OHL Alumni Central

Mike Wehrstedt as a player in Belgium.

Mike Wehrstedt played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2002-03. Mike’s first two seasons in the OHL were spent with the Kitchener Rangers. He was a Mississauga IceDog for his final three seasons.

After his five year Ontario Hockey League career was over, Wehrstedt spent an equal amount of time in the Canadian University system with powerhouse Lakehead University Thunder Wolves. Mike graduated from Lakehead wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey and playing for former London Knight Joel Scherban, coach of the Thunder Wolves.

In 2008-09 Wehrstedt jumped across the Atlantic to play hockey in Europe. That season, he contributed 19 goals and 35 assists for 54 points in just 18 games for the Belgian champions, HYC Herentals.

This past season, 2009-10, Wehrstedt was the goal scoring leader for ESV Kaufbeuren with 26 in 50 regular season games. Kaufbeuren finsished 10th out of 14 teams in Germany’s 2.Bundeliga.

Mike returns to ESV Kaufbeuren for the 2010-11 season and is joined by former Ontario Hockey League player and fellow Lakehead Thunder Wolves graduate, Scott Dobben. Scott was featured in this previous post at OHL Alumni Central.

Check out Mike Wehrstedt’s profile page at the ESV Kaufbeuren official website.

The Fischtown Pinguins 2009-10 points leader and Belleville Bulls grad Chris Stanley is back for another season with the German club. The Fischtown Pinguins play in the Eishockeyspielbetriebs Gesellschaft, or ESBG, or 2. Bundesliga. Whatever you want to call it, the league is tier 2, a step below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The Pinguins finished 11th in the 14 team league in 2009-10, out of the playoffs.

Chris Stanley played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00, all with the Belleville Bulls. Stanley provided consistent offence on a very successful string of Bulls teams. He was part of the 1998-99 team that won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champions, beating out the London Knights. The team made an unsuccessful appearance at the Memorial Cup that season. The following year, the Bulls bowed out in the Eastern Conference finals to the Barrie Colts.

Stanley was picked by the Vancouver Canucks in the fourth round of the 1997 NHL draft, 90th overall. Chris chose instead to go the Canadian university route after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League. Stanley played for Dalhousie University from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

For 2004-05 and 2005-06, Chris played with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League. The first season, the Wranglers failed to make the playoffs. The second season, Las Vegas had a great regular season with 112 points but couldn’t shake their nemesis, the Alaska Aces.

2006-07 saw Stanley make the jump to the European game. Playing for the Heilbronner Falken of the German Oberliga (tier 3), Chris was the team’s goal scoring leader with 44 goals in just 50 games. After making stops in Italy, Austria and then being promoted to the German 2.Bundesliga, Chris became a member of the Fischtown Pinguins at the start of the 2009-10 season.

Chris was Fischtown’s top point -getter over the 2009-10 season with 50 in 51 games. the 50 points placed him 23rd in the league.

Check out Chris Stanley’s profile page at the ESBG official website.

The Fischtown Pinguins official website can be found here.

German Hockey Cards!

Art Rutland played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OMJHL at the time) from 1976-77 to 1979-80. Except for the last half of his final season when he played for the Brantford Alexanders, Rutland’s entire OHL career was played with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. His second season with the Greyhounds was well-observed by Ontario hockey fans as he was teammates with Wayne Gretzky.

By far Art’s most outstanding season in the Ontario Hockey League was his last full season with the Greyhounds, 1978-79. Despite the fact that the Sault finished last in the Leyden Division and second last to the Brantford Alexanders in the whole OHL, the Greyhounds boasted three players in the top six point getters in the league. Art led the way in third place overall with 139 points. Right behind, in fourth, was Brian Gualazzi with 134 points including 74 goals. In sixth was John Goodwin with 129 points in his rookie season en route to being awarded the Emms Family Award as top first year player.

Rutland contributed 365 points over his four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League despite playing on dismal teams that placed either last or second to it. He would get some redemption as a member of the Central Hockey League’s Dallas Black Hawks in 1980-81 when the team finished first overall in the league. Art was the CHL’s assist leader that season with 65.

Art Rutland was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the 1979 NHL draft, 68th overall. He would never play at that level and played just three seasons on the North American pro hockey circuit (1980-81 and 1981-82 with the Dallas Black Hawks and 1982-83 with the Fredericton Express of the American Hockey League).

In 1983-84, Rutland made the journey to Germany where he would be a scoring phenom over seven of his final eight seasons of pro hockey. Over the eight seasons, he would play in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 each season except for 1987-88 when he played in Italy with Vipiteno.

He began with Duisburg SC and played just one season there. His final four seasons were played with Landsberg EV, a team that has since been relegated to the Oberliga. In his final seven seasons of pro hockey, he led his team in scoring each season.

The 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons are what will never let Germany forget the presence of Art Rutland. While playing for Selb, Rutland had a combined total of 397 points in just two seasons (total includes regular season and relegation round). His first season with Selb saw him net 94 goals for 199 total points and his second season was four goals better but one point less, 98 goals and 198 points. In his second season, he was joined by London Knights grad Jim McRae who had a not-too-shabby 155 point season with Selb. McRae and Rutland were teammates on more than one occasion throughout their careers.

In all, Rutland played 267 games in Europe and contributed 834 points. These number equate to more than a three points per game pace over the eight years.

Cody Thornton as a St. Mary's Husky. Photo by Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax.

Cody Thornton played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2006-07. His first three seasons were played with the Belleville Bulls. In 2003-04 and 2004-05, Cody began to develop his scoring touch with 21 and 23 goals for the Bulls.

In his final two seasons in the OHL, Thornton played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds where he didn’t miss a single regular season game. Cody’s goal scoring increased each year with 26 in his first with the Greyhounds and 36 in his final season.

Thornton has spent the past three seasons in the Canadian university system with St. Mary’s in Nova Scotia. Cody was an offensive leader with the Huskies contributing 117 points in 83 games over the three years.

Cody Thornton has made the jump to the world of professional hockey for the 2010-11 season. Thornton has signed on with the Landshut Cannibals of Germany’s Bundesliga which is a level below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Cody Thornton has yet to be profiled on the Landshut Cannibals official website but the roster page can be found here. In time, the link to Cody’s profile page will appear on this page.

The Hannover Indians completed their first season in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 in 2009-10 after competing in the lower Oberliga for the past decade. The Bundesliga is a level below the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Germany’s elite hockey league. The team finished 13th in the 14 team division.

Two Ontario Hockey League alumni are signed on with the Hannover Indians for the 2010-11 season. D.J. (Dirk Joachim) Jelitto played just one season in the OHL, playing the rest of his junior hockey in his native United States. In 2002-03, Jelitto played five games for the Sarnia Sting and 21 for the Saginaw Spirit.

From 2005-06 to 2007, D.J. played in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) for the Utah Grizzlies. After just three games in the 2007-08 season, he moved on to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL). He played for the Blazers again in 2008-09. In each of his two seasons with Oklahoma City, D.J. netted 25 goals. 2009-10 was his first season with the Hannover Indians. He contributed 30 points in 51 games which was good enough for third on the team in scoring.

Jamie Chamberlain played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02. he was a member of the Peterborough Petes for his first three seasons. In his final season, he started the season with the Kingston Frontenacs but after nine games, he found his way back to Peterborough. He was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the ninth round of the 1999 NHL draft, 265th overall.

After junior, Chamberlain played four seasons in the Canadian university ranks with the University of Western Ontario. For the most part, Jamie was a point per game player with the Mustangs.

Jamie has been a member of the Hannover Indians since 2006-07. In the first three seasons, when the Indians were a member of the Oberliga, Jamie’s point production was great. Chamberlain contributed 217 points in just 144 regular season games. In 2007-08, he netted a incredible 43 goals in just 51 games and led the team in total points with 84. This past season, in the Bundesliga, Jamie had 15 goals and 32 assists for 47 points in 46 games which was good enough for the team lead.

Check out D.J. Jelitto’s profile page on the Hannover Indians official website.

Check out Jamie Chamberlain’s profile page on the Hannover Indians official website.

Ontario Hockey Alumnus, John Hughes, played with the team last season but has signed with Tampere in Finland for the 2010-11 season. Check out this previous post on John Hughes.