Patrick King

There's no confusing the Plymouth Whalers as a sleeper going into the CHL playoffs.

It's the same old story for the Plymouth Whalers.

When all the hype is going to powerhouses Barrie and Windsor, and to a lesser extent, London and Mississauga, the Whalers don't figure in the mix. Plymouth is perceived as among a group of strong, but not elite, teams.

The Whalers quietly put together another solid season and assembled a team worthy of competing. But in spite of their success, this team is floating well below the radar with the playoffs just one week away.

It's a role Whalers head coach and general manager Mike Vellucci is familiar with.

"I think there always is," Vellucci said when asked about a perceived lack of respect for his team. "I think the year we won (the OHL title in 2007) nobody expected us to win our championship."

The Whalers are primed to finish fourth in the Western Conference heading into the final weekend of play. Plymouth leads fifth-place Sault Ste. Marie by three points with two games remaining, including Friday's clash between those first-round opponents.

The key to any Whalers success will fall on the sturdy shoulders of forward Tyler Seguin. The sophomore is one of junior hockey's most elusive and dangerous forwards and he continues to battle Windsor's Taylor Hall for the scoring race, just as he does for the top National Hockey League draft position this June.

Hall's 106 points is currently tops in the league, but just a point ahead of Seguin's totals. The Whalers forward, however, felt the scoring race was little more than the cherry on top of a tremendous second season.

"I think it's maybe just a bonus to be able to say you got that, but in the end, we've both worked hard this year," he said Thursday.

Many predict this season will be Seguin's last in the OHL. As a consensus top-three pick for the NHL draft, it's likely that he will begin in the NHL next season as an 18-year-old.

Some believed Vellucci then loaded up for a run because of Seguin's immediate NHL potential. It's a notion Vellucci quashed.

"We try to win every year," he said. "Plymouth's never sold the farm. We made the playoffs 18 years in a row. We always tweak at the end and I made moves to help our team no matter what. Do I believe we can win a championship? Sure. I do every year and I think this is a very good team this year."

Tinkering with the lineup began as early as November. The Whalers sent a conditional 10th-round pick to the Oshawa Generals for the rights to American forward Robbie Czarnik. The now 20-year-old immediately left the University of Michigan to join the Whalers and has been a solid contributor since the trade.

Plymouth then added gritty forward Phil McRae in a trade with London and James Livingston from the Soo Greyhounds.

The team also boasts one of the league's top goaltenders in Matt Hackett. The veteran goaltender was a final cut at the Canadian world junior selection camp in December and is among the league leaders in every statistical category.

The biggest concern heading into the playoffs could be the health of the team. McRae and Czech defenceman Michal Jordan both missed Thursday's game in Windsor, but Vellucci expects them back in time for the post-season.

Although the Whalers might not receive the publicity they deserve, the defending Memorial Cup-champion Windsor Spitfires are not among those who would take them lightly.

"I think they should (get more respect)," Spitfires head coach Bob Boughner said. "If they get great goaltending and Seguin is one of the best players in the world, they can beat anybody. It's definitely a series or a team we would never look past."

There's a reason why the Spitfires would never look beyond the Whalers. During last year's run to the OHL championship, the Whalers were the only team to beat the Spitfires more than once in any of their four playoff rounds.

Plymouth actually led after defeating the Spitfires in Windsor in the series' opening game. After two losses by a combined 16-3 score, the Whalers showed a lot of moxie by rallying to tie it at two games apiece, but eventually lost in six games.

The Whalers-Spitfires clash was one of the most heated of the playoffs, which is one reason why Plymouth is sometimes viewed as a physical team.

"I don't know if we're so physical, but we're big, we can skate and we like to have pressure in all three zones," Vellucci said. "I think that's where everyone gets a little confused."

Regardless of how they play, there's no confusing this team as a sleeper going into the playoffs.

"It's fun to be the underdog," Vellucci concluded. "It's less pressure."