OHL Alumni Central

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 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.

***Update***(Feb. 4, 12)

Missed one! Not sure how Jakub Svoboda got missed. Jakub played the 2008-09 season with the Saginaw Spirit. Thank you to Miroslava Svoboda for the reminder! Here is Jakub’s career stats, courtesy of eliteprospects.com:

 

HC Kometa Brno was promoted back to the top division of the Czech Republic Extraliga for the 2009-10 season. Brno won the Czechoslovakia championship eleven of twelve years between 1954-55 and 1965-66. The one season in that span when they didn’t win, 1958-59, they finished second. The team fell on hard times, dealing with relegation over the past few decades.

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HC Kometa currently sits tenth in the fourteen team league, playing out of the 7,200 seat Kajot Arena in Brno. Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, next to Prague, and has a metro population of 810,000. The hockey team has three Ontario Hockey League grads helping the cause, all natives of the Czech Republic.

Radim Bicanek played two years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Belleville Bulls, 1993-94 and 1994-95. The solid D-man came to Belleville already a prospect of the Ottawa Senators. Bicanek was taken in the second round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 27th overall. Radim’s NHL career consisted of 122 games with the Senators, Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets. He has been in the Czech Extraliga since the 2004-05 season and is in his third year with Brno. Bicanek has been an assistant captain with HC Kometa since coming from HC Znojemsti Orli where he served as team captain for two seasons.

Jakub Koreis came to Brno during the 2010-11 season from HC Sparta Prague and finished off the season with six games in a HC Kometa uniform. Koreis played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2003-04 with the Guelph Storm. In 48 regular season games, Jakub contributed 38 points to Guelph’s cause. In the Storm’s run to a Robertson Cup championship, Koreis totalled 18 points in 22 games. He played for Guelph at the Memorial Cup and the Czech Republic at the 2004 IIHF World Juniors.

Koreis was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, over a year before even playing a game in the Ontario Hockey League. Jakub was a first round pick, going nineteenth overall. After three years in the American Hockey League, Koreis returned to Europe, playing one year in Finland’s SM-Liiga before heading to the Czech Republic.

Tomas Pospisil played two years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sarnia Sting, 2005-06 and 2006-07. Like Jakub Koreis and Radim Bicanek, Pospisil came to the OHL already drafted to an NHL club. Tomas was a fifth round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 135th overall. He was twice a member of the Czech Republic’s team at the IIHF World Juniors. After two years in the AHL, Pospisil returned to the Czech Republic for the 2009-10 season.

 

Only three times since their inaugural Ontario Hockey League season in 1981-82 have the Belleville Bulls finished out of the Robertson Cup playoffs. One of those three was their first year in the league. This is a club that consistently produces competitive teams and professional hockey players. The team is off to a playoff bound start in 2011-12, playing just over .500 hockey.

82 players that have played at least one game with the Belleville Bulls are currently still actively playing in the hockey world. This number includes those playing in the Canadian university system. This number does not include a handful of players that will be most likely find their way onto a roster before the season is to old.

Belleville Bulls are playing in eleven different countries throughout the world: U.S.A., Canada, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Great Britain (England and Scotland), Russia, Italy, Slovakia and Sweden. These grads can be found in 20 different leagues with 13 playing the top level (NHL). The 20 players on Canadian university teams says so much about the CHL’s scholarship program.

Richard Park started with the Bulls in 1992 and played through 1996. He is currently playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. I believe he is the oldest active Belleville Bull actively playing pro.

Player	Yrs w/Club	2011-12 Team	2011-12 League
Baker, Kevin	1997-2000	Stockton Thunder	ECHL
Beleskey, Matt	2004-2008	Anaheim Ducks	NHL
Berard, Ryan	2003-2006	Carleton	CIS
Bezzo, Paul	2009-2010	Western	CIS
Bicanek, Radim	1993-1995	Kometa Brno	Czech Extraliga
Blunden, Stephen	2005-2009	Ottawa	CIS
Brophey, Evan	2004-2006	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL
Caladi, Erik	2006-2007	HK Nitra	Slovakia
Cameron, Bryan	2005-2009	Utah Grizzlies	ECHL
Campbell, Derek	1997-1999	Hull Stingrays	EIHL
Campbell, Peter	1999-2000	Eppan-Appiano	LIHG-2
Cantin, Marc	2006-2010	Providence Bruins	AHL
Carnegie, Rane	2001-2004	Saint-Georges	LNAH
CheeChoo, Jonathan	1997-2000	Peoria Rivermen	AHL
Chovan, Jan	2000-2002	Spisska Nova Ves	Slovakia-2
Cianfrini, Paul	2006-2008	Nipissing	CIS
Clarkson, David	2001-2003	New Jersey Devils	NHL
Cleary, Dan	1994-1997	Detroit Red Wings	NHL
Cunningham, Wes	2004-2006	Greenville Road Warriors	ECHL
Dahm, Sebastian	2005-2006	Rodovre	AL-Bank Ligaen
Deveaux, Andre	2000-2003	Connecticut Whale	AHL
Donati, Tyler	2006-2007	Chicago Express	ECHL
Eden, Branden	2009-2010	Kalix Ungdoms HC	Swe Div-1
Gibbons, Andrew	2005-2007	Whitby Dunlops	ACH
Griffith, Todd	2002-2004	Laredo Bucks	CHL
Grubauer, Philipp	2008-2010	Hershey Bears	AHL
Hluchy, Milan	2003-2004	Rytiri Kladno	Czech Extraliga
Hughes, John	2004-2007	Ljubljana Olimpija	EBEL
Kelly, Matt	2002-2006	Brunico	LIHG
Killing, Geoff	2003-2008	Western	CIS
Krupp, Bjorn	2008-2011	Kolner Haie	DEL
Lalande, Kevin	2003-2007	Dynamo Minsk	KHL
Lalonde, Shawn	2006-2010	Rockford IceHogs	AHL
Mascioli, Mike	2010-2011	Trenton Titans	ECHL
Mashinter, Brandon	2008-2009	Worcester Sharks	AHL
Matthias, Shawn	2004-2008	Florida Panthers	NHL
McCormick, Cody	1999-2003	Buffalo Sabres	NHL
McPherson, Brock	2005-2006	Braehead Clan	EIHL
Mezi, Branislav	1997-2000	Poprad Lev	KHL
Mifflen, Chris	2007-2008	Carleton	CIS
Murphy, Mike	2005-2009	Charlotte Checkers	AHL
Mursak, Jan	2007-2008	Detroit Red Wings	NHL
Neal, Michael	2005-2009	Idaho Steelheads	ECHL
Newbury, Kris	1998-2000	New York Rangers	NHL
Pageau, Nick	2005-2009	St. FX	CIS
Palmieri, Nick	2008-2009	New Jersey Devils	NHL
Panik, Richard	2009-2011	Norfolk Admirals	AHL
Park, Richard	1992-1996	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL
Pasquale, Edward	2006-2008	St. John’s IceCaps	AHL
Pelech, Matt	2006-2007	Worcester Sharks	AHL
Peters, Anthony	2009-2010	St. Mary’s	CIS
Pither, Luke	2008-2009	Adirondack Phantoms	AHL
Radivojevic, Branko	1998-2001	Atlant Mytishchi	KHL
Rancourt, Marc	2001-2005	Idaho Steelheads	ECHL
Randell, Tyler	2007-2009	Providence Bruins	AHL
Robinson, Nathan	1998-2002	Vienna Capitals	EBEL
Rorabeck, Ryan	2004-2006	Idaho Steelheads	ECHL
Rowe, Randy	1997-2001	Trenton Titans	ECHL
Self, Andrew	2005-2008	Carleton	CIS
Smyth, Matt	2005-2006	Fayetteville FireAntz	SPHL
Snow, Aaron	2006-2007	Western	CIS
Sonnenburg, Kyle	2003-2005	Krefeld Pinguine	DEL
Spade, Steve	2004-2006	UOIT	CIS
Spezza, Jason	2001-2002	Ottawa Senators	NHL
Stach, Lubomir	2004-2005	Orli Znojmo	EBEL
Stajan, Matt	2000-2003	Calgary Flames	NHL
Stanley, Chris	1996-2000	Fischtown Pinguine	Bundesliga
Stellick, Robert	2007-2009	Queen’s	CIS
Subban, P.K.	2005-2009	Montreal Canadiens	NHL
Svarny, Ivan	2002-2004	Slovan Bratislava	Slovakia
Tanaka, Cory	2005-2009	St. Mary’s	CIS
Tangradi, Eric	2006-2009	WBS Penguins	AHL
Taylor, Brendan	2007-2008	Laurier	CIS
Taylor, Tyler	2009-2010	Carleton	CIS
Thornton, Cody	2002-2005	Landshut Cannibals	Bundesliga
Tipoff, Matt	2006-2010	St. Mary’s	CIS
Turkiewicz, Keaton	2007-2008	Western	CIS
Underwood, Joe	2010-2011	Waterloo	CIS
Van Buskirk, Parker	2007-2008	Windsor	CIS
Velebny, Lubos	2001-2002	HK SKP Poprad	Slovakia
Wellwood, Kyle	1999-2002	Winnipeg Jets	NHL
Whitely, Steve	2005-2007	Waterloo	CIS

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.

The Cincinnati Cylcones of the East Coast Hockey League will try and improve on their seventh place finish in the eleven team Eastern Conference during the 2010-11 season. The Cyclones will have two Ontario Hockey League grads behind the bench for the 2011-12 season.

Jarrod Skalde is entering his second season as head coach of the Cyclones after two years coaching the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the IHL. Skalde played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1987-88 to 1990-91. He played his first three seasons with the Oshawa Generals then was traded early in his final season to the Belleville Bulls. In his 40 games with Belleville, he produced at more than a 2 points per game pace.

Jarrod was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 26th overall. In a professional playing career that lasted from 1991-92 until 2007-08, Skalde totalled 115 NHL games with the Devils, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Philadelphia Flyers (115 total games in eight NHL jerseys – gotta be some kind of record?!).

Skalde spent most of his time in the AHL and IHL with European stints that took him to Switzerland, Sweden and Austria.

Andrew Cassels will join Jarrod Skalde behind the Cincinnati Cyclones bench for 2011-12 as assistant coach. Cassels starred with the Ottawa 67′s from 1986-87 to 1988-89. In his middle season, he was awarded the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s top scorer with 151 points. In 1988-89, he dropped to third in the league with 134 points.

Cassels was the 17th overall pick at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Montreal Canadiens. Andrew played somewhat sparingly with the Habs over his first two years of pro hockey. He became an NHL regular after being traded to the Hartford Whalers for the start of the 1991-92 season. Andrew’s NHL career lasted until 2005-06 and he played in 1015 regular season games with Montreal, Hartford, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals.

Because of his unfortunate selection of NHL teams, Cassels played in just 21 games over three playoff seasons during his 16 year NHL career. He played eight in his second year with Montreal, seven the following year with Hartford and six in 2001-02 with the Canucks.

As mentioned in the last post at OHL Alumni Central, the Cincinnati Cyclones have signed bad-boy Ontario Hockey League grad, Michael Liambas. Skalde has experience with Liambas, having coached him with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder.