Plymouth Whalers Eliminated From OHL Playoffs

It was a one-sided game and unfortunately for the Plymouth Whalers, Owen Sound dominated.

The Attack eliminated the Whalers in the Ontario Hockey League Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory.

“It came down to effort and we didn’t have it,” Plymouth’s Tyler Brown said. 

Owen Sound, the top seed in the Western Conference, swept the Whalers, 4-0, in the best-of-seven series.

“We just ran out of gas,” Plymouth coach Mike Vellucci said. “Game 7 (against Kitchener) and all that travel back-and-forth. ... They’re a good team.”

James Livingston made sure the Whalers didn’t get shut out, scoring his final goal as a Whaler with 1:05 remaining in the third period. He was assisted by Robbie Czarnik.

By that time, though, the game was more or less over as the Attack still held a 3-goal lead.

“The bottom line is, it’s too bad,” Livingston said. 

Livingston, Czarnik and Brown, who are each 21, played their last Whalers' game. All three have been drafted by NHL teams: Livingston by San Jose, Czarnik by Los Angeles and Brown by Philadelphia.

“I’d have liked to go out better, but I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to go out with,” Brown said. “I made a lot of friends here.”

Livingston’s goal earned him the third star in the game.

“We came into this series on a high, but we never got our legs back (after beating Kitchener),” Livingston said.

Owen Sound took a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Whalers had three power-play opportunities in the second period, but couldn’t capitalize.

For most of the third period, it was the Whalers who were killing off penalties.

“They’re a hard-working team,” said Brown of Owen Sound. “They had a game plan against us and they executed well. I’d like to think we’re a hard-working team, too, but the effort was not there. It’s too bad it ended this way.”

Still, from Vellucci’s point of view, the season was a success. The Whalers won 36 of 68 games in the regular season and were 4-7 in the playoffs.

“We had a great year,” he said. “We overachieved. We weren’t expected to make the playoffs, let alone get out of the first round."