With 49 wins and 103 points during the regular season, hopes were high for a playoff championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup for the Plymouth Whalers, and they delivered in convincing fashion. The Whalers defeated Guelph in four games, Kitchener in five, London in five and Sudbury in six games, finishing with a 16-4 record during the playoffs.

The team dispatched Guelph and Kitchener quiet easily, setting up the well anticipated match-up between Plymouth and London. However, this series ended abruptly after the Whalers took a quick 3-0 lead with two 5-1 wins in Games One and Two and then a 5-2 win in Game Three. London kept their season alive by winning 5-2 in Game Four, but lost 4-1 in London for Game Five, ending their season and sending Plymouth to face the Eastern Conference Champions, the Sudbury Wolves.

Riding the hot goaltending of Sebastian Dahm (14-4-3, .934 SV %, 2.53 GAA) the Sudbury Wolves beat the Eastern Conference’s top three seeds (Mississauga, Barrie and Belleville), losing only three times in the process. The teams traded blows through the first four games, splitting a game apiece at each rink, setting up a crucial Game Five in Plymouth.

In an overtime thriller, the Whalers won 4-3, 13:34 into the extra session. Although the game went into the extra session, the Whalers sent a message by sending 81 shots at Dahm over the course of about four periods. Game Six was another overtime thriller with the Whalers’ James Neal taking a one-time feed from Evan Brophey just 3:22 into the overtime period giving the Whalers their first championship in over a decade. Neal led the Whalers in points during the playoffs with 25, followed by Brophey with 23 and Collins with 20.

The Whalers then traveled to Vancouver to join Medicine Hat, Lewiston, and Vancouver for the start of the Memorial Cup. The tournament started out bleak for the Whalers as they lost a very hard fought overtime game to the host Vancouver Giants 4-3. Neal had two power-play goals and Tom Sestito had two assists. The Whalers then followed up the overtime loss to Vancouver with a flat effort against the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1. Neal had the Whalers only goal, Sestito and Wes Cunningham had the assists.

With their backs against the wall in their final round robin against the Lewiston MAINEiacs, the Whalers squeaked out the “win or go home” game 2-1 in overtime. The win set up a rematch against Lewiston in the tie-breaker game. This time the game was settled in regulation as the Whalers won in convincing fashion 5-1, advancing them to the semifinal game. Neal and Sestito each had three points. After fighting back to win back-to-back games against the MAINEiacs, Plymouth fell to the hosts, and eventual Memorial Cup Champions, the Vancouver Giants 8-1. That ended their season as they finished in third place in the tournament, with a 2-3 record. Leading the team in points was Sestito with seven and Neal with six.

The future for the Whalers is uncertain. The team will lose Jared Boll, defensemen Steve Ward and Brophey, along with forwards Neal, Dan Collins, Dan Ryder and Sestito and goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Boll, Neal, Collins, Sestito and Neuvirth have already signed NHL entry level deals. Additionally, Ryan McGinnis was traded to the Oshawa General for some draft picks in the 2009 OHL draft. Although the team will probably be in a rebuilding situation next year, the 2006-07 season was nothing short of outstanding.