White Rock Whalers start season leading the standings

It’s been a whale of a season so far for White Rock’s Pacific Junior Hockey League team.

With 15 out of 16 games won so far this season, the White Rock Whalers are leading the Harold Brittain Conference with 3o points. Whalers managing partner Chris McNally was quick to credit the players themselves, as well as community partners including the Semiahmoo Ravens Minor Hockey Association and the City of White Rock.

“We’ve got an incredible group of kids and coaching staff that have come together in a really cool way. I don’t much credit for what happens on the ice … our kids are really doing a great job of sticking with the game plan into the third period,” McNally said. “(They’re) just a relentless group of kids and they play for each other so hard.” He said the camaraderie in the dressing room comes from the players being so tight-knit,as many of them have a long history of playing together in minor hockey aw well. “To see them all come back into this community and put on that Whaler sweater and take such pride in it … I think that’s where the success is coming from, and the coaches are doing a masterful job of making it fun to go to the rink every day and and continue and build that culture of sort of playing together, playing hard, like start-to-finish just relentlessly playing hard. With those two things combined, you’re getting this magic you’re seeing.”

A whole new coaching staff this season — after some confusion about the inclusion of a Cloverdale PJHL team in the league — meant bringing in White Rock-oriented people, including head coach David Rutherford, as well as associate coach Anthony Ast, who both live in White Rock, as well as the entire coaching staff, who all have strong ties with the community, McNally shared, noting the main goal was to identify that Cloverdale needed a junior hockey team. “Our new coaching staff was able to recruit local kids — and a fairly young group — to build on what was established here already, and that’s where the success has come from, really,” he said. It is a long season and they’re still only about a quarter of the way through, he added, and while it’s a great start, “we have to be able to continue and be consistent with it.”

Obviously, it’s nice to win games and championships, McNally said, but maintained he wants more than wins. “I want to see all our teams in our league succeed. I want these kids to have the best experience they can, and I want the communities to engage with us. And they have — we’re seeing really good crowds. We’re seeing some really good energy in the building and and that’s been awesome.” Receiving support from the community has also meant a lot, he said. “The mayor and the city of White Rock have been so supportive for us, and Semiahmoo Minor Hockey has been amazing to work with as well. They are just amazing partners.” The puck drops next at 7:30 p.m. at White Rock’s Centennial Arena Saturday (Nov. 8), when The Pod hosts the Abbotsford Pilots.