OHL Alumni Central

In 2005, the Ontario Hockey League provided just five players to Team Canada for the IIHF World Juniors. Those five players played a major role in Canada winning its first Gold Medal since 1997. The victory sparked a streak of five consecutive golds. All five are still active in professional hockey with four in the National Hockey League and one in the AHL. Four of the five were first round picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Three were team captains of the OHL clubs.

Danny Syvret played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2004-05 with the London Knights. Syvret was taken in the third round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 81st overall. Danny has played sparingly in the NHL with the Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks. He is currently a member of the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League.

Jeff Carter spent four years with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Carter was the eleventh overall pick of the Broad Street Bullies at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Jeff played six years with the Flyers and is in his first season with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Corey Perry was a member of the London Knights for four seasons from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Corey was the 28th pick in the first round of the 2003 draft, going to the Anaheim Ducks. Perry is in his seventh season with the Ducks, having won a Stanley Cup in his first season with the club and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal scorer this past season.

Michael Richards played four years with the Kitchener Rangers from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He was picked four places ahead of Corey Perry at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. Richards played six years with the Flyers and is in his first season with the Los Angeles Kings.

Anthony Stewart played with the Kingston Frontenacs for four years from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He directly followed Richards at the 2003 draft, picked by the Florida Panthers. He has played in the NHL for the Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and Carolina Hurricanes. 2011-12 is his first season with Carolina.

With less than a month to go before the start of the 2012 World Juniors, here’s hoping that the Ontario Hockey League can once again contribute players of the same calibre as those from 2005.

10 of the 22 players on the Team Canada roster at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships are graduates of the Ontario Hockey League. The team is full of youth and most of the OHL alumni are quite recent grads. All ten players are currently members of National Hockey League teams.

Michael Del Zotto played three seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2008-09. His first two full seasons were spent with the Oshawa Generals. Midway through 2008-09, Del Zotto was traded to the London Knights in the same deal that would bring John Tavares from Oshawa. A first round pick of the New York Rangers in 2008, Michael went directly to the NHL club after junior and instantly became a mainstay on the Rangers’ blueline.

Marc Giordano played two seasons in the OHL, 2002-03 and 2003-04, both with the Owen Sound Attack. In the Calgary Flames organization since 2005-06, this past season was his first playing all 82 regular season games. As of the end of the 2009-10 season, Marc has logged 195 NHL games, all with Calgary.

Brent Burns played just one season in the OHL. He played the 2002-03 season with the Brampton Battalion. Burns was picked 20th overall in the first round of the 2003 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild. Many were surprised that as an 18-year old, Brent wasn’t returned by the Wild to the OHL for the 2003-04 season. Other than 2004-05, the NHL strike season, when he played for the AHL’s Houston Aeros, Brent has played for the Wild throughout his NHL career.

Steve Downie played four seasons in the OHL. He began his junior career with the Windsor Spitfires in 2003-04. Downie was traded to the Peterborough Petes after just one game in 2005-06. In that one game with Windsor, Steve had a hat-trick. Midway through 2006-07, he was traded again, this time to the Kitchener Rangers. Downie had a short but great playoff run with the Rangers with 22 points in just 9 games. A first round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005, Steve has played 140 NHL games between the Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning with this past season being his first full season in the NHL.

Corey Perry played four seasons in the OHL from 2001-02 to 2004-05, all with the London Knights. In his final season, he was league scoring champ as well a member of the Robertson Cup and Memorial Cup winning Knights. A first round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2005, he has become one of the team’s and the league’s top players.

Marc Staal played four seasons in the OHL from 2003-04 to 2006-07, all with the Sudbury Wolves. In his final season, he was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. He was also awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the OHL playoff MVP despite the Wolves losing out to the Plymouth Whalers in the Robertson Cup finals. A first round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2005 NHL draft, Marc has just completed his third season with the team.

John Tavares played four seasons in the OHL from 2005-06 to 2008-09. He was an Oshawa General until midway through his final season when he was traded to the London Knights. John’s awards in junior hockey are numerous and he holds the OHL record for most points in a career. Picked first overall in the 2009 NHL draft by the New York Islanders, John played all 82 games with the team this season, contributing 54 points.

Steve Ott played three seasons in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2001-02, all with the Windsor Spitfires. A first round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2000 NHL draft, Steve has continued his pesky ways, totalling 831 PIM in 410 career regular season games with the club.

Steve Stamkos played two seasons in the OHL, 2006-07 and 2007-08, both with the Sarnia Sting. His 58 goals in 2007-08 was second in the league to Brett MacLean’s 61. Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning. In his second full season with the team,  2009-10, he scored 51 goals which made him co-owner of the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals, sharing with Sydney Crosby.

Matt Duchene played two seasons in the OHL, 2007-08 and 2008-09, both with the Brampton Battalion. In his final season, he was a big part of a Battalion team that would make it to the Robertson Cup finals before succumbing to the almighty Windsor Spitfires. The third overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft, Matt enjoyed immediate success this past season in his rookie year with the Colorado Avalanche, with a 55-point performance in 81 games.

Check out these other posts on OHL grads playing at the 2010 IIHF World Hockey Championships:

Oskar Osala playing for Team Finland

John Parco playing for Team Italy

Nick Plastino playing for Team Italy

2 OHL alumni on Team Czech Republic

They didn’t all play together at the same time and only two were brothers, but the London Knights had three Perrys play for the Ontario Hockey League team in the 2000′s. All three are still active in professional hockey.

Brothers Corey and Adam (A.J.) Perry and unrelated Todd Perry all played prominant roles for the Knights over the team’s decade of non-stop success. The brothers were both Knights in 2004-05 when the team won the OHL championship then went on to win the Memorial Cup.

Todd Perry played three seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2006-07. His first two season were with the Barrie Colts and his last was with, of course, the Knights. A solid defenceman, Todd played a season with the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL before spending the past three seasons with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Adam Perry played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was with the Knights until halfway through the 2007-08 season when he was traded to the Belleville Bulls. He helped the Bulls make a long playoff run which would see them eventually lose out to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL finals. Adam’s best season was 2006-07, with the Knights, when he scored 45 goals and added 42 assists for 87 points.

Adam split the 2008-09 season between the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL and the Arizona Sundogs of the CHL. This season he is having a great year with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL.

Corey Perry played his OHL career with the Knights from 2001-02 to 2004-05. In 2003-04, he was second in league scoring behind

Adam Perry with the Belleville Bulls

 Corey Locke of the Ottawa 67′s with 113 points. That total was enough to win him the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy for most points by a right winger.

In 2004-05, Corey would put in 47 goals and add 83 assists for 130 points which would easily make him OHL scoring champion. Of course, this would make him again the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy winner. Other accolades would include the Red Tilson Trophy as OHL MVP and the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for OHL playoff MVP.

Corey has gone on to be a top player on the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL and was an integral part of the recent Team Canada goal medal performance at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Interestingly, there was a fourth unrelated Perry that played for the Knights in the 1993-94 season. Sean Perry played just 22 games in the OHL and his professional career would end in 2002-03.

View Todd Perry’s profile page at the Toronto Marlies official website by clicking here.

View Adam Perry’s profile page at the Utah Grizzlies official website by clicking here.

View Corey Perry’s profile page at the Anaheim Ducks official website by clicking here.

The 2010 Olympic Games are fast approaching and unlike the events that rely on snow, hockey is not going to be affected by the warm British Columbia weather. Team Canada has been chosen. 7 of the chosen ones are OHL grads.

The oldest member of the OHL seven is Chris Pronger. Chris played with the Peterborough Petes for two seasons, 1991-92 and 1992-93. The youngest player is Drew Doughty who was 2 years old when Pronger began his OHL career.

Out of the 7, two played with the London Knights and two played with the Petes. The other three played for Guelph, Sault Ste. Marie and Kitchener.

The seven are as follows:

Drew Doughty, Guelph Storm – 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Chris Pronger, Peterborough Petes – 1991-92 and 1992-93.

Michael Richards, Kitchener Rangers – 2001-02 to 2004-05.

Joe Thornton, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds – 1995-96 and 1996-97.

Eric Staal, Peterborough Petes – 2000-01 to 2003-04.

Corey Perry, London Knights – 2001-02 to 2004-05.

Rick Nash, London Knights – 2000-01 and 2001-02.