OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Jaroslav Kruzik started the 2011-12 season with HC Litomerice of the Czech Republic Extraliga Tier 2. After moving over to the Slovak Extraliga a few days ago, Kruzik has now played his first game for HK Nitra.

Jaroslav played in the Ontario Hockey League for three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10. He began his OHL career with the Barrie Colts after Barrie chose him 49th overall in the first round of the CHL Import Draft in 2007. Previous to starting with the Colts, Kruzik played for Rytiri Kladno in his home Czech Republic.

After 50 games for Barrie in his first OHL season, Kruzik was shipped to Kingston after just one game with the Colts in 2008-09. He played 64 games with the Frontenacs that season, contributing 23 points from the blue line. In his final season with the Kingston Frontenacs, his point total dropped by one while playing five less regular season games. He got a taste of Robertson Cup playoff hockey with four games in the spring of 2010.

Kruzik returned to the Czech Republic for the 2010-11 season, once again playing for Rytiri Kladno, this time for their under-20 team. His game total was held to just eight.

Jaroslav played 12 games with HC Litomerice this season, scoring a goal and adding an assist for two points. Nitra can use some strength on defense. The team is off to a rough three win start and sits in tenth place in the eleven team league. Their goals against is the second worst in the league at the moment.

HK Nitra plays out of the 4,800 seat Nitra Zimny Arena in Nitra, Slovakia. The Slovakian Extraliga is currently dominated by former National Hockey League players, Zigmund Palffy and Miroslav Satan. The two sit one and two in league scoring.

Since the end of the 1995-96 National Hockey League season, when the Winnipeg Jets fled south to Phoenix, Canadians have collectively cried foul that Bettman and the NHL were systematically taking our game away from us. On Sunday, October 9, 2011, the Winnipeg Jets return to the National Hockey League with their season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at home. At 4:00 pm CST (5:00 in Ontario) on Sunday, there better be 34,607,141 Winnipeg Jets fans glued to their televisions as NHL hockey returns to Manitoba.

The Jets return as the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers. Winnipeg is relying heavily on Ontario Hockey League alumni with seven former OHL stars currently on the roster.

Zach Bogosian played two years with the Peterborough Petes, 2006-07 and 2007-08. He was the third overall pick at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, taken by the Thrashers. Bogosian has been with the NHL club since.

Alexander Burmistrov played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2009-10, with the Barrie Colts. he was the eighth overall pick of the Thrashers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and stuck with the team as an eighteen year old this past season.

Bryan Little is another former Barrie Colts standout. Little played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 2003-04 to 2006-07, all with Barrie. Another first round pick of the Thrashers, Bryan was taken 12th overall in the 2006 draft. A two-time 100 point man with the Colts, Little’s 31 goals in 2008-09 represent his best NHL production to date.

Brett McLean was claimed off waivers by the Jets on October 6. McLean played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08 with the Erie Otters and Oshawa Generals. Brett benefited from having John Tavares as a set-up man in Oshawa, scoring 47 and 61 goals in his final two seasons. McLean was a second round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 32nd overall. He played 13 games with the Coyotes in 2010-11.

Mark Scheifele is just 18 and is fresh off his rookie season with the Barrie Colts. Mark was the first ever draft pick of the new Jets, going 7th overall in the 2011 draft. Scheifele will start with Winnipeg but will most likely be returned to Barrie.

Chris Thorburn played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. After playing for the North Bay Centennials in their last three years as a franchise in the northern Ontario city, he moved with the club to Saginaw for his final season. After 37 games with the Spirit, Thorburn was moved to the Plymouth Whalers to finish out the year. A second round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Chris has played 354 NHL games with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Thrashers.

Kyle Wellwood is back and looking to stay in the NHL. After starting the 2010-11 season in Russia’s KHL, Wellwood returned to the NHL to finish off the season with the San Jose Sharks. Kyle was a fifth round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2001 draft after a stellar four year career in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2002-03 with the Belleville Bulls and Windsor Spitfires. Wellwood has appeared in 373 NHL games to date with Toronto, the Vancouver Canucks and the Sharks.

Ontario Hockey League grad Daniel Erlich joins three returning OHL Alumni hoping to send Red Bull Salzburg to a three-peat in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Salzburg should be of particular interest to London Knights fans with Erlich playing with Danny Bois – two very popular Knights with the fans.

In seven years since being promoted from tier 2, Salzburg has been to the EBEL finals six times. The Red Bulls have won the championship four of the past five years and the past two in a row.

Erlich spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2007-08 to 2010-11. He played with the Knights until halfway through last season when he was traded to the Guelph Storm to finish out his OHL career. His size, 5’6″ and 150 lbs. might not be suitable for the North American game but his amazing speed and quick hands should be ideal for Europe.

Danny Bois enters his second sesaon with Salzburg, having contributed decent offense in his first season as well as trademark toughness. Bois spent four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01  to 2003-04 where he was team captain. Despite being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the third round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 97th overall, it was with the Ottawa Senators organization that Bois spent is first five years of pro hockey.

After five years with the Binghamton Senators, and one game with the Ottawa Senators, Bois spent 2009-10 with Chicago’s AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. With Salzburg last season, Danny contributed 29 points in 48 regular season games and sat out 136 minutes in the sin bin.

Erik Reitz played three years on the point in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2001-02, all with the Barrie Colts. Reitz was Barrie’s captain in his final season and also played for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships. The Colts went to the Robertson Cup finals that season, as well, losing to the Erie Otters.

Reitz was drafted after his first OHL season by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 170th overall. Erik played in Minnesota’s system from 2002-02 to midway through the 2008-09 season, mostly with the Houston Aeros of the AHL. In total, Reitz played 48 NHL games with the Wild and New York Rangers. In 2009-10, he made the jump across the pond and played in Russia’s KHL. He was signed to Salzburg last season but didn’t play any games due to injury. After a playing seven games in a pre-season tournament, Reitz is once again on the disabled list this year.

Markus Pock played just three games in the Ontario Hockey League. The native of Austria played three games for the Sudbury Wolves last season before returning to Austria to play for Salzburg.

Ontario Hockey League grad Matt Armstong has recently finished his second successful season in the Australian Ice Hockey League. For the second consecutive year, Armstrong’s team, the Melbourne Ice, has won the Goodall Cup as the league’s playoff champion.

The Ice dominated the AIHL, which plays a 28 game schedule over the North American summer / Australian winter, with a record of 18 wins, 2 losses, 3 overtime wins and 5 overtime losses for 56 points. Matt finished third on the team in scoring and eleventh in the league with 53 points on 16 goals and 37 assists over 27 games.

Armstrong played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03, dressing for the Kitchener Rangers, Peterborough Petes, Plymouth Whalers and Barrie Colts over that time span. His most productive season in the OHL came with the Petes in 2001-02 when he scored 17 and added 21 assists in 65 games.

Undrafted by and NHL club, Armstrong spent two years at Concordia in the Canadian university system. His first year of professional hockey came in 2006-07 with The Hague in Netherlands. He led the last place team in goals (35), assists (37) and points (72) over 40 games. He finished fifth in the league in points and fourth in goals.

Before landing in Australia, Matt spent time in Germany, as well as, a handful of games in North America in the IHL and SPHL. Over 51 career games in the AIHL, Armstrong has registered 97 points.

Now a full season removed from leading the Ontario Hockey League in goals during the regular season, Bryan Cameron returns for his second season with the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. Cameron played 60 games with the Calgary Flames affiliate this past season, along with seven for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL.

Bryan played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2005-06 to 2009-10. He was a member of the Belleville Bulls until his final season when the Barrie Colts picked them up in anticipation of a long playoff run.

Over his five years, Cameron played in 76 playoff games. Compare that number to Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires who has played in 62 and Dylan Hunter of the London Knights who played in 72. Starting from his second year in Belleville, Cameron played on teams that at least made it to the Conference Finals. The 2006-07 Bulls fell to the Sudbury Wolves in the Eastern Conference Finals; The 2007-08 Bulls lost in the Robertson Cup finals to the Kitchener Rangers; The 2008-09 Bulls bowed out to the Brampton Battalion in the Conference finals and the Hamilton Spectator winning 2009-10 Barrie Colts went down in the finals to the Windsor Spitfires.

In 2008-09, Cameron won the Jim Mahon Trophy as the league’s top scoring right winger. His 37 goals and 44 assists for 81 points are the lowest totals of any Jim Mahon Trophy winner. Bryan led the OHL with 53 goals in 2009-10 and was awarded the Leo Lalonde Trophy as overage player of the year. In his final two seasons in the OHL, Cameron was selected as a First Team All-Star.

Bryan was taken by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 82nd overall. He was later signed as a free-agent by the Calgary Flames and began his professional hockey career in the Flames organization.

It was a bit of a ‘six degrees of Bryan Cameron’ situation in Abbotsford for the 2010-11 season. Playing for the Heat were Greg Nemisz who played for Windsor against Cameron at the 2010 Robertson Cup finals, T.J. Brodie who played with Bryan for the Barrie Colts in 2009-10 and Matt Pelech who played with Bryan on the Belleville Bulls for the 2006-07 season. Other Ontario Hockey League grads on the Heat included John Armstrong (Plymouth Whalers, Peterborough Petes) and Chris Breen (Saginaw Spirit, Erie Otters, Peterborough Petes).

His six goals in 60 games with Abbotsford in his AHL rookie season, suggest a different role for the OHL sniper. Time will tell if his goal scoring abilities will once again reveal themselves or if he’s destined for a the role of the energy man / checker.