OHL Alumni Central

Every year the best of the Ontario Hockey League join the best junior hockey players in the world in hopes of being drafted high in the National Hockey League entry draft. It is often said that despite two days and round after round of picks, the players chosen in the first and second round are the ones with any glimmer of hope to make it to the NHL.

However, there are always exceptions to the rule and we have some examples of that today.

Eric Boulton played in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He played his first season with the Oshawa Generals and his last with the Sarnia Sting. The middle campaign was split between the two. Over the three seasons, Boulton sat out 651 minutes in penalties over 162 regular season games.

Eric was drafted way back in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL draft by the New York Rangers, 234th overall. Boulton is now entering his tenth season as a regular in the NHL. His NHL career started in 2000-01 in Buffalo where he played four seasons with the Sabres. He played for Columbia Inferno of the ECHL during the 2004-05 strike season. Since, he has been an Atlanta Thrasher, the team he will play for in 2010-11. To date, Boulton has played 480 NHL games.

Shane O’Brien played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2002-03. He played his first two full seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs and split his final season between the Frontenacs and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors.

O’Brien was drafted in the eighth round of the 2003 NHL draft by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, 250th overall. Shane spent his first three seasons in professional hockey playing in the American Hockey League (Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Portland Pirates). 2006-07 saw O’Brien break into the NHL as a regular, starting the season with the Anaheim Ducks then being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played the full 2007-08 season with the Lightning. He became a Vancouver Canuck at the start of the 2008-09 season and has been with the team since.

A real inspiration to those not drafted in the first two rounds is Dan Girardi. Girardi wasn’t drafted at all and was signed as a free agent in 2006 by the New York Rangers. This past season was his fourth with the Rangers and he has not missed a game over the past three.

Girardi played in the Ontario Hockey League for five seasons from 2000-01 to 2004-05. He began with the Barrie Colts and was traded to the Guelph Storm midway through the 2002-03 season. After helping the Storm to a Robertson Cup victory in 2003-04, he was traded to the London Knights during the 2004-05 season and helped the Knights to a Memorial Cup victory.

These three are just a few of the players that prove that anyone can make it to the big show.

If you haven’t yet checked it out, the OHL Alumni In Europe For 2010-11 early bird version is available for download free.

In the third post of a series of three on the New York Rangers system, we profile the 7 Ontario Hockey League alumni that are playing for the big team. There were 9 OHL grads on the Rangers’ ECHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers and 8 OHL grads on the Rangers AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Click on each player’s highlighted name to view their profile page on the Rangers’ official website.

The always controversial, Sean Avery, played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1999-00. He began his OHL career with the Owen Sound Platers and switched to the Kingston Frontenacs midway through the 1998-99 season.

Ryan Callahan wears the ‘A’ for the Rangers. Callahan had a very successful career with the Guelph Storm from 2002-03 to 2005-06. The highlight of his career with the Storm was a 52 goal performance in his final season. In that final season with the Storm, he would also take home the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the league’s best overage player. A 4th round pick of the Rangers, Ryan has spent some time with the AHL squad in Hartford but has mostly been a regular with the Rangers.

Brandon Prust was a London Knight from 2002-03 to 2004-05. Brandon was the team muscle in their 2005 Memorial Cup victory. Drafted by the Calgary Flames, he was in the team’s system until being traded at the trade deadline this season.

Michael Del Zotto came to the London Knights last season from the Oshawa Generals in the blockbuster trade that brought John Tavares to the Knights. His OHL career began in 2006-07 with the Generals. He was a first round pick of the Rangers and has stuck on the big team from day 1.

Dan Girardi started his OHL career playing for the Barrie Colts in the 2000-01 season. He was traded to the Guelph Storm during the 2002-03 season and then traded to the London Knights in the 2004-05 season where he became part of the 2005 Memorial Cup winning team. Dan spent a season and a half with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack before becoming a mainstay on the Rangers’ blueline.

Marc Staal is one of three Staal brothers currently playing in the NHL with one brother, Jared, currently in the OHL. After 4 seasons in the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, starting in 2003-04, Marc went directly to the Rangers, the team that drafted him in the first round, 12 overall in 2005.

Alex Auld was between the pipes for the North Bay Centennials from 1997-98 to 2000-01. A Florida Panthers draft pick, Alex started his NHL career in Vancouver with the Canucks. In 2006-07, he would return to the team that drafted him and play a season with the Panthers. Before he would become a Ranger, he would play for Phoenix Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Dallas Stars.

For the first two posts in this series, follow these links:

Charlotte Checkers

Hartford Wolf Pack