Canton Gold Medalist Allison Schmitt Drops Puck Today for Whalers

The Plymouth Whalers will welcome a local Olympic gold medalist tonight as the team opens the second half of the Ontario Hockey League season.

The Whalers get back in action this week with a pair of home games at Compuware Arena:

• Thursday – Saginaw (14-16-3-2) at Plymouth (14-11-5-3), 2 p.m., Compuware Arena (1:45 p.m. broadcast on 88.1 FM WSDP)

Today's game is the Whalers’ annual Kid’s Day Matinee.  Young fans will celebrate mascot Shooter’s birthday. Gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer Allison Schmitt – from Canton – will participate in a ceremonial face-off.

Plymouth practices at 10:30 a.m. on Friday at Compuware Arena. Practice is open to the public and media. 

• Saturday – London (29-5-0-2) at Plymouth, 7:05 p.m., Compuware Arena (6:45 p.m., 88.1 FM WSDP):

London went into the Christmas Break with a 21-game winning streak. They host Windsor on Thursday before coming to Plymouth on Saturday.  London has taken two of the three games played against Plymouth so far this season.

The OHL record for a winning streak is 25 games, held by the Kitchener Rangers in 1983-84.

Plymouth-Canton Patch editor John McKay contributed to this report.