skip navigation

2010-2011 Whaler Team Structure to Focus on Player Promotion and Elevated Competition Level!!

By Jr. Whalers, 04/20/10, 1:50PM EDT

Share

Increased Competition, Player Exposure Headline Program Goals!!

The Hampton Roads Whalers have reached several milestones during their short existence. Multiple regular season and playoff championships combined with over 30 players advancing to higher levels of hockey.  Players like Radoslav Illo, who was a fifth round NHL draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2009, place the Whalers among the elite organizations in junior hockey. "Since the inception of the program, on-ice success and player movement have been a consistent focus and end result. We have all the necessary components to provide a pathway to the collegiate level," stated current General Manager and Head Coach Tom Winkler.

The components that Winkler speaks of are:
         -An excellent training facility, the Chilled Ponds Sports Complex
          -A fully equipped weight room
          -Private professional style locker rooms
          -Excellent accredited High School program through Oxford Learning Centers
          -Top rated community college (Tidewater) and universities (Old Dominion and Christopher Newport) located near Chilled Ponds
           -Excellent billet program for out of town players
           -Both teams practice 4 days a week during season (Tues-Fri)
           -Intensive summer training program (8 weeks, 5-days a week with 2 1/2 hours of ice a day, for both teams)

All of these components have allowed the Whalers to compete at the highest of levels. The club's accomplishments speak for itself:

         -2006-2007 CHA Regular Season and Playoff Champions
         -2007-2008 CHA Playoff Champions and National Tournament Participant
         -2008-2009 Inaugural MET-South Regular Season Champions
         -2008-2009 SEJHL National Tournament Representative
         -2009-2010 SEJHL Playoff Champions and National Tournament Representative

The 2010-2011 Season will bring the following competition levels to the Hampton Roads Whalers:

-Junior "A" Independent, MET-South team. This is the Whalers premier team and it will supplement its highly competitive Metropolitan Junior Hockey League schedule with Junior "A" EJHL Showcases. The Whalers will also play in the Junior "A" division of the prestigious Chowder Cup Tournament in Boston in July.

-SEJHL B team will participate in the Mercyhurst Classic and they will also compete against ACHA college club teams. These games will compliment its South East Junior Hockey League schedule. The Whalers will also compete in a Junior Showcase in August at the Chilled Ponds. With the reorganization of the SEJHL, this team will only be allowed to roster three players over the age of eighteen.

These program changes will allow for increased player development and exposure based upon a challenging schedule. "This format will allow us to get our players in front of  college recruiters much earlier and more often during the course of the season," stated Coach Winkler

The Whalers will host the following try-out camps:
April 30th-May 2nd
June 25th-27th 
Both camps to be held at the Chilled Ponds
For more information on the camps or the Whalers, please call Tom Winkler at 757-374-8417.