OHL Alumni Central

Yesterday, we featured the six Ontario Hockey League grads that are playing for Team Canada at the 2010 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. Today, we look at the eleven OHL grads that are spread out over the other five teams in the tournament. If the player’s name is highlighted in blue, clicking on the name will take you to a previous post at OHL Alumni Central featuring that alumnus.

HC Davos

Petr Taticek – Petr played two seasons for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Genève-Servette

Dan Fritsche – Dan played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He played with the Sarnia Sting up until midway through his final season when he joined the London Knights.

Jeff Toms – Jeff played three seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1991-92 to 1993-94.

Spartak Moskva

Branko Radivojevic – Branko played three seasons with the Belleville Bulls from 1998-99 to 2000-01.

Stefan Ruzicka – Stefan played two seasons with the Owen Sound Attack, 2003-04 and 2004-05.

SKA St. Petersburg

Alexei Semenov – Alexei played three seasons with the Sudbury Wolves from 1998-99 to 2000-01.

Maxim Rybin – Maxim played two seasons with the Sarnia Sting, 1999-00 and 2000-01.

HC Sparta Praha

Marek Bartanus – Marek played two seasons with the Owen Sound Attack, 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Jakub Koreis – Jakub played just one season with the Guelph Storm, 2003-04.

Tomas Kurka – Tomas played two seasons with the Plymouth Whalers, 1999-00 and 2000-01.

Radek Smolenak – Radek played two seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs, 2004-05 and 2005-06.

For the second day in a row, we’re featuring a Slovakian-born Ontario Hockey League alumnus currently playing for HC Spartak Moskva (Moscow) of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. Yesterday it was Stefan Ruzicka. Today it’s Branko Radivojevic.

Radivojevic played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2000-01, all with the Belleville Bulls. In his rookie season, he provided the Bulls with 24 points in 21 playoff games as Belleville won the Robertson Cup as the OHL’s playoff champion with a victory over the London Knights. This previous post features the 14 graduates from that 1999 Robertson Cup winning team that were still active in professional hockey during the 2009-10 season.

In his final season with the Bulls, Radivojevic’s 34 goals and 70 assists for 104 regular season points placed him third in the league behind teammate Kyle Wellwood and Jason Spezza. He was named to the OHL’s first team all-star squad and won the Jim Mahon Trophy as the OHL’s top scoring right winger.

Branko was taken by the Colorado Avalanche in the third round of the 1999 NHL draft, 93rd overall. He never played for the Avalanche but before leaving for the KHL, Radivojevic had put in 399 regular season NHL games with the Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota Wild.

Radivojevic has represented Slovakia on the world stage on six occasions to date. He competed in the 2000 IIHF Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships. He has appeared in four IIHF World Hockey Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2003. Most recently, Branko skated in Vancouver for Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. This previous post features the Ontario Hockey League grads that played for Slovakia at the 2010 Olympic Games.

Branko first returned to European hockey during the NHL strike year of 2004-05. He split his season between HC Vsetin of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga and Luleå of Sweden’s Eliteserien. He has entered his third season with HC Spartak Moskva and after wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey last season, Branko is the team’s captain for 2010-11. He has been a KHL all-star in each of his two previous seasons with Moscow and led the team in scoring both years with 45 points in 49 games in 2008-09 and 54 points in 56 games in 2009-10. He is under contract with the team until the end of the 2011-12 season.

Check out Branko Radivojevic’s profile page on the HC Spartak Moskva official website.

Track Branko and 650+ Ontario Hockey League grads on the OHL Alumni Big List.

The 1998-99 Belleville Bulls finished a distant second in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Division, 18 points behind the Ottawa 67′s. The team was third in their conference and fifth in the league. Yet, the Belleville Bulls took the J. Ross Robertson Trophy as OHL playoff champs with a 7th game win over the London Knights in the final.

The team would go on to make an appearance at the Memorial Cup tournament in Ottawa, but relying completely on offense, would fall to the host Ottawa 67s in the semi-final.

Eleven years later, it’s nothing short of amazing that 14 players off that Belleville Bull team are still showing off their talent in professional hockey. Belleville alumni are represented in 9 different leagues in 5 different countries. Also, amazingly, in this day and age of building a winning team from the outside, 13 of the 14 players started their OHL careers with the Bulls. Only 5 of the 14 players finished out their OHL careers with other clubs.

As usual, where available, you can find each player’s profile page at their current team’s official website by clicking on their name.

Justin Papineau was a Bull from 1996-97 to 1999-00. He was the team’s leading scorer throughout the regular season and playoffs in 1998-99. He had 52 goals and 99 points in the regular season then exploded for 21 goals and 51 points in just 21 playoff games. Papineau logged 81 NHL games over his pro career with the St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders. Currently, Justin is with Adler Mannheim of Germany’s DEL.

Ryan Ready was a Bull from 1995-96 to 1998-99. Ryan put in 7 games with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers in 2005-06 before heading to Germany to play with his current club, Iserlohn Roosters.

Jonathan Cheechoo played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He has enjoyed a 500+ game career in the NHL with San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators that was highlighted by a 56 goal performance in 2005-06. He has spent the last part of this season with Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.

Kevin Baker played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 1999-00. Kevin is in his second season with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. In his first season, he was the ECHL’s scoring leader with 57 goals and 45 assists for 102 points. He was also named league MVP.

Chris Stanley (the link goes to a list of the team’s forwards – click on Chris’ name to view profile) was a Bull from 1996-97 to 1999-00. Chris went the university route after the OHL and spent 4 seasons with Dalhousie in the AUS. Currently, Chris is playing in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 with Fischtown Pinguins.

Randy Rowe (link goes to team roster – click on Randy’s name to view his profile) played in Belleville from 1997-98 to 2000-01. Although he was an integral part of the championship team in 1999, his best season in the OHL came two years later when he potted 64 goals in just 63 games. Randy currently finds himself on the roster of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.

Branko Radivojevic played for the Bulls 1998-99 to 2000-01. Branko played 393 games in the NHL with Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and the Minnesota Wild before switching to Russia’s KHL. Branko is currently a member of Spartak Moscow. His profile page on the League’s official site can be found here.

Jason Lawmaster was acquired by the Bulls from the Plymouth Whalers during the 1997-98 season and played his second of two OHL seasons with the Bulls in 1998-99. Jason is currently with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL.

Derek Campbell was a Bull for 1997-98 and 1998-99 but finished out his OHL career with the Owen Sound Platers in 1999-00. Derek played this season with the Coventry Blaze of the Great Britain’s EIHL.

Michael Jacobson played for Belleville from 1997-98 to 2000-01. His final season in the OHL, 2001-02, was split between the Sudbury Wolves and the Owen Sound Attack. After three years playing in Italy, Michael spent this season with the Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s EIHL.

Branislav Mezei was a Bull from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He put in 240 NHL games with the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers before heading to Russia’s KHL last season. This season was split between the Czech Republic and Finland. Branislav is currently with the Blues of Finland’s SM-liiga. There isn’t a profile on the team’s official website but the roster page can be found here.

Nathan Robinson played with Belleville from 1998-99 to 2001-02. Other than the Memorial Cup appearance in his rookie season, the highlight of his OHL career was a 110 point performance in his final season. Nathan is in his 4th season in Germany’s DEL. Currently, he is with former Bull teammate, Justin Papineau, on Adler Mannheim.

Kris Newbury played in the OHL from 1998-99 to 2002-03. His first season and a half were with Belleville and the rest of his OHL career was played out with the Sarnia Sting. Kris has 48 games worth of NHL experience with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. He is currently in the New York Rangers system with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Doug MacIver started out his rookie season in the OHL, 1998-99, with the Bulls but was traded to the Sarnia Sting to finish out the season. Sarnia traded him to the Kingston Frontenacs the next season and he remained there until the end of his career in 2001-02. Doug played only two games with the Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League this season and is currently off the active roster.

Slovakia will have three OHL grads on the roster for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Peter Budaj, currently of the Colorado Avalanche, will be between the pipes for the Slovaks. Peter played in the OHL with the St. Michael’s Majors from 1999-00 to 2001-02.

Andrej Sekera is currently a Buffalo Sabre in the National Hockey League. Just 23, Andrej is the youngest player on the Slovak team. Sekera played in the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack from 2004-05 to 2005-06.

Branko Radivojevic is currently in Russia’s KHL with Spartak Moscow. Branko played in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls from 1998-99 to 2000-01. In his final season, he was third in league scoring with 104 points. In his first season, the Bulls won the league championship and were awarded with a trip to the Memorial Cup.

To read posts on other former OHLers on 2010 Olympic teams, click on the country of your choice: Russia, Norway, Latvia, Germany, Czech Republic, Belarus, United States, Canada.