PREVIEW: North Vancouver Wolf Pack vs. White Rock Whalers (Game #36)

Tonight at 7:00pm the Wolf Pack get the chance to play in their home rink of Harry Jerome for the first time in 2022 when they take on a friendly foe in the White Rock Whalers.

White Rock Whalers
OVERVIEW

Head Coach: Jason Rogers

Record: 20-11-1-0

Road Record: 11-5-0-0

Last Game: A 4-1 win against Mission on January 2.

Goals For/Goals Against: 115 GF/101 GA (+14)

Power Play: 28/112 (25%)

Penalty Kill: 28/128 (78.13%)

Leading Scorers: Chris Fortems (30GP – 10G – 33A – 43PTS), Cole Svendson (27GP – 17G – 9A – 26PTS), Ewan Rennie (15GP – 11G – 14A – 25PTS), Matthew Burry (32GP-13G-12A-25P)

A Whale of a Time
The last time that the White Rock Whalers played was on January 24 against the Mission City Outlaws at the PJHL Winter Showcase in Richmond. The Whalers began 2022 with hearty high-fives from defenceman Bryce Margetson as they stormed to back-to-back victories at the Winter Classic tournament. The Whalers defeated Abbotsford 5-2 on January 1 before scoring four goals in a 4-1 victory against the Mission City Outlaws, the Outlaws were defeated by the Wolf Pack prior to that game.

Count to Four
The Whalers have scored at least three goals in their last thirteen games that the team has played in, and of those thirteen games the Whalers have won twelve. Despite Wolf Pack goaltender Damian Perovic having some of the best stats amongst goaltenders in the PJHL, the Wolf Pack will still need to limit the Whalers scoring chances and offensive play if they plan on winning.

NORTH VANCOUVER WOLF PACK
OVERVIEW

Head Coach: Matt Samson

Record: 26-7-1-1

Home Record: 13-3-1-1

Last Game: A 6-3 loss on January 1 over the Delta Ice Hawks at the Winter Showcase in Richmond.

Goals For/Goals Against: 115 GF/ 101 GA (+55)

Power Play: 31/141 (21.99%)

Penalty Kill: 16/127 (87.4%)

Leading Scorers: JJ Pickell (35GP – 27G – 22A – 49PTS), David Coyle (34GP – 23G – 25A – 48PTS), Ryan Hunter (35GP – 12G – 30A – 42PTS)

Gaetano Cammarata
Another Italian hockey player has joined the Wolf Pack and he is no stranger to Wolf Pack fans as he was on the team last season too. Cammarata, a fan favourite from last season, has made the trip from hometwon of Michigan to come back to the Pack.

Mitchell Collyer
On Thursday afternoon, General Manager Matt Samson announced that the North Vancouver Wolf Pack had acquired 2003-born forward Mitchell Collyer (Onanole, MB) from the Campbell River Storm in exchange for future considerations.

Collyer, a 6’1”, 194-pound right hand forward started the year in the MJHL with the Virden Oil Capitals playing in six games before playing for the Campbell River Storm of the VIJHL where he played an additional eight games.

Final Words
After tonight, the Whalers will host the Wolf Pack on Saturday, January 22, in what will be the sixth and final regular season meeting between these two teams. The season series is currently tied at two as the Pack won the first meeting 3-0 on October 30th and beat White Rock 4-3 on December 18 while the Whalers beat North Van 4-3 on November 14 and 5-1 on December 19. The Wolf Pack has a 8-3-1-0 record against White Rock over the past five seasons.