OHL Alumni Central

Josh Godfrey was just three years old when Craig Rivet played his first Ontario Hockey League game. The two OHL grads will lead the defense of the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2011-12 season.

Rivet played three seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs from 1991-92 to 1993-94. His high offensive numbers reached with Kingston, 74 and 64 points in his final two seasons, were replaced with a stay-at-home style once he reached the NHL. In 923 National Hockey League games, Craig has scored an even 50 goals.

Rivet was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, 68th overall. He remained with the Habs until midway through the 2006-07 season when he was shipped to the San Jose Sharks. He spent 2007-08 with San Jose, moved to Buffalo for the 2008-09 season and split this past season with Buffalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Craig brings an incredible amount of leadership to the ECHL club, having worn a letter on his jersey since 2001-02 with three different NHL clubs. For the past three seasons, Rivet was team captain for Buffalo.

Josh Godfrey played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He began his OHL career with the Guelph Storm and switched to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds midway through the 2005-06 season. In 2006-07, he led the league’s defensemen in the goals department with 24. In his final season, he won World Junior gold with Team Canada, leading the tournament’s defensemen in assists with 5.

Godfrey was a second round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, going 34th overall. For the past three seasons, Josh has played within Washington’s system, mixed between their AHL club (Hershey Bears) and their ECHL club (South Carolina Stingrays). This past season, he played in the ECHL All-Star game.

Ontario Hockey League grad Scott Lehman is vying for a spot with the Chicago Express, the East Coast Hockey League’s newest franchise. The Express begin play for the first time in 2011-12, playing out of the 11,000 seat Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Scott Lehman with the Gwinnett Gladiators.

Scott played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06, all with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. Known more for his tough play (603 career OHL regular season PIM) than his offense, Lehman assisted on a very respectable 50 goals from the blue line in his final season. Lehman led the Majors in penalty minutes in each of his final three years. He proved he had just as much brains as brawn, being awarded the Bobby Smith Trophy in 2003-04 as the league’s scholastic player of the year.

Scott gained playoff experience early in his Ontario Hockey League career. In his first season, he played 19 games as the Majors made it to the Conference Finals before losing in seven to the Ottawa 67′s. The following season, the Majors found themselves in the Conference Finals yet again, this time losing to the Mississauga IceDogs in six.

Lehman was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers after just his second season in the OHL. He went in the third round, 76th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He played in the Thrashers system from 2006-07 to 2009-10, mostly with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL and the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. He dressed for one NHL game with the Thrashers during the 2008-09 season.

This past season, 2010-11, Scott was invited to the Nashville Predators camp but was sent down to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, then to the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones. The Chicago Express are affiliated with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.

After missing the entire 2010-11 season due to injury, Ontario Hockey League grad Matt Foy returns to the game with the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League. Stockton is an ECHL affiliate of both the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers.

Foy played just one season in the Ontario Hockey League, 2002-03, with the Ottawa 67′s. He made the best of that one season, teaming up with Corey Locke to rip up the league. Locke and Foy finished one-two in OHL scoring with Locke totalling 151 points and Foy 132. Although Locke took the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the league leading scorer, Foy was awarded with the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy as the OHL’s top scoring right winger. He was named to the CHL Second All-Star team.

Matt came to the 67′s already a prospect of the Minnesota Wild. Foy was taken by the Wild in the sixth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, 175th overall. He spent five years in Minnesota’s system, mostly with the American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros, however he did get into 56 NHL games. Matt led the Aeros in goals (27) and points (50) during the 2006-07 season.

When injury set in, Matt played just four games in 2008-09 with the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen and seven the following season with the Central Hockey League’s Arizona Sundogs. Foy claims to be 100% healthy now and hopefully this will be a successful return to the game.

Ontario Hockey League grad Nate Kiser began play with the Plymouth Whalers the season after yesterday’s featured player, Jason Ward, finished up his OHL career in Plymouth. Kiser played four seasons with the Whalers from 1999-00 to 2002-03.

In his first season with Plymouth, the Whalers pushed the Barrie Colts to the seventh game of the Robertson Cup finals.

Nate was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the fifth round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, 160th overall. With exception of eleven games in the AHL, Kiser has spent all his professional hockey career in the East Coast Hockey League. Seven of those eight seasons have been in a South Carolina Stingrays jersey.

The Stingrays lost in the ECHL’s American Conference Finals in 2007-08 to Cincinnati. The following season, South Carolina won the Kelly Cup with a four games to three victory over the Alaska Aces.

Kiser currently sits in third place on the Stingrays all-time list for games played. On the team’s all-time penalty minutes list, Nate is in second.

Check out Nate Kiser’s profile page on the South Carolina Stingrays official website.

Ontario Hockey League grad Mike Wilson has played just seven games over the past four seasons. After not playing for the first half of the 2010-11 season, Wilson has been picked up by the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL and has one goal in his first two games with the club.

Wilson played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1992-93 to 1995-96, all with the Sudbury Wolves. In his final season, he contributed 47 points from the blue line in 64 regular season games. The Wolves made it to the Robertson Cup semi-finals that season before losing to the Detroit Junior Red Wings in seven games. He was selected to the CHL All-Rookie Team in his first season.

Mike was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, 20th overall. The Canucks traded his rights in the summer of 1996 to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the deal that brought Alexander Mogilny to Vancouver and placed Mike Peca in a Sabres uniform.

Wilson has played a total of 336 regular season games in the NHL with Buffalo, the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers. He was a part of Buffalo’s 1998 team that made it to the Eastern Conference finals.

Beginning with the 2004-05 NHL lockout season, Wilson spent two seasons playing in several locations in Europe. Mike played games for teams in Norway, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.

After taking 2006-07 and 2007-08 off, Wilson played five games with the ECHL’s Trenton Devils in 2008-09, with an additional five games in the playoffs. He played just two games with the Toledo Walleye in 2009-10.

Check out Mike Wilson’s profile page at the Toledo Walleye official website.

Check out these previous articles on Wilson’s teammates with the Sudbury Wolves:

Jamie Rivers

Zdenek Nedved