OHL Alumni Central

The Coventry Blaze of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League will have two Ontario Hockey League grads on the roster for 2011-12. As mentioned in an earlier article, Mike McLean is taking his first step across the pond to play with Coventry. Just a few days ago, it was announced that Peterborough Petes alumnus Dustin Wood will be playing the point for the Blaze.

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Also, another Ontario Hockey League alumnus, Neal Martin seems to the be the first to be honoured on the Coventry Blaze Wall of Fame. Inducted June 9, 2011, Martin was a standout defenseman for the club for four seasons from 2004-05 to 2007-08. Martin last played pro hockey with AaB in Denmark. He played in the OHL for four seasons from 1992-93 to 1995-96 with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves. After three years of bouncing around the North American minors, Martin left for Europe, never looking back. Along with Great Britain and Denmark, Neal also played in Germany and Austria.

Dustin Wood spent the past two seasons in the Asia League with Anyang Halla. Both seasons, the team was league champion, although this past season they were co-champs after play was suspended due to the Earthquake/Tsumani. Wood played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Peterborough Petes. He was team captain in his final season. Wood was destined to start the 2011-12 season with HC Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Extraliga but things fell through. He will start with Coventry in a couple of weeks after the paperwork is processed.

Mike McLean played in the Ontario Hockey League for parts of five seasons with the Oshawa Generals and Guelph Storm. After playing for nine different teams in the North American minors between 2007 and 2011, he makes the journey to Great Britain in search of stability. A Central Hockey League all-star last season with the Quad City Mallards, McLean totalled 51 points in 55 games.

What should have been the pinnacle of the Asia League Hockey’s 2010-11 season, turned into an escape from disaster. The Tohoku Free Blades were to meet Anyang Halla in the league finals when the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan. Tohoku is right in the impact zone and the players experienced the phenomenon first hand, though all escaped safely.

The finals were to feature two Ontario Hockey League alumni going head to head. Dustin Wood plays for the South Korean Anyang Halla and Cole Jarrett plays for the Free Blades. The two teams have been declared co-champions as obvious more important matters are at hand in Japan.

Dustin Wood played four seasons in the OHL from 1998-99 to 2001-02, all with the Peterborough Petes. In his final season with Peterborough, Wood was the team captain.

After four years of jumping around in the North American pro leagues, Dustin made the jump to Europe for the 2007-08 season. Wood played two seasons in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) before switching to the Asia League for the 2009-10 season. Anyang Halla was Asia League champion in his first year and were co-champions this year after the rest of the playoffs were called off.

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Cole Jarrett played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03, all with the Plymouth Whalers. Jarrett was a fifth round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 141st overall. His only NHL game came during the 2005-06 season with the New York Islanders.

From 2006-07 to 2009-10, Jarrett toured Europe playing for teams in Germany, Finland, Sweden and Austria. He joined the Free Blades this season and led the league’s defensemen in goals (18) and points (51).

Check out this article from Pro Hockey News for more information on how the Disaster affected the players in the ALH.

We just had a post on Australia’s AIHL. Almost as far from the mainstream hockey world is the Asia Ice Hockey League. The league consists of 7 teams: 4 in Japan, 2 in South Korea and 1 in China. The league’s official website is in Japanese and English and the English is pretty good. The site can be viewed here. There are currently two Ontario Hockey League alumni playing in the Asia League.

Dustin Wood played his OHL days with the Peterborough Petes from 1998-99 to 2001-02. He is currently with Anyang Halla which plays out of Anyang City, Korea. To find Dustin’s profile page on the team’s official website (mostly in Korean), click here to go to the website – mouseover ‘TEAM’ on the upper tool bar and click on the first item in the list. This will bring you to the roster list. Dustin is number 23 under defenceman.

Trevor Gallant played for the Kitchener Rangers from 1991-92 to midway through 1994-95 when he was traded to the North Bay Centennials. He finished out his OHL career with the Centennials in 1995-96. He finished 7th in league scoring in 1993-94 with the Rangers with 39 goals and 80 assists for 119 points. He was 4th in league scoring in his final season with totals of 47 goals and 58 assists for 105 points.

Trevor is also in Korea, playing with the High1 Ice team out of Soeul. A small picture and profile can be found at the league website here , just scroll down. The team’s website is still under construction and is only in Korean.