OHL Alumni Central
Find Out Where Your Favourite OHL Grads Are Playing
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Sep 5
Not active as a player, Ontario Hockey League alumnus Stan Drulia is still much a part of the professional hockey world. Stan is entering his ninth year of coaching since retiring as a player and his first as head coach of the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League.Stan Drulia played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1984-85 to 1988-89. Be began his OHL career with the Belleville Bulls. He played his first two seasons in Belleville, highlighted by a 43 goal performance in his sophomore year. In 1986-87, Stan moved to the Hamilton Steelhawks. After two seasons in Hamilton, Drulia followed the team as they picked up and moved down the QEW to Niagara and became the Thunder.
In 1987-88 with the Steelhawks, Stan was sixth on the Ontario Hockey League scoring list with 121 points on 52 goals and 69 assists. In his final season, he was second only to teammate Bryan Fogarty in league scoring with his 145 points on 52 goals and 93 assists. Drulia added 37 points in 17 playoff games that season as the Thunder reached the Robertson Cup finals before losing out the Peterborough Petes in six games.
In that final season, Stan was awarded the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s best overage player and also the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy as the league’s top scoring right winger.
Drulia was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the eleventh round of the 1986 NHL draft, 214th overall. He would end up his career with 126 NHL games played, all with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 24 games with Tampa Bay in 1992-93 then didn’t play again in the NHL for six seasons before ending out his NHL career with the Lightning in 1999-00 and 2000-01.
In 1990-91, his one and only season in the ECHL, Stan tallied 140 points in just 64 games for the Knoxville Cherokees en route to becoming the ECHL MVP. That point total stands today as the fourth best single season mark in ECHL history. The following season, Drulia notched 49 goals and 53 assists for 102 points for the New Haven Nighthawks in the higher calibre AHL which placed him third in league scoring.
Drulia’s greatest pro success came in the old IHL. He played eight seasons in the league, including the six between stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Twice he was on Turner Cup winning teams, the 1993-94 Atlanta Knights and the 1996-97 Detroit Vipers. Twice he was awarded the N.R. “Bud” Poile Trophy as the league’s playoff MVP, first with those 1993-94 Atlanta Knights and again in 1998-99 with the Vipers despite the team losing in the Turner Cup finals to the Chicago Wolves.
Stan played three seasons with the Atlanta Knights of the IHL from 1993-94 to 1995-96. He will forever be etched in that team’s record books as the player with most career goals, assists and points. Drulia also is second on Atlanta’s all-time games played list and appears in the top ten for all-time penalty minutes. The Knights moved to Quebec City for the 1996-97 season and became the Rafales. The Rafales lasted just two seasons.
Check out Stan Drulia’s Wheeling Nailers at their official website.
This video was a promo that was sent out to Vipers season ticket holders after winning the 1997 Turner Cup. Stan Drulia appears at around the 1:50 mark of the video, scoring a big goal for Detroit.
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Aug 27
Aaron Power has signed with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2010-11 season. The Ontario Hockey League grad returns to the team he played for in 2006-07 and 2007-08 before a two year stint in Europe.Power played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03. His first three years were spent with the Barrie Colts and his final season was played with the Sarnia Sting. Aaron progressively became more of an offensive defenseman throughout his OHL career with 17, 23, 39 and 57 points.
In 2001-02, he helped the Barrie Colts get to the Robertson Cup finals before losing to the Erie Otters for the Ontario Hockey League playoff crown.
With the Las Vegas Wranglers in 2007-08, Power helped the team to a first place finish in the National Conference. The team had a great playoff run and made it to the Kelly Cup finals before losing to Cincinnati.
Over the past two seasons, Aaron has played in Europe. Last season, Power played for HC Fassa of Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio (LIHG). The season before, Aaron played in Germany’s Bundesliga with Heilbronner Falken.
Previous to his first go-around with the Las Vegas Wranglers, Aaron spent three seasons with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL as well as AHL call-ups to the Hamilton Bulldogs and Bridgeport Sound Tigers as well as an extended stay with the Cleveland Barons for 50 games in 2005-06.
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Aug 22
This week’s edition of SSSFS is dedicated to shameless self-promotion. I’m going to link you up with some of the hockey related articles I have at online zines. They’re not all based on the Ontario Hockey League but they are about hockey. Some may even be interesting!
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens: The Best NHL Team Of All-Time?
In 1976-77, the Montreal Canadiens made NHL history. Many team records that were set that year still stand today. Team records that still stand include most points (132), most wins (60), most goals for (387) and fewest losses (8). The record for fewest losses still stands today as an NHL record and must be considered unbreakable with the addition of overtime and shootouts which have eliminated ties.Every sports fan knows which teams have dominated league championships through history. The Yankees in baseball. The Steelers in football. The Celtics and Lakers in basketball. The Canadiens in hockey. But, does anyone know which teams are the greatest losers? Does anyone know which teams have been the bridesmaids in their respective league championships the most often? Does anyone really care? Well, if you do care read on. After all, this is the kind of useless trivia that can start a conversation at boring get-togethers.The Spengler Cup Invitational Hockey Tournament In Davos, Switzerland
The Spengler Cup is an invitational ice hockey tournament that is held in Davos, Switzerland each year between Christmas and New Year’s. The trophy donated by Doctor Carl Spengler of Davos was awarded for the first time in 1923. That year it was awarded to Oxford University, a team that had Lester B. Pearson on the roster. Pearson would later become Prime Minister of Canada.When it comes to producing professional grade hockey goaltenders, often it is Quebec’s QMJHL that is the world leader. The Ontario Hockey League does still produce some top notch goalies, though. Many OHL netminders move on to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). Four of these OHL grads have made a mark for themselves in the ECHL record books.The world of hockey has always been represented greatly by graduates of the Ontario Hockey League. The East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) is no exception to this. There are currently ten OHL alumni holding or sharing scoring records in the ECHL.It the modern age of the NHL with 30 teams competing for 16 playoff spots, it is inconceivable that a team could win the Stanley Cup with a losing record during the regular season. In the modern era, teams with a better than .500 record often do not even make the playoffs.As with any collectible of value, eventually fakes will begin to circulate. The most valuable hockey card today is an O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card. It is valued at up to $1500 in mint condition. The highest price it has ever fetched to date is $80,000. Of course, there are many fakes out there.It is often argued who the best National Hockey League teams of all-time are. It is hard to compare the 1930 Boston Bruins with the 1977 Montreal Canadiens when the rules, conditions, equipment, training and number of teams change at a constant pace.As with most sports leagues, the OHL (OHA Major Junior A) has had many franchise changes in its history. The league is fairly stable now with 20 teams that are in no real threat of shutting down or moving.Since 1968-69, the London Knights have provided the hockey world with some of the best junior hockey and junior hockey players. Known for the NHL stars they’ve produced like Darryl Sittler, Dennis Maruk, Craig Simpson, Jason Allison, Dino Ciccarelli, Brendan Shanahan and more recently Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Steve Mason and Patrick Kane. The Knights are also known for the tough guys they’ve produced over the years.Adult pickup hockey, or shinny, is still growing exponentially in Canada. Once a sport that was played as a youth and hardly ever played after the age of 19, now is so popular with adults that some arenas in major cities have been built specifically for adult hockey. In saying that, there are a lot of adults that are picking up the game for the first time in their 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond. Like any sport, many non-participants have been long time fans of the game and have watched their favourite pro team on the television for years. -
Aug 21
Jordan Foreman is an illusionist that appears to be 6’4″ and 225 lbs, when he is a slightly smaller 5’9″ and 185 lbs. Foreman played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2007-08. His first four seasons were spent with the London Knights and his final season was spent with the Niagara IceDogs.Foreman was part of the London Knights magical 2004-05 season when they set multiple Ontario Hockey League records on their way to winning the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as regular season Ontario Hockey League champion, the Robertson Cup as league playoff champion and the Memorial Cup as Canadian Hockey League champion.
Despite his toughness and grit that earned him 594 regular season penalty minutes in his Ontario Hockey League career, Jordan has the ability to put pucks in the net as well. In his third season with the Knights, he put in 29 goals in 65 games and in his overage year with Niagara, he put in 28 goals in 64 games.
In 2008-09, his first year out of junior, Jordan played for the Alaska Aces of the East Coast Hockey League and was invited to the Detroit Red Wings prospect tournament. Last season, Foreman played in the Central Hockey League with the Missouri Mavericks for 30 games. As you will hear if you watch the video below, Jordan was sought after last season by the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL after Alaska let him go. Because of immigration issues and timing, Foreman was left out of a roster spot.
Jordan is a highly anticipated addition to the Stockton Thunder for the upcoming season. He’s tough, he’s a leader, he can provide offense and, as OHL fans will surely know, he is nothing but a fan-favourite wherever he plays.
Check out Jordan Foreman’s profile page on the Stockton Thunder official website.
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Aug 19
The Victoria Salmon Kings loss is the Alaska Aces gain in the East Coast Hockey League. Wes Goldie played four seasons with the Salmon Kings and topped the 40-goal mark in each season, while not missing a single regular season game with the team. His top season with Victoria was 2008-09 when he netted 48 goals.Wes Goldie played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1995-96 to 1999-00. His first season in the OHL consisted of just two games with the London Knights, a team that would win just three and tie just three that season to write the books on Canadian Hockey League futility. His final four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League were played with the Owen Sound Platers.
An interesting note about Goldie is that the two game stint with the London Knights is the only time in his career that his assists have outnumbered his goals. That season he had zero goals and one assist. Throughout his hockey career since that season with the Knights, Wes has netted 517 goals to date. His 289 ECHL goals place him eighth on the league’s all-time list.
Goldie’s most productive season came in 2004-05 in his first of two seasons with the Sorel-Tracy Mission of Quebec’s LNAH. Despite the fact the league has a reputation as a goon league, Wes accumulated just 14 penalty minutes while netting 57 goals in 59 games.
With the exception of those two seasons in Quebec and two games played in the AHL in 2003-04 with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Wes has played his entire professional career in the East Coast Hockey League. He began his pro career with the Pee Dee / Florence Pride before his Quebec stint and has been with the Salmon Kings after Quebec and up until the end of the 2009-10 season.
Alaska is not only looking to Wes for his goal scoring ability, they are excited to have his leadership skills. Goldie has been the captain of the Victoria Salmon Kings since 2008.
Check out Wes Goldie’s profile page on the Alaska Aces official website.
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