OHL Alumni Central

It’ll take a true Kingston Frontenacs fan to remember Zdenek Skorepa. Zdenek played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 1995-96. He appeared in 37 games for the mediocre Frontenacs, coached by Gary Agnew, and responded with 21 goals and 39 points.

Skorepa came to the Ontario Hockey League already an NHL prospect. Zdenek was taken in the fourth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils, 103rd overall. The two seasons before playing for Kingston, he was a member of HC Litvinov of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga (the country’s elite league).

Skorepa played two seasons with New Jersey’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Albany River Rats. He also appeared in eight games with the IHL’s Detroit Vipers in 1997-98. In 1998-99, it was back to the Czech Republic where, with exception to a 24 game stint in Russia’s RSL in 2003-04, he has been ever since.

Until the start of the 2008-09 season, Zdenek played in the the Czech elite league with Litvinov, Slavia Praha and Trinec. This his third season with KLH Chomutov in the country’s second tier. He is currently third on the team in scoring and Chomutov sits in second place in their division.

Chomutov is a city of 51,000 (80,000 in the metro area) in the northwest corner of the Czech Republic along the border with Germany.

Check out Zdenek Skorepa’s profile page at the KLH Chomutov official website.

Zdenek Skorepa appears on the OHL Alumni Big List with over 700 other Ontario Hockey League grads.

Here is the translation into English (done using Google Translate so it’s a little rough but the idea is there):

Zdenek Skorepa Duchcov was born in Teplice and its first major step was made in hockey Litvinov. After two seasons spent in the black / yellow jersey and the junior world championships, he decided to try a style of hockey overseas. A handy center was drafted in 1994, total New Jersey Devils as the 103rd overall Chance in the first team “Devil” but never received.

Lasted three seasons in the Atlantic and tested to overseas competition such as the OHL, AHL and IHL. After these three years followed by a return back to Litvinov. 1999-1900 season began in northern Bohemia, but finished by Slavia jersey. From there followed the next year to move Trinec, where he played seven long years. You just popped in the 2003/04 season, when tried his luck in the Russian Superleague. Playing for Novokužnězku played 24 games in the regular and managed as three encounters in the playoffs.

Effect of Třinec experienced attacker and earned a nomination to the team, as he played seven games without scoring any success. After a season spent in 2007/08 jersey Steelworkers Zdenek Skorepa decided to move closer to home and signed to Chomutov. After his first season of Chomutov, experienced striker launched next year with the captain’s jersey to the teat. It remained for him this season.

Questionnaire:
How did you get into hockey, who brought you to it?

“The hockey parents brought me and I was about 5 years.”
He played some of the relatives also hockey, you are a “hockey family”?

“Yes, my brother played. When he was about 18 years old and in junior and finished. ”
What was your favorite school subject except physical education?

“I do not remember (laughs). Probably not, maybe Art. ”
They were parents and school performance satisfied?

“Yes, they were.”
Your current greatest hockey experience or success?

“About a preparatory match for New Jersey.”
Who were your mentors in his youth, or who is it now?

“When I was little, so it was definitely the players from the NHL, but strictly that I had one, it’s not.”
If you could, what would you change the rules of hockey?

“Whatever the larger goal (laughs).”
Zdenek get on with the number 55, it is about your favorite number? How did you get it?

“I got him for a long time and I got him so I got to Třinec and there was free.”
Can you imagine that you are number 55 gave up and played with?

“I’m not the superstitious kind. It would probably bother me too much. ”
How did you get to Chomutov?

“Car (laughs). It was through an agent, who was in contact with management, and successfully arranged everything. ”
You are in Chomutov happy?

“That’s me.”
How do you like as Chomutov city?

“I quite like it, because I’m here from the north, so that these cities are almost the same. Is no metropolis, but a normal town. ”
What do you like sports except hockey?

“Golf.”

Blonde, brunette or redhead?

“I’m not picky (laughs).”
Sparta and Slavia (football)

“Slavia”.
Beer or wine?

“Beer.”
Coffee or tea?

“Coffee.”
Car or bike?

“Auto.”
Summer or winter?

“Summer.”
International and Czech cuisine?

“The Czech cuisine, but I love pasta in all ways, so foreign.”

Plymouth Whalers fans will undoubtedly remember Tomas Kurka. The Ontario Hockey League grad played two seasons in the OHL, 1999-00 and 2000-01, both with the Whalers.

Both season Kurka played in the OHL, Plymouth went to the Robertson Cup finals. In his first year, the Whalers lost to the Barrie Colts in seven games. In his second, they were on the losing end of a six game series with the Ottawa 67′s. In his rookie season, Tomas led the Ontario Hockey League’s first year players with 36 goals. He was named to the OHL’s and CHL’s All-Rookie Teams.

After his first season with Plymouth, Kurka was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 32nd overall. Tomas spent his first three years of pro hockey in Carolina’s system, mostly with their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters. However, in 2002-03 he dressed for 14 games with the NHL squad and played an additional three with the Hurricanes the following season.

After starting the 2004-05 season in his native Czech Republic then returning the the AHL’s Providence Bruins to finish out the season, Kurka was back in Europe to stay for the 2005-06 season. Tomas has spent time in Finland’s SM-Liiga, Switzerland’s National League A and Sweden’s Allsvenskan. He has been in the Czech Extraliga since the 2007-08 season.

Kurka started the 2010-11 season with HC Sparta Praha (Prague) and was recently loaned to HC Pardubice.

Check out Tomas Kurka’s profile page at the HC Pardubice official website.

Tomas Kurka was featured in these two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

OHL Grads Competing Against Canada at the Spengler Cup

HC Slavia Praha Home to 5 Ontario Hockey League Grads in 2009-10

PSG Zlin is currently sitting in fifth place in the fourteen team Czech Extraliga. Although, combined, they’ve played just 152 games in the Ontario Hockey League, there are four players currently on PSG Zlin that are grads of the league. Three of these players are defensemen and only two played what can be considered a full season in the OHL.

Martin Lucka played 56 games on the blue line for the Peterborough Petes in 2003-04. Lucka has been part of the PSG Zlin organization since 1999-00, with exception of his one year in the Ontario Hockey League. For four years before and one year after the Petes, Martin was a member of Zlin’s junior program. He has been on the Extraliga club since 2006-07.

Tomas Linhart played 55 games for the London Knights during the 2002-03 season. Linhart was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, 45th overall. The following season, back in the Czech Republic, Tomas played on the Czech Under-20 team at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. He has played in the Extraliga since his year with London and is in his third season with PSG Zlin.

Martin Hamrlik played 26 games with the Ottawa 67′s during the 1992-93 season. He was a second round pick of the Hartford Whalers in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, 31st overall. Hamrlik played four years of North American minor pro hockey in the AHL and IHL before returning to his home city, Zlin, for the 1997-98 season. This is Hamrlik’s fourteenth season with PSG Zlin. He led the league’s defensemen in goals and points in the 2008-09 season.

Ivan Rachunek played just fifteen games with the Windsor Spitfires in 1999-00. He returned to play for PSG Zlin that same season and, with exception to 2003-04 and 2004-05, has been with the team since. Rachunek was a seventh round pick for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 187th overall. Ivan played in the 2001 IIHF Under-20 World Junior Hockey Championships for the Czech Republic when the team won gold. Ivan’s brother, Tomas, played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for two seasons, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Visit the PSG official website

Looking for a good hockey read? Check out the new book review page at OHL Alumni Central.

Ontario Hockey League grad Jan Platil has appeared in just five games thus far in the 2010-11 season, three with HC Kladno of the Czech Extraliga and two with HK SKP Poprad of the Slovak Extraliga. The Nürnberg Ice Tigers have signed on Platil for the rest of the season and he should be playing in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga by the weekend.

Platil played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Barrie Colts. The big Czech defenseman helped the team to a Robertson Cup final in 2001-02 before they lost out to the Erie Otters in five games. Jan led Barrie’s defensemen in scoring in his final season with 51 points in 61 games. He was a five-time Ontario Hockey League Defenseman of the Month during his final two seasons.

The Ottawa Senators took Platil in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 218th overall. Jan played a steady three seasons with Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, upon graduation from the Ontario Hockey League. In 2006-07, Platil left for Europe and hasn’t looked back.

In that first season back in Europe, Jan played for Lukko of Finland’s SM-Liiga and CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League. He also played for the Czech Republic’s National Team.

Since, Platil has bounced around several teams in Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Nürnberg marks his first visit to the DEL.

Jan Platil has appeared in two previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

List of Barrie Colts Alumni playing pro hockey in 2009-10

OHL Alumni on HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic’s Extraliga

Two Ontario Hockey League alumni are already members of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers and have been featured in these previous posts at OHL Alumni Central:

Sean Blanchard

Patrick Ehelechner

They played in the Ontario Hockey League eleven years apart from each other. Jan Snopek played from 1993-94 to 1996-97. Jakub Kovar played for just one season, 2007-08. They both find themselves limiting the goals against for HC Mountsfield Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga.

Snopek played all his four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Oshawa Generals. In his final season with the club, he contributed 42 points in 57 games from the blue line and helped the Generals to a Robertson Cup victory as OHL playoff champion. The team went on to an unsuccessful attempt at winning the Memorial Cup but Snopek was named to the tournament All-Star Team.

Jan was taken in the fifth round of the 1995 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 109th overall. In his first pro season, he played two games for the American Hockey League’s Saint John Flames and 34 in Sweden’s Elitserien. The following season he returned to his native Czech Republic and has played in the Extraliga since.

This is Snopek’s second season with Budejovice after a five year stint with HC Pardubice. In his first year with the club, they were Extraliga champions. In his final two seasons with Pardubice, Jan was team captain.

Jakub Kovar played one season between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League, 2007-08. He split his season between the Generals and the Windsor Spitfires. Kovar was selected to Team Czech Republic at the IIHF World Junior Championships that season, as he was the year before.

Jakub came to the OHL already drafted to an NHL club. Kovar was taken by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL draft, 109th overall. He opted to return to his native Czech Republic after his season in the OHL and is now in his third season with Budejovice. Kovar is the team’s main goalie, playing 80% of the games so far this season.

Check out Jan Snopek’s profile at HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice’s official website.

Check out Jakub Kovar’s profile at the team’s site.

Note: the site is in Czech but the profiles are quite in depth. Use Google Translate to get a good idea about what’s being said.