OHL Alumni Central

The Lahden Pelicans of Finland’s SM-Liiga are treading in rare territory. Three quarters of the way through the 2011-12 season, Pelicans find themselves in second place in the fourteen team Finnish elite league. The team has never never won a championship and has really never enjoyed any great playoff success. 2011-12 might just be the year of the Pelicans.

Pelicans are led by an Ontario Hockey League grad and the team has recently picked up two more OHL alumni for the playoff run. Justin Hodgman is tied for tenth in league scoring. Czech natives Jan Platil and Radek Smolenak are recent pickups from other SM-Liiga teams.

Justin Hodgman played four years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Erie Otters from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Undrafted, Hodgman spent the past two years bouncing around between the IHL, ECHL and AHL. In 2010-11, Justin played mostly with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL with a few games down in the ECHL with the Reading Royals. This is his first season in Finland.

Jan Platil played for the Barrie Colts for three seasons from 2000-01 to 2002-03. A seventh round pick of the Ottawa Senators at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Platil spent three years in Ottawa’s farm system with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators before heading to Europe for the 2006-07 season. Jan has since played in Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Austria. He began the season with Orli Znojmo in Austria’s EBEL before moving to Tappara in the SM-Liiga.

Radek Smolenak played two seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning after his first year in the OHL, Radek excelled in his second season with Kingston, scoring 42 and assisting on another 42 for 84 points in 65 games. Smolenak did get into seven NHL games after turning pro, six with Tampa Bay in 2008-09 and one with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009-10.

Smolenak has been in Europe for the past two seasons. in 2010-11, he played for his hometown HC Sparta Prague. He began the current season in Finland with Assat.

Back in 1974-75 and 1975-76, Greg Hotham played for the Kingston Canadians. Three decades later, both of Greg’s sons, Andrew and Scott, also played in the Ontario Hockey League. All three are blue liners.

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Greg in the fifth round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, 84th overall. Between 1979-80 and 1984-85, Greg played in 230 regular season NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. He retired from the American Hockey League after the 1989-90 season, after playing 513 regular season games with the New Brunswick Hawks, Baltimore Skipjacks and Newmarket Saints (all three are extinct now).

The oldest Hotham son, Scott, played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began with the North Bay Centennials and moved with the club to Saginaw, where he played one game with the Spirit in 2002-03. After that game, Scott went back to Canada to play for the Mississauga IceDogs. The following season, he was traded early again, this time to the Barrie Colts.

Scott Hotham went undrafted and spent the four years post-OHL with St. Mary’s University. Hotham entered the world of pro hockey in 2009-10, mostly with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades but also playing nine games with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. In 2010-11, he played for Lillehammer in Norway’s Get-Ligaen. This season, he is playing in Austria’s Erste Bank Hockey League (EBEL) for Olimija Ljubljana.

Andrew Hotham’s career has paralleled brother Scott’s in several ways. Both played for the Barrie Colts (at the same time) and Saginaw Spirit (not at the same time) in the Ontario Hockey League. Both played four years with St. Mary’s. Both had a cup of coffee with the Rochester Americans.

Andrew played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07 with the Barrie Colts, Erie Otters and Saginaw Spirit. He played with St. Mary’s from 2007-08 to 2010-11, joining the Americans after the CIS season had ended. With St. Mary’s, Andrew was an All-Canadian First Team All-Star in his final three seasons and was the Atlantic’s Most Valuable Player for 2010-11, This season, Hotham is playing for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

Well over halfway into the 54 game Erste Bank Eishockey Liga schedule, Ontario Hockey League grad John Hughes is atop the Austrian league’s scoring race. Hughes has a slim lead with 49 points as a member of Olimpija Ljubljana. Last season, he was fifth in points while leading the league in assists.

John Hughes with Olimpija Ljubljana.

John played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was the first overall pick by the Belleville Bulls at the 2004 OHL Priority Selection. He played with Belleville until a trade sent him to the Brampton Battalion during the 2006-07 season. Hughes finished his OHL career with 283 points in 256 regular season games.

Undrafted, Hughes made his way to Europe immediately upon leaving the OHL. This is John’s second season with Ljubljana. He has also played for teams in Finland in Germany. The team is sitting in fifth place in the eleven team EBEL in what well could be Ljubljana’s best showing in the Austrian elite league.

Joining John Hughes on Olimpija Ljubljana are two defenseman that also played their junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League. Jamie Fraser played four seasons in the OHL from 2002-03 to 2005-06. His first two years were spent with the Brampton Battalion and his final two were with the Sarnia Sting. Undrafted, Fraser spent five years from 2006-07 to 2010-11 in the North American minors, mostly in the American Hockey League. He did get to play one NHL regular season game in 2008-09 with the New York Islanders. 2011-12 marks Fraser’s first year playing in Europe.

Scott Hotham is in his second year playing in Europe after playing for Lillehammer in Norway’s Get-Ligaen in 2010-11. Hotham played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05 with the North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Mississauga IceDogs and Barrie Colts. Scott followed up his junior career with four years with St. Mary’s of the CIS. In his first year of pro hockey, 2009-10, he split his season with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL and the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Scott’s brother and father also are graduates of the Ontario Hockey League.

Thank god for the cut & paste function on word processors! If I had to type out Székesfehérvár more than once, this article would never happen. Don’t even bother trying to pronounce it…

Székesfehérvár is one of eleven teams in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). Like four other teams in the league, Székesfehérvár is not actually located in Austria. Located 65 km southwest of Budapest, Székesfehérvár is the only Hungary based team in the EBEL.

Adam Munro

Two Ontario Hockey League grads are currently on the roster of Székesfehérvár. Adam Munro and Justin DaCosta are doing their part for the much improved team. In 2010-11, the club finished tied for last, when the EBEL consisted of ten teams, and finished out of the post-season. Currently, at just over the halfway point of the 54 game schedule, Székesfehérvár sits fifth and poised for a berth in the playoffs.

Adam Munro played between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League for five years from 1998-99 to 2002-03. Munro starred with the Erie Otters until eight games into his final season when he was shipped to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 2000-01, Adam had the best save percentage in the OHL. In the following season, Adam helped the Otters to a Robertson Cup victory, after topping the Barrie Colts in the final, four games to one.

Taken in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, 29th overall, Munro played a total of 17 National Hockey League games. He was on the ice for seven with Chicago in 2003-04 and ten with the Blackhawks in 2005-06. Munro spent 2010-11 in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio (LIHG) with Cortina.  So far this season with Székesfehérvár, Munro has played in 27 games, posting a 2.74 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Justin DaCosta began his 2011-12 season with Chamonix of France’s Ligue Magnus. After just six games on the point with the French squad, DaCosta headed east. Justin played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He began his OHL career with the Barrie Colts. He played with the Owen Sound Attack before finishing his career with the Mississauga IceDogs.

Undrafted by an NHL club, DaCosta spent time in the Canadian university system and North American minor pros before travelling to Europe this season. In 2010-11, he played with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League.

Székesfehérvár is an ancient city with an area population of around 140,000. The team plays out of a 3,500 seat arena, which should feel like home to Justin after his days in Owen Sound!

With the exception of 2007-08, when they were ousted in the Quarter-Finals, the Iserlohn Roosters of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) have failed to make the post-season in each season since 2000-01. Things don’t look much brighter in 2011-12 with the team struggling in eleventh position in the fourteen team league. On the team are three hockey veterans and alumni of the Ontario Hockey League. All three played in the 1990′s. One actually started at the end of the 1980′s.

Sean Blanchard was CHL defenseman of the year in 1996-97, his third of four seasons with the Ottawa 67′s. Along with that, of course, he was selected as the recipient of the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s top blue liner. In his final season of junior, Blanchard played for Team Canada at the 1998 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Sean was a fourth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 99th overall. He has never played a regular season game in the National Hockey League. After just three years of playing in the North American minor pros, Blanchard moved on to Europe. He has played in Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland before settling into the DEL. After a return to North American for the 2006-07 season, Sean has been in the DEL since. 2011-12 sees him return to his first team, the Iserlohn Roosters. In 2010-11, he was a member of the Nurnberg Ice Tigers.

Jassen Cullimore played in 812 regular season NHL games between 1994-95 and 2010-11 with the Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers. This past season, 2010-11, he mixed his season between Chicago and their AHL affiliates, the Rockford IceHogs.

Cullimore played four seasons with the Peterborough Petes from 1988-89 to 1991-92. In his first season, he appeared in just 20 regular season games and two in the playoffs. That season, Peterborough beat the Niagara Falls Thunder in six games to win the Robertson Cup. In 1992, Jassen played for Team Canada at the IIHF World Juniors.

Jassen was a second round pick of the Canucks at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 29th overall. He was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning when the won the Stanley Cup in 2003-04, appearing in eleven playoff games. This is his first season with Iserlohn.

Like Cullimore, Jeff Cowan is in his first season with the Roosters after a lengthy career, split between the NHL and AHL. From 1999-00 to 2007-08, Cowan played 434 regular season NHL games with the Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. He has spent the past three seasons in the AHL.

Cowan played parts of three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He played his first two seasons with the Guelph Storm and his final season with the Barrie Colts. He wore the ‘C’ in Barrie. Undrafted, Jeff played his most of his first four years in the pros with the Saint John Flames of the AHL.