OHL Alumni Central

Fred Brathwaite played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1989-90 to 1992-93. He began his OHL career with the Oshawa Generals and played there until the midway point of the 1991-92 season when he shifted to the London Knights. His final season was played with the Detroit Junior Red Wings.

Fred was undrafted but went on to a nine year NHL career. The pinnacle of Brathwaite’s NHL career was 1999-00 and 2000-01 when he was the primary goalie with the Calgary Flames playing 61 and 49 regular season games. Throughout his NHL days, Fred also played for the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

During the 2004-05 NHL strike season, Brathwaite ventured out into the European hockey scene and played with Kazan Ak-Bars of the Russian Super League. He returned the following season and Ak-Bars won the RSL championship.

Fred made an attempt at a return to the North American game, playing for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL for the 2006-07 season and part of the 2007-08 season. The Wolves are the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers but Fred didn’t get a call-up to the NHL club.

Since 2008-09, Brathwaite has been a member of Adler Mannheim of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In his first season with the club, Fred was named the DEL Player Of The Year. The numbers that season included six shutouts, a goals against average of 2.37 and a save percentage of .925 in 49 regular season games.

Brathwaite returned to Adler Mannheim for the 2010-11 season. This will be his 18th season in professional hockey and his 21st since winning the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals in his first season of Ontario Hockey League play.

Check out Fred Brathwaite’s profile page on the Adler Mannheim official website.

(Unless you’re a Windsor Spitfires or Oshawa Generals fan…)

Travis as a member of the DEL's Kolner Haie in 2007-08.

The only thing flawed about the career of Ontario Hockey League grad Travis Scott thus far is the single game he played in the National Hockey League. For such a great goaltender, the Los Angeles Kings gave him just one shot at playing in the NHL and he is left with an NHL career Goals Against Average of 7.20 and a save percentage of .700.

Everything else about Scott’s career in professional hockey has been exceptional and he is potentially one of the most under-rated goaltenders to ever come out of the Ontario Hockey League.

Travis played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96. His first two seasons were with the Windsor Spitfires and his final season was with the Oshawa Generals. His OHL career was less than stellar, he was not drafted to the NHL and played in the ECHL upon entering the world of professional hockey.

During the 1998-99 season while playing for the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL, Travis was named Playoff MVP as the team took the Kelly Cup.

From 1999-00 to 2004-05, Scott was a regular in the American Hockey League, playing for the Lowell Lock Monsters, Manchester Monarchs and San Antonio Rampage. His GAA never went above the 2.91 mark and pretty much fell each season he played. His save percentage over his final five seasons in the AHL was consistently above .920. Travis currently sits tied for 12th on the all-time AHL career shutouts list with 23.

In 2005-06, Travis made the move to European hockey and played for Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League. The RSL is the predecessor to the KHL. His first season was simply amazing as he had eleven shutouts, a GAA of 1.22 and a whopping save percentage of .949 in 43 games. The following season, he backstopped the team to the RSL Championship. He took a short holiday in 2007 to join Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland as Canada captured the gold at the invitational tournament.

He switched over to Austria for the 2008-09 season and played for Klagenfurt of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. He led Klagenfurt to an Austrian Championship while leading the league in GAA and save percentage.

This past season, 2009-10, he continued his winning ways in Germany with the Hannover Scorpions of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Travis led the league in save percentage and the Scorpions took the DEL crown.

Scott is back with Hannover for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The team shows no sign of stopping and should again be a contender in the German elite league.

Check out Travis Scott’s profile page at the Hannover Scorpions official website.

Travis also appeared in this previous post about Ontario Hockey League grads playing for Hannover’s Championship team.

Adam Dennis backstopped not one but two Ontario Hockey League teams to the Memorial Cup. In his four year OHL career, Dennis made three trips to the Robertson Cup finals, once with the Guelph Storm and twice with the London Knights. Adam was a member of the Guelph Storm Robertson Cup winning team in 2003-04 and was traded to the London Knights the following season. With the Knights, he was a major part of the team’s Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup winning season in 2004-05 and helped the Knights to another Robertson Cup appearance the following season.

Dennis spent the 2009-10 season with HC Fassa of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) Serie A1. Despite the team finishing sixth in the nine team league, Adam shone with a 2.23 GAA (best in the LIHG) and a .935 save percentage while playing 37 of the team’s 40 regular season games.

This upcoming season, 2010-11, Adam is definitely receiving a promotion for his efforts. He has signed on with Kölner Haie of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The DEL is ranked considerably higher in IIHF rankings than the LIHG and may well help Adam finally make the big step to the NHL.

Adam Dennis played his four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He started with the Guelph Storm and was traded to the London Knights during the 2004-05 to, of course, help with the Knights Memorial Cup run. In his final season, he was OHL goaltender of the year and a CHL second team all-star.

Despite his junior hockey success, Adam went fairly low in the 2005 NHL draft. The Buffalo Sabres chose Dennis in the sixth round, 182nd overall. Adam spent three seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 2006-07 to 2008-09, two with the Rochester Americans and one with the Portland Pirates.

Check out the profile page for Adam Dennis on the Kölner Haie official website.

Adam has appeared in these previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

2004-05 London Knights Alumni

2003-04 Guelph Storm Alumni

London Knights Alumni

If you haven’t yet checked it out, the OHL Alumni In Europe For 2010-11 early bird version is available for download free.

Bob Wren Scored 57 goals and 88 assists for 145 points during the 1992-93 Ontario Hockey League season. These astounding numbers were overshadowed in the high-flying early 1990′s. Wren’s 145 points were 17 behind Andrew Brunette of the Owen Sound Platers and three others had more goals that season. Teammate Pat Peake beat out Wren for the Red Tilson Trophy as Ontario Hockey League MVP.

Wren played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1991-92 to 1993-94. He played all three seasons for the franchise that would eventually become the Plymouth Whalers. In his first season, the team was know as the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors and in his final two it was the Detroit Junior Red Wings.

In Bob Wren’s final season in the Ontario Hockey League, his 109 regular season points weren’t even good enough for the league’s top 10. He produced another 30 points in 17 playoff games as the Junior Red Wings made it to the Robertson Cup finals before being ousted by the North Bay Centennials.

Wren was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of the 1993 NHL draft, 94th overall. His National Hockey League career would only amount to five regular seasons games, four with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and one with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wren would also appear in one playoff game with the Maple Leafs in 2001-02.

After nearly 600 games in the North American minors, Bob left for Europe for the 2003-04 season. Since, he has spent his time in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) and Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). In his seven seasons in Europe’s elite leagues, Wren has consistantly been over a point per game player. He led the Austrian league in assists in the 2004-05 season as a member of the Vienna Capitals.

Last season, Bob Wren played for ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL and is under contract to play for the team again this upcoming season. Check out Bob Wren’s profile page on the ERC Ingolstadt official website.

Bob Wren is also featured in a previous post about OHL grads in the DEL top ten scorers.

Cody Thornton as a St. Mary's Husky. Photo by Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax.

Cody Thornton played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2006-07. His first three seasons were played with the Belleville Bulls. In 2003-04 and 2004-05, Cody began to develop his scoring touch with 21 and 23 goals for the Bulls.

In his final two seasons in the OHL, Thornton played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds where he didn’t miss a single regular season game. Cody’s goal scoring increased each year with 26 in his first with the Greyhounds and 36 in his final season.

Thornton has spent the past three seasons in the Canadian university system with St. Mary’s in Nova Scotia. Cody was an offensive leader with the Huskies contributing 117 points in 83 games over the three years.

Cody Thornton has made the jump to the world of professional hockey for the 2010-11 season. Thornton has signed on with the Landshut Cannibals of Germany’s Bundesliga which is a level below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Cody Thornton has yet to be profiled on the Landshut Cannibals official website but the roster page can be found here. In time, the link to Cody’s profile page will appear on this page.