OHL Alumni Central

Better late than never! Our apologies to Team USA fans at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships - we almost passed you by.

There is one player on the roster of Team USA that is a graduate of the Ontario Hockey League. Nick Foligno played three seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2006-07, all with the Sudbury Wolves. Nick led the Wolves in scoring in his final two seasons and had an impressive 29 points in 21 playoff games in his final season as the Wolves advanced to the Robertson Cup final before losing out to the Plymouth Whalers in six games.

Nick was a first round pick of the Ottawa Senators in the 2006 NHL draft. He spent a portion of his first pro season with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators but has been a regular with Ottawa ever since.

Check out Nick Foligno’s profile page on the Ottawa Senators official website.

Check out these posts on other OHL graduates playing in the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

Latvia

Canada

Italy – Plastino

Italy – Parco

Czech Republic

Norway

Finland

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Team Slovakia has three Ontario Hockey League alumni on the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Two of the three were also on the National team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Olympians Peter Budaj and Andrej Sekera

 are joined by Richard Panik for the Worlds.

Richard Panik is one of the newest OHL grads to be playing at the pro level. He played his only OHL season in 2009-10 and split the year between the Windsor Spitfires and the Belleville Bulls and could potentially be back with the Bulls next season. He completed the season with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. Richard was a second round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL draft.

Peter Budaj played three seasons between the pipes for the St. Michael’s Majors from 1999-00 to 2001-02. A second round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 NHL draft, Peter has just completed his fifth season with the NHL club.

Andrej Sekera played two seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2004 NHL draft, Andrej has remained in the Sabres organization.

Click on the country to see what OHL grads are on the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships: Latvia, Canada, Italy(1), Italy (2), Czech Republic, Norway, Finland.

In addition to the three Ontario Hockey League grads that played for Team Latvia at the 2010 Winter Olympics, there are two more OHL alumni added to the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Juris Stals and Andris Dzerins join Olympians Arvids Rekis, Herberts Vasiljevs and Kaspars Daugavins (click here for Olympics post on Team Latvia).

Juris Stals played in the OHL for two seasons, 2001-02 and 2002-03. His first season was played with the Sarnia Sting and his second with the Owen Sound Attack. Drafted deep in the 2001 NHL draft, 269th overall, by the New York Rangers, Stals played a season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and two seasons with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers before heading to Europe.

From 2006-07 to 2008-09, Juris alternated between the Czech Republic’s Extraliga and Russia’s KHL. This past season found him back in North America playing for the Quad City Mallards of the IHL.

Andris Dzerins played two seasons in the OHL, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Kingston Frontenacs. This season he played his first of his professional career with Riga Dynamo of Russia’s KHL.

Arvid Rekis played four seasons in the OHL from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Erie Otters. He spent his first three seasons of pro hockey in the ECHL with the Peoria Rivermen, with an 18 game call-up to the AHL’s Worcester IceCats during the 2001-02 season. Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, Arvid has played in Germany’s DEL. His first five seasons were with the Augsburg Panthers and his past two have been with Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams.

Kaspars Daugavins played three seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2008-09, all with the Toronto /Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Having been drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 2006, before he’d played a game of junior, Kaspars played a portion of each of junior seasons with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. This past season, he played a full season with the Binghamton club with a single game with the NHL Senators.

Herberts Vasiljevs played just one season in the OHL, 1995-96 with the Guelph Storm. Vasiljevs put in 51 games in the NHL over four seasons with the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and the Vancouver Canucks. After a year in Russia in 2003-04, Herberts has been in Germany’s DEL since, one year with Nuremburg and the past five with Krefeld. He is currently captain of the Pinguine.

Check out what other countries have OHL grads on their rosters for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

Canada

Italy (1)

Italy (2)

Czech Republic

Norway

Finland

As with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games held in Vancouver, Mathis Olimb is the lone Ontario Hockey League grad on Team Norway at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Olimb played just one season in the OHL, 2004-05. He began the year with the London Knights but 10 games into the season, he was traded off to the Sarnia Sting and was denied being a part of London’s magical run to the Memorial Cup.

Mathis has represented his country in world competition throughout his junior career and as a pro.

2007-08 and 2008-09 were spent with the Augsburger Panthers of Germany’s DEL. This season, Mathis switched to Sweden’s SEL and played for the Frölunda Indians of Göteborg. He was third on the team in scoring with 33 points in 55 regular season games. He added 4 points in 7 playoff games.

Mathis Olimb’s profile page on Frölunda’s official website can be found by clicking here.

Click here for the previous post on Mathis Olimb being the lone OHL grad on Team Norway at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Check out these other posts related to OHL alumni playing at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

10 OHL grads on Team Canada

Nick Plastino playing for Team Italy

John Parco playing for Team Italy

2 OHL grads on Team Czech Republic

Oskar Osala playing for Team Finland

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10 of the 22 players on the Team Canada roster at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships are graduates of the Ontario Hockey League. The team is full of youth and most of the OHL alumni are quite recent grads. All ten players are currently members of National Hockey League teams.

Michael Del Zotto played three seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2008-09. His first two full seasons were spent with the Oshawa Generals. Midway through 2008-09, Del Zotto was traded to the London Knights in the same deal that would bring John Tavares from Oshawa. A first round pick of the New York Rangers in 2008, Michael went directly to the NHL club after junior and instantly became a mainstay on the Rangers’ blueline.

Marc Giordano played two seasons in the OHL, 2002-03 and 2003-04, both with the Owen Sound Attack. In the Calgary Flames organization since 2005-06, this past season was his first playing all 82 regular season games. As of the end of the 2009-10 season, Marc has logged 195 NHL games, all with Calgary.

Brent Burns played just one season in the OHL. He played the 2002-03 season with the Brampton Battalion. Burns was picked 20th overall in the first round of the 2003 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild. Many were surprised that as an 18-year old, Brent wasn’t returned by the Wild to the OHL for the 2003-04 season. Other than 2004-05, the NHL strike season, when he played for the AHL’s Houston Aeros, Brent has played for the Wild throughout his NHL career.

Steve Downie played four seasons in the OHL. He began his junior career with the Windsor Spitfires in 2003-04. Downie was traded to the Peterborough Petes after just one game in 2005-06. In that one game with Windsor, Steve had a hat-trick. Midway through 2006-07, he was traded again, this time to the Kitchener Rangers. Downie had a short but great playoff run with the Rangers with 22 points in just 9 games. A first round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005, Steve has played 140 NHL games between the Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning with this past season being his first full season in the NHL.

Corey Perry played four seasons in the OHL from 2001-02 to 2004-05, all with the London Knights. In his final season, he was league scoring champ as well a member of the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup winning Knights. A first round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2005, he has become one of the team’s and the league’s top players.

Marc Staal played four seasons in the OHL from 2003-04 to 2006-07, all with the Sudbury Wolves. In his final season, he was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. He was also awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the OHL playoff MVP despite the Wolves losing out to the Plymouth Whalers in the Robertson Cup finals. A first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2005 NHL draft, Marc has just completed his third season with the team.

John Tavares played four seasons in the OHL from 2005-06 to 2008-09. He was an Oshawa General until midway through his final season when he was traded to the London Knights. John’s awards in junior hockey are numerous and he holds the OHL record for most points in a career. Picked first overall in the 2009 NHL draft by the New York Islanders, John played all 82 games with the team this season, contributing 54 points.

Steve Ott played three seasons in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2001-02, all with the Windsor Spitfires. A first round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2000 NHL draft, Steve has continued his pesky ways, totalling 831 PIM in 410 career regular season games with the club.

Steve Stamkos played two seasons in the OHL, 2006-07 and 2007-08, both with the Sarnia Sting. His 58 goals in 2007-08 was second in the league to Brett MacLean’s 61. Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning. In his second full season with the team,  2009-10, he scored 51 goals which made him co-owner of the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals, sharing with Sydney Crosby.

Matt Duchene played two seasons in the OHL, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Brampton Battalion. In his final season, he was a big part of a Battalion team that would make it to the Robertson Cup finals before succumbing to the almighty Windsor Spitfires. The third overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft, Matt enjoyed immediate success this past season in his rookie year with the Colorado Avalanche, with a 55-point performance in 81 games.

Check out these other posts on OHL grads playing at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

Oskar Osala playing for Team Finland

John Parco playing for Team Italy

Nick Plastino playing for Team Italy

2 OHL alumni on Team Czech Republic