The Vancouver Whalers put up a season to remember in S56. Their record of 39-11-0 was good for 78 points, 14 more than second place. The fun didn’t stop there either, as Vancouver ended up winning the 4-Star Cup over Newfoundland. Can they repeat this fantastic feat or will they succumb to a cup hangover?

WHY THEY MAY NOT REPEAT
This will certainly be a different team than Vancouver fans saw last season. 8 skaters won’t be returning to the squad this season, including many players who saw big playing time and/or who put up huge points last season. As a matter of fact, the players who aren’t returning had outscored the players who are returning 252-232. Similarly, if we look at the SMJHL standings predictions, the Whalers are in the most hotly debated division in the SMJHL. If we look at all the predictions at the time of writing, and average out everyone’s picks the variance between 1st and 3rd in the Vancouver/Anchorage/Kelowna division is .523, the least of all 4 divisions (which averaged .690).

WHY THEY MIGHT REPEAT
At the end of the day Vancouver still has a wonderfully talented squad. There are plenty of players from last season’s squad that are more than ready to step up and fill the shoes of the players no longer with the team. Although they didn’t have a pick in this recent draft until 24th overall, they hit it out of the park with the players who they did get. Rotzbua, Manyhands, and Boyle are all already over 220 TPE. They’ll definitely play a big part on the team down the run.

WHAT DID THE PRESEASON TELL US?
I can sling hypotheticals all day, what’s important is results. How did Vancouver perform this preseason? The answer: pretty damn well. In their 7 pre-season games the Whalers went 6-1-0, their 12 points most in the league. Aside from a 7-2 drubbing by St. Louis in game 3, Vancouver never seemed out of sorts. Their +8 goal differential was second in the league to St. Louis who boasted an amazing +16. The team was tied for 2nd in goals for and were third in goals against, all fantastic numbers. Of course, if you’re really intent on raining on their parade you could argue that pre-season results are mostly useless since it’s a time when teams are trying out different line combinations to see what works, and will often jumble things around or play more loosely with strategy when compared to the regular season.

SO WHERE DO WE STAND?
Vancouver’s season 57 will be incredibly interesting to see unfold. They’ve lost a lot of key players from last season, but the players they have returning are no slouches either. Unfortunately for the Whalers they look to be in the most competitive division in the SMJHL (which is backed up by the pre-season results, VAN/KEL/ANC finished with 28 points, the most of any division), but with their roster and the results that we saw in the preseason, I see no reason to doubt that they’ll be incredibly competitive again this season, and wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat!

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Approved, +5 TPE @Keenan