OHL Alumni Central

It’s nearly Spengler Cup time again. Overshadowed each holiday season by the IIHF World Juniors, the Spengler does boast some high calibre hockey. The tournament, held each season in Davos, Switzerland, starts on December 26 and features six teams this season. Participating this year will be Canada, HC Davos, Kloten Flyers (Switzerland), Dinamo Riga (KHL), HC Vitkovice (Czech Republic) and EHC Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams (Germany).

On Team Canada, there will be five Ontario Hockey League alumni. Also, assistant coach Doug Shedden played in the OMJHL for three seasons.

Shawn Heins played in the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons, 1991-92 and 1992-93, with the Peterborough Petes and Windsor Spitfires. Heins has played a total of 125 NHL regular season games during his pro career with the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Thrashers. Shawn is currently the captain of Gotteron in Switzerland’s National League A.

Ryan Parent played four seasons with the Guelph Storm from 2003-04 to 2006-07. Parent was the 18th overall pick at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. Ryan has played in a total of 106 NHL regular season games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks. He has played the first half of the 2011-12 season with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

Eric Beaudoin played three seasons with the Guelph Storm from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He was a fourth round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1998, 92nd overall. He has played 53 NHL games, all with the Florida Panthers. Beaudoin is currently a member of Biel in Switzerland’s National League A.

Blaine Down played three seasons with the Barrie Colts from 1999-00 to 2001-02. Down’s current team in ZSC of Switzerland’s National League A.

Rico Fata played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1998-99. He played his first year with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the rest of the OHL career with the London Knights. Rico was the sixth overall pick at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, going to the Calgary Flames. Fata has appeared in 230 NHL regular season games with the Flames, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers and Washington Capitals. This season, Rico is a member of Geneve-Servette in Switzerland’s NLA.

Assistant coach Doug Shedden played in the OMJHL for three seasons from 1977-78 to 1979-80, appearing with the Hamilton Fincups, Kitchener Rangers and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Shedden is the coach of Zug in the NLA.

Thinking the title is a typo and that it should say seven players? Different Team Canada. Six Ontario Hockey League grads will be on the roster of Team Canada for the upcoming Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. You can actually make that seven if you include assistant coach, Doug Shedden.

For those who don’t know, the Spengler is an inviational tournament held between Christmas and New Year’s every year in Davos, Switzerland. Team Canada and HC Davos are perennial participants while the other teams are selected each year from Europe’s elite leagues. This season, Genève-Servette (Swiss National League A), Spartak Moskva (Russia’s KHL), SKA St. Petersburg (Russia’s KHL) and HC Sparta Praha (Czech Republic’s Extraliga) round out the headliners.

The six OHL grads are as follows (click on each name to view a previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring that player):

Tyler Moss – Tyler played for the Kingston Frontenacs for three years from 1992-93 to 1994-95. He is now the goaltender for the SCL Lions in Switzerland’s National League A.

Mark Popovic – Mark played four seasons with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors from 1998-99 to 2001-02. He is currently playing for HC Lugano in the National League A.

Brendan Bell – Brendan played with the Ottawa 67′s for four seasons from 1999-00 to 2002-03. Mark is currently a member of HC Biel in the NLA.

Brendan Brooks – Brendan played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1997-98. His season in the OHL was split between the Owen Sound Platers and the North Bay Centennials. Brendan joins Tyler Moss on the SCL Tigers.

Mark Bell – Mark played four seasons with the Ottawa 67′s from 1996-97 to 1999-00. Mark is a member of the Kloten Flyers in the NLA.

Blaine Down – Blane played for the Barrie Colts for three seasons from 1999-00 to 2001-02. He is currently playing for ZSC Lions from Zurich in the NLA.

Tomorrow, we’ll feature the OHL Alumni on the other five teams in the tournament.

The 1999-00 Barrie Colts were the bad boys of OHL hockey. In only their fifth season in the Ontario Hockey League, the Colts won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as playoff champions. They would come up short of a Memorial Cup victory, however.

Sheldon Keefe was the league scoring champion with 121 points and teammates Denis Shvidki and Mike Danton would also make it into the top 10. Keefe also won the Jim Mahon Memorial Award for the top scoring right winger. Goaltender Brian Finley won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for playoff MVP.

There are currently 7 players from the 1999-00 Colts roster that are still active in professional hockey. Interestingly, 5 of the 7 players were in their OHL rookie season that year. This does not include Mike Danton’s return to University hockey but we hope he will return to the professional ranks in the future.

Where available, click on the player’s names below to view their profile page on their current team’s official website.

Denis Shvidki was the team’s second highest point getter in the 1999-00 season, his second with the Colts, with 106 points. He played two seasons in the OHL, both with Barrie. Denis has played 76 games in the NHL scattered over 4 seasons and all with the Florida Panthers. Currently, he is with Karpat of the SM-Liiga in Finland, although his season consisted of only 4 games.

Michael Henrich (to view his profile, click the ‘Senior’ drop-down box and click on ‘Roster’ – scroll across until you find him) started his OHL career with the Colts in 1996-97 and finished in 1999-00. A sniper with 41, 38 and 38 goals in his final three seasons with the team. He was a first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1998, 13th overall. He has never played a game in the NHL and has never been able to reproduce his OHL scoring ability until this season. With Asiago HC in Italy, Michael maintained nearly a 2-point per game pace.

Matt Dzieduszycki was in his first of two seasons in the OHL with Barrie during the 1999-00 season. Matt is now in his 4th season in Germany’s DEL and his third with the Hannover Scorpions.

Blaine Down played for the Colts from 1999-00 to 2001-02. Down has been in Europe for the past 4 seasons, 1 in Italy, 1 in Denmark and two in Switzerland. Currently, he is with ZSC Lions of the Swiss-A league. ZSC is out of Zurich and is done for the 2009-10 season after bowing out in the quarter-finals of the league’s playoffs. To view a previous post on Blaine Down, click here.

Tim Branham played in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2001-02. His first two seasons were with the Colts and his final season was with the Guelph Storm. Branham was a 3rd round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2000 but has never played a game in the NHL and has, for the most part, been a career ECHL player since graduating from the OHL. Currently he is on the Injured Reserve list for the Reading Royals of the ECHL.

Aaron Power enjoyed a 4 year career with the Barrie Colts from 1999-00 to 2002-03. After 5 seasons, mostly in the ECHL, Aaron left for Europe. He spent last season in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 and this season he played for HC Fassa in Italy.

Eric Reitz played three seasons in the OHL with the Colts from 1999-00 to 2001-02. Drafted very deep in the 2000 draft by the Minnesota Wild (6th round, 170th overall), Eric was able to put in 48 games in the NHL with the Wild and the New York Rangers. He is currently playing in Russia’s KHL with Sibir Novosibirsk. His profile page on the KHL official site can be found here.

ZSC Lions play out of Zurich, Switzerland in the Swiss-A league. Two OHL alumni are currently playing for the Lions, a team that is currently in second place to Davos.

Ryan Gardner played for both the London Knights and the North Bay Centennials. The 6’6″ centre endured the dismal 1995-96 season with the Knights then was traded in 1996-97 to the Centennials. Part way through the 1997-98 season he shifted to the Swiss league and has been there ever since. Click here to check out Ryan’s profile page on the team’s official website.

Blaine Down played for the Barrie Colts from 1999-00 to 2001-02, putting up steady numbers at around a point per game over the three seasons. Blaine spent three years in the AHL before heading to Europe where he spent a season each in Denmark and Italy before landing in Switzerland. Click here to check out Blaine’s profile page on the team’s official website.

Check out this post about Boyd Devereaux, who is also playing in the Swiss-A league.