Whalers sign Terry, make other moves

Just a week after visiting Plymouth with his family, forward Chris Terry, one of the Whalers' two second-round picks last May, signed with the team for this coming season the Whalers announced today.

Terry played last season for the Markham Islanders minor midgets of the Greater Toronto Metro Hockey League and scored 47 goals with 57 assists for 104 points and 115 penalty minutes in 68 games.

The 16-year-old Terry comes with the reputation of a scorer who plays with an edge and showed that trait during the Whalers' Rookie Orientation in May.

“Terry plays a lot like (current Plymouth forward and second-round pick in 2004) Cory Tanaka,” Plymouth head scout Jim Debenham said at the time Terry was drafted. “He competes hard. He's got good hands and (in time) he'll be hated by the rest of the league.”

STEFAN MOVES TO CAROLINA; MCDONNELL HIRED AS PLYMOUTH DIRECTOR OF PLAYER PERSONNEL: The Carolina Hurricanes have announced the hiring of former Whalers Director of Player Personnel and Assistant Coach Greg Stefan as a professional scout and goaltending coach. Stefan spent the past two seasons with Plymouth in his second stint with the organization. Stefan fills the role previously handled by former NHL goaltender Don Edwards.

The Whalers have hired Terry McDonnell has the team's new Director of Player Personnel. McDonnell spent the past six seasons as a scout with Carolina, concentrating on the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and college hockey in the United States.

McDonnell will concentrate primarily on scouting for the Whalers.

“I'm excited to be in Plymouth,” McDonnell said. “Peter Karmanos is an owner with a tremendous passion for the game. We want to try to win for him.”

In other front office appointments, the Whalers have hired Jason Varlesi as new Sales and Marketing Coordinator. A native Detroiter, Jason attended and played hockey at Dearborn Divine Child before moving to Henry Ford Community College and eventually to Western Michigan University, where he earned a degree in Business Administration. Before joining the Whalers, Varlesi worked in Erie with the Otters and the Erie Seawolves of the AA Eastern League.