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Current Whalers Tom Wilson, J.T. Miller and Alums Tyler Seguin and James Neal Generating Buzz

Whalers (13-6-2-1) play three games this weekend.

WHALERS THIS WEEKEND:
Tonight - Plymouth (13-6-2-1) at Windsor (11-11-1-1), 7:05 p.m. (7 p.m., 88.1 FM WSDP, www.plymouthwhalers.com), Windsor Family Credit Union Centre.

Friday - Plymouth at London (16-3-0-1), 7:30 p.m. (7:20 p.m., 88.1 FM WSDP, www.plymouthwhalers.com), London's John Labatt Centre.

Saturday - Kitchener (12-6-1-0) at Plymouth, 7:05 p.m. (6:50 p.m., 88.1 FM WSDP, www.plymouthwhalers.com), .

Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

TOM WILSON ON NHL SCOUTS RADAR: Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports Junior Hockey has a feature on the Whalers Tom Wilson in a story called Draft Tracker:

Sager writes:

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"Plymouth Whalers right wing Tom Wilson is well-qualified to talk about the big man's burden.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Torontonian profiles classic power winger who seems to be in short supply in the Ontario Hockey League nowadays. Wilson is a good confluence of skill — the Whalers would not have him paired up with NHL first-rounder J.T. Miller if he didn't — and size. He's also well-aware that he has to tailor his bashing style of play to the new reality of junior hockey, where contact with the head can mean

"For me as a player, I sort of have to become smarter about when I hit people," says the 17-year-old Wilson, who's projected as a first- or second-round pick. "When they're not in vulnerable positions and stuff like that. It's kind of unfortunate that the game has seen these types of hits come into play. I think one big thing is that the players need to start protecting themselves to player. Obviously it comes into play that guy making the hit has to be more careful, but the guy receiving the hit need to be more aware of their surroundings, don't cut behind the net with their head down like with the [Tom] Kühnhackl and [Ryan] Murphy play."

Read the rest of the story.

Wilson is currently rated 27th by Craig Button in his ratings for TSN.ca for the 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

MILLER TIME: Plymouth left wing J.T. Miller was named the New York Rangers prospect of the week by a website that follows all New York Rangers and Islander prospects. The Prospect Park.com writes:

"JT Miller (2011 1st) we have to admit was a prospect that did not show up on our radar as a serious contender for the Ranger's first round pick which is our way of saying we are learning about who he is and how he plays as we go along.

The best way to describe watching Miller is he is one of those "so that is why Gordie Clark liked him" kind of prospects as you learn something new every time we watch him...."

Read the rest of the article (scroll down).

TYLER SEGUIN NAMED NHL'S FIRST STAR: Whalers alum Tyler Seguin was named the National Hockey League's first star after scoring four goals and two assists and was +4 over three games for the Boston Bruins last week.

"It's great," Bruins coach Claude Julien said in Boston Globe.com. "It's deserving. He's had a tremendous start to the season, and even now I see him getting better and better, which is even more encouraging. His confidence is growing and as I mentioned after the game against Buffalo, his battle level along the boards to get those pucks or to take it away is so much better now, and that's all due to confidence. It's due to experience. Right now, he's feeling really good about himself and he's just starting to showcase what he's all about."

See the rest of the story. Seguin talked to the media in practice (Bruins.com video) earlier this week after being named first star.

THE REAL JAMES NEAL: Whalers alum James Neal continues to play well for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had a goal in two assists Tuesday in Pittsburgh's 6-3 win over Colorado. Neal is currently on a personal-best seven game point scoring streak.

Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times profiles Neal:

PITTSBURGH -- How impressive has James Neal been this season? At his current pace, the Penguins left wing is on pace for a 40-plus goal season. And that's if he doesn't play a single road game.

Never thought you'd say that after watching Neal struggle mightily after coming over from Dallas last season, did you? Mind you Neal is doing all this without the services of Sidney Crosby, considered one of, if not the finest, playmakers in the game.

One of these weeks ... or months ... Neal will finally be Crosby's linemate. When they do? Well, let's just say it's a scary proposition for the Penguins' opponents.

So far, Neal has been doing just fine, thank you, with Evgeni Malkin and Steve Sullivan....

See the rest of the story.

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