OHL Alumni Central

Back in 1974-75 and 1975-76, Greg Hotham played for the Kingston Canadians. Three decades later, both of Greg’s sons, Andrew and Scott, also played in the Ontario Hockey League. All three are blue liners.

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Greg in the fifth round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, 84th overall. Between 1979-80 and 1984-85, Greg played in 230 regular season NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. He retired from the American Hockey League after the 1989-90 season, after playing 513 regular season games with the New Brunswick Hawks, Baltimore Skipjacks and Newmarket Saints (all three are extinct now).

The oldest Hotham son, Scott, played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2004-05. He began with the North Bay Centennials and moved with the club to Saginaw, where he played one game with the Spirit in 2002-03. After that game, Scott went back to Canada to play for the Mississauga IceDogs. The following season, he was traded early again, this time to the Barrie Colts.

Scott Hotham went undrafted and spent the four years post-OHL with St. Mary’s University. Hotham entered the world of pro hockey in 2009-10, mostly with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades but also playing nine games with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. In 2010-11, he played for Lillehammer in Norway’s Get-Ligaen. This season, he is playing in Austria’s Erste Bank Hockey League (EBEL) for Olimija Ljubljana.

Andrew Hotham’s career has paralleled brother Scott’s in several ways. Both played for the Barrie Colts (at the same time) and Saginaw Spirit (not at the same time) in the Ontario Hockey League. Both played four years with St. Mary’s. Both had a cup of coffee with the Rochester Americans.

Andrew played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07 with the Barrie Colts, Erie Otters and Saginaw Spirit. He played with St. Mary’s from 2007-08 to 2010-11, joining the Americans after the CIS season had ended. With St. Mary’s, Andrew was an All-Canadian First Team All-Star in his final three seasons and was the Atlantic’s Most Valuable Player for 2010-11, This season, Hotham is playing for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

Thank god for the cut & paste function on word processors! If I had to type out Székesfehérvár more than once, this article would never happen. Don’t even bother trying to pronounce it…

Székesfehérvár is one of eleven teams in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). Like four other teams in the league, Székesfehérvár is not actually located in Austria. Located 65 km southwest of Budapest, Székesfehérvár is the only Hungary based team in the EBEL.

Adam Munro

Two Ontario Hockey League grads are currently on the roster of Székesfehérvár. Adam Munro and Justin DaCosta are doing their part for the much improved team. In 2010-11, the club finished tied for last, when the EBEL consisted of ten teams, and finished out of the post-season. Currently, at just over the halfway point of the 54 game schedule, Székesfehérvár sits fifth and poised for a berth in the playoffs.

Adam Munro played between the pipes in the Ontario Hockey League for five years from 1998-99 to 2002-03. Munro starred with the Erie Otters until eight games into his final season when he was shipped to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. In 2000-01, Adam had the best save percentage in the OHL. In the following season, Adam helped the Otters to a Robertson Cup victory, after topping the Barrie Colts in the final, four games to one.

Taken in the first round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, 29th overall, Munro played a total of 17 National Hockey League games. He was on the ice for seven with Chicago in 2003-04 and ten with the Blackhawks in 2005-06. Munro spent 2010-11 in Italy’s Lega Italiana Hockey su Ghiaccio (LIHG) with Cortina.  So far this season with Székesfehérvár, Munro has played in 27 games, posting a 2.74 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Justin DaCosta began his 2011-12 season with Chamonix of France’s Ligue Magnus. After just six games on the point with the French squad, DaCosta headed east. Justin played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06. He began his OHL career with the Barrie Colts. He played with the Owen Sound Attack before finishing his career with the Mississauga IceDogs.

Undrafted by an NHL club, DaCosta spent time in the Canadian university system and North American minor pros before travelling to Europe this season. In 2010-11, he played with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League.

Székesfehérvár is an ancient city with an area population of around 140,000. The team plays out of a 3,500 seat arena, which should feel like home to Justin after his days in Owen Sound!

Ontario Hockey League grad Kevin Mitchell has been conditionally joined on Villacher SV of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL) by two other OHL Alumni. Mitchell is entering his second year with Villacher. One of the others has already been playing in the EBEL while the second has played in Switzerland for the past four years. Both are with the team on a try-out basis for now.

Mike Craig is one of the oldest active Ontario Hockey League alumni in the world right now. Craig played three years with the Oshawa Generals from 1987-88 to 1989-90, twice playing for Team Canada at the IIHF World Juniors. Mike was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in the second round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 28th overall. He played 423 regular season NHL games with the North Stars, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks.

After one season in Switzerland in 2002-03, Craig has played in the EBEL since. In 2004-05 with the Vienna Capitals, he led the league in points with 71. In both 2006-07 and 2008-09, he led the EBEL in goals with 43 and 30. This past season, he scored 24 and added 14 assists for 38 points in 46 games for Klagenfurter AC.

Cory Pecker played five years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2001-02. He began his career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and was traded to the Erie Otters during the 2000-01 season. In his final year with Erie, he scored 53 goals in just 56 games and totalled 99 points. His 25 goals and 42 points in 21 playoff games helped the Otters to a Robertson Cup victory and a Memorial Cup berth. Cory was taken by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 166th overall.

Pecker spent most of his North American pro career in the American Hockey League between 2002-03 and 2006-07, never making it to the big show. For the 2007-08 season, he crossed the pond to play in Switzerland’s National League B. With Visp in 2009-10, Cory scored 40 and contributed 101 points in just 41 games. This past season was spent split between Visp and Lausanne.

Kevin Mitchell spent four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1997-98 to 2000-01, his first three with the Guelph Storm and his final season with the Oshawa Generals. Mitchell was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the ninth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 234th overall. He began playing in Europe for the 2004-05 season after three years on a handful of teams in the AHL and ECHL. Kevin has played in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic before settling in with Villacher this past season.

Villacher went through a ten year period from 1998-99 to 2006-07 where they were in the league finals nine times and were crown champions on three occasions. Since, the team has fallen into mediocrity.

The Graz 99ers of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga have bolstered their blue line for 2011-12 with two Ontario Hockey League alumni. Cole Jarrett comes from Japan and Dustin VanBallegooie played the past three seasons in Denmark.

Cole Jarrett played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2002-03, all with the Plymouth Whalers. He proved his offensive abilities in his final season with 55 points in 58 regular season games for the Whalers. Undrafted, he was picked up by the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League and played seasons with the New York Islanders affiliate, appearing in one game with the NHL club in 2005-06.

2006-07 saw Cole jump the Atlantic to play in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with Eisbaren Berlin. Since, he was played in Finland, Sweden and Japan. He played for Graz two years ago before jumping to the Aisa League of Hockey last season, playing for Tohoku Free Blades. Tohoku was to play for the league championship when the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit. Tohoku was named co-champion with Jarrett leading the league in goals and points for defensemen.

Thought of highly in Graz, Jarrett starts the 2011-12 season as team captain. Graz finished sixth out of ten teams in 2010-11, one game over .500 and made a quick quarter-final exit. They’ll need the defensive help if they plan to take on Salzburg, champions 4 of the past 5 years, who have a tandem of London Knights in Danny Bois and Daniel Erlich.

Dustin VanBallegooie scored 23 goals from the point over four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League between 2000-01 and 2003-04. In his first season in Denmark, Dustin scored 17 to lead all defensemen. In fact, over his three years with Sonderjysk in Denmark, VanBallegooie led the league’s blueliners in goals each year.

Dustin started his Ontario Hockey League career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and played for the Oshawa Generals and Owen Sound Attack before finishing with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. Undrafted, VanBallegooie played three seasons in the East Coast Hockey League with the Fresno Falcons (with an 11 game call-up to the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2006-07) before heading to Europe. Dustin played one season in Germany’s DEL with Duisburg before heading to Denmark.

Ontario Hockey League grad Pat Kavanagh is going from a team that didn’t make the playoffs last season and has only proceeded to the post season once since 2000-01 to a team that finished third and is a perennial contender.

Pat Kavanagh with the AHL's Manitoba Moose.

Kavanagh will spend 2011-12 with the Vienna Capitals of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). The Peterborough Petes alumnus has spent the past four years in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with this past season in an Iserlohn Roosters jersey.

Pat played three years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1998-99, all with the Peterborough Petes. Kavanagh was a second round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 50th overall. He has 14 games of regular season NHL experience as well as three games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He split his NHL time between the Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia.

Kavanagh began his European odyssey in 2006-07, playing in both Finland and Sweden. From 2007-08 to 2010-11, Pat played in the DEL. His first and last seasons were with the Iserlohn Roosters and in between he played for the Frankfurt Lions and ERC Ingolstadt. In 2007-08, he played a major role in Iserlohn’s only venture into the post season.

This past season, Vienna finished third in the ten team EBEL during the regular season and lost in the semi-finals.