OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Ryan Ready will return in 2011-12 to play his sixth season in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). 2011-12 will be Ready’s second season with EHC München (Munich) after four with Iserlohn Roosters.

Ryan played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Belleville Bulls. In his final season in the OHL, Ready produced 33 goals 59 assists for 92 points in 63 games, helping the Bulls to a third place finish in the Eastern Conference. He exploded in the playoffs for 38 points in 21 games as Belleville took the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champions with a seven game series win over the London Knights.

In that final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Ready was selected a CHL 2nd Team All-star and won the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the overage player of the year in the OHL.

Ready was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 100th overall. His only NHL action to date was a seven game stint with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2005-06 season. After seven years playing in the AHL and old IHL, Ryan headed to Germany for the start of the 2006-07 season and hasn’t looked back.

With Iserlohn in 2008-09, Ready contributed 56 points in 48 regular season games. The point total was good for sixth in the league, eight points away from the top spot. This season, despite only playing 43 of 52 regular season game due to injury, Ryan totalled 44 points in 43 games and finished just out of the top 20. He was on pace to finish in the top five. As for EHC München, the team finished eighth in the fourteen team DEL and made a quick exit from the playoffs.

Ontario Hockey League grad Rob Zepp started the 2010-11 season being named the top goaltender at the European Trophy tournament. His Eisbaren Berlin team of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga won the pre-season invitational tournament held in Salzburg, Austria. Zepp led the team with a 1.94 GAA and .930 save percentage.

The Plymouth Whalers grad kept up the pace through the regular season and playoffs, leading Berlin to the DEL championship. The team has rewarded Zepp by signing him through the end of the 2011-12 season.

Rob played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2000-01, all with the Plymouth Whalers. During all three seasons, Zepp shared the Dave Pinkney Trophy for the lowest team GAA in the OHL.

Zepp twice entered the NHL Entry Draft. he was taken by the Atlanta Thrashers in the fourth round of the 1999 draft, 99th overall. He re-entered for the 2001 draft and was picked by the Carolina Hurricanes, 100th overall in the fourth round.

Rob played four seasons in the North American pro leagues, mostly with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League. Despite decent numbers, the NHL didn’t come calling and Rob left for Europe.

Zepp played two seasons in Finland before making his way to Berlin for the start of the 2007-08 season. Rob has been with Berlin since. In that time, the team has won the DEL Championship three times. Rob has competed for Germany at the international level over the past two seasons.

Ontario Hockey League grad Björn Krupp will begin his professional hockey career in 2011-12 in Germany. Krupp will in the Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks) organization in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. However, Björn will start the season with EV Duisburg of Germany’s Oberliga (the equivelent of the ECHL to the DEL).

Krupp played three seasons with the Belleville Bulls from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The stay at home defenseman will return to the homeland of his father Uwe Krupp. The elder Krupp played 729 regular season NHL games between 1986-87 and 2002-03 with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers.

The younger Krupp was a member of the U.S. National under-17 team during the 2007-08 season. He played in 63 games for the U.S. with an additional six at the Under-17 World Championships.

Undrafted by an NHL team, Krupp was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Wild in the fall of 2009 but it didn’t pan out.

Yesterday, we featured another Ontario Hockey League grad who will also play Kölner. Charlie Stephens played five years in the OHL and is a veteran of the DEL.

Ontario Hockey League grad Charlie Stephens is done with Krefeld Pinguine and will start the 2011-12 Deutsche Eishockey Liga season with Kölner Haie.

Like to own this card autographed by Charlie Stephens? Send us an e-mail (see About page) for more details.

Stephens played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2001-02. He was the first overall pick at the 1997 OHL Entry Draft by the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. He played his rookies season with Toronto before being shipped to the Guelph Storm seven games into his second season.

With Guelph, Charlie was the team’s top goal scorer in 2000-01 with 38. After four games in his final season, Stephens was traded to his hometown London Knights in order to be close to home for family reasons.

Stephens twice entered the NHL Entry Draft. In 1999, he was taken in the second round, 31st overall, by the Washington Capitals. After not signing with Washington, Charlie re-entered the draft and was taken in the sixth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, 196th overall.

Charlie spent his first year of professional hockey in the Avalanche system, mostly with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. He contributed 50 points in 74 regular season games with the Bears and played in the AHL All-Star game. Stephens made it into two games with the NHL club that season.

In total, Charlie has played eight NHL games, all with Colorado. After switching to the Ottawa Senators organization and playing with their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, for the better part of three seasons, it was off to Europe.

Stephens has been playing in Germany’s DEL since the start of the 2006-07 season. He began his Euro career with the DEG Metro Stars, where he played two season. His past three years have been spent with the Krefeld Pinguine. In his first season with Krefeld, Charlie led the team in points with 58 in 51 games. His numbers have dropped each year since and this past season he tallied just 32 points in 51 regular season games.

The Iserlohn Roosters went to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga finals in 2009-10. This season, the Roosters are struggling just to make the playoffs. Iserlohn has a trio of Ontario Hockey League grads on the roster, doing their best to help the Roosters advance.

Manny Legace is among the league’s top goaltenders with a 2.47 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 35 games. Legace played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1990-91 to 1992-93, all with the Niagara Falls Thunder. Legace was taken by the Hartford Whalers in the eighth round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 188th overall. Manny had a decent NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes before making his debut in Germany this season.

Pat Kavanagh played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1998-99, all with the Peterborough Petes. Kavanagh was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 50th overall. Pat saw fourteen games in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks and the Flyers. Kavanagh currently sits third on the Roosters in total points and is in his fourth season in the DEL.

Kris Sparre played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-06 to 2007-08, split between the Barrie Colts and the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Sparre is in his second season with Iserlohn.

These Ontario Hockey League grads can be found on the roster page of the Iserlohn Roosters official website. This is a great one stop page to also view the DEL standings.