News Release
| Contact: Pete Krupsky | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| Phone: (734) 453-8400 |
Saturday, October 27, 2007 |
WHALERS LEASH THE ICEDOGS IN 4-1 VICTORY
PLYMOUTH – Patrick Lee scored a pair of goals and Brett Valiquette and Kaine Geldart scored one each as the Plymouth Whalers led from start to finish in a workmanlike 4-1 victory over the Niagara IceDogs in an Ontario Hockey League game played Saturday night at the Compuware Arena.
Plymouth is now 7-6-1-0. Mississauga is now 9-6-0-0.
Plymouth goaltender Michal Neuvirth stopped 24-of-25 shots as the game’s third star and veteran defenseman Brett Bellemore – playing in his second game of the season after missing the first 12 games with an injury – played a steady defensive game as the game’s second star with a +2 rating on the evening.
But the first star was the 19-year-old Lee, who scored his first two goals as a Whaler and had a potential hat trick negated when his hard shot that beat Niagara goaltender Andrew Lockerock in the first period appeared to go under the cross bar. But video replay judges ruled that the puck hit the cross bar.
Plymouth took a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period when Valiquette tipped RJ Mahalak’s shot past Loverock for his fourth goal of the year. Lee made it 2-0 on a power play at 8:13 when he ripped a shot from the right faceoff circle past Loverock. Lee’s second of the night and second of the season came at 0:45 of the second period when he batted home a rebound off Chris Terry’s shot.
Geldart (3rd) tipped Bellemore’s bouncing shot from the right point from in front of the Niagara goal past Loverock to give the Whalers a 4-0 lead at 1:11 of the third period. Aaron Snow closed the scoring with his second of the season at 8:17.
Plymouth outshot Niagara, 40-25.
The Whalers are on the road all of next week, playing in Niagara on Thursday, in Erie on Sat. Nov. 3 and Mississauga on Sun. Nov. 4. Plymouth is back home on Fri. Nov. 9 at 7:05 p.m. against Mississauga and Sat. Nov. 10 at 7:05 p.m. against Guelph. Tickets can be purchased for all Plymouth games by calling the Compuware Arena at (734) 453-8400 or by going to Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.
About the Plymouth Whalers
The Plymouth Whalers are the only Metro Detroit team in the Ontario Hockey League, a developmental league for National Hockey League players. The Whalers all range in age from 15-21 years-old and are consistently one of the top teams in the OHL. In 2006-07, the Whalers won the OHL Championship.
About Compuware Arena
Compuware Arena is home to the 2007 Ontario Hockey League Champion Plymouth Whalers, the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Detroit Ignition, the Compuware Arena Drive-In Theatres, the MHSAA Boys State Hockey Championships and eight AAA Compuware Hockey youth teams. Compuware Arena serves more than one million patrons each year, and is located in Plymouth, Michigan.
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