OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Matt Pelech will start the 2011-12 season in the American Hockey League with the Worcester Sharks. Originally a first round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 26th overall, Pelech played in the Calgary system from 2007-08 to 2010-11, mostly in the AHL. This past season, he played 59 games for the Abbotsford Heat. In 2008-09, he saw his only NHL action, playing five games with the Flames.

Matt Pelech is now in the San Jose Sharks organization.

Matt played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His first two and a half seasons were spent in a Sarnia Sting jersey. In 2005-06, the Sting sent Pelech to the London Knights. In his final season in the OHL, Matt played for the Belleville Bulls. In his second season, he was awarded the Ivan Tennant Award as the OHL’s Top Academic High School player.

Pelech has hockey in the blood. Two brothers and two uncles of Matt’s have played in the Ontario Hockey League. Both uncles have played in the NHL.

Michael Pelech played in the OHL from 2005-06 to 2008-09 with the Kitchener Rangers and Toronto / Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. Michael was taken in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, 156th overall by the Los Angeles Kings. He spent 2009-10 with the Ontario Reign of the East Coast Hockey League and played just five games this past season with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL.

Younger brother Adam Pelech is a member of the Erie Otters, having played his first OHL season in 2010-11.

The uncle of the Pelech boys is none other than Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis. This season, Gillis was selected as the NHL’s GM of the year. He played three seasons in the OHL (OMJHL) from 1975-76 to 1977-78 with the Kingston Canadians. Gillis was a fifth overall draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. Mike played 246 career NHL regular season games from 1978-79 to 1983-84 with the Rockies and Boston Bruins.

In 1982-83, Mike totalled 113 points with the AHL’s Baltimore Skipjacks. That tally was good enough for fourth in the league. That Skipjacks team was an interesting squad with Stan Jonathan and Ian Turnbull at the end of their careers and Phil Bourque and Marty McSorley just starting out. All four of those players were graduates of the OHL.

Mike’s brother Paul was also an OHL grad and NHL player. Paul Gillis played 1980-81 and 1981-82 with the Niagara Falls Flyers and moved with the team to North Bay and played his final season with the North Bay Centennials. Paul was taken by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1982 NHL Draft, 34th overall. He played in the NHL from 1983-84 to 1992-93 with Quebec, the Chicago Black Hawks and Hartford Whalers. In 2010-11, Paul was the head coach of the Odessa Jackalopes of the Central Hockey League.

Mike Mole played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. A starting goaltender right from his rookie season with the horrendous Mississauga IceDogs, Mole played in 54 of the Belleville Bulls 68 games in his final season. Mole played with the IceDogs until a mid-season trade during the 2001-02 season.

In his final year in the Ontario Hockey League, Mike was honoured as the OHL Humanitarian of the Year. The trophy was renamed the Dan Snyder Trophy the following season after the tragic death of the former Owen Sound Platers forward.

Undrafted, Mike Mole played two seasons with St. Francis Xavier University in CIS hockey. In his first season, 2003-04, STFX won the CIS championship and Mike was named University Cup tournament MVP.

His professional hockey career began in 2005-06 in the East Coast Hockey League. He played the bulk of his first season in the ECHL with the Phoenix Roadrunners, appearing in 48 games. He finished the season off with the San Diego Gulls.

Mole was able to get as high as the AHL with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2006-07, playing 15 games with the New York Islanders farm club.

This past season, Mike was called up to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for a few days in February but didn’t dress for any games. He played ten games in the Central Hockey League with the Odessa Jackalopes. Odessa has left the CHL for the 2011-12 season, choosing instead to house a junior NAHL team. Mole’s future in pro hockey is yet to be determined.

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Ontario Hockey League grad Ryan Ready will return in 2011-12 to play his sixth season in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). 2011-12 will be Ready’s second season with EHC München (Munich) after four with Iserlohn Roosters.

Ryan played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99, all with the Belleville Bulls. In his final season in the OHL, Ready produced 33 goals 59 assists for 92 points in 63 games, helping the Bulls to a third place finish in the Eastern Conference. He exploded in the playoffs for 38 points in 21 games as Belleville took the Robertson Cup as OHL playoff champions with a seven game series win over the London Knights.

In that final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Ready was selected a CHL 2nd Team All-star and won the Leo Lalonde Trophy as the overage player of the year in the OHL.

Ready was a fourth round pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 100th overall. His only NHL action to date was a seven game stint with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2005-06 season. After seven years playing in the AHL and old IHL, Ryan headed to Germany for the start of the 2006-07 season and hasn’t looked back.

With Iserlohn in 2008-09, Ready contributed 56 points in 48 regular season games. The point total was good for sixth in the league, eight points away from the top spot. This season, despite only playing 43 of 52 regular season game due to injury, Ryan totalled 44 points in 43 games and finished just out of the top 20. He was on pace to finish in the top five. As for EHC München, the team finished eighth in the fourteen team DEL and made a quick exit from the playoffs.

HK Acroni Jesenice of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga has begun re-tooling for the 2011-12 season after a dismal 2010-11. Jesenice was six goals removed from being the lowest scoring team in the ten team league while finishing in last place overall. After picking up three Ontario Hockey League grads that have been known for their offensive abilities, goal scoring shouldn’t be a problem going into next season.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that Ontario Hockey League grads Dylan Hunter, Tyler Donati and Justin Donati will join the Slovenia based team. All three played in the North American minor leagues in 2010-11.

Dylan Hunter spent five years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2005-06, all with the London Knights. In 2004-05, along with winning the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup with the Knights, Hunter placed second in league scoring with 104 points during the regular season. In his final season, the point total increased to 117 but his position in the OHL dropped to fourth.

Dylan was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the ninth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 273rd overall. He has since bounced around with several teams in the AHL and ECHL. This past season, Hunter played for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL and was an alternate captain. He finished out the year with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

Similar to the NHL’s Sedin twins, the Donati’s have taken turns over the past two seasons leading the ECHL in scoring. In 2009-10, it was Tyler leading the league with 114 points. This past season, it was Justin taking the title with 94.

Justin Donati played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League split between the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Sudbury Wolves. In 2005-06, Justin finished eight points and two positions in OHL scoring behind Dylan Hunter. This will be Justin’s second attempt at Europe, having played three games with Thurgau of Switzerland’s National League B at the start of the 2009-10 season.

In an Ontario Hockey League season when the show was stolen by Patrick Kane and John Tavares, Tyler Donati’s 2006-07 offensive totals were overshadowed. Donati finished fourth in points in the OHL with 129 on 54 goals and 75 assists with the Belleville Bulls. He added another 26 in 15 playoff games.

Tyler Donati played four seasons in the OHL, split between the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Belleville Bulls. This past season, Tyler was limited to nine games with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale and 18 with the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals. Like brother Justin, Tyler played three games in with Thurgau in Switzerland at the start of the 2009-10 season.

Ivan Svarny – ring a bell with you Belleville Bulls fans? Svarny played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, 2002-03 and 2003-04, both with the Bulls.

The big defenseman from Slovakia played a season with the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League in 2004-05 after going undrafted in the NHL Entry Draft.

Svarny returned to Slovakia for the 2005-06 season and played with his hometown HK Nitra in the Slovak Extraliga. The following season with HK Nitra, Ivan set career bests for goals (9) and points (22) in just 47 games. He also spent more time in the penalty box than any other season during his career, including junior. In those 47 games, Svarny sat out 146 minutes, nearly double his highest single season count with the Bulls.

Ivan switched to the Czech Republic for the 2007-08 season and has been in the Czech Extraliga since. He has played the last three full seasons with HC Litvinov. In 2008-09, he joined his countrymen on Team Slovakia at the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Ivan was on the pre-tournament roster for Slovakia for the 2011 tournament but was left off the team for the main tournament. The Worlds this year are being played in his home country of Slovakia.

It has been confirmed that Svarny is looking for a new team for the 2011-12 season after Litvinov released at the end of the 2010-11 season.