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Allegiant · 06-17-2024, 01:11 PM

The Vancouver Whalers: Past and Present

The Vancouver Whalers are a storied franchise in the SMJHL. As one of the original SMJHL teams comprised mostly of new imports after the SHL formed in its current iteration, its early teams were stocked largely of unknown quantities. In those young seasons, it was difficult to predict who might turn into a usable roster player, and who would merely wind up filling space. In addition, the ample spots on the weaker SHL teams meant that call-ups were fast and furious. The result was an uncertain SMJHL landscape, and one which the Whalers did not excel in.

It wasn’t until Season 10 that the Vancouver Whalers won their first Four Star Cup, alongside four individual awards for Simo Hayha and a single award for Dave Smith. Hayha didn’t amount to much in the SHL, playing in S11 and S12 with the Manhattan Rage before moving to the Renegades for the remainder of his career with the Texas Renegades. Even so, Hayha was the first star to bring a championship to Vancouver, and deserves a place in its history.

The win in S10 was the beginning of something greater for the Whalers, as a mere four seasons later they claimed a second trophy, this time led by a name that should be quite well-known in the league now: Jordin FourFour. A season later and the team repeated, claiming their first repeat championships, again with FourFour leading the way as the team’s star goaltender. FourFour himself would go onto stardom in the SHL, frequently named in debates alongside Aitokallio as one of the most prolific netminders of the first few decades of league history.

From there, Whalers victories started to come fast and furious: they won in Seasons 18 and 19, and then again in Season 24. Although management had changed, it was around this time that the Whalers became known as having one of the most established locker room cultures in the league. The team in Season 24 was also stacked with some fairly well-known names: Geoffrey Allen, Jack Durden, and VLAD McZehrl, topped a class of Whalers who would go on to define their generation at a professional level years later.

Expansion made it increasingly difficult to win a Four Star Cup, leading to an eleven season drought — relieved in Season 35, when the Whalers began another back-toback streak, led by names such as Robert Phelps and Carrick Murray, while co-managed by a rather noteworthy name in JR95: generally recognized as both an excellent coach and manager, these two victories would help kick off a career that would see him manage an SHL team to multiple Challenge Cup victories only a few seasons later.

The Whalers would continue to be competitive, winning another Four Star Cup in Season 43, and then another in Season 48. With such a successful history, the wait between Seasons 48 and 56 felt every bit as long as the drought between Seasons 24 and 35. Yet, sure enough, they claimed another victory and also netted a whopping nine individual awards to share amongst the team. The team that year was, perhaps, one of the most accomplished the franchise had ever seen on a purely SMJHL level.

The last Four Star Cup the team managed to clinch was in Season 61, on a team with five first team All-Stars. Following that, the team began its current drought: fifteen seasons without a Four Star Cup. While there are some teams which could stomach it, envious of the amount of wins the Whalers have across their history, for a team with such a rich pedigree, that wait can only grow more excruciating. With so many new teams, the SMJHL has only grown more competitive over the years, and as has happened countless times before, old storied franchises find themselves lost in the shuffle.

And yet, there’s hope that the drought could end this very season,

The Vancouver Whalers currently sit at 12-4-2, tied for second place with the Quebec City Citadelles, the defending champions, and a mere two points back from the Nevada Battleborn. They have the third most goals in the league, the four least goals allowed, and the best power-play. Their penalty-kill is sitting in the bottom half of the league, and they do tend to give away the puck a little frequently.

Though those latter two points are concerning at the best of times, the good news for the Whalers is that it’s something they can improve on over the course of the season, to cover up those weaknesses by the time of the playoffs. Certainly, despite those lapses, their team is strong enough from top to bottom to make a real run of it. Niclas Wastlund leads the team with 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points, while possessing a fairly known name: he’s got success in his blood, and a Four Star Cup win would be an important addition to his resume.

Down the middle, NoNo Jo has greatly improved his passing acument, going from primarily a goal scorer to a much more well-rounded game with a pass-first mentality. With Sven and Atlason on the left side also showcasing their playmaking chops, the only real concern anyone might have is that the team could maybe use another solid goal-scorer to finish plays. That might also help to ease the amount of giveaways they’re committing solely out of spending a little too much time passing the puck around.

Defensively, the team is led in shots blocked by Groaty Bronson and Oliver Cornwall, while David Vent provides some needed physicality from the back six. Wastlund, Tomo, and Jalopski add physicality from the forward corps, but on the whole the Whalers are one of the less physical teams in the league. This isn’t the red flag that some might consider it to be: as long as they can turn a more finesse, passing game into wins, they aren’t likely to fin themselves intimidated by the bigger, more ‘bully’ tactics style teams.

In terms of goaltenders, both the Masked Stranger and Galton Woggins find themselves near the top of the league in save percentage and goals against average, and Woggins is tied for the lead with two shut-outs in the first third of the season. Given how important goaltending is in tense play-off games, the team is in a good position: the only question is going to be which goaltender gets the nod when the time comes.

In sum, the Whalers are a storied franchise — and a franchise which is overdue to win another Four Star Cup. They have the team to make that a reality this year, but they do have a couple of weaknesses they might need to address. Even so, there should be no doubt that the Whalers are on the way to another Four Star Cup. Fifteen seasons is a long time for an old franchise to go without a win, and somehow, someway, they’ll get there in the end. Yet, this is probably the last chance that this current core has to win, with more than a couple key players on their third or fourth years in juniors.

At this point, all we can do is wait and see. They might have some adjustments to make, and perhaps an acquisition or two to help put them over the top, but there shouldn’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind that this current team can push to the very end.

1265 Words

***Seany148*** · 06-17-2024, 01:17 PM

Hoping to end the drought, great article!!

*AuggieO* · 06-17-2024, 07:30 PM

I love being well rounded

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