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.

The Peoria Rivermen are off to a mediocre start to the American Hockey League season, sitting at a game below .500. The St. Louis Blues affiliate features seven Ontario Hockey League grads on the roster for the start of the 2011-12 season. One of the coaching staff is also a former OHLer.

There are some great Peoria Rivermen hockey cards on eBay, right now!

Phil McRae played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 2006-07 to 2009-10. He played most of his OHL career with the London Knights before moving over to the Plymouth Whalers to finish off his final season. McRae was a second round pick of the Blues at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 33rd overall. Phil appeared in 15 games with St. Louis in 2010-11 and is in his second season with Peoria.

Jonathan Cheechoo played three years in the OHL from 1997-98 to 1999-00, all with the Belleville Bulls. Cheechoo was a second round pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 29th overall. He had six full seasons with the Sharks, including 2005-06 when his 56 goals led the league and earned him the Rocket Richard Trophy. After playing a partial season with the Ottawa Senators in 2009-10, he spent the 2010-11 season in the AHL with the Worcester Sharks. This is his first season with the Rivermen.

Mark Cundari played for the Windsor Spitfires from 2006-07 to 2009-10 and was an integral part of the team’s back to back Memorial Cup victories in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Undrafted, Mark was picked up as a free agent by the Blues and is starting his second season with Peoria.

Stefan Della Rovere played for the Barrie Colts for four seasons from 2006-07 to 2009-10, acting as team captain in his final two. Della Rovere led the Colts into the Robertson Cup finals in his final season where the team lost to current teammate Mark Cundari and the Windsor Spitfires. Stefan was a seventh round pick of the Washington Capitals at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 204th overall. In 2010-11, Della Rovere got into seven games with St. Louis but spent most of his time in Peoria.

Anthony Peluso played in the Ontario Hockey League for four seasons from 2005-06 to 2008-09 with the Erie Otters, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Brampton Battalion. Peluso was a sixth round pick of the St. Louis Blues at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 160th overall. This season marks Peluso’s third with the Rivermen.

Anthony Nigro played in the OHL for four seasons from 2006-07 to 2009-10 with the Guelph Storm and Ottawa 67′s. Nigro was drafted by the Blues in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, 155th overall. This is Anthony’s second season with Peoria.

Danny Syvret played three full seasons with the London Knights from 2002-03 to 2004-05. He was a third round pick of the Edmonton Oilers at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 81st overall. Danny has made it into 59 NHL games to date with the Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks. This is Syvret’s first season with the Rivermen.

Assistant Coach of the Rivermen, Drake Berehowsky, played for the Kingston Frontenacs and North Bay Centennials between 1988-89 and 1991-92.

Danny Syvret played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05, although his first season had him see only one game. His entire Ontario Hockey League career was played with the London Knights, culminating in a season 99.999% of us could only imagine in our wildest dreams.

In his final season in the OHL, Syvret scored 23 goals and added 46 assists for 69 points in 62 games on the blueline for the Knights. The Knights, of course, won the Robertson Cup as playoff champion in the Ontario Hockey League and won the Memorial Cup on home ice at the Labatt Centre in London.

He was a part of Canada’s gold medal winning team at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships when Canada downed Russia easily, 6-1, in the final played at Grand Forks, North Dakota. That was just the beginning.

Syvret was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s most outstanding defenseman. A fine stepping stone to being selected the Canadian Hockey League’s Defenseman of the Year. Danny’s +70 was the league’s best plus/minus. He was also a Canadian Hockey League and Memorial Cup tournament all-star.

Despite this amazing success, Syvret was not picked until the third round of the 2005 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, 81st overall. Danny saw 26 games with the Oilers over his first two seasons. The rest of his time was spent in the American Hockey League with the Hamilton Bulldogs and Grand Rapids Griffins.

2007-08 was a step back as Syvret didn’t appear in any NHL games and split his season with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons and Hershey Bears.

The past two seasons, Danny has been in the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He appeared in 23 NHL games with the Flyers over the two seasons and spent the rest of his time with their AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia / Adirondack Phantoms.

Syvret has been picked up by the Anaheim Ducks organization for the 2010-11 season. It would be nice to see Danny become a regular with the NHL team but there’s a good chance he’ll play a portion of his games in Syracuse with the AHL Crunch.

Danny Syvret is not up on the Anaheim Ducks or Syracuse official websites yet, but his AHL profile can be found here.