Plymouth Whalers The Plymouth Whalers are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League . They play out of Compuware Arena in Plymouth , Michigan , USA . History . The Whalers can trace their roots back to the 1990 – 91 Detroit Compuware Ambassadors as an expansion team in the OHL . Since then the franchise has been the Detroit Junior Red Wings and the Detroit Whalers . In 1998 they were officially called the " Plymouth Whalers " after the local municipality gave generous tax breaks to the team and venue . The franchise has been owned by Peter Karmanos since its inception . The Whalers have been part of the Compuware Hockey program since 1990 , which also includes the Compuware Ambassadors minor hockey program and the NHL ' s Carolina Hurricanes , who were formerly the Hartford Whalers , the namesake of the Detroit Whalers . The Carolina Hurricanes tend to give preference to players from the Plymouth Whalers in the NHL Entry Draft , and coaches and executives are promoted from within the Compuware Hockey affiliation . Chad LaRose is the only player to have played at every level of Compuware hockey ; Compuware AAA Ambassadors , Plymouth Whalers , Florida Everblades , Lowell Lock Monsters , and the Carolina Hurricanes . Plymouth is one of only two teams to win 5 consecutive division titles ( West division from 1999 – 2003 , the other team being the Ottawa 67 ' s ( East division from 1996 – 2000 ) . Plymouth has made the playoffs 17 consecutive seasons , since the 1991 – 92 season . The Whalers reached the OHL finals two consecutive seasons in 1999 – 2000 , and 2000 – 01 , losing to the Barrie Colts and Ottawa 67 ' s . These seasons included future NHLers David Legwand , Justin Williams , Robert Esche , and Stephen Weiss . Celebrating their 10th Anniversary playing at the Compuware Arena during the 2005 – 06 season , all current Whalers players had been brought into the system by head coach and general manager Mike Vellucci . This created the build - up for the next year . Headed by overage captain John Vigilante , the team ' s rookies in 2003 and 2004 came to fruition in James Neal , Dan Collins , and Tommy Sestito . Vellucci acquired the Belleville Bulls ' leading scorer Evan Brophey and the Toronto St . Michael ' s Majors goaltender Justin Peters , who had an extensive resume . On the last game of the season , the Whalers played the Saginaw Spirit , with the division title on the line , in what has been proven to be one of most exciting OHL games in recent history . With the Whalers ' 2 - 0 lead going into the third period , the Spirit fought back and managed the tying goal just before time expired . However , Brophey scored in overtime to clinch the Whalers ' 9th division title . During the 2006 – 07 season , rookie goaltenders Jeremy Smith and Michal Neuvirth , combined for the lowest goals against average in the OHL , with only 173 goals against in total . The Whalers had a number of high prospects signed or drafted by NHL teams , including former Wayne Gretzky 99 Award winner Daniel Ryder , who was acquired , with him already having been signed with the Calgary Flames . After a very inconsistent start , the team improved to fall short of the London Knights by one point for the Hamilton Spectator Trophy . During the second half of the season and through the playoffs , the Whalers featured a 23 game winning streak at home , lasting three and a half months , falling at Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals to London . The Whalers , although seeded # 2 , easily won the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference playoff champion , sweeping # 7 Guelph , and winning in 5 against both # 3 Kitchener and # 1 London . In the final , the Whalers defeated the Sudbury Wolves in six games to win the J . Ross Robertson Cup , thus earning the right to represent the OHL in the 2007 Memorial Cup . In the Memorial Cup , the team suffered a rough start , losing to the Vancouver Giants 4 - 3 in overtime on May 18 , and again to the Medicine Hat Tigers 4 - 1 on May 21 . Their fortunes would change , however , on May 22 , when they would defeat the Lewiston Maineiacs 2 - 1 in overtime , thus putting them in the tiebreaker game on May 24 , in which they would defeat Lewiston again , 5 - 1 , eliminating the Maineiacs from the Memorial Cup and advancing to the semifinal . However , on May 25 , the Whalers would lose again to the Vancouver Giants in the semifinal round , this time in dramatic fashion by a score of 1 - 8 . This way , the Whalers finished the 2007 Memorial Cup in third place . The 2007 – 08 Whalers dealt the goaltender that led them to their 2007 OHL Championship , Michal Neuvirth , early , to make room for Jeremy Smith to start . Neuvirth was among 12 players that left / were traded from that team , leaving the team looking to a number of young players for leadership . Chris Terry led the team in scoring and was helped by overage captain Andrew Fournier and up - and - comer AJ Jenks . In mid - December 2007 , President and GM Mike Vellucci left his head coaching position for Greg Stefan . A late season injury to overage defenseman Wes Cunningham hampered the flow of the team , leading to an early playoff exit at the hands of the eventual OHL champions , the Kitchener Rangers . Early in the 08 – 09 Whalers ' season , Stefan was recalled to the Hurricanes , where Mike Vellucci came back to fill the head coaching role . Injuries and inconsistency plagued the team , as they fell to dead last in the league . After the coaching change , as well as key trades , including a short lived experiment with Cory McGillis , then - leading scorer Matt Caria from the Greyhounds , Scott Fletcher from the Ice Dogs , and the return from AHL - playing Brett Bellemore , the team saw a turn around by Christmas putting them back into the middle of the pack . At the deadline , as a result of Bellemore ' s return and the emergence of Matt Hackett as the new starting goaltender , Patrick Lee and Jeremy Smith were traded to Niagara for draft picks . Championships . The Plymouth Whalers have won seven divisional titles , five of them consecutively . Plymouth has also won three Hamilton Spectator trophies and reached the OHL Championship Finals three times , winning during the 2006 – 07 season . Rivals . The last few years , the Whalers , Spitfires , and Knights have been league leaders in fighting majors . Players . Retired numbers . 14 - Pat Peake is the only number retired by the Whalers organization . Peake ( who played in the Junior Red Wings era ) was a two - season captain , the first MVP for the franchise in 1992 – 93 , as well as Canadian Hockey League player of the year , and OHL Most Sportsmanlike player of the year . He has the most career points in franchise history . Notable players . First round NHL Entry Draft picks . " Players who were drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft while playing for the Whalers franchise . " Second round NHL Entry Draft picks . " Players who were drafted in the second round of the NHL Entry Draft while playing for the Whalers franchise . " NHL alumni . " List of Plymouth Whalers alumni who have played in the National Hockey League . " Franchise records . " A complete list of team records can be found here . " < br clear = " all " > Yearly results . Regular season . Legend : OTL = Overtime loss , SL = Shootout loss Uniforms and logos . In 2009 all Canadian Hockey League teams came out with new Reebok EDGE Jerseys The Plymouth Whaler logo features an angry hockey stick - wielding whale , blowing a puck and spout of water out its blow hole . The name Whalers is superimposed on the image surround by a circle of green and blue with waves in the background . The Whalers white Jersey has the whaler logo in the center with 3 even stripes on the sleeves and bottom of the jersey . The stripes are evenly spaced with two navy outer lines and one green inner line . The Whalers blue Jersey has the whaler logo in the center with a white space and green space going down the sleeves Anthony Harrison was the original creator for the Plymouth Whalers logo . A three - dimensional model of the logo was displayed in the Harford Whalers Team Store in 1996 , this after the model was used in a presentation to the NHL in a third jersey effort . When the pitch failed , the logo was passed to the Plymouth Whalers . Mascot . The Plymouth Whalers have a mascot named Shooter . His first game appearance was on December 11 , 2003 against the Peterborough Petes . His Bio states that he can be found throughout the community as well as at all home games spreading Whalers pride or trying to put a hex on the opponent ' s goaltender . Shooter loves meeting new fans , signing autographs , and getting photos . His favorite meals are wolves from Sudbury , greyhounds from Sault Ste . Marie , and ice dogs from Niagara . Arena . Peter Karmanos arranged to build the Whalers a new home in Plymouth Township , Michigan as soon as the 1995 – 96 season ended . The Compuware Arena was constructed in 6 months time , ready for the 1996 – 97 season . The arena is located at 14900 Beck Rd . in Plymouth with a seating capacity of 3 , 807 . In addition to the NHL - sized rink , there is an Olympic sized rink also in the building . Compuware Arena is home to not only the Whalers , but also the Compuware Ambassadors , a series of major midget teams and lower , according to age .