OHL Alumni Central

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.

Ontario Hockey League grad Peter Campbell led the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie A2 in total goals for the second season in a row. 2010-11 was Campbell’s second season in the second division of the LIHG with Eppan-Appiano. He scored 41 goals and totalled 74 points in 32 league games, up from 33 and 72 in 31 over the 2009-10 season.

Campbell played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00 and really showed his goal scoring brilliance during the 1998-99 season with the Owen Sound Platers when he popped in 45. Peter’s 88 points with the Platers that season were topped only by the late Dan Snyder.

Peter began his OHL career with the Sudbury Wolves and played there for two seasons before moving to Owen Sound for one season. His final season in the league began with the Belleville Bulls but after just nine games, he was moved to the Erie Otters.

Undrafted by an NHL club, Campbell spend just two years in the North American professional leagues, most the Central Hockey League, before heading to Europe. Since, Peter has played in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Italy. With Ravensburg of Germany’s Oberliga (tier 3) in 2005-06, Peter scored 50 goals in 52 games and totalled 104 points.

Peter was an all-star in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League in 2007-08 while playing mostly with the Belfast Giants. With Belfast, he lead the team in goals with 34 and totalled 78 points in just 43 games with the Giants.

Campbell is slated for a return to Eppan-Appiano for the 2011-12 season.

 

Ontario Hockey League grad Björn Krupp will begin his professional hockey career in 2011-12 in Germany. Krupp will in the Kölner Haie (Cologne Sharks) organization in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. However, Björn will start the season with EV Duisburg of Germany’s Oberliga (the equivelent of the ECHL to the DEL).

Krupp played three seasons with the Belleville Bulls from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The stay at home defenseman will return to the homeland of his father Uwe Krupp. The elder Krupp played 729 regular season NHL games between 1986-87 and 2002-03 with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers.

The younger Krupp was a member of the U.S. National under-17 team during the 2007-08 season. He played in 63 games for the U.S. with an additional six at the Under-17 World Championships.

Undrafted by an NHL team, Krupp was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Wild in the fall of 2009 but it didn’t pan out.

Yesterday, we featured another Ontario Hockey League grad who will also play Kölner. Charlie Stephens played five years in the OHL and is a veteran of the DEL.

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Radim Bicanek played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Belleville Bulls, 1993-94 and 1994-95. He came to the OHL already drafted by an National Hockey League club. Bicanek was taken in the second round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, 27th overall.

The season before joining Belleville, Radim played for Czechoslovakia’s Under-18 European Junior Championships Team and Under-20 World Junior Team. Czechoslovakia finished third behind Canada and Sweden at the Under-20 tournament.

Bicanek provided great offense from the blueline for the Bulls with 43 points in his rookie season and 39 in his second season. In the playoffs, Bicanek contributed 21 points over 28 games over the two seasons combined.

Radim played 122 NHL games starting with the Senators. In 2000, he was picked up by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL Expansion Draft. He played parts of two seasons with Columbus before returning to the Czech Republic. Bicanek also appeared in 18 games with the Chicago Black Hawks over his NHL career.

Since 2004-05, Bicanek has been playing in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga. His first five seasons were played with HC Znojemsti where he was team captain for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He has been a member of HC Kometa Brno since the start of the 2009-10 season. Radim has worn the ‘A’ on his jersey since coming to Brno. He will return for the 2011-12 season.

Check out Radim Bicanek’s profile page on the HC Kometa Brno official website.

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Val Pusteria lost out to Asiago in the playoff finals in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio. However, it was a member of the losing team and an Ontario Hockey League grad selected as the LIHG’s 2011 Player of the Year.

Matt Kelly won the award while leading the team from the blueline. He netted nine and helped out on 24 others for 33 points in 34 regular season games. He continued at a point per game in the playoffs.

Kelly played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06, all with the Belleville Bulls. Undrafted, he played three seasons in the East Coast Hockey League with the Victoria Salmon Kings before heading to Italy.

Last season, 2009-10, Matt made a splash in his first season with Val Pusteria. Kelly led all LIHG defensemen in assists and points with 36 and 43.

As of now, Matt is unsigned for the 2011-12 season. Rumours in February had him going to Germany’s DEL but nothing came of it. It’s certain that Italy wants him back.