The Hampton Roads Whalers made history this weekend, as both the Whalers Elite and Premier teams took home the USPHL National Championship, defeating the Charlotte Rush in both games on Saturday, becoming the 1st franchise in USPHL history to win both championships in the same season. The Whalers Premier team has appeared in every USPHL Championship weekend since its inception in 2012. They have made the final four each year, including the championship game the last 3 seasons, and have now won the championship in 2 of the last 3 seasons. The Whalers Elite team made their 2nd appearance in the championship game in the last 3 seasons, avenging their 2016 defeat to take home the hardware this season.

ELITE

Elite Round Robin

In the round robin tournament, the Whalers Elite team would face a gauntlet of USPHL power house teams. The Whalers would face-off with the Jersey Hitmen, the defending Champion Florida Jr. Blades, and the league’s highest scoring team in the Islanders Hockey Club.

Game one of the weekend would see the second meeting of the year between the Whalers and Jersey Hitmen. The Whalers would get goals from Gary Eastlack, Tianyou Zuo, Nolan Cavanagh, and Ryan Lorenz while Everett Yasinski made 37 saves in net and held off a late Hitmen charge for a 4-3 win. The Whalers held a 43-40 advantage in shots.

Game two, the Whalers would face the defending champion Florida Jr. Blades. The Whalers would dominate this game from start to finish, getting goals from Bryce Leger, Caelan Bolanowski, Gary Eastlack, Jacob Kaplan, and Nick Darrow as they cruised to a convincing 5-1 win. Everett Yasinski made 19 saves in net for the win. The Whalers held a 58-20 advantage in shots.

The Whalers final round robin test would come in a must win game against the high powered Islanders HC. After a scoreless opening frame, the Whalers road the back of 2 Gary Eastlack goals, as well as goals from Jacob Kaplan, Caelan Bolanowski, and Tianyou Zuo to a convincing 5-1 win, advancing to the semi-finals and ending the Islanders season. Everett Yasinski made 19 saves in net for the win. The Whalers held a 33-20 advantage in shots.

Elite Semi-Final

In the semi-finals, the Whalers would face an unfamiliar foe, as the boys from Hampton Roads would face off with the Beijing Shougang Eagles for the first time in franchise history. The Whalers entered the event as the 1 team in bracket B and faced the 2 seed Eagles from bracket B.

The Whalers started fast and furious, notching 3 goals in the opening period to take a 3-0 lead after 1. In the middle frame, the Whalers would pound home 3 more goals before the Eagles finally found the net, and the Whalers held a 6-1 lead after 2. In the 3rd, the Whalers would tack on an insurance marker and cruise into the finals with a 7-1 win.

Ty Brandt posted a hat-trick, Caelan Bolanowski, Tianyou Zuo, Cody Wilson, and Bryce Leger each posted 1 goal. Everett Yasinski made 29 saves in net for the win. Beijing held a 30-28 advantage in shots.

With the win, the Whalers finished the season a perfect 16-0 against out of division opponents, going undefeated against the North, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida divisions this season.

Elite Final

In the finals, the Whalers would face-off with a hated division rival, in the Charlotte Rush. The Whalers and Rush have gone toe to toe the last 3 seasons. Last season the Rush ended the Whalers run in the 2nd round. This season, the Whalers went 1W-2L-3OTL in 6 games against their division rival, as the Rush went on to clinch the Southeast division title ahead of the Whalers as well as claiming the USPHL regular season championship with the best record in the league.

With revenge on their minds, the Whalers came out with purpose, pressuring the Rush with suffocating defense. The Whalers hard worked paid off, as Ty Brandt tipped home a goal from Gary Eastlack and Ryan Lorenz just 3:36 into the game to go up 1-0. After plenty of back and forth, Caelan Bolanowski would extend the lead to 2-0 at the 17:42 mark from Jacob Kaplan and Bryce Leger. The 2 goal lead would be short lived, as Charlotte responded just 9 seconds later and the Whalers held a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.

In the middle frame, the Whalers would find themselves back on their heels, as the Rush made a strong push. At 3:52, Charlotte would pounce on a rebound and tie the game up at 2-2. Then at the 11:50 mark, Charlotte would take their first lead of the game, capitalizing on a power play goal on a seeing eye shot from the point. With just 1:39 left in the 2nd, Charlotte struck again on a net front scramble, scoring their 4th straight goal to chase Everett Yasinski and take a 4-2 lead into the 3rd.

In the 3rd, Charlotte played a tight defensive game, holding off the Whalers advances for much of the period. Then, with just 6:42 left, the Whalers cut the lead to 4-3 on a power play goal as Adam Campbell wired a shot over the shoulder of Anthony Keating assisted by Cody Wilson and Nolan Cavanagh. As the Whalers continued to buzz and the seconds winding down, the Whalers found the equalizer with just 2:36 left on the clock when Gary Eastlack took a Ty Brandt hard rim, stepped off the half-wall and beat Keating and this game would be headed for overtime for the 4th time in 7 match-ups this season.

In the overtime session, the two teams exchange blows, as Jason Horn and Anthony Keating kept their respective teams alive in net. At the 15:17 mark of the overtime session, the Whalers had a big power play opportunity, but were denied on many great opportunities. Then, with under 5 minutes left in the 1st overtime, Justin Jiang picked off a pass just inside the Whalers blue line, motored up ice and found Tianyou Zuo across the ice, Zuo drove the zone, Jiang drove the net, and Zuo sent a beautiful pass backdoor onto the tape of Justin Jiang who tapped the puck in five-hole and sent the Whalers into a frenzy as the 2017-2018 USPHL Elite National Champions with a 5-4 win over the Charlotte Rush.

“It’s an unbelievable moment for this team and for this organization”, stated Head Coach Brad Jones. “We told this group back in October we thought we had a real shot at winning a title this season. Through all the high and lows, these guys battled for each other, they pushed each other every day, and just when you thought we were down, they found a way for each other. I couldn’t be prouder of what this team, and this organization has accomplished. This group of brothers will forever be remembered as Champions.”