Vancouver’s defense coming into the season welcomed a few new players with only three returning players: Dara McQuick, Narboza Manyhands, Zayne Rotzbua, and Sven Svechnikov. One defenseman was drafted this season in NeverBrokeAgain YoungBoy, as well as 2 mid-season pickups in Doug Glatt and Adelie de Pengu. With these mid-season pickups, Sven Svechnikov made the transition to forward for a majority of the second half of the season and the playoffs.

NEW PICKUPS

Starting with rookie, NeverBrokeAgain YoungBoy, whomst was drafted 6th overall in the S59 SMJHL Draft, had a great season for a rookie on a below average Whalers team. Arguably the Rookie of the Year, YoungBoy led the Whalers blueline in points with 34, goals with 11, and assists with 23. Most of these points came at 5v5, with only 4 assists on the powerplay, which goes to show the 5v5 ability of the young defenseman. Also, along with defense partner Narboza Manyhands, YoungBoy was a top player on the team in corsi. With a Corsi For % of 52.7%, YoungBoy was a dominant possession player that drove play for a team that struggled to generate much offense without him and Manyhands on the ice. YoungBoy had a relative Corsi For of 11.2%, which means he generated 11.2% more shots while he was on the ice, as compared to when he was off the ice.

Doug Glatt and Adelie de Pengu were welcome additions to a relatively struggling Whalers blueline throughout the season. Despite being young players that weren’t fully developed, Glatt and de Pengu were able to produce quite a few points: 6 for Glatt and 4 for de Pengu. Neither were great play drivers with both players being below 40% Corsi For. Yikes.

RETURNING PLAYERS

As expected, Manyhands was the star on defense for the Whalers. Although not having the most points, Manyhands soaked up ice time for a thin Whalers team, averaging 23:18 minutes while being a stalwart on the penalty kill and power play. If it weren’t for the ice time Manyhands soaked up, it’s hard to think about how bad this Whalers team would’ve been. Manyhands was also a great defense partner for rookie YoungBoy and was able to help make up for some of the rookie mistakes that were inevitable for such a young player. Manyhands was an all-around great leader for this young Whalers team. Look for Manyhands to be a key player for the Whalers next season.

Dara McQuick held a little less of a role on this Whalers blueline, only averaging 19:34 seconds, but being key on the penalty kill. Not providing much offensive value, McQuick had only 8 points on the season and having a Corsi For of 41.4%. McQuick could be good in a sheltered role for the Whalers next season, but don’t look for McQuick to be a star on this team.

Zayne Rotzbua, the team goon, did goon things for the Whalers this season. Rotzbua had 398 (!) hits on the season, while also accumulating 136 penalty minutes. Despite spending at least 2 minutes a game in the penalty box, Rotzbua managed to score 22 points on the season. Rotzbua could be a really good player for this Whalers team if he could manage to stay out of the penalty box a little more, since he obviously has a little offensive prowess.

Sven Svechnikov, a true offensive defenseman, showed his offensive prowess and versatility this season when he switched to forward in order to try to help the forwards generate some more offense. The switch was probably a little rough since Svechnikov is a natural defenseman, and it showed in his statistics this season. Sven only had a Corsi For % of 40.6%, which was third worst on the team. Look for Svechnikov to make the transition back to defense for next season and be a true offensive star from the blueline.

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