OHL Alumni Central

The Nottingham Panthers sit in second place in the ten team Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) of Great Britain. The Panthers are three points  back of the Belfast Giants but have three games in hand. The Panthers have brought in a dangerous weapon to subdue the Giants and push into first place.

Ontario Hockey League grad Jeff Heerema has finally found a home for the 2010-11 season. He was not invited back to Medvescak Zagreb of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) after a successful regular season but less than stellar playoff run in 2009-10.

Heerema played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Sarnia Sting. Jeff was a picture of consistency with the Sting with seasons of 32, 31 and 36 goals and 72, 70 and 77 points. He led the Sting in all offensive categories in his final season with 36 goals, 41 assists and 77 points.

Heerema was thought of quite highly by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL draft. Jeff went in the first round, eleventh overall. He saw action with the Hurricanes in the 2002-03 season, a year before cousin Eric Staal made his debut in Carolina. Heerema played ten games with the Hurricanes that season and 22 with the St. Louis Blues the following year to round out his NHL career.

Jeff twice led his American Hockey League team in points. in his first season in the AHL, 2001-02, he led the Lowell Lock Monsters in goals (33), assists (37) and points (70). In his last season in North America, 2006-07, Heerema led the Binghamton Senators in goals with 36 and points with 67.

The greatest playoff success Jeff achieved in North America was during the 2004-05 season. Playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, the team made it to the Western Conference finals before being swept by the Chicago Wolves.

In 2007-08, it was off to Germany for Heerema. For two seasons, he played for the Frankfurt Lions of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Jeff joins two other OHL grads on the Nottingham Panthers, Alex Penner (click here for a previous post on Alex) and Jonathan Zion (click here for a previous post on Jonathan). The Belfast Giants have brought in artillery in the form of OHL grads as well with the aquisition of Brad Smyth (click here for previous post on Brad) and Michael Jacobsen (click here for previous post on Michael). The Panthers lost OHL great Cameron Mann to retirement after the 2009-10 season (click here for previous post on Cameron).

Andre Payette played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97. He began his career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, playing three full seasons there. In his final season in the OHL, Payette was shipped to the Kingston Frontenacs after just four games.

Known throughout his hockey career for his toughness, Andre amassed 694 minutes in penalties during 180 regular season games in the Ontario Hockey League. Payette wasn’t all knuckles, he was able to provide a bit of offense as well, topping out with 20 goals over 57 games in 1995-96.

Always on the prowl for rough customers, the Philadelphia Flyers drafted Andre in the tenth round of the 1994 NHL draft, 244th overall. Payette jumped right into action with Philadelphia’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. In 56 games with the Phantoms in his rookie year, Andre sat out 209 minutes and provided ten points.

Payette never played for the Flyers but did appear in 155 games in the American Hockey League between the Phantoms, Rochester Americans, Lowell Lock Monsters, Manchester Monarchs, Houston Aeros, St. John’s Maple Leafs and Manitoba Moose. Andre also spent parts of three seasons with the Mohawk Valley Prowlers of the UHL, leading the club in PIM during the 2000-01 season with 244 in just 45 games.

Andre has played in Great Britain since the 2004-05 season, leading his team in PIM each season. In 2007-08, he lead the whole Elite Ice Hockey League in penalty minutes with 326. Payette played his first season in the EIHL with the Coventy Blaze and helped the squad become regular season and playoff champions. The following four seasons were spent with the Newcastle Vipers, the team that was EIHL playoff champion the first season Payette suited up with them.

This past season, Payette was the Assistant Captain of the Manchester Phoenix of the EPL (tier 2 to the EIHL). He returns this season to the EPL but this time with the Sheffield Steeldogs. He is lucky to do so. An accident on a four wheeler deep in the Quebec wilderness left Payette with five broken ribs, a punctured lung and a broken foot. According to news reports, he crawled nearly eight kilometers before he could find help.

Andre Payette has just signed with the Steeldogs so his profile is not yet on the team’s official website. However, follow this link to check out the news article on the Sheffield site regarding the signing of Payette.

The above photo is borrowed from a Facebook group dedicated to Andre Payette, called Andre Payette… Hockey GOD!!

Andre Payette is on the OHL Alumni Big List.

(The tongue twister title was completely unintentional!)

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League added another piece of the puzzle this week to ensure their continued dominance of the EIHL and provide a great chance at repeating as EIHL playoff champion. The team came to terms with defenseman and Ontario Hockey League grad, Michael Jacobsen.

Michael Jacobsen played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2001-02. In his first four seasons in the OHL, he called Yardmen Arena home as a member of the Belleville Bulls. In his final season, he started out with the Sudbury Wolves but after just five games was transferred to the Owen Sound Attack where he finished out his OHL career.

Jacobsen knows what it takes to be a champion. He was a big part of Belleville’s 1998-99 Robertson Cup winning team as the Ontario Hockey League’s playoff champion. In his final season with powerhouse Lakehead University in 2005-06, the team was OUA champions. This past season with the Belfast Giants, the team took the EIHL playoff crown.

Michael was picked by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL draft, 134th overall. His North American professional career totals consist of three games with the ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots and three games with the UHL’s Missouri River Otters, all at the tail end of the 2001-02 season.

He spent three seasons with Lakehead in the Canadian university system. Along with winning the Ontario championship in 2005-06, Jacobsen was named to the OUA first team all-star squad for the 2003-04 season.

In the three seasons between Lakehead and Belfast, Michael played in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio for Alleghe.

Belfast is looking to Jacobsen to once again quarterback their powerplay. Last season, Michael scored 12 of his 14 goals with the man-advantage, good for second on the team.

Vote for Michael Jacobsen at the Belleville Bulls official website. As part of their 30th anniversary celebration, they’ve opened it up to the fans to choose the all-time Bulls team.

Jacobsen is also featured in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central which lists the members of the 1998-99 Bulls Robertson Cup winning team that were still active in professional hockey during the 2009-10 season. Among those players is Branko Radivojevic who was featured just yesterday at OHL Alumni Central – click here to read the post.

Michael, Branko and all the other Belleville Bulls grads still active in professional hockey can be found on the OHL Alumni Big List.

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have signed a legend. Ontario Hockey League grad Brad Smyth has finally found a home for the 2010-11 season and it’s on the Emerald Isle.

Brad Smyth played in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 1990-91 to 1992-93, all with the London Knights. It was in his final season with the Knights that Smyth exploded and became the offensive force that he continues to be 18 seasons later. His 54 goals were tops on the Knights and his 109 points were second only to Jason Allison.

Undrafted, Brad managed an 88 game NHL career with the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and Ottawa 67′s. He spent most of his time during his career in North America in the AHL, however.

In just his second season in the AHL, with the Carolina Monarchs, he won the Willie Marshall Award for most goals, the Sollenberger Trophy for most points and the Les Cunningham Award as Most Valuable Player. His 68 goals that season stand as the second highest single season tally in AHL history and just two goals behind Stephane LeBeau’s record performance during the 1988-89 season.

Brad won the Willie Marshall Award again in 2000-01 with the Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 50 goals. That season he finished fifth overall in total points and helped the Wolf Pack to a Calder Cup victory with a four games to two victory over Rochester. The previous season he finished seventh in league scoring and the following season he finished fourth. In his final season in the AHL, he was the Manchester Monarchs leader in both goals and points.

Smyth finds his name written in more than one location in the AHL record book. The captain of four different AHL teams is tied as the player with the most times as league leading goal scorer at twice. His two 50+ goal seasons ties him with one other for the most. He is also tied for the most powerplay goals in one season with 27 in 1995-96.

Brad first tested the European market in 2003-04 while playing for Kärpät of Finland’s SM-Liiga. That season, Kärpät won the SM-Liiga championship.

In 2006-07, Smyth returned to Europe, this time with the Hamburg Freezers of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. In his first season with Hamburg, his 59 points in 52 games tied him for the team lead. He spent the following two seasons with the Freezers.

This past season, 2009-10, Brad crossed the border into Austria to play in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Actually, he played in Croatia for Medvescak Zagreb, a Croatian team that plays in the Austrian elite league. With Zagreb, Smyth was close to producing at a point per game level.

Smyth brings with him to Belfast a strong touch of class, credibility and skill. The team has already jumped out to an early lead in the EIHL standings and adding Brad will seriously increase the chances of an EIHL title.

Read the article at the Belfast Giants official website announcing the signing of Brad Smyth.

Your email:

 

The Hull Stingrays find themselves 13 points out of first place in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) standings and they’ve yet to play their first game of the season. Because of turmoil during the summer when the existence of the franchise was in doubt, the team has had to scramble to fill a roster and to slot themselves back in the league’s schedule.

Ontario Hockey League alumnus and Hull Stingrays player/coach, Sylvain Cloutier has brought in another OHL grad that may not put many pucks in the net but will intimidate other teams from scoring on Hull.

Jozef Sladok played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2006-07 and 2007-08, both with the Plymouth Whalers. In his second season Sladok had the dubious destinction of leading the OHL in penalty minutes during the regular season with 223 in 60 games. He added 19 more PIM in just three playoff games that season. In his first season with Plymouth he sat out 100 minutes in just 28 games. His goal scoring total at graduation from the OHL is zero.

The Slovakian played the 2008-09 season in the Central Hockey League with the Corpus Christi IceRayz, playing 29 games and sitting out 154 PIM. This past season, 2009-10, Jozef began the season in his native country but after a game each in the Slovak Extraliga and Extraliga 2, he ended up in Great Britain’s EPIHL which is a tier lower than the EIHL. With the Romford Raiders, the 6’5″, 220 lb. defenseman racked up 149 minutes in penalties in just 31 games. However, he also netted four goals and added 13 assists.

The following video features Jozef Sladok fighting Leigh Salters in 2008 when Salters was still a member of the Guelph Storm.

Check out the roster page at the Hull Stingrays official website.

Jozef Sladok is on the OHL Alumni Big List!