OHL Alumni Central

Ryan Munce during a 3-game stint with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch in 2008-09.

Yet another Ontario Hockey League grad is heading to Italy to play this upcoming season. Ryan Munce has decided to leave North America and play net for S.G. Cortina of the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG).

Ryan Munce played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2004-05, all with the Sarnia Sting. Munce was a steady goaltender for the Sting all three seasons, but shone most brightly in his rookie campaign. His accolades as a Sarnia Sting that season include being a member of the OHL’s and CHL’s all-rookie teams and winning the Dinty Moore Trophy as the OHL rookie goaltender with the best Goals Against Average (2.64 over 27 games). He unfortunately couldn’t help a very strong Sting team make it out of the first round of the OHL playoffs.

That season, Ryan also was a major part of Team Canada’s gold medal winning effort at the Under-18 IIHF World Hockey Championships. He was the goalie with the best GAA in the tournament with 1.83.

Munce was taken after his first season by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2003 NHL draft, 82nd overall. Except for 13 games in the AHL, Munce has spent his professional career until now in the East Coast Hockey League. This past season, Ryan played 44 games for the Charlotte Checkers producing a 2.77 GAA and a .913 save percentage.

Ryan has put his name in the ECHL record books. His 1852 saves in 2008-09 with the Mississippi Sea Wolves are the second highest single season total in league history. His 63 saves in a game while playing for the Bakersfield Condors in 2005-06 is two saves shy of the single game league record. His 28 saves in a single period while playing for Mississippi during the 2007-08 season is also two shy of the league record for most saves in a period.

Check out Ryan Munce’s profile page on the SG Cortina official website.

Check out Ryan Munce’s profile page on the ECHL official website.

Ryan is featured in this previous post about Ontario Hockey League grads playing for the Charlotte Checkers during the 2009-10 season.

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds alumnus Ralph Intranuovo will be entering his 18th season in professional hockey and his 12th season in Europe. Intranuovo will return to HC Asiago of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) for his second season with the club.

Ralph Intranuovo played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1990-91 to 1992-93, all with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 1991-92, Ralph finished eighth in OHL scoring with 113 points on 50 goals and 63 assists in 65 games. The Greyhounds finished atop the Emms Division and beat out the North Bay Centennials for the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League champions. Despite being undefeated in the round robin of the Memorial Cup, the Greyhounds fell to the Kamloops Blazers in the Memorial Cup final.

In his final season, he contributed 31 goals and 47 assists for 78 points in just 54 games. The Greyhounds once again took the Emms Division crown but fell in the Robertson Cup final to the Peterborough Petes. However, the Greyhounds participated in the Memorial Cup as the host team and won the Cup by beating out the Petes in the final. Intranuovo was named the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy winner as tournament MVP and was also named as the All-Star centre.

As if that final season wasn’t magic enough for Ralph, he was also a member of the 1993 gold medal winning Team Canada squad at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

All that success during his Ontario Hockey League career got him drafted in the fourth round of the 1992 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 96th overall. Intranuovo appeared in 19 games for the Oilers over three seasons and spent most of his time in the American Hockey League with Edmonton’s affiliate, the Cape Breton Oilers.

Ralph was an AHL all-star in 1994-95 and 1995-96. In 1994-95, he was fourth in league scoring with 46 goals and 47 assists for 93 points in 70 games with a dismal Cape Breton team. In 1994-95, despite appearing in just one game with the NHL Oilers, Intranuovo was an integral part of the Team Canada team at the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Canada took home a bronze medal and Ralph helped out with 5 goals and an assist in 8 games.

Ralph appeared in three more NHL games as a Toronto Maple Leaf during the 1996-97 season but his NHL career never quite took flight. He spent two seasons with the Manitoba Moose in the old IHL before heading to Europe to start the 1999-00 season. He has since split most of his time between teams in Germany’s DEL and Austria’s EBEL until moving over to Italy this past season.

Intranuovo should be a great mentor to the number of Ontario Hockey League grads on HC Asiago for 2010-11. The team is a heavy favourite to do well this season and will certainly be interesting to watch.

Ralph Intranuovo’s profile can be found from the HC Asiago official website roster page.

Ralph will be teammates with fellow Ontario Hockey League grad, Andrew Perugini.

Michael with Wolfsburg of Germany's DEL.

It’s all in the family this upcoming season in Italy as Adam Henrich joins older

Adam with Wilkes-Barre Scranton of AHL.

 brother Michael on HC Asiago of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio.

Michael Henrich played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Barrie Colts. Henrich led the team in goals in his second season with 41, was second on the team to Daniel Tkaczuk in goals his third season and finished eleventh overall in the Ontario Hockey League for total points in his final season.

In his senior year, the Colts won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion. Michael’s 28 points in 25 games during those playoffs was good enough for team lead.

Michael was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 13th overall. He spent two full seasons with Edmonton’s American League affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. It wasn’t until 2004-05, playing in Austria’s Second Tier that Henrich regained his goal scoring touch, netting 42 in just 34 games.

Between 2005-06 and 2007-08, Henrich spent three seasons in Germany playing in the DEL and the Bundesliga. He made the move to Italy for this past season and found great success. His 60 points in 39 regular season games with HC Asiago placed him first on the team. The 60 points placed him sixth in league scoring behind fellow Ontario Hockey League alumni, Luciano Aquino, Daniel Sisca and Dan Tudin. Michael added another 18 points in 15 playoff games for Asiago.

Adam Henrich spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2003-04, all with the Brampton Battalion. Although not quite as prolific, Adam shared his brother’s abilities around the net during his OHL career with 33, 31 and 29 goals seasons in his final three.

Adam was also drafted, going in the second round of the 2002 NHL draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 60th overall. Henrich has spent time on eight different teams over the past six seasons. Last season alone he appeared in games for four different teams: Springfield Falcons – AHL; Ontario Reign – ECHL, Cincinnati Cyclones – ECHL; Hamburg Freezers – DEL.

Adam has just signed with HC Asiago for the 2010-11 season and should feel quite at home in a league that is packed full of Ontario Hockey League grads.

Check out the article about Adam’s arrival with HC Asiago at the team’s official website. The article is in Italian so use Google Translate to cut and paste the article.

Andrew Perugini played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-06 to 2007-08. His first two seasons were spent with the Barrie Colts and his final season in the OHL was split between the Colts and the Sarnia Sting.

In 2006-07, Barrie finished first in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference and Perugini led the way with a 2.83 Goals Against Average and a .917 Save Percentage. The 2.83 GAA was good for fifth in the OHL. The Colts did not live up to expectations in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, being swept by the sixth seed Sudbury Wolves in the Conference semi-finals. Despite losing one more game than they won in the regular season, Sudbury went on to the Robertson Cup finals before succumbing to the Plymouth Whalers.

For the past two seasons, Perugini has been a member of the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League. In both seasons, he finished with a .908 save percentage while maintaining a goals against average below 3.00. This past season, 2009-10, Andrew was called up to the American Hockey League’s Springfield Falcons for four games.

For the upcoming 2010-11 season, Perugini is off to Italy to play for HC Asiago of the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG). Asiago is home to a number of Ontario Hockey League graduates who should help make Andrew feel right at home.

Andrew Perugini has yet to appear on the HC Asiago official website but the site can be found here.

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

Sarnia Sting Alumni

Barrie Colts Alumni

OHL Alumni on Stockton Thunder

The first ever post on OHL Alumni Central was about Ontario Hockey League graduates playing for HC Asiago. Check it out here.

George Halkidis played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials and played his first three OHL seasons on the blueline in North Bay. In his final season, Halkidis played for the Kitchener Rangers.

As luck would have it, in 2002-03, the Kitchener Rangers won the Robertson Cup as the Ontario Hockey League play-off champions and went on to win the Memorial Cup in Quebec City. Halkidis is credited with the game winning goal for the Rangers in the Memorial Cup final game.

Undrafted, Halkidis played a season for the Peoria Rivermen of the East Coast Hockey League in his first season out of junior. For the following two seasons, 2004-05 and 2005-06, George played in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG) with HC Fassa and Ritten Renon.

In 2006-07, Halkidis returned to North America and played for the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League. North America was not to George’s liking, however, and he returned to Italy for the following season, this time with Alleghe.

Shoulder surgery kept Halkidis out of hockey for the entire 2008-09 season. He returned to Europe this past season, playing for the Hull Stingrays of Great Britain’s EIHL.

George Halkidis will return to Italy for the upcoming 2010-11 season. This time around, he will be playing in the LIHG Serie 2 with HC Eppan Pirates.

HC Eppan Pirates have yet to update their official website with their 2010-11 roster. Click here to visit the roster page.

Check out this previous post on another Ontario Hockey League grad playing for HC Eppan Pirates, Peter Campbell.