OHL Alumni Central

Is Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League just using Ontario Hockey League grads for their fists? The EIHL typically has more than a few OHL alumni among the top ten scorers in the league. This year, there are just two in the top 20 with approximately 10 games to go in the regular season. These two, Mike Ramsay and Corey Neilson, fall in the 16th and 20th position. Ramsay, a player who was used sparingly by the Peterborough Petes over two partial seasons and Neilson, a 35 year old defenseman who last played for the Barrie Colts in 1997.

Yet, when it comes to time spent in the box, seven the OHL can lay claim to seven of the top 20, including three of the top five. Derek Campbell is the highest, sitting in second place with 209 PIM in just 44 games, a 4.75 PIM/GM pace. However, he doesn’t hold a candle to league leader Chris Frank of the Cardif Devils who has 286 PIM in 42 games – a 6.81 PIM per game pace!

It’s not that the British Isles are developing better talent. Just three of the top 20 point getters are from Great Britain and one includes Corey Neilson. Neilson is Canadian born but has since gotten his UK citizenship. For the most part, it’s just the way it goes in European hockey. It’s a transient hockey world and by next year at this time, OHL boys could be clogging the scoring race.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the players involved:

Top Scorers:

Mike Ramsay is tied for 16th wit 47 points in just 33 games, not bad for a guy who totaled just 5 goals with the Petes. Ramsay played with Peterborough for parts of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 season. He moved on to the QMJHL where he achieved greater success. This is Mike’s first year with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL.

Corey Neilson is in his sixth year with the Nottingham Panthers and truly leads by example. Neilson has also been the coach of the team for the past four years. The defenseman has 45 points in 45 games to rank him at the edge of the top 20. Ironically, his 81 PIM actually tied him for the 20th in that race, as well. Corey played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97 with the North Bay Centennials, Detroit Whalers and Barrie Colts.

Top Bad Boys:

Derek Campbell sits in second with 209 PIM in 44 games as a member of the Hull Stingrays. This his sixth year in the EIHL and first with Hull. Campbell played four years in the OHL from 1997-98 to 2000-01 with the Belleville Bulls, Owen Sound Platers and Kingston Frontenacs.

No surprise to Kitchener Rangers fans, Adam Keefe holds down the number 4 spot with 164 PIM in 41 games with the Belfast Giants. Keefe is in his first year in the EIHL and already has a ‘A’ on his jersey. Adam played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05 with the Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener.

A position behind Keefe is Colt King with 135 PIM in 41 games with the Sheffield Steelers. This is Colt’s first season in the EIHL. He played in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2003-04 with what seems like half the league. King wore the OHL jersey’s of the Guelph Storm, North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting.

Frantisek Bakrlik is tied for 12th with 90 PIM in 48 games. It’ll be interesting to see how many regular season games Bakrlik ends up playing. The Fife Flyers are his third team this season in the EIHL and it looks like he’s picked up a few extra games due to scheduling differences at the time of each of his trades. Frantisek played in the OHL in 2000-01 and 2001-02 with the Barrie Colts and Sarnia Sting. This is his first year in the EIHL.

Darryl Lloyd is in 15th with 88 PIM in 37 games with the Belfast Giants. Lloyd is in his first season in the EIHL and is currently injured. Darryl played three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Drew Bannister falls in 17th spot with 84 PIM in 40 games with the Braehead Clan. Bannister will turn 38 in a few months and began his OHL career way back in 1990. He played four seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1990-91 to 1993-94. A second round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992, Bannister has 176 NHL games under his belt, including playoffs. This is his second year in the EIHL and first with the Clan.

Just a minute behind Bannister is Sylvain Cloutier of the Hull Stingrays. Cloutier has 83 minutes in 41 games. This is Cloutier’s fifth EIHL season and third with the Stingrays. Like Corey Neilson with Nottingham, Sylvain is also the coach of the team and is in the third year of that position. Cloutier played three years in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1993-94. A veteran of seven NHL games, all with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1998-99.

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have started the 2011-12 season with a bang, going 11-1 with an additional shootout loss. Despite this, the team sits just three points ahead of the Nottingham Panthers atop the league. The team is on track to challenge for the league championship, something they accomplished in 2009-10.

Adam Keefe has fit right in with the Giants. The Ontario Hockey League grad has brought his tough brand of hockey to Ireland and currently sits seventh in the EIHL in penalty minutes. Keefe wears the ‘A’ on his jersey. Another OHL Alumnus, Jeremy Rebek (Owen Sound Platers) is the team captain.

Adam played in the Ontario Hockey League for five years from 2000-01 to 2004-05. He began with the Sudbury Wolves and moved over the Kitchener Rangers during his second season. In his first full season with Kitchener, 2002-03, the team won the Robertson Cup and the Memorial Cup.

Undrafted, Keefe has toiled in the AHL and ECHL since 2005-06. This past season, 2010-11, started with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL but saw Adam play 40 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

With six points already this season, Keefe is on pace to have his best offensive season since entering professional hockey in 2005-06. That season, with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL, Adam contributed 21 points in just 28 games while sitting out 174 minutes in the penalty box. He also spent 31 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose that season, with much lower offensive results.

(The tongue twister title was completely unintentional!)

Michael Jacobsen with Alleghe of Italy's Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio.

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.

Brad Smyth as a member of Medvescak Zagreb.

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.

Szwez celbrates a goal with fellow OHL grad, Sean McMorrow. Note the sheriff's badge on Sean's bucket.

As reported in yesterday’s post, there are two Ontario Hockey League alumni up for Newcomer of the Year in Great Britain’s EIHL. Yesterday, we featured former Peterborough Pete, Cameron Mann. Today, the spotlight is on Kitchener Rangers grad, Jeff Szwez.

Jeff played in the OHL for one season, 2001-02. That season, he provided the Rangers with solid numbers with 57 points in 65 games.

Jeff has bounced around between 8 AHL and ECHL teams in his pro career. He had his first taste of European hockey in 2007-08 when he played 10 games in Finland. This season is his first full season in Europe.

Jeff brought the Belfast Giants much needed offense this season. He notched three hat-tricks enroute to a 36 goal season in just 41 games. He fit in nicely with Belfast’s rough and tumble style, sitting out 145 minutes in the penalty box.

To view Jeff Szwez’s profile page on the Belfast Giants official website, click here.

To view yesterday’s post on Cameron Mann, click here.

To view a previous post on Belfast Giants tough-guy and OHL grad Sean McMorrow, click here.