matt Johns F 18 2015–16 Parksville, British Columbia, Canada
13 Canada Jesse Mulholland F 17 2015–16 Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
17 United States David Christopher F L 20 2014–15 Buffalo, New York, United States
19 Australia Sam Hodic F L 20 2015–16 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
21 Canada Cam Blakely F R 22 2015–16 Welland, Ontario, Canada
22 Canada Vito Scaringi F L 22 2015–16 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
23 Canada Harry Walker F 17 2015–16 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
25 Czech Republic Vaclav Janecek F L 19 2015–16 Czech Republic
27 Canada Wade Kenny F R 22 2015–16 Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
28 Russia Vladislav Arbuzov F R 19 2015–16 Novosibirsk, Russia
88 Russia Stanislav Pestikov F 22 2015–16 Surgut, Russia
91 United States Colton Anstey F L 22 2015–16 North Tonawanda, New York, United States
4 United States Daniel Defranco D L 22 2015–16 Lockport, New York, United States
16 Russia Vladislav Shipota D L 21 2015–16 Moscow, Russia
18 United States Kade Brunner D R 19 2014–15 Sandusky, New York, United States
20 United States Nathan Walerowicz D 2015–16 Sanborn, New York, United States
24 Canada Duncan Lockhart-Gibson D 2014–15 Elmvale, Ontario, Canada
26 Russia Oskar Levin D 2015–16 Saint Petersburg, Russia
30 Canada Jonathon D'Ilario G L 22 2015–16 St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
31 Canada Phillip Podpecan G 2015–16 Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
32 Canada Braedan Turco G L 20 2014–15 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
33 Canada Austin Dero G R 2015–16 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
35 United States Steven Quinn G L 20 2014–15 Buffalo, New York, United States

Head coaches

  • Andrew Joyner, 2014–15[8]
  • Bryan Elliott, 2015–16[9]
  • Terry Masterson, 2016-

References

  1. "Niagara Whalers Expand to Junior". Niagara Whalers. 2014-05-20. Archived from the original on 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  2. "Expansion: Niagara Whalers Join GMHL". Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. 2014-06-09. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  3. Firth, Maryanne (2014-05-27). "Whalers to dock in Port". Welland Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  4. "2014-2015 League Standings". Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  5. 1 2 "2014-15 Russell Cup Playoffs". Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. 2015-01-21. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  6. "Standings". Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  7. "Team Roster". Niagara Whalers. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  8. "Andrew Joyner". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  9. "Bryan Elliott". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.