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.

The Elmira Jackals currently sit atop the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the East Coast Hockey League and second in the conference. The Ontario Hockey League is well represented on the Jackals with eight OHL grads. This number will fluctuate often throughout the season, though, as the talented Jackals are often called up to the AHL. We’ve included John de Gray in this post, however, John has just been sent up to the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch. Three of the eight are first year pros.

Here’s the former OHLers you’ll find in a Jackals jersey this season:

John Kurtz – John played four seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2009-10. His first season was spent with the Windsor Spitfires and his final three with the Sudbury Wolves.

John de Gray – John played four seasons with the Brampton Battalion from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He was wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey this season with Elmira until being called up by the AHL’s Crunch.

Corey Cowick – Corey played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2006-07 to 2009-10. His OHL career began with two seasons with the Oshawa Generals and finished with two seasons in and Ottawa 67′s jersey.

Tyler Donati – Tyler spent four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His time was split between the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Belleville Bulls. Tyler is the reigning ECHL MVP and scoring champion and has just arrived back in Elmira after starting the season in the AHL.

Justin Donati – The ECHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2006-07. His time was spent with the Oshawa Generals, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and Sudbury Wolves.

Josh Brittain – Josh played four seasons in the OHL from 2006-07 to 2009-10. He began his career with the Kingston Frontenacs and after a stop with the Barrie Colts, he ended up with the Plymouth Whalers.

Eric Regan – Eric played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He played his first season with the Erie Otters and switched to the Oshawa Generals halfway through his second season.

A.J. Perry – Adam played four seasons in the OHL from 2004-05 to 2007-08. He played with the London Knights up until midway through his final season when he was traded to the Belleville Bulls.

Check out this post from last season on the Donati Twins.

Click here to visit the Elmira Jackals official website.

Wes Cunningham as a Binghamton Senators hopeful at 2009 try-outs.

Wes Cunningham played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2003-04 to 2007-08. His OHL career began with the Owen Sound Attack and in his rookie season he was a member of the gold medal winning Team Ontario at the World Under-17 Hockey Championships.

During his second season, Cunningham was traded to the Belleville Bulls. The Bulls traded him during the following season, 2005-06, to the Plymouth Whalers where Wes would finish out his career. Wes was a big part of the Plymouth Whalers 2006-07 Robertson Cup win and subsequent appearance at the Memorial Cup. He was an OHL all-star defenseman in his final season with the Whalers.

Cunningham spent the past two seasons in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with the Elmira Jackals. He has been traded to the newest ECHL franchise, the Greenville Road Warriors. Starting in 2010-11, Greenville is housing the franchise formerly known as the Johnstown Chiefs.

Check out Wes Cunningham’s profile page on the official ECHL website.

Andy Chiodo playing in Finland.

Former Toronto St. Michael’s Majors goalie, Andy Chiodo, has joined EC KAC (the KAC

EC KAC logo.

 stands for Klagenfurter Athletiksport-Club) of Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga for the 2010-11 season. Chiodo split the 2009-10 season between the AHL’s Binghamton Senators and the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals.

Andy Chiodo played in the Ontario Hockey League for three seasons from 2000-01 to 2002-03, all with the Majors. In 2002-03, Chiodo was honoured as the OHL’s Goaltender of the Year.

Andy had a taste of the NHL in 2003-04 when he played eight games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that drafted him 199th overall in the 2003 NHL draft.

This will be Chiodo’s second go at the European game. He played in Finland’s SM-Liiga for two seasons, 2006-07 and 2007-08 and he had a season with Dynamo Minsk in 2008-09.

Klagenfurt is located in the south of Austria near the border with Slovenia and has a population of nearly 100,000. The team plays out of the Stadthalle Klagenfurt which seats 5,500 for hockey. EC KAC finished the 2009-10 regular season fifth in the ten team Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL).

Chiodo joins fellow Ontario Hockey League alumni Mike Craig and Sean Brown on EC KAC. 

Check out Andy Chiodo’s profile page on the official EC KAC website.

Chanse Fitzpatrick with Gislaveds Sportsklubb.

In 2001-02, Chanse Fitzpatrick scored 4 goals in 44 games for the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. The next season he had 5 goals in 50 games for the same Sarnia Sting. On November3, 2007 for the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL, Chanse Fitzpatrick scored 5 goals in just one period.

The 5 goals in one period stands tied as an ECHL record with Lars Petersen who did it in 1999 for Augusta. 4 of Chanse’s 5 goals that period were on the powerplay which stands alone as a league record for most powerplay goals in a single period.

Chanse Fitzpatrick played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2003-04. As mentioned, his first two seasons were played with the Sarnia Sting and his last was with the Sudbury Wolves. His season with the Wolves proved to be his most offensive with 10 goals and 20 points.

Never a scoring powerhouse, His greatest goal scoring season to date with one team is 2004-05, his rookie season in the ECHL when he netted 20 goals in 66 games with the Columbia Inferno. He fell one shy in 2007-08 with the Dayton Bombers with 19 but in only 29 games. Also that season, he played 12 games in Germany’s Bundesliga 2 and scored an additional 5 goals.

This season, between three teams, Fitzpatrick went on a scoring rampage. He split his ECHL season between the Elmira Jackals and the Johnstown Chiefs with one game spent in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons. He put in 13 goals in 23 games with the Jackals and 17 in 43 with the Chiefs for a whopping grand total of 30.

Check out Chanse Fitzpatrick’s profile page on the Johnstown Chiefs official website.