1996-97 Detroit Whalers
NEW CITY, NEW RINK, NEW TEAM
If you took a ride by the construction site of the Compuware Sports Arena on M-14 and Beck Road in Plymouth Township during the summer of 1996, all you saw were bulldozers, dirt and overturned trees.
But a couple of months later, the Compuware Sports Arena was open for business. And after moving from Cobo Arena to Joe Louis Arena to Oak Park and the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Detroit Whalers played in a beautiful new building in an upwardly mobile section of Plymouth Township.
That meant no more comments around the OHL about small and cold Oak Park Arena, or questions about how many free tickets were given away at Joe Louis Arena.
The Whalers had arrived in Plymouth, and in 1996-97 the new fans were going to see a young, rebuilding team grow up before their eyes. After a three-season run working with veterans, DeBoer and newly appointed assistant coach Steve Spott held a season-long audition for 17 rookies.
"A lot of credit for these players goes to our scouts," DeBoer said. "I've been trying to put the focus on them for this group of kids they brought in. We gave them a mandate before the season that we were going to lose 12 or 13 regulars and we needed to come out of the draft with kids who could step in and play. They took that mandate and ran with it and as a result you see the kids we have today that I believe to be a very competitive team on a nightly basis."
The Whalers started the season with five games on the road and went 2-3-0.
The days of run-and-gun hockey would wait for another time; this year's edition of the team had to keep the scores down in order to win games.
Second-year goaltender Robert Esche served notice as a prospect on the rise when he split a duel with Sarnia's Patrick DesRochers during the five-game start of the season. The split in Sarnia proved the new breed of Whalers were not going to be intimidated in tough buildings around the league. Esche settled a score of his own against DesRochers and in the future would surpass him as a prospect.
In a season of rookies, veterans led the way in the Whalers' first game at the Compuware Sports Arena, a 2-0 victory of Kingston October 5, 1997. Esche pitched his second shutout of the season, while Chad Cavanagh and Andrew Taylor. Most of the players called the game the highlight of their career.
During the open season for ice time, several veterans flourished. Fan favorites Mark Cadotte (28 goals with 40 assists), Andrew Taylor (32-39), Jesse Boulerice (10-14 in 33 games), Steve Wasylko (25-25), Jan Vodrazka (7-21, 238 PIM's) and Esche (3.81 goals against) all enjoyed career years.
Boulerice - a Philadelphia draft - was converted to forward and enjoyed the change.
"It's a lot more fun," Boulerice said. "That's my whole game - to get in hard on the forecheck and take a nice rip at the defenseman. It's a great feeling to get in there and give hits instead of instead of looking over your shoulder and seeing the guy coming at you."
Boulerice's style made him a marked man by OHL referees, who saw fit to give him 10-minute misconducts as a quick way to get rid of a problem. "It's really frustrating," Boulerice said back then. "I think they're giving it to me (misconducts) just because of reputation. Sometimes I get tens so the refs don't have to deal with my aggressive play out there."
The future of the Whalers was in the play of the rookies. Randy Fitzgerald (12-18), Julian Smith (16-25) and Anthony Terzo - well known as youngsters by Steve Spott and his father, Martin - added speed, grit and penalty killing.
First round pick Harold Druken overcame a slow start to score 27 goals with 31 assists. Eric Gooldy (7-11, 131 PIM) showed the makings of a power forward. On defense, rookies Kevin Holdridge (0-9), Luc Rioux (6-3) and Pat Parthenais (0-4, 88 PIM) held their own every night.
As the season's final trading deadline approached, the Whalers were in a different position than in previous years. While they were competitive within the West Division and were probably going to make the playoffs, DeBoer wanted to keep his young core intact.
Popular veteran Steve Dumonski was sent to Ottawa for future considerations and the well-traveled Chad Cavanagh was sent to Sudbury for Jason Hotchkiss, who didn't report.
"I told Dumonski that I haven't been a GM in the league very long but in the short period I have, it's the hardest trade I've had to make," DeBoer said. "He's a great character kid and you really grow fond of him the more time you spend around him. But it was also a little easier for me knowing that this kid's going to have a shot at the Memorial Cup, hopefully in Ottawa. There's nobody that deserves it more than Steve Dumonski."
The deals at the trading deadline were a sign to the short and long-term direction of the Whalers.
"We feel kids like Randy Fitzgerald and Eric Gooldy have played well enough and have proven themselves enough that they deserve to play regularly in the league," DeBoer explained. "These kids have earned their ice time. In the second half of the season we're going to give them plenty of exposure so that next year they'll be ready to come in and be ready to be the foundation of a championship."
DeBoer made one more deal at the deadline, signing free agent defenseman Jason Lawmaster (Westland), who fit right into the mix as a player trying to find an identity. Lawmaster earned a reputation as an agitator and one of the few players in the OHL who could get under the skin of Sault Ste. Marie's Joe Thornton.
Lawmaster drew Thornton into several fights during his time with the Whalers.
After five straight seasons over .500, Whaler rookies saw plenty of ice time during the second half and the team made the playoffs with a 26-34-6 record.
Detroit met the high-powered Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the playoffs.
Same Rival, Different Year
The first three games of the series were predictable as the Hounds raced to a 3-0 series lead. But the final two games of the Whalers' season were typical of the grit and work ethic that DeBoer and his associate coaches Greg Stefan and Spott demanded of a young team in a rebuilding situation.
Down 0-3 in Game 4, the Whalers could have mailed it in and headed for the golf course.
Instead, they played the one of the most memorable games in franchise history, beating the Greyhounds 4-3 in double overtime to send the series back to the Soo for game five two nights later.
The game was the longest in Detroit history (90 minutes, 2 seconds) and featured a storybook ending when captain Mike Morrone - playing in his final home game in a Whaler uniform - beat Soo goaltender Michal Podolka on a 3-on-1 to extend Detroit's season one more game.
"A 3-on-1 with (Harold) Druken, (Andrew) Taylor and (Mike) Morrone breaking in - my first option was to have Druken take the shot, then maybe Taylor and at a last resort, Morrone," DeBoer said with a smile. "But it all worked out."
The game featured an outstanding goaltending duel between Esche and Sault goaltender Michal Podolka. Podolka dominated the second period after the Whalers built a 2-0 lead and threatened to run the 'Hounds into Beck Road, outshooting the Soo 22-12 in the second period.
But Podolka's work allowed Sault Ste. Marie to stay in the game. Down 3-1 late in the second period,
Brian Stewart cut the Detroit lead to 3-2 with a goal from the left wing, impossible angle shot from the goal line. Then Matt Lahey tied the game at 3-3 at 5:41 of the third period.
The equalizer turned the momentum of the game in the Soo's favor and they dominated, outshooting Detroit 42-21 the rest of the way. But Esche was brilliant, making his best stop late in the third period on a scramble in the Detroit zone when Richard Jackman moved in along the right wing boards and rifled a quick shot through traffic with Esche down on the ice. Somehow Esche threw his catching glove up and made a scintillating save. He made 20 saves in the extra-sessions.
Esche's work set the stage for the Morrone's game-wer, and the teams headed back to the Soo for the 5th game.
The Soo held the edge for much of the first period, outshooting Detroit 18-8 and building a 2-0 lead on goals 48 seconds apart. At 17:45, Trevor Tokarczyk - parked at the side of the Detroit net - tipped in Stewart's hard shot from the right point. Then Lahey scored at 18:33 with a knuckleball that seemed to handcuff Esche.
Detroit came back on a goal by Druken at 1:41 of the second period when he beat Podolka in tight after good work along the boards behind the Soo net by Eric Gooldy and Julian Smith.
Whalers scored what looked to be the equalizer midway through the second period when Jason Lawmaster wristed a hard shot from the left point through traffic. But referee Al Kimmel disallowed the goal, saying Whaler forward Bryan McKey was in the crease. He was in the crease, being sat on by a Hounds rearguard.
Although down 2-1, the Whalers took over the pace of the game and had the edge on the 'Hounds, who seemed to be playing not to lose.
Midway through the third period, Detroit's best chance to tie the game just failed when Steve Wasylko - set up in front of Podolka - fired the puck over the top of the net.
Richard Uniacke iced the game for the 'Hounds on a breakaway at 15:55 and Nathan Perrott scored on the empty net with 25 second left.
"I'm really proud of our guys," DeBoer said. "They competed in every game of the series, even the 8-3 loss (game 3). We just came up a goal or two short and that might have been a matter of depth and experience.
"Our guys played hard every night and that all you can ask. We had some chances tonight but Podolka made the saves when he had to. Coming into the series, we felt we needed a bad goal a game to give us a chance to win but Podolka didn't give us any of them."
Sometimes you have to take a couple of steps backward to move forward.
Clearly, the course was set for better things to come.
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