Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Whalers, Spirit release '09-10 schedules

The Plymouth Whalers will start their 2009-10 season with a bang.

The Whalers open the 2009-10 season on Thursday, September 17 at Windsor Family Credit Union Centre in Windsor against the OHL and Canadian Hockey League Champion Spitfires. Plymouth hosts the Oshawa Generals in the home opener on Saturday, September 19 at 7:05pm at Compuware Arena.

The Whalers’ entire 2009-10 preseason and regular season schedule is now online.

Saturday remains the primary home date for the Whalers, with 20 Saturday nights leading the way. Plymouth plays nine home games on Friday, two on Wednesday, two on Monday afternoon and one on Sunday afternoon.

Game time remains 7:05pm for all but three of Plymouth’s 34 home dates. The Whalers will play three matinees at Compuware Arena in 2009-10, all starting at 2pm – Monday, December 28 against Erie in Plymouth annual Kids Day game; Monday, January 18 against Windsor; and Sunday, March 14 against Saginaw in the Whalers’ regular season finale.

Plymouth’s schedule features 48 games against teams within the Western Conference, with 28 of those games within the West Division (eight each against Saginaw and Windsor; six each against Sault Ste. Marie and Sarnia) and 20 against Midwest Division opponents. The remaining 20 games are against Eastern Conference teams.

The Whalers – who started play in the OHL in 1990-91 – are preparing for their 20th season and have the longest active playoff streak of any team in the league. After missing the playoffs as an expansion team in 1990-91, Plymouth has made the playoffs in 18 consecutive seasons.

Last season, the Whalers went 37-26-5-0 and finished fourth overall in the OHL’s Western Conference. After eliminating Sarnia in five games the OHL Western Conference Quarter-Finals, Plymouth was eliminated in six games in the Western Conference Semi-Finals by the OHL Champion Windsor Spitfires.

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The Saginaw Spirit is pleased to announce their schedule for the upcoming 2009-2010 regular season.

The Spirit start off their eighth season in Saginaw on the road Friday, September 18 against the Guelph Storm and Saturday, September 19 against the Owen Sound Attack.

The Spirit will host their home opener at TheDow Event Center Thursday, September 24 vs the Plymouth Whalers, then host a home opening encore Saturday, September 26 vs the Erie Otters. Both games start at 7:11 PM.

“This schedule is very friendly for both the team and the fans,” stated Spirit president and partner Craig Goslin. “The OHL is predominantly a weekend league, so to secure 16 Saturday home games is a big victory for us. We only have seven three-in-three’s (three games in three consecutive days), which should be a positive factor coming down the stretch.

“We are thrilled with the schedule and are looking forward to the upcoming season – we can’t wait to welcome our fans back to TheDow Event Center on September 24th for the start of what will be an exciting eighth season of Spirit hockey.”

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