OHL Alumni Central

With the untimely passing of a great person, NHL hockey legend and OHA grad, we thought we’d revive the OHL Alumni Classics series to celebrate the hockey life of Rick Martin.

Martin played in the OHA for three seasons from 1968-69 to 1970-71, all with the Montreal Junior Canadiens. In his first two seasons with Montreal, the team won the Memorial Cup. In his second season, he contributed 34 points in 16 playoff games to help the team reach the ultimate Canadian junior hockey goal.

In his final season with the Junior Canadiens, the team had started their fall from grace that would see them win only 13 games the year after Martin graduated and see them jump ship to the QMJHL for 1972-73. However, Martin’s star was rising in a huge hurry. Playing 60 regular season games, Rick scored 71 goals and totalled 121 points. In the playoffs, he scored 17 goals in just eleven games.

The Buffalo Sabres liked what they saw and picked Martin fifth overall in the 1971 NHL Entry Draft. Rick did not disappoint. In 1971-72, his rookie campaign with the Sabres, he was runner-up to Ken Dryden for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Some felt that Martin’s 44 goals (a rookie record at the time) that season and the fact that Dryden had played through the Stanley Cup playoffs the year before, created one of the biggest rip-offs in NHL history.

After his rookie season, Martin was on the roster for Team Canada at the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Rick never played a game, which was a travesty, and was unjustly called a ‘deserter’ when he left the team during the series. He would redeem himself in 1976, adding five points in four games for Team Canada in the Canada Cup.

Martin, of course, played on Buffalo’s ‘French Connection’ line with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert. Rick scored 52 goals in both the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons. In 1973-74, he was sixth in the NHL points race. The following season, with nine more points, he fell to 10th. He was a major factor in the Sabres run to the Stanley Cup final in 1975 before losing out to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rick continued to produce for the Sabres and had a 45 goal season in 1979-80. Unfortunately, a knee injury would allow him to played just 27 more games over the next two seasons and ultimately force his retirement from the game. He played all of his career with the Sabres with exception to four games with the Los Angeles Kings at the end. As a side note, he was traded to L.A. for two draft picks – one that would become Tom Barrasso.

Martin retired with over a point per game average in the National Hockey League. Rick played in seven NHL All-Star games and although not in the Hockey Hall of Fame, he is a member of the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.

Ontario Hockey League grad Norm Milley currently leads Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga in assists (20) and points (25). He sits 23rd in the DEL in total points. Milley is in his third year with the club and has now signed on for two more.

Milley played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Sudbury Wolves. His career totals were exceptional at 167 goals and 368 points in regular season play. In his final two seasons in the OHL, he finished second in league scoring. In 1998-99, his 52 goals and 120 points put him ten points behind Peter Sarno of the Sarnia Sting. The 120 points was good enough to earn him the Jim Mahon Trophy as the top scoring right winger in the OHL. In his final season, his 52 goals and 112 points put him nine back of Sheldon Keefe of the Barrie Colts. In 1999-00, his 52 goals were tops in the league.

In his first season, Norm made the CHL All-Rookie Team. In his final season, he was selected to the CHL’s First All-Star Team. Milley was also twice an OHL all-star, making the second team in 1998-99 and the first team in 1999-00.

Milley was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the 1998 NHL draft, 47th overall. Norm appeared in 29 games with the Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning from 2001-02 to 2005-06. After a 549 game AHL career, he jumped to the DEL and Wolfsburg for the 2008-09 season.

Milley is joined on Wolfsburg by former OHLer, Tyler Haskins (read previous post on Tyler). Tyler played with the Guelph Storm, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Saginaw Spirit.

Check out Norm Milley’s profile page at the Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg official website.

Brad Self is a two sport man. Unfortunately, those two sports, hockey and lacrosse, are played during the same season. Even more unfortunate is that the team that wants him for hockey is in Germany and the team that wants him for Lacrosse is in Chicago.

Self has chosen to return to Germany’s 2.Bundesliga for a fourth season. It is his fifth in Germany after one season in the Oberliga in 2006-07. This is his first season with Fischtown Pinguins after four with Riessersee. Brad is currently second on the team in scoring behind another Ontario Hockey League alumnus, Chris Stanley (see previous post on Chris).

Brad played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Peterborough Petes. He provided the Petes with steady offense throughout his career and capped it off with 24 goals and 73 points in his final season.

Self was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the eighth round of the 1999 NHL draft, 235th overall, but chose instead to enter the Canadian university system. He spent four seasons with St. Mary’s, once again providing steady offense.

In his first season with Riessersee, he contributed 76 points on 34 goals and 42 assists in just 46 games to help the team move up from the Overliga to the 2.Bundesliga. He led the team in goals (28) and points (61) in the team’s first season in the Bundesliga.

Self has appeared in the National Lacrosse League with Colorado in 2005, contributing 13 points in eight games, and with the Philadelphia Wings in 2006, 17 points in eight games.

You can check out Brad Self’s profile at the Fischtown Pinguins official website by going to the roster page and clicking on his name.

Team Slovakia has three Ontario Hockey League alumni on the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Two of the three were also on the National team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Olympians Peter Budaj and Andrej Sekera

 are joined by Richard Panik for the Worlds.

Richard Panik is one of the newest OHL grads to be playing at the pro level. He played his only OHL season in 2009-10 and split the year between the Windsor Spitfires and the Belleville Bulls and could potentially be back with the Bulls next season. He completed the season with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. Richard was a second round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL draft.

Peter Budaj played three seasons between the pipes for the St. Michael’s Majors from 1999-00 to 2001-02. A second round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 NHL draft, Peter has just completed his fifth season with the NHL club.

Andrej Sekera played two seasons in the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack, 2004-05 and 2005-06. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2004 NHL draft, Andrej has remained in the Sabres organization.

Click on the country to see what OHL grads are on the roster for the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships: Latvia, Canada, Italy(1), Italy (2), Czech Republic, Norway, Finland.

The Portland Pirates are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. There are currently five Ontario Hockey League Alumni on the team as they compete in the AHL Calder Cup playoffs.

Mike Weber was picked in the second round by the Sabres in 2006 draft. He has played a total of 23 games with the NHL club since entering the world of professional hockey in 2007. However, Mike played the complete 2009-10 season with the Pirates. Mike played four seasons in the OHL from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His first three seasons were played with the Windsor Spitfires while his fourth and final season was split, 30 games apiece, between the Spitfires and the Barrie Colts.

Cody McCormick played four seasons in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls from 1999-00 to 2002-03. Drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, Cody played in 190 games with the NHL club before putting a full season in with Portland this year.

Jeff Cowan played three seasons in the OHL from 1993-94 to 1995-96. His first two seasons were spent with the Guelph Storm and his final season was in Barrie with the Colts. Jeff has played over 400 NHL games with the Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks. This is Jeff’s first season with the Pirates.

Mark Mancari played four seasons in the OHL, all with the Ottawa 67′s, from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Drafted by the Sabres in the seventh round of the 2004 draft, Mark has played just 16 games with Buffalo over five seasons, spending the rest of his time in the AHL. Mancari has put up solid offensive numbers with the Rochester Americans and the Pirates since beginning in the AHL and it will only be a matter of time before he finds a spot in the NHL.

Drew Schiestel played four seasons in the OHL, all with the IceDogs (2 in Mississauga and 2 in Niagara) from 2005-06 to 2008-09. A second round pick of the Sabres in 2007, he played his first season of pro hockey this year entirely with the Pirates.