OHL Alumni Central

Alex Penner in black for the Nottingham Panthers.

Over the past week and a half, the Nottingham Panthers of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have lost an Ontario Hockey League grad and gained another. Alex Penner, or as he was known in England ‘Weapon X’, returned to North America to play for his 2009-10 club, the Colorado Eagles of the Central Hockey League. Daniel Tkaczuk signed on with the Panthers for the rest of this season after playing the first half with EC Dornbirn in Austria’s tier 2.

Penner was on his way to beating the best single season goal production in his professional hockey career with the Panthers. Weapon X has notched four in 30 games. His previous best was five with Colorado last season. In that 30 games, Alex amassed 291 minutes in penalties, which is his highest single season total.

Alex Penner played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2004-05 and 2005-06. His first season in the OHL consisted of just eleven games with the Guelph Storm. In his second season, he put in 55 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central on Alex Penner.

Daniel Tkaczuk on the left with ERC Ingolstadt during the 2006-07 DEL season.

Daniel Tkaczuk will definitely be an offensive threat with the Panthers. The team currently sits fourth in the ten team league. Between fourth and fifth is the line between the have and have-nots of the EIHL. Nottingham is just six points behind Belfast and Sheffield. The Panthers sit nine points behind the first place Cardiff Devils. There is a twelve point difference between Nottingham and the fifth place Braehead Clan (a first year team).

Tkaczuk played four stellar seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Barrie Colts. Daniel was team captain in the final three of the four seasons and went to the world juniors for Team Canada in 1998 and 1999. He was a sixth overall draft pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Calgary Flames. He appeared in 19 games with the Flames in 2000-01.

After six seasons in Europe from 2003-04 to 2008-09, Tkaczuk returned to North America last season and was bounced around from four different teams, inlcuding: Charlotte Checkers (ECHL), Syracuse Crunch (AHL), Rochester Americans (AHL) and Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). His European tour has taken him to Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria and now England. Check out this previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring Daniel Tkaczuk.

Of course, both players appear on the OHL Alumni Big List.

The Central Hockey League played their annual All-Star game on Wednesday night, January 12. The CHL used the old-school NHL format with the 2009-10 Playoff champion Rapid City Rush hosting the rest of the league’s all-stars. The CHL All-Stars beat out the Rush 11-6.

The Ontario Hockey League had it’s mark all over this game with six OHL Alumni on the Rapid City Rush and two on the CHL All-Stars. One OHL grad in particular had an amazing game. Jason Dale was chosen the MVP of the CHL All-Stars as he popped two goals and added five assists.

Here are the Ontario Hockey League grads that played in the game (click on the highlighted names to read a previous post featuring that player at OHL Alumni Central):

CHL All-Stars

Darren McMillan – Darren played three seasons for the Erie Otters from 1998-99 to 2000-01.

Jason Dale – Jason played three seasons with the Brampton Battalion from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

Rapid City Rush

Kevin Harvey – Kevin played for the Kingston Frontenacs in 2001-02 then returned to the Ontario Hockey League for the 2003-04 when he played with the Owen Sound Attack.

Scott Wray – Scott played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00. He split his first season with the Owen Sound Platers and North Bay Centennials. He remained in North Bay until his final season when he split the year between the Centennials and the Plymouth Whalers.

Josh Beaulieu – Josh was a member of the London Knights for four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07.

Danny Bottochio – Danny played three seasons with the Ottawa 67′s from 2003-04 to 2005-06.

Colt King – Colt played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. King is one of the very few to play on six different teams during his OHL career (two were the same franchise that was relocated). Colt played for the Guelph Storm, North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting.

Andrew Smale – Andrew played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Mississauga IceDogs during the 2001-02 season.

Looking for a good hockey read? Check out the new book review page at OHL Alumni Central.

Brothers, and Ontario Hockey League alumni, Adam Smyth and Matt Smyth both are in their fourth seasons in the Central Hockey League. Adam is a member of the Arizona Sundogs and Matt is with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

Adam, the oldest, played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04. He was a member of the Ottawa 67′s until two games into his final season when he was shipped to the Owen Sound Attack. Smyth led the 67′s in penalty minutes during the 2001-02 season with 205. He helped Ottawa to the Robertson Cup final in 2002-03 when the 67′s lost out to the Kitchener Rangers in five games.

Undrafted, Adam spent his first two seasons of professional hockey mostly in the ECHL with the Gwinnett Gladiators. He was the team leader in penalty minutes both seasons with 217 and 286. Over the two seasons, he made his way up to the AHL for five games with the Chicago Wolves.

After a season in the UHL in 2006-07 when he led the Muskegon Lumberjacks in PIM with 236, he began his career in the CHL. The Sundogs are Adam’s third team since joining the league after coming over from the Mississippi Riverkings midway through last season. Over the past two seasons, he had led his team in PIM and placed third in the league in that category.

The younger Matt Smyth tends to spend less time in the penalty box and more time holding up the blue line. Matt played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06, although his first consisted of only one game. He played with the Owen Sound Attack before moving over to the Belleville Bulls for his final season in the OHL.

After a year in the ECHL with the Phoenix Roadrunners in 2006-07, it was off to the CHL for Matt. In his four seasons in the league, including the current campaign, Matt has played for five different teams: Wichita, Tulsa, Corpus Christi, Mississippi and, of course, Rio Grande Valley.

Check out Adam Smyth’s profile page on the Arizona Sundogs official website.

Check out Matt Smyth’s profile page on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees official website.

Kip Brennan takes on giant Derek Boogaard as a member of the Anaheim Ducks during the 2005-06 NHL season.

6’4″ and 231 lb. Kip Brennan is not brought onto a team’s roster to score goals. During the six seasons when Brennan played a limited number of games in the NHL, he did not qualify for the Lady Byng. Kip Brennan is purely an old school enforcer.

Kip played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 2000-01. His first season was played with the Windsor Spitfires then, midway through his second season, he was shipped to the Sudbury Wolves. He finished out his OHL career in Sudbury.

Over his five OHL seasons, Brennan averaged just under 42 regular season games played per year. Despite the low game total (209), Kip sat in the sin bin for 826 minutes. He added another 175 minutes in 29 career OHL playoff games.

The Los Angeles Kings saw something in Kip and drafted him in the fourth round of the 1998 NHL draft, 103rd overall. His 61 career NHL games were mostly played with the Kings but he also saw action with the Atlanta Thrashers, Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders.

Six times to date, Brennan has led his team in penalty minutes. He led the Sudbury Wolves in his second last season in the OHL with 228 minutes in 55 games while also scoring 16 goals. In 2001-02, as an AHL rookie with the Manchester Monarchs, he led the team with 269 minutes despite playing just 44 games. The following season, he led the Monarchs again with 195 minutes in just 35 games.

In 2004-05, Kip would lead the Chicago Wolves of the AHL in PIM with 267 in just 48 games. That season, Brennan would shine offensively as well. Kip put in a career pro high seven goals with Chicago. He led the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2007-08 with 247 in 49. This past season, 2009-10, he sat 263 in 53 with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.

Twice during his professional hockey career, Kip has been slapped with lengthy suspensions. During the 2003-04 season, he was suspended for ten games for returning to the ice to join an altercation after already being sent off. During the 2007 AHL playoffs, Brennan was suspended for the remainder of the post season for an altercation with a fan who attacked him in the penalty box.

This good ol’ Kingston boy fills a void on the Allen Americans left by the retirement of Britt Dougherty. Brennan has just signed on with the Central Hockey League club and only fortifies Allen’s position atop the league standings.

A profile page has been set up for Kip Brennan at the Central Hockey League official website, although it is currently unpopulated. Click here to check it out.

Brennan joins fellow Ontario Hockey League grad Tobias Whelan on the Americans. Whelan was featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central.

Ontario Hockey League grad Tobias Whelan has begun his second season with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League. Like a growing number of OHL alumni, Whelan complimented his career in the OHL with a stint in the Canadian university system before entering the world of professional hockey.

Whelan played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04, all with the Oshawa Generals. His offensive numbers got consistently better as the years went by, culminating in a 51 point performance over 68 games in his final season in the OHL.

Undrafted, Whelan became a member of the Lakehead Thunderwolves in 2004-05. The team was just in it’s fourth year of existence and under the leadership of captain, and OHL alumnus, Joel Scherban. Whelan played five seasons with Lakehead and accumulated a few accolades:

1) 2007 OUA First Team All Star
2) 2007 Lakehead Most Improved Player
3) 2006 Queens Cup Champion
4) 2006 CIS National Championships Silver Medalist

As a rookie in the Central Hockey League during the 2009-10 season with the Allen Americans, Whelan put up great numbers with 33 points in 57 games. He helped the team to the Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals where the bowed out to league champion, Rapid City Rush, in six games.

He returns to Allen this season and is joined by goaltender Chris Whitley. Whitley and Whelan were teammates with the Oshawa Generals in 2000-01 when Whitley played his one and only Ontario Hockey League game. They were reunited at Lakehead and were teammates there for four seasons.

Check out Tobias Whelan’s profile page on the Allen Americans official website.

Four other OHL Alumni that have gone on to play for the Lakehead Thunderwolves have previously been featured at OHL Alumni Central:

Michael Jacobsen

Joel Scherban

Mike Wehrstedt

Scott Dobben

All these players (except Joel Scherban) can be found on the OHL Alumni Big List.