OHL Alumni Central

Ontario Hockey League grad Max Spiridonov was recently traded to his tenth KHL team in eleven years. Spiridonov began the season with 16 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he contributed six points, and was moved to Ak Bars Kazan. In the process, he moved from ninth in the KHL’s East Conference and out of a playoff spot and into fourth in the East, destined for the post season.

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Max played two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights, 1996-97 and 1997-98. In his second season with London, Spiridonov earned the Jim Mahon Trophy as the highest scoring right winger in the league with 54 goals and 99 points. It was enough to get a late round look from the Edmonton Oilers. Max was taken in the ninth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 241st overall.

For three years after leaving the Knights, Spiridonov played on a handful of teams in the IHL, AHL and ECHL. In 2001-02, he returned to his native Russia and, with exception of a half season spent in Switzerland, has been there since.

Max’s 10 RSL/KHL teams:

• Salavat Yulayev Ufa
• Amur Khabarovsk
• Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
• Severstal Cherepovets
• Dynamo Moscow
• Metallurg Novokuznetsk
• Barys Astana
• Dinamo Minsk
• Metallurg Magnitogorsk
• Ak Bars Kazan

In 2002-03, with Amur Khabarovsk, Max led the RSL in goals with 21. In 2003-04, he played 19 games for the ill-fated Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The only team Spiridonov has played two full seasons with is Barys Astana in 2008-09 and 2009-10. He wore the ‘A’ for Astana in the second season.

After five years of trying to become a full-time fixture in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room, Ontario Hockey League grad Liam Reddox is taking his sticks and skates to Sweden to push his hockey career in a different direction. Reddox has signed with Växjö Lakers of Sweden’s elite league, the Elitserien.

Liam played four games for the Peterborough Petes during the 2002-03 season then was a regular for the next three seasons. In his first full year, 2003-04, Reddox led the Petes in goals (31), assists (33) and points (64). He played for Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships that season and contributed six goals in seven games as Canada finished out of the medal standings.

The following season, Reddox finished second to Jamie Tardif on the team for most goals with 36. His 82 points tied him for the team lead with Daniel Ryder.

In his final season in the Ontario Hockey League, Reddox wore the A for Peterborough as the team captured the Robertson Cup as the OHL’s playoff champion with a victory over the London Knights.

Liam was taken by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, 112th overall. In all, Reddox has played in 100 NHL games with the Oilers since the 2007-08 season. This past season, he played 44 games with the NHL club and 37 with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons.

Corey Neilson played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97. He began his career with the North Bay Centennials then moved to the Detroit Junior Whalers midway through the 1995-96 season. In his final season in the OHL, Neilson played for the Barrie Colts.

In his first season with North Bay, the team won the Hamilton Spectator as the Ontario Hockey League’s regular season champion and went on to defeat Detroit to win the Robertson Cup as the league’s playoff champion. Corey was selected to the OHL’s First All-Rookie Team.

After his first season, Neilson was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, 53rd overall. For the most part, from 1999-00 to 2005-06, Corey spent his time in the ECHL with exception of the 2002-03 season which he played in the UHL and AHL. Neilson was twice and ECHL All-Star and was Defenseman of the year in 2003-04.

Since 2006-07, Corey has been a member of the Nottingham Panthers in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. Neilson has led the league’s defensemen twice in scoring and currently leads the EIHL’s defensemen this season with 45 points in 42 games. The team is sitting in fourth place in the league with the possibility of going up a position and realistically no chance of going down. Corey has achieved his personal numbers and has led the team as head coach for the past three seasons.

His influence as head coach has brought in some very talented Ontario Hockey League grads for the stretch run, such as Daniel Tkaczuk and Jeff Heerema (click on names to view previous posts featuring those players).

Check out Corey Neilson’s profile page at the Nottingham Panthers official website.

Peter Sarno was left without a team for the 2010-11 season until this week when the Ontario Hockey League grad signed up with Lausanne of Switzerland’s National League B. Sarno had spent the past three seasons in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Peter played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1998-99. His first two seasons were spent with the Windsor Spitfires and his final season was with the Sarnia Sting. In his final two seasons in the league, Sarno won the Eddie Powers Trophy as the league’s top point getter. In 1997-98 he notched 121 points and in his final season he increased the total to 130. He also led the league in assists both seasons with totals of 88 and 93. In his first season with Windsor, he was honoured with the Emms Family Award as the OHL’s rookie of the year.

Sarno was taken by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL draft, 141st overall. In all, Peter got into seven career NHL games, six with the Oilers and one with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

A set up man in the style of Adam Oates or Joe Thornton, Sarno led the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs in assists during the 2000-01 season with 46. He led the AHL’s Manitoba Moose in assists (66) and points (82) in 2004-05 while finished sixth in league scoring. In 2007-08, he led the DEL’s Hamburg Freezers in assists (48) and points (74).

His European play began with a test season in 2002-03 with the Blues of Finland’s SM-Liiga. He returned to Europe for 2006-07 to play for Gottéron of Switzerland’s National League A. He followed that up with two seasons with Hamburg and this past season he played for the DEL’s Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg.

He is currently under contract with Lausanne until January 31, 2011.

Check out Peter Sarno’s profile page on the Lausanne official website.

Bryan Young played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2005-06 (2002-03 consisted of just two games), all with the Peterborough Petes. Bryan is now off to Japan to play in the Asia League with High1 Sports.

Young was part of the 2005-06 Peterborough Petes team that won the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion with a series win over the defending champions, London Knights. The team was unsuccessful at their attempt to win the Memorial Cup tournament.

Bryan was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Draft, 146th overall. Young played 15 games with the Oilers in his first season of professional hockey. The rest of that first season was split between the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL and the Stockton Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League.

Young would go on to play just two more NHL games, both with the Edmonton Oilers in 2007-08. The rest of his time has been spent mixed between the Springfield Falcons of the AHL and the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL.

This upcoming season, 2010-11 marks a drastic change for Bryan as he heads to Japan to play in the Asia League. The Asia League is home to an increasing number of North American players.

Check out Bryan Young’s profile page on the High1 official website.

Bryan Young is on The Big List.